Combine these tips with the right technology to take your presentations to the next level
Whether your workplace is on-site, fully remote, or a combination of the two, it’s hard to understate the value of a good presentation. These meetings are often directly linked to additional funding, client confidence, increased profits, and employee performance, making it critical for employees to have the skills and technology they need to keep audiences engaged.
We’ve rounded up seven strategies for giving an effective work presentation — no matter where your audience is.
For more effective strategies on running hybrid meetings and presentations, check out our guide, How to run a meeting that maximizes collaboration and efficiency.
7 ways to give better work presentations
Start at the end
Before you start brainstorming or develop your deck, ask yourself, “What do I want the audience to do after they’ve walked away?” The answer to this question will act as a North Star for any content in the deck. Think about your ultimate goal and break that down into the key points you want to convey.
Here’s an example: If your goal is to gain more funding for your department, your key points might be the amount of revenue your department has brought to the company, positive feedback from happy clients, and the potential return on that investment. The entire presentation should work together to tell the right story with plenty of supporting arguments.
Tell a story
What does “telling a story” actually mean in this context? The narrative acts as the path to your call to action. It’s a common theme that weaves your presentation together. For example, if you’re trying to get a potential prospect to hire your company, the narrative may be how you’ve already solved similar business problems for other organizations. The steps to solving those problems act as the chapters in the story — and each chapter should flow to the next. This will help keep your audience engaged.
It’s also important to note that developing a story doesn’t mean the entire story ends up in the deck. If you want to hold your audience’s attention, keep the presentation moving at a brisk pace and avoid simply repeating walls of text from your slides.
Did You Know?:The RICOH Meeting 360 uses active speaker focus technology to automatically highlight presenters on camera. Click here to learn more.
Trust the data (and make it look good)
Each work presentation should include some data to support the story. The key is to strike the right balance between the amount of data and the inherent storyline. If you’re leading a training session, you may have only one or two data points explaining why a particular work method is effective. However, if your presentation concerns the latest financial reports, every slide might include data of some kind. In either scenario, it’s important not to place too much information on any one slide, as that might overwhelm your audience.
If your presentation is particularly data-heavy, find visually interesting ways to present the information and make it more digestible. Use graphs, charts, and other graphics in brand-right colors and fonts to put the numbers in the correct context. After all, a pie chart is a lot easier to process than a column of percentages.
Practice, practice, practice
As much as possible, prepare for every scenario. This means creating talk tracks, or a loose outline of relevant points that can work as an informal script. If it’s a group presentation, determine speaking roles and the talking points for each slide. A good talk track doesn’t need to have every word you or your team will say in the presentation — just enough to ensure you follow the narrative and guide the audience through the key points. You want to sound confident but not over-rehearsed.
Preparation also means paying close attention to the ancillary details, including ensuring the presentation is accessible to all presenters and the audience. This is especially true for remote work presentations, because it’s harder to collaborate from different locations. Test microphones and cameras before the big meeting to avoid getting derailed by technical difficulties. Also, in the spirit of contingency plans, each team member should have a basic understanding of their colleagues’ talk tracks in case someone cannot make it. A prepared presenter will always be a more effective presenter.
Be engaging
Knowing your presentation is one thing. Delivering it is another. As you and your team present, it’s important to sound confident, engaging, and knowledgeable. During an in-person work presentation, this could mean looking the audience members in the eye as you talk and not moving around the room in a distracting manner. In a remote presentation, this means staying focused on the screen even when you’re not the one speaking. If it appears that you’re multitasking, your audience will assume the presentation is not a priority for you — so it won’t be for them, either.
As the Harvard Business Review notes, it’s also helpful to minimize “crutch” words or mannerisms during presentations. These are the things we do and say when we’re stuck and don’t know what to say, which often manifest as filler words such as “um” and “like.” If you’re particularly nervous, consider recording a rehearsal of your presentation. Then you can listen and look for places where you lean on those crutches.
That said, mistakes happen even with plenty of practice, so be prepared to recover quickly. Don’t dwell on it; if you lose your train of thought or stumble over a word, take a beat, review your speaker notes quickly, and return to the presentation. If a team member makes a mistake, don’t draw attention to it by making a face or appearing frustrated. Instead, allow them to recover or politely offer help if necessary.
Did You Know?:The RICOH Meeting 360 is compatible with multiple video conferencing platforms, including Zoom®, Microsoft Teams®, Cisco Webex®, and Google Meet®. Click here to learn more.
Leave time for Q&A
The end of a work presentation isn’t necessarily the end of the meeting. Stakeholders will likely have follow-up questions or additional thoughts, so give yourself time to have those conversations. Determine who will be responsible for answering questions and do your best to anticipate what those questions might be.
Even with preparation, you might not have all the answers right away — and that’s okay. Not every question must be answered immediately after the presentation. Instead of just saying, “I don’t know,” a simple “I can get that answer for you” goes a long way. Be sure to set clear deadlines to share answers to questions or complete the subsequent actions following the presentation.
Invest in the right technology
In today’s hybrid world, technology plays a major role in how to give an effective presentation. It helps create a compelling experience for all presentation attendees, no matter where they are. Use high-quality microphones and high-definition cameras to make it easier for the remote audience to follow along. Make sure whatever equipment you use is intuitive and compatible with your company’s preferred virtual meeting platforms.
Our recommendation: RICOH Meeting 360
In an increasingly hybrid professional environment, presenting ideas and results to a team can be challenging — especially without the right equipment. For teams looking to fortify their hybrid work presentations, the RICOH Meeting 360 is the ideal solution.
Meeting 360 combines 360-degree HD panoramic views with multiple high-quality microphones and speakers, resulting in high-quality images and crystal-clear audio. Active Speaker Focus automatically highlights active speakers so that attendees can hear and see them clearly. In addition, thanks to an intuitive user interface, presenters can easily change the camera layout to create a more palatable viewing experience for all in attendance. It’s also compatible with most workplace conference call platforms, including Zoom®, Microsoft Teams®, Cisco Webex®, and Google Meet®.
If you’re ready to deliver more effective work presentations with Meeting 360, learn more here.
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