10 Important Presentation Tips
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Student Life

10 Important Presentation Tips

Don't bore your audience, give a presentation that will engage your audience.

Cameryn Sharkey
Nov 13, 2019
North Carolina State University
7
10 Important Presentation Tips
MariSmithPix

Here are some helpful tips on creating and giving a good presentation.

Use a hook

Use an attention-grabbing opener. Something that will make your audience want to pay attention to what you have to say. This can be done using a story, a statistic/fact, or some form of example.

Don’t look at or read the screen

This is by far one of the most important presentation tips. Nothing will bore your audience more than watching you read directly from your powerpoint slides. The audience could read the slides themselves, so you shouldn't do it for them.

Be an expert in your presentation topic

If you are presenting something then you should be well-knowledge on the topic. If the audience asks you questions, you should be able to answer over 90% of them. If you are unable to answer many questions, then your audience will lose faith in your credibility.

Speak clearly

This is extremely important as you want your audience to be able to understand what you are saying. If no one can understand your presentation because you're either not loud enough or stumbling over a lot of words then they won't get anything out of it.

Avoid filler words

Filler words include: um, like, and then, so, etc. Unnecessary usage of these words will convey to your audience that you are either not prepared, overly nervous, or unprofessional. Record yourself practicing your presentation and count how many times you use fillers then work on cutting them out.

Convey your passion about the topic

If you are super passionate about the topic you are presenting on, make sure that your audience can see that. You being actively engaged and interested in what you are presenting on will increase audience engagement.

Don’t tell the audience lies or over exaggerated statistics

Avoid stretching the truth or stating facts that cannot be backed up with data. If audience members realize that you are not being honest with them, they will question your integrity.

Grammar/Spelling check

Make sure that your presentation (if you are using slides especially) includes proper grammar and spelling. If you have errors it will lead you to look unprofessional.

Highlight your skills without explicitly stating them.

This is more for investor pitches, business proposals, interviews, and presentations more geared toward highlighting your work. In situations such as this you want to make sure your audience knows that they could count on you.

Avoid wordiness

If you are using powerpoint or similar graphics, try to make sure that you don't have too much text on them. Good rules to follow is to have no more than 6 bullet points with 6 words each or no more than 36 words on the slide total. Adding too much text makes it difficult for the audience to focus on you if they are too busy reading your presentation slides.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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