It is quite natural to be nervous before a presentation, whether it is your first time or the 100th of time. Though the experienced presenters, eventually, get to know how to convert their nervousness into enthusiasm, the fear of facing the audience for the first timers can ruin the essence of their presentation. So here are some tips to follow, that can help you deliver your presentation like a pro:
1) Practice, but don’t over practice: The most obvious thing to do before a presentation is to practice the subject you are about to present. But in many cases, over practising can make you forget and confuse things. For better performance at the presentation, you need to master the topic, so that you are ready to answer all the questions of your audience. You must understand the whole context of the presentation, not cram the facts and the figures.
2) Focus on the needs of your audience: While creating the content for your presentation, you need to keep the audience and their needs, in your mind. Figure out the possible queries that the audience can have, and try to prepare answers for them. When you are ready with the solution, you will also be ready for a great presentation.
3) Create a professional slide deck: A slide deck or ppt is the major support for your presentation, so it has to be impressive enough to build the interest of your audience. To create a professional presentation slide deck, you can take ideas from various presentation sharing websites like SlideShare, SharePresentation, authorStream, etc. The slides must be created by keeping the proper balance between the text and visuals. You can use charts to show the factual data and animations to make the presentation look more creative.
4) Show passion: To deliver a great presentation, you need to be passionate about the subject of your presentation. If you, yourself, are not interested in the topic that you are about to deliver, you cannot expect the audience to be enthusiastic about the same.
5) Stay original: Every person has their own personality, and it is the originality of a person that makes the real difference. So instead of copying the style of any other presenter, try to show your own personality and ideas, while delivering the presentation.
6) Make notes but don’t read: To get your presentation in the right direction, you can prepare small notes, but reading out the whole presentation will not be good for its success. Even though you have included text on your presentation deck, try to avoid reading it word to word. Just take a hint and explain things by yourself.
7) Body language: Though your knowledge on the topic will tell the audience how confident you are, it is also the body language that shows your confidence level. Never stand at the same spot while giving the presentation. Take over the stage and use your hands. Point towards the slides or exemplary things and make eye contact with the audience. Also, your face expressions must match your words during the presentation.
8) The ‘Pause’: You have practised, and you are aware of every bit of the topic, so it is obvious that you will have the confidence to talk about it continuously. But it will be annoying for the audience if you will keep talking and talking, without taking proper pauses in between. For effective communication, the pause also helps you revise things in your mind and keep your mind more relaxed. Also, it is better to take long pauses than stammer or fumble, during the presentation.
9) Tell a story: There is merely any person who is not interested in stories and jokes. Telling a story or making the audience laugh in between will engage them better and you will also get to know how carefully the audience is listening to you. Telling a story or making them laugh builds trust among them, and the audience is more inclined to open up to you.
10) Relax, Breathe and Enjoy: Even though it is a five minutes short presentation, the most important thing for you to do is enjoy every bit of it. Keep taking deep breathes in between and stay hydrated, such that your mind remains calm and relaxed throughout the presentation.
11) Summarize: At the end of the presentation, with a call to action, summarize the main highlights of your presentations. In this way, you will be clearing out the real objective of the presentation. You can also start a Q&A for the audience to clear out their doubts at the end of the presentation.
These are some important points that you can consider during your presentation. This way you will not only be able to reduce your stress level during the presentation, but also stand out as a pro presenter in front of your audience.
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