We’ve all sat through some not so good presentations haven’t we.

Those that didn’t keep you engaged, those that didn’t give you the answers that you hoped for and those that just sold their stuff constantly.

I’m sharing some of my thoughts on what makes a great presentation. It certainly involves careful preparation, clear communication, and engaging delivery.

But before we even head into the points on how to do that the first thing we need to be clear on is OUR purpose for doing it? Because let’s be honest it takes a lot of time and energy to plan it, create the content and deliver it.

What do I mean by that?

  1. Is it to showcase your skills and expertise and build your credibility
  2. What are the next steps once people have listened to it (whether you deliver it live or it’s recorded) – for example what service does it lead people to, what is your call to action?
  3. What is your follow up process after the training – how will you communicate with them after?
  4. How are you going to attract your ideal clients to sign up for the presentation/webinar
  5. How long should it be?  That really depends on if it’s a training session, an interactive workshop or a webinar.  But my view is if it’s a learning session on a specific topic then an hour including question time generally works for all parties.

So what about creating the content itself?

  1. Understand your Audience and identify their needs and pain points specifically for this session – it’s not about showcasing all your skills people sign up for an outcome
  2. What do you want people to learn, gain and feel after your presentation?
  3. Structure Your Content – remember that less is often more, too much information results in rushing it as your against the clock, which doesn’t work for your listeners either.
  • Create a clear outline: Have a beginning (introduction), middle (main points), and end (conclusion).
  • Introduction: Hook your audience with an interesting fact, question, or story, and preview your main points.
  • Body: Present 2-4 key points with supporting evidence. Keep it focused. Make sure it delivers some value and outcomes
  • Conclusion: Summarise your key message and provide a strong closing statement (call to action, thought-provoking insight).
  • If appropriate give the opportunity for questions and answers.
  1. Create Engaging Visuals
  • Simplify your slides: Use minimal text, clear visuals, and readable fonts.
  • Incorporate visuals: Charts, images, and graphs are more impactful than blocks of text.
  • Be consistent: Stick to a cohesive style for fonts, colors, and layout to keep it visually appealing.
  1. Practice it before!
  • Practice out loud: This helps you get comfortable with the flow of the presentation.
  • Time yourself: Ensure your presentation fits within the allotted time.
  1. Engage Your Audience (where appropriate) people love to be included and listened to and not just talked at.
  2. Delivery – practice definitely helps and the more you do it the easier it gets
  • Speak clearly and confidently
  • Pace yourself: Avoid speaking too quickly. Give your audience time to absorb information.
  • Handle your nerves: Take deep breaths, pause when needed, and remind yourself that the audience is on your side.
  • Be yourself – people buy into people – make it fun and interesting (if appropriate of course)
  1. 8. Get the Technical stuff sorted before – it’s a real stress point if you trying to figure it out with people there – that said sometimes things go wrong no matter how much we plan and we are only human.
  2. Handle Q&A Effectively
  • Be prepared: Encourage questions at the end and anticipate potential questions.
  • Stay calm and composed: If you don’t know the answer, it’s okay to admit it and offer to follow up later.
  1. Your learnings
  • Ask for feedback: After the presentation, drop your attendees an email with 3/5 key questions about what they got from it – which helps you know if your content is right and what changes you need to make
  • Reflect: What would you do differently next time, what went well, what you learnt from it personally

So, that’s it my thoughts on a great presentation, for me I’ve learnt from others, what I liked what I didn’t and of course put my sales process hat on too!

Please feel free to get in touch on elaine@2summitup.com if you need some help on it’s purpose – ‘ll leave the technical and graphic support to others – haha.