20 Tips to Improve Your Presentations

Writing an effective presentation means determining what your audience wants — and what you want them to do. The tips will help you accomplish both.

1. Don't Overproduce: Be careful that you don't use multimedia tricks (flying words, exclamation marks, etc.) to replace legitimate communications and meaningful information. A clearly structured presentation that focuses on a defined set of performance criteria will always prove to be more successful than an overly produced presentation.



2. Your Personal Credibility: Your listener's attitude toward you will greatly influence the outcome of your presentation. Is this the first time you've presented to this audience? Are they familiar with your credentials? Gauging your degree of credibility will help you to determine how to develop your presentation to achieve the desired results.
3. Stimulate on Multiple Levels: Studies designed to find out how people learn and remember have estimated that we retain about 20% of what we see, 40% of what we see and hear, and 75% of what we see, hear, and do. Keep those statistics in mind while preparing your presentation and consider developing presentation materials that address the senses accordingly.
4. Sound Advice Goes a Long Way: There are numerous ways to make use of sound during a presentation, including background music, narration, voice annotation, and sound effects.
5. Be a Storyteller: Successful presenters often follow a narrative structure that grabs and holds the audience's attention. One way to accomplish this task is through storytelling. A good story can break down barriers and tap into the emotional drivers of your audience. Be sure your story complements your content and overall objectives.
6. Use Feedback to Guide You: Ask a few audience members for feedback after your presentation. Don't ask, "Was I okay?" or "How did I do?" Instead, ask for information to help you the next time you create a presentation, such as "Did I succeed in getting across one important message?" This is critical when looking for ways to improve your future presentations.
7. Have One Central Theme: Don't clutter up your presentation with a bunch of different messages. Rather, have one central theme and repeat it in different ways throughout the presentation. Don't make your audience search for the "take-away" message. Deliver it for them in a clear, memorable manner.
8. Audience Awareness: Your audience can provide you with a wealth of information during your presentation. A furrowed brow or glazed expression, for example, might signal confusion or boredom. Signs like these let you know it's time to rearrange or adapt your content and work harder to get your point across.