Top tips for creating memorable presentations
At some stage in most people’s careers, you’ll be asked to give a presentation. It might be a formal presentation with a PowerPoint deck to a Board, or an informal ‘Q&A’ with your team, or anything in between! But whatever the scope and scale, you want that presentation to be memorable, otherwise it is a complete waste of your time, and the time of those you’re presenting to.
When a presentation is memorable - for the right reasons! - it’s great for your professional reputation, and it’s great for your audience who have the opportunity to learn something new.
Here’s a few of our top tips we’ve used to help prep clients to prepare for their presentations…
Visuals that add value
There’s no point using a visual if it doesn’t add any value to your presentation. Think about every TED Talk you’ve ever seen - a large number of them use know visuals at all, and those that do are used sparingly.
Remember - YOU are the presentation, not what’s on the screen! And you don’t want people distracted from your message by trying to read a PowerPoint slide or getting lost in an image that doesn’t reflect your message.
If you do use visuals, here’s some high-level guardrails:
If you use a diagram, explain it. Even a simple diagram might be difficult for some people to follow. Introduce it by saying something like, ‘What you see here is…’
If you’re using photography, make sure you have the rights to use it. Using a few google images in a fun presso to your team is fine, but when presenting to wider audiences, don’t risk a lawsuit! At the minimum, make sure you attribute the source of the image.
Make it easy to read / see. Ditch the list of long-winded dot points - the font gets too small to read, people are too busy reading them instead of listening to you. Whatever is on the screen should just be a guideline to help people follow the story you’re telling - the PowerPoint slide is NOT your speaking points!
Use of emotion and humour
Humans connect through emotion. So when you use emotion and humour (where appropriate), you’re more likely to connect with your audience and be remembered. Emotion doesn’t have to be something that elicits a tear - it could be a sense of injustice, happiness, pride, or anything in between.
In those famous words of Maya Angelou, “… people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Compelling stories
So how do you get emotion into a presentation? The best way is to tell a compelling story! Our brains are hardwired to respond to storytelling, so if you can tell a story that illustrates your key point or demonstrates why what you’re doing is important, you’re onto a winner! See our article on the power of strategic storytelling for an easy storytelling formula.
Body language and tone of voice
Were you ever in a university lecture theatre where you were bored to the point of going to sleep? Even the most dry of subjects can be made interesting if you vary your tone of voice and use even basic body language, like hand gestures and eye contact.
Connection with your audience
‘So what?’ … is not a question you want your audience thinking! Make the content relevant to your audience. Talk about how your content relates to their work or their stakeholders, or involve them by asking questions to them throughout.
Contrast in your delivery
This is particularly important for online presentation delivery. Nobody listens to a talking head. Switch it up! Use images, whiteboards, video, polls, break-out rooms … changing things up every 5-10 minutes will keep people engaged in the content.
