Learn how these 10 best practices can help you become an outstanding achiever when you are communicating to your peers.

The corporate world is full of meetings where you have to inform, persuade, and solicit your peers in order to get more time, more resources, more money.

And whether you’re updating your leadership on the status of your project, informing your staff about how your work will positively impact their daily routine, or raising flags for new risks that you have identified, this almost always happens via a presentation.

Presenting complex information in an easy-to-understand format is always challenging. And to make things worse, you’ve probably never been taught how to do so and the corporate course you took a while back wasn’t nearly as helpful as you thought it would be.

The tips listed below are here to solve 80% of your presentation problems in 20% of the time needed to upgrade.

1. Script your communication

If you want to achieve an effective, outstanding presentation, you first need to tell a compelling story. No matter what you are presenting, there should always be a setting, characters, a plot, a conflict, and a resolution. And if you want to deliver this efficiently, your audience must feel the pain of the conflict along with the relief of the resolution.

Pixar director Pete Docter puts it perfectly:

“What you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to write about an event in your life that made you feel some particular way. And what you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to get the audience to have that same feeling.”

Yes, you need to tell a story even if you are presenting the issues you are facing with the integration of your Enterprise Service Bus with the outdated IT system of your subsidiary or walking your management through your monthly profit & loss statement. As for the characters, they don’t necessarily need to be people. For instance, Q1 profit, KPI X, or Airbus A350 could very well become the characters of your story. There is always a story you can tell, and if you do so, you will score big points and drastically increase your chance of success.

2. Speak, don’t read

No matter the size of your audience, each presentation requires a connection. As such, you need to talk to them in a way that inspires them to genuinely want to listen to you.

That’s not going to happen if you show them your back and read the content of your slide.

If you want to get their attention, don’t rely on your PowerPoint to tell the story, only use it as a visual support to emphasize your talking points.

There is no shame having printed notes or using the “notes” function on PowerPoint to give you confidence in your delivery. In any case, never write full sentences on your notes, but rather keywords and short phrases; your speech will sound much more natural that way.

When you address your audience, look at them. Select random people in the room, look at them directly in the eyes while talking, and alternate the individuals you are talking to in your audience. It will not only make you look more natural and more comfortable in your delivery, but it will also make your audience feel like you are actually talking to them on a personal level.

3. Rehearse

So you’ve got your script, you’ve got your slides; you think you are ready. But hold on a second!

Never go into a presentation unprepared. You’ve got to make sure that the flow is right, and there is only one way to do that: do a test run! Even if you are a seasoned expert, your rehearsal will pinpoint areas you can improve in — whether in your speech or on your slides — and it will definitely increase your confidence on the day of the delivery. You will notice the times where you can actually pause to make a statement or add a little anecdote to reinforce a point. This will give you the opportunity to work on your body language to improve your delivery, as well as on some gestures to emphasize your talking points.

Finally, it will let you monitor the time of your delivery, which takes us to the next point.

4. Time it

Respecting the time allocated to your presentation is an important courtesy you should offer your colleagues. Nothing shouts “amateur” more than a speaker who largely overlaps his allotted time or finishes way ahead of schedule. Tailor the amount of information you want to deliver to the time allocated so that your delivery doesn’t sound like a constant flow of jabber. And if you see that you have extra time, use this opportunity to add a relevant and engaging example.

Always allow for some time at the end of a performance for any questions your audience may have. And do ask them once you have finished your delivery if they have anything they want to clarify.

5. Look professional… on screen too

A first impression takes only 50 milliseconds. And 96% of that first impression will be what your audience sees: you and your presentation on the screen.

Your slide deck is literally in the spotlight.

So first and foremost, make sure your presentation is in line with your corporate branding guidelines. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Never ever use those default PowerPoint templates and special effects that everyone has seen a million times, as they are the best sedatives you can offer your audience!

Craft your slides and create an attractive design to make your presentation stand out and convey the idea you want your audience to focus on.

Cut out any unnecessary details and keep each slide simple and to the point. Forget about fancy transitions, lengthy bullet points, clip art, sounds, special effects, etc. There are plenty of tutorials out there that can give you all the information you need on designing a slide deck.

Consider each slide of your presentation as a frame of the storyboard that will bring your audience along with you on the path of your story, allowing them to arrive at the same conclusion as you. If you manage to do that, you will definitely seal the deal.

6. Don’t trust technology

You can be certain of one thing: when giving a presentation, aside from the fact that you will be nervous, you will, at some point, encounter a technical issue, be it the lamp of the projector burning out, a missing cable for the sound system, the low battery of the lapel mic, you name it!

While you can’t avoid unforeseen issues, it’s always a good idea to personally check the equipment a few hours before your presentation, and if possible, plan for backup equipment (and an extra shirt, just in case). A final on-site rehearsal will also give you the ability to gauge your surroundings and see how you can move around when you will be delivering your presentation. This will help you overcome the fear of having to stand in front of an audience in an unfamiliar place. Make sure that all the equipment is working properly, and if it is, test it again just to double-check.

7. Tailor it to your audience

You could be the most sought-after expert in your field, but if they don’t understand what you are telling them, what is the point of even speaking to them?

You’ve probably been in situations already when your kids ask you: “Why is the sky blue?” or “How can you tell the difference between a preposition and an adverb?”. You take things for granted because you have known them for years, you have mastered them, but passing on this knowledge means questioning yourself first and putting yourself in the shoes of whom you are going to address. Whether you present to unqualified personnel or to your board of directors, always ensure that you deliver simple and easy-to-understand content to them.

Kill the jargon, acronyms, and extensive technical details. If you get a chance, grab a colleague with roughly the same background as your audience and run him or her through the information you are going to present. What seems absolutely obvious to you may puzzle them, and vice versa.

Always ask who will be the audience before even starting to build your presentation. There is no one-size-fits-all solution in this matter!

Here is a short tip when it comes to top executives: get straight to the point. Don’t try to drown them with technical details. They want to know what the issues are, what the options are, what is the recommendation, and above all else, how much it costs and how it will impact the business. And they want it in 2 minutes. If you need a lot of data to support that, keep it exclusively in the handouts, and certainly not on your slides.

8. Captivate

To keep your audience engaged, you will need to cut out the lengthy details, work on the way you deliver your presentation (volume and tone of voice, pauses, pace, body language, movement on the stage) and keep everything short and sweet.

Make sure your content is appealing, and don’t be afraid to surprise your audience. Touch on their feelings. Make them participate. Offer them something unexpected.

Give them the time and the chance to follow your thought process so that they can reach the conclusion you want to give them before you even mention it.

Speak clearly, slowly, and remember to breathe. I repeat, remember to breathe. That is a very important point, especially if you are not used to talking in public. Write it down in your notes, in bold and in red. Breathe! Use your rehearsal to spot the times where you tend to accelerate your delivery and deliberately write down when to pause.

9. Define a clear topic

Make it absolutely clear from the very beginning what your presentation is about. And make sure your meeting invite, poster title, intro slide title, file name, and the name of your handouts are all consistent and clearly identify what your presentation is about.

Before you start, don’t forget to introduce yourself, so that your audience can identify your field of expertise and your legitimacy as to why it is you who is presenting and not someone else.

10. And a clear outcome

Always make sure that there is a clear takeaway at the end of your delivery. Once you are done speaking, it should be crystal clear as to WHY you gave a presentation in the first place, and what you expect to happen next.

Efficient corporate presentations are meant to trigger action.

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All of these tips are nothing new, and just common sense. Yet, it is still very common in the corporate world to see brilliant subject matter experts reading aloud their cluttered, amateur-looking slide deck in a boring, monotone voice that does nothing but sedate the audience. And then those brilliant experts get frustrated that they are not being understood and that they don’t get the necessary resources to pursue their work. Don’t forget that 30% of the time, projects fail because of miscommunication or a lack of clarity.

Don’t let this happen to you!

If in doubt, or if you just don’t have time to build effective project communication, drop me a message and let us discuss how I can help.