Tips To Improve Your Presentation Skills From Industry Insiders

Our Presentation Experts Give Their Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Giving a powerful presentation is a fundamental skill for any manager wanting to make an impact in the boardroom. However, many struggle with effectively conveying their message and engaging their audience when the stakes are high. This prevents professionals from advancing their careers and organisations from implementing winning strategies.

According to our presentation expert Tom Bodell this is top of the list of tips to improve your presentation Skills.

“The thing I see most often is presenters talking to and reading from the screen. With practice and some coaching, this is quite easy to fix and has huge benefits.”

The key is developing a systematic approach that allows you to tailor your presentation, structure your content, and deliver with confidence. Without a robust framework for preparation and delivery, even experienced managers falter under pressure.

Of course, we have many courses that can help you sharpen your presentation skills and deliver impactful presentations. But in this guide, we’ll give you a taste of the exclusive boardroom-tested presentation tips from our industry experts to help you craft compelling presentations that get you the results you seek.

By implementing these techniques, you can develop the presence and prowess to inspire stakeholders, persuade executives, and drive change through impactful communication.

With enough practice using the following strategies, you can fine-tune your abilities until you can walk into any high-stakes boardroom situation and deliver a presentation that leaves a powerful and lasting impression.

Match Your Presentation to Your Purpose

Crafting a Compelling Pitch

When your objective is securing that critical buy-in for a new product, service, or initiative, the most convincing presentations put the audience first. Thoroughly research their pain points and needs. Then, vividly demonstrate how your offering perfectly solves their problems and fulfils their desires.

For example, if pitching travel executives on an innovative booking app, discuss how it eases their biggest headaches around managing reservations and customer service. Paint a picture of happier travellers who can finalise plans on the go and agents who can quickly handle requests. Appealing to emotions also makes pitches more powerful. Share success stories of families bonding during easy beach vacations or businesses transforming through streamlined coordination. Vividly convey how you’ll turn audiences’ aspirations into reality.

Communicating a Change

Presentations on internal changes or initiatives must balance information with inspiration. Start by providing ample context. For example, when rolling out a new expenses portal, explain the issues it addresses, like disconnected systems and cumbersome approvals. This gives meaning to daily tasks.

Emphasise “why” to generate buy-in. Link specific changes to overarching company goals. For instance, show how an office reorganisation better aligns teams to key growth areas. Vividly convey the improved future state, with coordinated efforts leading to shared success. Outline the next steps clearly and invite audience perspectives.

Making Your Case for Promotion

When presenting your achievements and potential to advance your career, let your track record shine. Share metrics that quantify your impact, like “Increased supply chain efficiency by 15%” or “Reduced customer complaints by 30%.” Sprinkle in relevant anecdotes that highlight your leadership, team building, and communication skills.

Articulate how your background makes you perfectly suited for the greater responsibilities you’re seeking. For example, “My experience managing cross-functional projects equips me to oversee entire business units.” You should ensure you are presenting your strengths with passion and purpose because if you believe it, so will your audience. You can also align your goals with company objectives by showing how attaining the promotion will allow you to expand your contributions.

Structure Your Content for Maximum Impact

Conveying Strategic Messages

When presenting key company initiatives, connect everything back to the big-picture vision. You should introduce each idea using vivid language, like “This will take us to the next level.” Then, you could explain how specific initiatives align with strategic goals around growth, innovation, and customer experience – whatever is relevant to you.

You should also make use of storytelling elements to make things stick. When it comes to any important points that you want to get across, it could be ideal to repeat key phrases throughout so that the message sticks.

We know that aligning your presentation with a company strategy can be difficult, so here’s  some advice and tips to improve your presentation skills from Robin Chandler co-founder of Impact Factory on what you can do to make it work:

• Do your research
• Read their website
• Ask open questions in meetings or calls  
• Note any language, keywords or phrases used
• Scope out their vision, goals and values
• Identify any key wants or needs
• Put together three or four “What if” questions drawn from your research

Persuading and Engaging Your Audience

If your goal is to persuade or inspire your audience, then you should build your presentation around an inspiring central theme and be passionate about it. Because if you’re passionate, it will show. You can support it with three key points that provide compelling evidence.

Back up your points with relevant stats, case studies, and anecdotes. For example, “Our 2020 survey showed over 50% of customers prioritise mobile functionality.” Use rhetorical techniques judiciously, like repetitive refrains and groups of three for emphasis. Close by summarising key points and envisioning the positive future state. This engaging structure makes your presentation more powerful.

Master Delivery for Maximum Impact

How you deliver your content is just as important as what you say.

First, own the stage. Walk decisively to the centre and plant your feet shoulder-width apart, shoulders back, and head held high. This powerful posture radiates confidence and authority without saying a word. Pause before speaking to sweep your gaze across the whole room, making brief eye contact with key individuals.

Next, use vocal techniques to maximise engagement. When you’re sharing key points, increase the volume. Speed up as you cover new developments or goals – your energy gets people hooked. But if you get to something emotional, slow down. It adds that gravitas you want. To let the big ideas sink in, use a strategic pause. And to clean up your presentation even further, ditch all those “um” and “uh”.

Continuously read the room and refine as you go. If people look puzzled, clarify things on the fly. When you see heads nodding, dig deeper into that topic. Tweak your delivery based on reactions for maximum impact. If energy is low, inject some humour or pose rhetorical questions to re-engage everyone. Presenting is a skill you refine over time through deliberate practice and incorporating audience feedback.

If you’re not used to it, speaking in front of an audience can be terrifying. But with our years of experience, we have a few pro tips to improve your presentation skills from presentation expert Bill Sheehan that can help you beat the nervousness and stage fright in no time:

• Start small
• Keep it short and speak to small groups 
• Speak at a breakfast meeting or a team meeting. Think about this as standing and moving to the front of the room and saying what you could have said from your seat.
• Take any opportunity to “Say a few words”
• Prepare an “Elevator Pitch” no more than 30 seconds
• Choose a cause or organisation to champion and talk to people about it

However, a bit of nervousness can still be good for your presentation. It allows you to pay closer attention to your audience and gives you extra energy to make your presentation more relatable and engaging.

Engage With Your Audience

Interactions That Resonate

Thoughtful questions are a powerful way to get leaders to envision possibilities and share insights. Try asking, “How could we leverage AI to take customer service to the next level?”

You can also facilitate productive discussion around key decisions like entering new markets. Pose an open-ended question to prompt perspectives and experience sharing among leaders without breaking into groups.

Aim for leaders to speak around 20% of the time by substituting 1-2 slides with discussion prompts. This boosts engagement without disrupting the flow.

Read the Room

Keep a close eye on leaders throughout your presentation. Are some disengaged or looking puzzled? Quickly share a compelling customer success story or clarify complex points to re-engage them. When you see heads nodding vigorously, press deeper into that topic.

After you wrap up, reflect on the reactions of your audience to refine things for next time. Did a certain market research stat mesmerise them? Lead with that kind of data again. Continuously honing your ability to engage senior audiences leads to successful presentations that motivate and drive change.

Nail Your Presentation Prep

Refine Through Rehearsal

Whenever possible, do dry runs in the actual venue so there won’t be any surprises. Check sight lines, test mics, and get familiar with the stage. For virtual presentations, rehearse using the exact platform and setup.

Recruit colleagues with diverse perspectives to provide feedback on areas like content flow, visual appeal, and audience engagement. Their input will be invaluable for refining your presentation.

Record yourself presenting and review it afterwards to polish delivery aspects like pace, projection, eye contact, and posture. The more you replicate the real deal, the more confident and prepared you’ll feel.

Make the Most of Presentation Tools

Take advantage of presentation software like PowerPoint and features to boost your impact as a manager. Pepper in polls, quizzes and Q&A to get the audience actively involved. For virtual talks, leverage digital whiteboards, groovy animations, embedded video, whatever grabs their attention.

Use built-in tools like slide timers, reminders, and speaker notes to stay smooth and on track. Record yourself presenting and watch after to pick up new ways to improve your storytelling, messaging and flow. With the right prep, you can nail any setting.

Tips to Continuously Improve Your Presentation Skills

Review Your Impact

After big presentations, evaluate how well you got your points across and achieved your goals. Send out a quick survey to get feedback on things like clarity, ability to inspire action, engagement and more.

Analyse questions and comments people made during Q&A. What got them fired up or confused? Check whether your proposals led to actual changes. Measure objectives like website traffic and social media buzz.

Gather Feedback from Others

Solicit constructive critiques from multiple trusted observers, including leaders, mentors, colleagues, and professional coaches. Have them assess body language, pacing, message coherence, visual design, audience rapport, and more.

Listen to feedback without getting defensive. Look for consistent themes in multiple assessments – those likely indicate skills needing improvement. Ask mentors who excel at public speaking to share their best preparation strategies and delivery techniques.

Implement Feedback and Iterate

Don’t just listen to feedback—act on it. Create an action plan to focus on 1-2 skills at a time. If transitions seem disjointed, focus on smoothing out your narrative flow through storyboarding. If graphics were lacklustre, research principles of effective slide design.

Pick feedback points to implement between each presentation. For example, you could focus first on improving eye contact. Then, work on slowing your pace for the next talk. Keep building skills in areas like limiting nervous gestures, increasing audience participation, and, moreover, successive talks.

However, we know that accepting feedback isn’t always easy, especially when it’s not something you want to hear. So, how can you take feedback on board without letting it get to your feelings?

Here’s what presentation expert Katie Kensit has to say

People will always tell you things they think you can improve or could have done better.

Thank them for their helpful input and then ask them what they liked or thought you did well.

In effect you ask them to feed your confidence rather than your doubts and fears.

Take Your Presentation Skills to the Next Level with Impact Factory

Whether you’re an aspiring manager looking to deliver high-impact talks or a leader ready to motivate teams, exceptional presentation skills are critical. Use this insider guide to craft compelling stories, command attention through confident delivery, and inspire audiences to action.

If you’re ready to become an influential communicator, Impact Factory’s intensive training programs can take your skills to the next level. Our personalised 1-on-1 and group courses will equip you with techniques to persuade, inspire, and lead through transformative presentations.

Contact Impact Factory to chat about your goals and the right training for you or your team. It’s time to unlock your inner storyteller, influencer and leader. Enrol in an Impact Factory course and watch your career reach new heights with presentation prowess. You got this!

FAQs

How can I improve my presentation tone?

Vary vocal pitch, volume, speed, and inflexion for emphasis and impact. Pay close attention to audience reactions to figure out your optimal tone and cadence. Speaking slowly and clearly typically improves tone. It takes practice, so record yourself and listen back.

What is the 10/20/30 rule?

The 10/20/30 rule provides guidelines for impactful and effective presentations:

• 10 slides maximum
• 20-minute presentation
• 30-point font minimum

This helps presenters keep content focused, concise, and visually appealing for audiences.

How can I get over stage fright?

To reduce stage fright, try:

• Seriously preparing to boost confidence
• Positive self-talk and picturing success
• Taking deep breaths and meditating before the go-time
• Avoiding caffeine right before
• Channelling nervous energy into passion

What are cue cards, and how are they used?

Cue cards contain short reminders for key points and facts. Glance at them briefly to stay on track, but don’t read full paragraphs. Limit content to essential keywords and prompts. Use a large font for easy, subtle reading. Practice with cue cards to build confidence.

Related Articles:

Are you ready to elevate your presentation skills? Explore our resources to get more information:

• Presentation With Impact – Talking in front of people can be overwhelming and easily get to your nerves. Our course can help you to build a strong stage presence and deliver your ideas with the desired impact. Learn more about the course and its benefits.
• How To Use Body Language To Enhance Your Presentation Skills – Mastering your gestures and expressions can help you to appear more confident and hold the attention of your audience. Here are simple, actionable tips you can implement in your next presentation.
• How To Create Impactful Presentation Slides  – Striking visuals, minimal text and smart use of data are only some of the necessities of modern presentation slides. Read our article to learn how to make your slides more impactful.

Tips To Improve Your Presentation Skills