A Roadmap To Becoming a Top Presenter

Presentation is all about communicating with your audience. You are either trying to inform, educate, persuade or sell something to them. It is important that you achieve the aim for which you prepared your presentation and in order to achieve this aim, you need to effectively connect with and engage your audience.



You need to attract and sustain their attention for as long as you are talking. Your audience needs to be so affected that even after they leave your presence, your words still resonate in their minds.

These are some tips to help you become a top presenter.

One main idea per slide: 

Each slide should contain one main idea. Separate your idea in different slides. More than one idea shouldn’t be placed on one slide in order to avoid confusing your audience. When using a slide show, make sure it doesn’t contain more than 10 slides and it shouldn’t last for more than 20 minutes. Your text font should be large enough to be read by the audience.

Leave the lights on: 

When you are using slide, there is the belief that switching off the lights will make the slides clearer but the thing is that switching off the light will not only cause your audience to sleep, it will also make them focus on the screen rather than on you who is speaking. At most times, your audience should have their eyes on you. These days there are projectors which are bright enough to allow you leave the room lights on.

Use Multimedia: 

A good presentation should contain graphics and images that are arranged in a way that can attract your audience attention. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Pick out images that are related to whatever topic you are presenting. They give a break from all the monotonous text. Your charts or graphs should be plotted in such a way that your audience doesn’t have to crack their brains to understand it. It should be simple. Videos can also be used to illustrate a point.

Tell stories: 

Human beings are captivated by stories. Stories arouse your audience interest and they want to hear more by paying attention. Use stories to illustrate your point, preferably human interest stories. It mustn’t be humorous but it should have a conclusion, the audience would be interested in knowing what was done to solve whatever issue you are talking about.

Take it slowly: 

Do not rush over your presentation. You audience needs to understand clearly whatever topic you are discussing. Rushing over your presentation defeats that aim. When presenting, remember to leave time for questions. Your audience might need clarifications on some areas.

Talk to your audience: 

Talk to your audience, do not talk at them. Make eye contact with your audience, it makes them feel connected. Looking above their foreheads or at the ceiling makes it look like rudeness so once in a while look into their eyes or try looking at their foreheads which is closer to their eye level. Ask questions that will make them feel involved, rhetorical questions can do. Assess how well you are connecting with your audience by looking at their non verbal gestures like facial expression and body movement.

Keep it simple: 

Don’t load your audience with too much information. If the presentation seems to be taking too long, they might zone out. Your words should be simple enough for quick understanding. Every technical term or jargon used should be well explained.

Move away from the podium: 

Do not hide behind the podium or use it as a shield between you and your audience. You should move away from it and get closer to your audience. Let nothing be a barrier between you and your audience. Getting closer to your audience will help you build a connection with them.

Respect your audience: 

Deal politely with your audience. Be courteous at all times. Even when a member of the audience is trying to be difficult, you must always remain professional. Show respect and courteousness regardless of the situation but be firm if need be. It is your reputation that is at stake, you don’t want to be the presenter that people will describe as rude or unprofessional.

Follow this Steps and you are on a road to becoming a Top Presenter in any field of choice.


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