Today we had our first internal client presentation at the Data School, taking our weekly presentations to the next level. Here are my 5 top tips, in no particular order, for improving your presentation, and presentation skills (based on what I know and have learnt so far!!).
#1 - Know your audience, and know where they are.
This may sound obvious, but it's something that is surprisingly easy to overlook.
Knowing your audience - who are you presenting to - is vital in understanding how to structure your presentation. The same presentation question should be answered in different ways, depending on who you are presenting to.
If you are presenting to a CEO or senior stakeholder, the way you will go about answering a question should be different, to the way you would answer that question if you were presenting to a team of data analysts, line managers, or members of a sales team for example. Your CEO doesn't need to know the steps you took in preparing data, or why you chose a certain field for a calculation. They probably have limited time, and are most likely only interested in your answer to their question. This would differ however if you're presenting to members of a team that are involved in data preparation and analysis. They want to know your answer, but they're also going to want to know how you got there, and this should be reflected in your presentation.
Knowing where your audience are, is something probably more specific to a post-Covid world. For all of our presentations at the Data School so far, we've had at least one audience member online. This makes a big difference to the way you should present. You need to think about how both the physical and digital audience can hear you, and see you. If you're moving around the room and pointing to the screen, chances are, whoever is online can't see you. It is important to bear this in mind when you are presenting, so that both audiences get the most out of your presentation.
Another thing to think about with this, is how you are using your cursor to point at things (in avoiding pointing at your screen). Download Zoomit which allows you to zoom in on elements you are presenting, and to bring attention to your cursor, when you want to highlight or focus on an element of your presentation.
#2 - Practice makes perfect.
This is something my Mum would always tell me, when I used to play the piano in concerts - practice, practice, practice, and it holds true for presenting.
Knowing what you're going to say in a presentation is so important in giving you the confidence to present to an audience. It not only enables you to present more fluidly and confidently to your audience, but can also help to reduce your nerves running up to your presentation.
Practicing running through what you want to say, is also a great way to figure out what you don't want to say. There have been many times that I've run through something and realized an element of what I wanted to say didn't make sense. This is also where practicing in front of others comes into play. If you can get a friend or colleague to listen to you run through your presentation, it makes a great opportunity for feedback. They can help you see what does and doesn't make sense, where you may have been overlooking it, even if this is something as simple as spelling. If they don't understand something, the chances are that some of the members of your audience for your real presentation probably won't either.
Finally, practicing is the only way to know if you're going to meet your time targets, for how long you want to present - so PRACTICE!!
#3 - Stay calm, and keep your cool.
Staying calm is definitely something that is easier said than done, but is a skill worth mastering. Don't let yourself get flustered during a presentation. Even if your presentation is amazing, if you get worked up and fumble, it will reflect badly on your work, and may stress out other members of your team. Stay calm, take a deep breath, a sip of water, and do your best.
Additionally, your audience may ask you questions. When our coaches ask us questions during our presentations, it is often to see how well we handle them. Staying calm in this situation installs confidence in your audience, and reflects well on you, and how well you know your topic (even if you are screaming inside)!
#4 - No speeding!
I really struggle with speeding. When I'm nervous, I tend to speak at 5000 miles an hour. This is neither helpful in terms of getting your message through to your audience, or meeting your expected time targets i.e. if you have to present for 10 minutes, but end up speaking for 5.
I'll be honest this is something I'm still working on, but I'm hopefully getting better with. Something I have been finding useful is working out breaks in my presentation notes, to remind myself to slow down, and take a breath. For example, between groups of notes of things I want to say, I'll put a large line, indicating that I need to take a break, a breather and check my speed.
#5 - Answer the Question, and keep answering it.
Again, this seems obvious, but it is surprisingly easy to lose track of the ultimate goal of your presentation. If your presentation is answering a specific question, then it should do so in every slide. In the beginning - state your answer, and then get into how you reached that conclusion. The content - all of it needs to be focusing on answering the question, and if it isn't, then really think about why you are including it. The conclusion - needs to reaffirm your answer, and summarize how you reached it. The best presentation can be ruined if it fails to answer the original question.