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For most people, the thought of delivering a formal presentation; be it in a work or study situation, will strike dread, fear and general foreboding. All too often the perception is that a formal presentation will be boring. This doesn’t need to be the case, especially if the presentation you are delivering forms part of an interview assessment or assignment. It is important to remember that a presentation is given to a audience (that is evident from the mere meaning of the task), and so audience engagement is paramount to the success of the presentation delivery.

So how do you successfully engage an audience? Well, it is a case of balancing content with the need to captivate! As Constance Lamb from Zenon Consulting has suggested; “You may have the most scintillating content but the presentation can fall flat if the audience is forgotten”. To manage this balance, consider three key things when preparing your content:

Number one – What do you want your audience to remember?
Number two – How can you motivate, persuade and influence them to take action?
Number three – How will they remember your message?

When planning your presentation try to remember that the first 30 seconds are crucial to hooking your audience’s attention. If you don’t get the opening right your might end up losing them and it can take a lot of effort to get them back again! So in the preparation for your presentation, really focus on your opening comments and slides; spend time crafting bold opening statements and aim to create a punchy style of writing and speech whilst keeping your language simple.

Some handy tips to help you deliver a punchy opening presentation statement include;

- Go straight to the heart of the presentation or subject issue
- Open with your thoughts; tell the audience what you believe
- Ask them a question to get them engaged from the very beginning
- Use opening slides with sentences so punchy, that they only contain three words
- Think about colour, design and pattern in your slides and handouts

Once you have caught your audience’s attention you need to maintain and retain it! Repeat your content regularly, ask them to participate periodically and go back to key points from earlier on in your presentation. This should keep them engaged. It also aids recall- don’t forget that most people will remember five key points from a 40 minute presentation (if you are lucky!).

If you want to avoid making your presentation tedious, never read from the slides. Put the key words up and expand on them during the presentation. The audience can then make their own notes and what you say can be backed up in the pack that you hand out at the end.

As your presentation draws to a close, don’t rush through your conclusion. The beginning and end of a presentation are the most important sections, and the most memorable. If your presentation forms part of an assignment, assignment or job interview, you need to concentrate on getting the close to be just as punchy as the opening. Use unusual metaphors, imagery and visuals to stimulate an exciting and captivating close. Then breathe a sigh of relief and smile!

Business presentations are a collateral reflection of who you are. A glimpse of your personality could be seen in the ways and the content of your presentation.

The way you carry yourself, the way you speak, deliver your sentences, tackle tricky questions with confidence and successfully convey your message, speak volumes about your personality.

Still, there are much more ways in which you can support your business presentation to reach its maximum potential.

HIGHLIGHT YOUR SUPERPOWER

A positive way to keep your audience attentive to you is to show them that you are worth their time and trust. Rather than speaking about your achievements and future goals, speak about your credibility because if even little points will exist with which the crowd will not feel connected to then the tables will instantly turn.

Talk about your goals within the first few minutes of the presentation

Choose your presentation design which corresponds with your goals, which should be introduced to your audience as early as possible. This will help your audience to correlate what you are expressing with the ‘why’ and ‘what’ you want to achieve.

Never underestimate the impact of a powerful image/quote

A business presentation is usually a collection of fertile ideas, knit together as one to illustrate a larger picture. So, the smart use of different images/quotes to introduce different ideas will supply more power to your presentation. Vocalising the quotes or speaking few important words out loud will bring your presentation to life, especially if the presentation has numerous bar graphs, bullet points, and pie charts.

GIVE YOUR AUDIENCE THE POWER TO BRAINSTORM OVER YOUR QUESTIONS

One of the unbeatable ways to make your presentation more interactive is to begin it with a question which you, yourself will answer. Like you can start with “I asked myself what all can my team will be able to do and contribution for making this project a success?”. So, based on this question you can build up your presentation. Be alert to all the questions from your audience as they are icebergs of curiosity. The more you will suffice your audience, the stronger their trust will grow in you.

Be ready to tackle tough questions

Always be confident and logical at answering the questions from the audience. There will always be questions whose responses if given without solid facts and coherence, will put your image down in your crowd’s eyes. If you know your topic as well as you’re your audience, then always keep your business binary clean and do not ever shelve any question from the audience.

KEEP YOUR OWN QUESTIONS READY IF NOBODY ASKS YOU ANY

It could be a possibility that your audience is shy or somewhat hesitant to ask you questions about your presentations. Always remember, if you face this kind of a situation, then always compose a question to yourself because ‘zero curiosity’ turns into ‘zero interest’ overnight.

Take your crowd on a final journey

Always take your crowd on a final journey before you wrap up the presentation. Highlight all the important points and tell the crowd how they will be productive if given proper attention by the appropriate crowd.

Keeping the immense support in mind which we get from the PowerPoint presentations, one should also be able to support her/himself equally well during the closing moments of the presentation because humans invented the PowerPoint and not vice versa.

I was on my way to a national conference when I met a fellow speaker in the airport. “My carry-on suitcase is filled with handouts and few clothes,” I commented. He shook his head and said he didn’t distribute handouts any more. If an attendee needed a handout, he or she could go to his website and download it.

As an experienced speaker, I can tell you I still distribute printed handouts. Why do I use them?

First of all, attendees like and benefit from written materials. However, the idea of giving attendees your Power Point presentation is fading. Attendees want and expect more. Olivia Mitchell describes the benefits in her Speaking About Presenting website article, “13 Best Practice Tips for Effective Presentation Handouts.” She says handouts allow the speaker to cut down on the material that is presented. Handouts guide the speaker and you don’t have to worry about forgetting what you planned to say because you’re referring to your handout(s).

Handouts help attendees to remember your talk and you. If you include contact information, as I do, attendees can easily contact you later. I think handouts help attendees to relax. They don’t have to follow every word or take copious notes because your handouts contain essential information.

Handouts may also include new information, things you don’t cover in your talk. For example, at the bottom of a handout you may list some additional resources. After the attendees have returned home, they can read your handouts and recall your presentation.

The handouts you create fall into three general categories, uncompleted handouts, outlines (also called skeletal handouts), and worksheets. Simple handouts work best for me and I often give attendees an outline of my talk, with space beneath the points for notes. This is an example of an uncompleted handout.

I’ve also developed a worksheet, with bulleted headings for workshop attendees to complete. For the conference bookstore, I’ve created a list of the grief resources I’ve written — a publicity handout. Over the years I’ve come up with my “how to” points for creating handouts, and these points may help you.

1. Use simple words and avoid jargon.

2. Add a visual, a photo, clip art, or symbol, to every handout.

3. Make every handout as attractive as you can; nobody wants an ugly handout.

4. Copyright the handout in your name.

5. Include your phone number, email address, and website address if you have one.

6. Color-code handouts so attendees may find them easily.

You’re probably wondering about when you should distribute your handouts. I give attendees the skeletal handout at the beginning of my talk or workshop, and pass out additional handouts during the talk as needed. This keeps attendees from shuffling papers and losing track of the points you are making at the moment.

No doubt about it, providing handouts costs money, and you are the only person who can decide whether the investment is worth it. Personally, I think handouts speak well for you and your expertise. You provide handouts because you care about the attendees and they will figure this out. Good handouts “speak” for you long after your presentation is over.

Copyright 2013 by Harriet Hodgson