Fiona Lander, founder and managing director, Lander Associates

We’ve all sat through bad presentations and know how a potentially interesting subject can send you to sleep if the presenter’s skills are lacking. Especially in today’s challenging business environment, one key skill that no professional should be without is being able to deliver a strong presentation. Developing your abilities in this area can really make a difference, not only to your day to day work success but also to your long term career prospects.

Varied skills

The presentation skills that professionals need have never been more varied. You could be asked to deliver a formal PowerPoint presentation to a big team, but could just as easily be required to present on a one-to-one basis. You therefore need to be able to adapt to a wide range of possible scenarios, but for all situations, excellent presentation and verbal communication skills are vital.

What are the golden rules?

As obvious as it may sound, preparation is key. The old adage of fail to prepare, prepare to fail, is a truism, but one that many people still do not take on board. When preparing your presentation, have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and start with the end in mind. Keep it simple and break down your message into smaller pieces to make it easier for you to deliver and for your audience to follow.

Tailor your presentation

You may have a standard template that you always use when presenting but make sure that every presentation is specifically tailored to each individual audience.  A professional presentation tailored to each situation is now essential whether you are presenting formally to a team or informally to a colleague. Many people come unstuck because they don’t make the effort with a more familiar contact, but it’s important to put the necessary work and preparation in regardless of who your audience may be.
 
Give yourself breathing space to rehearse

Always have your presentation finished with plenty of time to spare so that you give yourself enough breathing space to make any necessary amendments. Present to a friend or colleague – this will highlight any parts of the presentation that do not work or that need tweaking, as well as giving you a good opportunity to rehearse. Practice in front of the mirror and practice clicking through to the next slide – practice makes perfect. This way, when it comes to the actual presentation, you won’t be worrying about when or how to click or how you should be standing. Instead you’ll feel confident, relaxed and be able to inject your personality into the delivery. This will mean you will portray the image of a seamless professional who knows what they’re doing.

Making a good impression

The basic rules still apply too – arrive in good time and make sure in advance that all the equipment you need will be available. This all helps to build an image of professionalism. When delivering the presentation, explain what it will cover and how it’s structured so that your audience is attentive from the start. More importantly, put your personality into it and make your presentation style engaging. You will no doubt spend a long time thinking about what you say but research shows that in fact when communicating, words are only 7% of what people absorb. Your pitch, the speed at which you talk, your tone and your enthusiasm - otherwise known as paralinguistics will represent 38% of your audience’s attention, so talking in a bored and monotonous voice will not win you many points. The remaining 55% is non verbal, so it’s vital to make eye contact, think about your posture, facial expressions, gestures and body language, if you want to make a good impression.

Engaging your audience

As important as your message is, make sure that you present within the allocated time - if your presentation is well rehearsed and to the point then this should not be a problem! Try to think of questions that your audience may want to ask afterwards and prepare what responses you will give. When answering any questions that are posed to you, remain confident, think about your answer and remember the points above about making yourself engaging and keeping your message simple and concise.

Boosting your confidence

Don’t underestimate how much these skills can help you increase both your confidence and your presenting ability. Strengthening this talent really can give you the edge and developing these communication skills will help you in other aspects of your job. If you deliver a confident, tailored, relaxed and professional presentation, your audience will be happy and engaged and you can be safe in the knowledge that they’ll want to listen to you again!