The next 10 minutes would be terrifying for Rahul while he stood near the stage, waiting to be introduced. Carrying a deck of cue cards in one hand and was covering a humongous yawn with the other. He couldn’t sleep the night properly before the presentation due to anxiety, and it was clearly taking a toll on him. He was further getting restless with every passing second. The introduction was done, and it was time for Rahul to proceed to the podium. It was his time now. Apparently, his hands were all shaky. He squeezed cue cards in a way that seemed a little unusual, and he had the other hand snugged in his pocket. He was on the podium already. Rahul greeted the audience with a little hesitance in his voice and took his cue card’s help. He started his presentation.
If you can resonate with Rahul, you are not alone. Public speaking or presentation is not an easy thing to do. The first few minutes under a spotlight on the stage can be really tough. According to a statistic, public speaking is the most feared thing in this world, second just to death.
You can fight this feeling or the phobia you have for a presentation if you follow the hacks listed below. It can also greatly help you take your presentation skills a notch up if you are looking forward to becoming a seasoned public speaker.
12 presentation hacks you should know
1. Know what you are talking about
One thing that can potentially throw you off a presentation is something that you wouldn’t expect. It is not the number of audiences who are there to hear you or the slides or the equipment. It is not having an in-depth understanding of the subject that you are presenting. Imagine a situation where you are asked to deliver a presentation, and you have no option but to make it work. You go through the basics around the topic that you need to present and come up with a deck of slides. How do you think your presentation would go?
Trust me, and you will need a miracle to save yourself from being on the stage. This is an important fact, and the sooner you realize, the better it is for you. If you do not have an in-depth knowledge of what you are presenting, your audience will most certainly know.
Suppose you can do just one thing before you have to deliver a presentation. Without a doubt, it should be getting deep knowledge of the topic that you need to present if you have that you do not need any script or cue cards. You will have a different level of confidence while you sail through your presentation.
2. Have an outline
Having a structure while you present is very important. Not just for you but also your audience. In the absence of a proper structure, you will struggle to deliver. And your audience will have a hard time collecting insights or information from your presentation.
With that being said after you are done gaining an in-depth understanding of the topic. There are chances that you are still muddled up with your thoughts. You must give your understanding of the right skeleton. It is suggested not to add a structure where you jot everything down like a script or memorize it. Try and remember the important keywords. Before you do so, you should sit down with a pen-paper and write the outcome you want to achieve. Once you are aware of what you want to achieve, the rest is just a cakewalk.
Now all you need to do is find out 3 points that will take your audience to the outcome. Memorize just those 3 points that, too, in the form of a keyword. Once you do that, all you have to do is talk about those 3 points keeping the outcome in mind.
3. Practice as much as you can
Over planning is the worst that you can do for your presentation delivery. When you plan more than required, it will make you look unnatural and take away your agility.
You should practice more than you plan. Just create a basic structure or outline of the presentation. The more you practice, the closer you will reach the topic, and the delivery will be natural. Also, if you practice enough, you will look more credible on the stage. To make the presentation look even better, record it in advance so that you can review it. Pin the problems you find in the delivery of the presentation and then focus on the points.
4. Ditch the already prepared fancy templates
Many people spend a serious amount on purchasing ready to use “business” templates from the XYZ website, and I think it is a sheer waste of resources. There are largely two reasons for this:
- A PowerPoint template will never make your presentation any better
- Your speech will be made to fit the already prepared template
Know that the only thing that will take your presentation to another level is by improving on the delivery part of the presentation. If you cannot get the delivery part right, no template can save you from that. Therefore, it is always a better option to trade “impact” over the template.
5. Focus on the Impact
You can increase the impact of your presentation by following the below mentioned 4 points. You must focus more on the quality of the quantity. Engage with whatever you have with your audience. Make them feel like they are a part of your presentation by showing empathy.
6. Cut the redundant slides
When it comes to reviewing your final slide deck, think of the following: when you are on the other side sitting in the audience, what are the things that you hate the most?
Is it the pointers that the presenter says as it is from the presentation? Is it the headers on each slide that states the obvious like “Table” over every table? Is it the last slide thanking the audience with words like “Thank you so much for you, are there any doubts or questions”?
An important thing to note is that all these things are unnecessary. Think of it like this, if you have that much information and explanation in your slide that the audience will understand. Then, email is a much better alternative. Instead of holding the audience hostage for hours in the auditorium to see you say or read what is there on the presentation already. Next time you make a presentation, make sure you cut the slide, which you think the audience will find redundant.
7. Facilitate discussions
You can use a great way to take the pressure off your shoulder by making your presentation more like a discussion. It is much better if it can become a two-way communication. You are no more stressed about remembering everything or keeping the audience involved. Switch your presentation from a one-way lecture mode to a two-way discussion mode. For this to happen, you will have to talk WITH your audience, engage with them, and ask questions.
8. Ask one question after every line
Never go on the podium with a rock-solid or a watertight speech. Instead, use this hack called one question after one line. All you have to worry about is memorizing the first line you have to speak, and the first question you will have to ask. As you ask your first question, give yourself some space to relax. After the audience responds, you can move forward with the rest of your “un-memorized” speech.
For example, if you share your experience dealing with the new operating system on your devices in the office… “My first experience using the new OS was pathetic. The system hanged in every 5 minutes. Has anyone of you experienced anything similar to this?”
9. Empathize
This is one of my favorite hacks to grab the audience’s attention. People won’t listen to you until they know that you understand them and empathize with them. They are much likelier to pay attention to you if you can communicate that you share their pain. Like in the example above, when you talk about the new OS, people might share some of their stories with you. This is where you can demonstrate that you empathize with them and tell your story.
You must give your audience the right feedback. Make them feel that you understand their pain, agony, and frustration that they have gone through in the past. Further, engage them by asking pertinent questions to show that you are really concerned.
Now that it is already established that empathy allows you to take your connection with the audience to an all-new level. It is also a great tool that enables you to present an idea to the audience that the audience might be reluctant to.
10. Be explicit about the action
A huge reason why audiences cannot keep their interest in the business presentation is that they do not know why they have to be there. There are many times where presentations are solely to pass information, and there is no action required by the audience. To save your audience from getting all restless, be clear whether some actions are required from them.
There are high chances that you will have to need the audience to take some actions (may fill a survey, test a new process or system, etc.). Whatever it is, make sure you explicitly state it to the audience and what you expect from them in terms of the action.
11. Quick question
Let’s say now you are done with the structured speech of your presentation, and now it is time for you to take questions before you are done. This is the bit where you can relax a bit, and all you need to do is react to the question thrown at you. It is often the case that the presenter starts to ramble long answers. This makes the audience much more frustrated, and they ask you more and more questions. This is because you slipped from relaxing to rambling. Rambling your answers is pretty normal, especially for beginners, when they transition from the structured approach (i.e., speech) to an unstructured approach (i.e., QnA).
Rambling answers can kill the entire presentation of yours. The trick is to keep your answers in QnA concise and to the point. If you ramble, you give scope to your audience to find loopholes and pits in the presentation.
12. Focus more on the beginning and the end
The audience is quicker than you think and will take no time to judge you as you walk to the podium. Therefore it is all the more important to make your first words count. You must reflect confidence and make a strong statement in the very beginning. Try and refrain from using the statements everyone uses as the standard ‘good morning’ and ‘thank yous.’ It is best if you start with something which they would want to listen to, like “starting next week, you won’t be having any redundant administrative work on your desks.”
Similarly, the audience will remember the last thing you say. Make sure you end on something positive so that they can associate with you in a good way. Saying things like “We can do it!” etc. sounds all nice, but it is too cliched and sounds pretty much like an empty statement if used in any business meeting or presentation. Therefore you should spend a good amount of time coming up with a great closing statement. You can try something like, “All you need is to bring just minimal incremental changes every day you walk to your desk. These small changes over time will transform you into a better version of yourself.”