The Secret to Successful Presentations
- Focus and the Presenter's Mindset
Before you continue reading, ask yourself this important question: Do I want to create better presentations that inspire and increase my professional and personal success? If you answered “Yes!”, the following tips are what you’re looking for.
Presentations play a key role in the success of your business and career
Leaders and managers in particular, are expected
to have excellent communication skills and be persuasive in meetings,
negotiations and presentations. Your PowerPoint presentation skills can determine
the success of your company and the course of your career. Without these
skills, you may fall short of others who can simply present better.
What do I want to achieve:
Why am I presenting?
Focus on the goals you want to achieve. Presentations always have one or more of
these six goals. When it's clear what you want to achieve, focus on that goal in your presentation.
© PresentationLoad "6 Goals of Presentations"
INFORM: Provide information on current business developments, e.g., reports and analyses.
EXPLAIN/TEACH: Share in-depth knowledge on areas of expertise, processes or tools.
MOTIVATE: Encourage others to reflect and take action.
ENTERTAIN: Inspire and spark enthusiasm.
CONVINCE: Shape opinions and influence decisions.
SELL: Sell your company, products and services.
The right approach:
The Presenters Mindset
As a presenter, the right approach, or mindset, is critical to your success. But effective communication skills go beyond how well you work with the PowerPoint program. Your number one priority is to always put the audience and their needs first.
Presenting is not about
you or your company, it’s always about your audience.
© PresentationLoad "Presenter's Mindset"
Each time you present, whether in front of
2 people or 200, your audience is evaluating you. This can turn out to be
positive or negative. Worst-case scenario; they stop listening to you or switch
off emotionally.
But with strong presenting skills, you can win over your audience and gain their trust. And trust is the foundation for effective communication and business success. This may seem obvious, but it’s always good to keep this basic principle in mind.
A good presentation:
- ... strengthens your personal
reputation (competence) and brand.
- ... builds trust.
- ... positively influences decisions
in your favor.
- ... incites action.
- ... sells and generates new
customers and revenue.
- ... is remembered for a long time.
A bad presentation:
- … can negatively affect and limit your
career.
- … loses potential new business
customers.
- … can damage your personal
reputation.
- … creates the impression that
you're unfamiliar with the material.
- … can make you appear less
credible and less competent.
- … loses the attention of your
audience.
- … is quickly forgotten.
"If you don't present well, you'll limit your career potential and lose business." - PresentationLoad
Four Key Factors for an Effective
Presentation
What makes a good presentation? A successful presentation is always about balancing structure and content, the design of your slides, and your delivery – personality, eloquence, charisma, and presentation style.
Do you have any weaknesses in one area? Then follow our tips in the coming weeks, we'll show you how to create excellent presentations.
Structure:
The right structure is the most important element of a successful presentation and just as essential as the actual content. It makes it easier for your audience to understand your core message and follow your arguments through clear and understandable communication.
Content:
Compile relevant and concrete content that best supports your presentation goals. Can you use it to convey new insights and knowledge to your audience? The challenge here lies in condensing content to its essentials.
Visualization:
Support the message of your slides with the right visual aids. Compile your information, data and facts in a meaningful and easy-to-understand format. Use visual elements such as icons, images and infographics instead of dull text slides.
Delivery:
A good presenter opens with the first question that the audience is likely to ask. This helps build a relationship between you and your audience. Use vivid examples and simple language to ensure that they can follow and understand your arguments. Speak freely and never read from the slides. The content of your slides should be reduced as much as possible and optimally adjusted to your speech.
Why PresentationLoad?
According to Microsoft, 30 million PowerPoint presentations are held around the world every day. Our mission is to make them even better.It's a challenging goal, but you have to start somewhere, preferably with those who create presentations regularly, like you. You can look forward to more tips and ideas to help you create professional and inspiring presentations.
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