A great presentation needs to be well prepared and then delivered with equal vigor to make it most effective. Several things should be kept in mind for getting a great impact to the presentation. In this post, we present 9 steps to a great presentation. Follow these steps for an effective presentation:

Step 1: What’s the Purpose – A presentation or a talk or a public speech needs to have a message. What this message should be? This should be clear before moving any further. The purpose of the talk should be identified and the message should be in line with this purpose.. To find out the purpose of the talk, ask yourself and others, “Why are we doing this?” Here’s how to find the purpose of your talk.

Step 2: Who’s the Audience – Once you know the purpose of the talk, next thing to find out is, “Who will be attending this talk?” Is the talk for upper management or your course class? Keep audience in mind for all the next steps.

Step 3: Research the Topic – So, now you know why you are presenting this talk and who will be attending it. With that in mind, start researching the topic. Gather information from as many resources as you can. While you do this, keep the purpose of the talk and your audience in mind.

Step 4: Organize the Message – Once you have completed step 3, you have researched the topic and collected some good information. Now, it is extremely important to organize this information logically to have a good flow in the presentation. Remember the school days? Introduction, Body and Conclusion. Use this simple rule. I have found this simple rule very helpful. Read How to Organize Your Message.

Step 5: Where’s the Party – Find out where the speech will be delivered. ‘Where’ does not mean the postal address or GPS location, rather the room itself. Visit the room before the scheduled time and note where you are going to stand, where the audience will be. This information should be used to plan your delivery.

Step 6: Practice, Practice, Practice and Practice some more – This is the step which will make a difference between a poor speech and a well delivered one. Even if you know the purpose and the audience, research your topic and organize your material but do not practice your hard work will be wasted. Remember practice makes perfect.

Next 3 steps are extremely important for delivering the talk. This is where you put the icing on the cake. These next steps are actually the techniques for a well-delivered speech. I have found that these techniques should be improved one at a time.

Steps 7, 8 and 9 are listed in order of difficulty. Voice Modulation is usually easiest to develop compared to other two.

Step 7: Voice Modulation – Voice modulation includes varying your volume, pitch and speed. A monotonous delivery is boring and audience can lose interest very quickly. Good voice modulation is one of the key ingredients for successful presentation.

Step 8: Gestures – Gestures or your body language in another key ingredient for great delivery. An engaging speaker uses gestures effectively. Use hand gestures don’t glue your hands to the lectern. And please whatever you do, do not put your hands in your pocket while talking.

Step 9: Eye contact – Where voice modulation will give some drama to the speech and gestures will make it more engaging, eye contact with audience will let you connect with them. When delivering a talk, look at the audience, move your eyes around the room. This way you are not looking at a single person during the presentation.

What works for you?

I have used and found these 9 steps very helpful. These have greatly helped me improve my presentation. Tell us

  • What are your tips?
  • What do you find useful?
  • Are there any tactics you found that have helped you?

Let’s hear from you, write your experiences in the comment.