Content:

No matter how great your delivery, or how professional and beautiful your supporting slides, if your presentation is not based on solid content, you cannot succeed. Your presentation preparation starts with solid content (appropriate for your audience) which you then build into a winning story that you’ll use to connect with your audience. A word of caution: Do not be tempted to “data dump’ :  A data dump is when a presenter crams too much information into the presentation without making the effort to make the information or data applicable to the members of the audience. A data dump also occurs when data and information do not seem to build on the information that came earlier in the presentation. Sometimes it almost seems that the presenter is either showing off, or more likely, is simply afraid that if he/she does not tell the “whole story” by giving reams of data, the audience will not understand the message. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that in order for your audience to understand anything, you must tell them everything. It’s just not possible. Which brings us to the idea of simplicity: Simple does not mean stupid. Simple can be hard for the presenter, but it will be appreciated by the audience. Simplicity takes more forethought and planning on your part because you have to think very hard about what to include and what can be left out. Ask yourself: What is the essence of my message? Then deliver just that.  If you need a tool to help you create your story then feel free to use our Presentation Storyboard . 

Delivery:

Delivering a presentation online, from your kitchen or spare bedroom is daunting enough without adding family, pets, partner or other distractions.

Location: Ensure you have a quiet place to present from and ideally lock the door as this guy found out! Set your laptop or webcam at eye level – no one wants to look up your nose! Use a tripod for the camera or for the ultimate solution consider a standing desk.  Standing will allow you to move around and use more body language. 

Lighting: Ensure you have direct lighting on your face as we know that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Use a light that is not too harsh and ideally 3200Kelvin (warm white colour). Try to diffuse the light so that it does not create shadows.  

Audio: Ensure you have a good microphone such as Blue Yeti or Rode Video Mic as there is nothing worse than not being able to hear a presenter correctly (video may be optional but sound is not!) Improve your voice projection, pitch, pace and prosody by using a free online voice coach app such as Orai.  Also read this awesome summary of microphones here.

Video: Ideally use a HD (1080P) Webcam such as the LOGI C930. When presenting, pick one of your audience members faces and picture them in your mind. Then please please, look directly at the camera and present to them in your minds eye – DO NOT look back at the faces of your audience as this breaks your eye contact with them and can be very disconcerting to view. Consider the camera to be your audience.   

Slides:

With increasing bandwidths it is now possible to present yourself as well as PowerPoint (Keynote, Slides or Prezi) side-by-side. When presenting slides, ensure your video window does not become small in the corner as you want the audience to see you and the slides together. Most web meeting software have an option to allow this.   

Ban the bullets: Your presentation is for the benefit of the audience. But boring an audience with bullet point after bullet point is of little benefit to them. The best slides may have no text at all. Remember, the slides are meant to support the narration of the speaker, not make the speaker superfluous.  If you have a detailed handout for the audience to be passed out after your talk, you need not feel compelled to fill your PowerPoint® slides with a great deal of text. You may also consider sending this handout during the meeting as a file using the web meeting software or you could also consider using an Event app to communicate the agenda, speaker bios, handouts as well as keeping in touch with your audiences. Learn more about this here.  

Limit animations and video: Use object builds and slide transitions judiciously. Object builds (animations), such as bullet points, should not be animated on every slide. Since your presentation will be broadcast over the web connection the simpler it is, the better. Video will most likely not play correctly and may freeze so we recommend hiding any slides with video and sharing any video via a web app if you have one. 

Use high-quality icons and infographics including photographs. You can take your own high-quality photographs with your digital camera, purchase professional stock photography, or use the plethora of high-quality images available on line (be cautious of copyright issues, however). Never simply stretch a small, low-resolution photo to make it fit your layout – doing so will degrade the resolution even further, resulting an out-of-focus image which is a sign of the amateur. Avoid using PowerPoint® Clip Art or other cartoonish line art. 

Use data to tell stories: Always ask yourself, “How much detail do I need?” Presenters are usually guilty of including too much data in their on-screen charts. There are several ways to display your data in graphic form. Educate yourself on the art of data visualisation by reading books such as ‘Data Story’ by Nancy Duarte. 

Audience engagement: Your online audience will love it if you engage them and this will also force memory retention of your subject. You could use something as simple as Kahoot to create an online quiz or you could use the voting methods available in Zoom or other online meeting software. Also consider other ways to create Audience Engagement such as Meeting Architecture. 

Orai promises to make anyone become a better public speaker with the help of artificial intelligence. After you download and install the free app, you recite your speech into the app, and it sends the recorded data to the cloud, where the AI analyzes it. Orai then parses the speech for red flags. For instance, the app tracks the number of “ums” that you utter and points them out to you as unnecessary filler words that are signs of hesitation. It also tells you how clearly you are pronouncing words and counts the number of words that you say in a minute, monitoring the pace of your speech.

And Orai measures the “energy” of your speech, like whether you speak in a monotone that will put people to sleep or whether you emphasize certain words. “Some people don’t emphasize the right words or they say ‘um or ah’ or they speak too fast,” the creator explains. “We’ve used machine learning algorithm and trained it on thousands of talks.” Much like Toastmasters, Orai offers you a safe environment to practice in, giving you positive reinforcement and practice. The team is taking feedback and is planning to add features and other updates. Among the improvements the company wants to deliver: analysis of how you use your hands and non-verbal cues from your facial expressions.

So now you have no excuse to not have an impactful voice! Read on if you’d like to find out more about our online and in-person training courses. 

Out with the old, in with the new

Death-by-PowerPoint, Bullet-Points, Reading slides; these are just some of the mistakes today’s presenters make when trying to communicate effectively. Our presentation course focuses on  how to effectively use the latest interactive and multimedia technologies to really create and impact!

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Attendees leave the presentation training course with key tools and techniques which flip their presentations from just ‘blah’ to ‘WOW’, ‘amazing’, ‘incredible’ etc. The resulting presentation is more memorable and ultimately seals a deal or nails a point home. Our corporate presentation training can add real value to your business because it’s not solely about ‘the presentation’. Our presentation learning courses, offer strategic tools to convey messages with conviction and confidence, giving your staff important communication and interpersonal skills that can be used in many other settings to help them successfully sell an idea or product.

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Our presentation skills training courses are designed to work for YOU

We know that one size doesn’t fit all so we customize our public presentation training depending on your needs: Have a fear of presenting? No worries, we’ll focus on developing your communication skills so you’ve got confidence and presence when speaking. Want a kickass presentation template designed and then rolled out to your salespeople? No drama, we’ll teach the fundamentals of effective presentations and how to use creative design tools to help push your message. Have a CFO who reads every one of his 60 slides at every meeting? Oops…can’t help there. Kidding. Your CFO just needs to learn more about presenting – we’ll show them what to do, and what not to do in keeping your audience alive.

Be trained in presenting with the professionals at Audience Alive. We’ve been around the block since 2001 and would love to use our experience, industry know-how and presentation expertise to help you become the ultimate presenter…admired by the masses…out to save the world. But seriously, we would. Presentation skills training is our thing!

Please choose from the audience engaging options below: