Presenting your ideas and solutions in the business world may seem like a challenging task. You get everyone in one room, including the people in charge, and you start giving them sales pitches, new ideas, or progress reports of what's happening during a specific quarter, which may be a stressful experience to some individuals.
That said, a lot of people still don't know the basics that should be covered in every presentation, so we've come up with a simple guide that will make your pitch shine.
You Need Supporting Material
Many presenters forget that they should have ample credibility to what they're presenting or saying; meaning that you shouldn't just present what appeals to you without having real facts that support your claims. A skilled presenter wouldn't add these facts to the slides because it could make the presentation too clunky. However, you can mention this supporting material, and tell people that it’s in your proposal. Remember to mention a quote from someone well-known, a story, or a research reference to give your presentation and message the support it needs. If you can’t fit them in your slides, add all your references to the last slide of your presentation.
Structure Everything with Your Goal and Agenda
Some people tend to go off-track or derail themselves a lot by stepping away from their goal; this is why you need to have a slide that you can go back to as an agenda, to state all your goals, and make you organized. Suggestions from these experts in creating compelling presentations say that you should structure your story, and work on your pitch’s framework to improve your thinking and clarity. This is very important because you have to stick to the point of the meeting, and the reasoning behind the presentation. If you talk about matters that are not on your agenda, then people will lose track, and you might lose their attention. The worst-case scenario is that you might not get the feedback, funding, or attention you were hoping for.
You Need Impactful Images or Quotes
Some presenters fall prey to the notion of filling their slides with a lot of points and information. You need to understand that the people in charge are not there to read just yet; they are there to listen. You can remind them that all the information in detail is in the proposal or handouts that they have, but during the presentation, employ a big image or a famous quote that relates to the point that you're speaking of. This is much more effective because you will catch their attention, and keep them invested in your story. This is a lot better than boring them by reading too much text on the slides because engaging images bring better results.
Have Backup Slides for Surprise Questions
A skilled presenter would anticipate and guess the type of questions that may arise during the presentation or after it concludes. This is why having some extra slides that can help you answer those questions, and give clarity to the person asking them, can add a lot to the success of your presentation. There might be a few people that want to get into detail, and because of their position in the company, you'll have to comply by answering their questions and speaking about more information if requested. But remember to always have them focused on you. The slides should have subheadings and points, but not walls of text; this is what the handouts are for.
The Call-To-Action Slide with Your Conclusion
This should be displayed before the last slide that concludes the meeting. It should have key points that state the specific actions that need to be taken. This will show your audience what you're after, what you want them to do, or what you expect them to change. This slide helps achieve the presentation's goal. You should then switch to the last slide for the conclusion, which has a summary of what you talked about, but in brief points. This is when you can highlight each one, and remind your audience of the most important selling points of what you have presented. You want people to have a memorable impression of what you talked about. So make sure that their last memory of it is exactly what you want.
The best presenters should be calm, focused, and prepared for any questions. You need to master the art of attracting every single person with what you're saying, and avoid boring them or getting off-track. You need to be direct and informative to keep the people invested in what you're saying. With great storytelling techniques, you'll be able to rock your presentation every time.
