a vital part of any good presentation

The 10 Key Elements of a Great Presentation Explained

Whether we’re at a team meeting or making a presentation for an audience, we all have to speak in public once in a while. 

That’s why public speaking causes so much anxiety and worry; the good news is that with preparation, practice, and other techniques, you will overcome your nervousness and perform exceptionally well! In this article, you will learn which elements make an excellent presentation.

The 10 Key Elements of a Great Presentation

We all want to make a good impression, build rapport, and ace any presentations that we do at work or when speaking in front of others in general. Some are great at it, and those who fail at it for the lack of proper guidance and experience, or worse, never even try to do it due to fear.

What are the elements of a good presentation? 

The 10 key elements of a GREAT presentation a 1. PREPARATION AND PLANNING 

Unless, of course, you’re making an impromptu speech , then that is a different story, and you can learn more about how to successfully deliver those here .

What are the key aspects of Planning a Great Presentation?

2. the debut and opening.

A successful entry will give you energy, a good connection with the audience, and establish your presence on stage.

Start big and make your mark! Before entering the stage, you will be backstage, seated in the back of the stage or at the foot of it.

To deliver the presentation, we advise you to move to the center of the stage, take your support and count to three before you start talking.

3. SHARE VALUABLE INFORMATION

The first thing that will guarantee you to make a good presentation is the choice of material: talk about what you know, so much so that you’re comfortable talking about it.!

When you hold your structure, you can work on transitions. These are key moments where you release the audience and mobilize their attention again for the next part.

4. PRESENTATION STYLE

Finally, some people who speak in public do not need notes to make their presentations. 

Choose the style that suits you best, and you will probably notice that your presentation style will change over time or depending on the audience you are speaking to.

If you want to learn more, we have an interesting piece on the different methods of speech delivery . Check it out, it should prove helpful in deciding your approach.

5. GOOD ARTICULATION OF IDEAS

Being an excellent speaker requires having some degree of knowledge of the topic of discussion, it is not helpful to not have anything to say; this is why we always advise starting by identifying the key message.

Use terms that will attract their attention based on their interests; whatever you say, be yourself, and don’t use slang or jargon if you don’t know the meaning. 

6. ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE WITH COMPELLING STORYTELLING 

Telling a story is much catchier and can be very visual and engaging to the audience when it comes to delivering the message and engaging the audience.

According to the book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive, and Others Die,” in a speech, only one in ten students counts one.

7. CONTENT OF THE PRESENTATION 

The simpler and clearer they are, the better. The same goes for the visual support, and we hope it is user-friendly without it becoming a distraction to what you have to say. Less is more; that is the rule.

If you need to submit complex charts, you can also send them in advance to avoid losing your audience’s attention.

8. VISUAL CONTACT

One of the most common mistakes is to address everyone as a group; the best way to hook an audience is to look at people individually and face-to-face, and spend 3-5 seconds talking to each one of them, as you shift to a different sentence or idea.

In a video conference, you can hang a picture of a person you are comfortable with above your camera and pretend to present it to that person to look in the right place. Although, some people may see through this trick.

9. BODY LANGUAGE 

Good body language will give you comfort on stage and reinforce the critical passages of your speech; the gestures are much simpler than they seem.

Each gesture has a meaning, so if you try to adapt some motion that doesn’t correspond to your natural communication style, it can be noticed, and everything may seem forced.

10. STRESS MANAGEMENT (Keeping Fear in Check) 

Fortunately, there are different methods to manage this stress; we are all different, and what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. 

A. The fear of facing judgment and the eyes of the public, this fear can also derive from fear of failure;

B. The fear of the unknown, the impossibility of controlling the future, generates anguish of sometimes unbearable waiting.

To combat these two causes, there are many methods. I will list a few here:

9 Basic Elements of a Great Persuasive Speech

As human beings, we commonly face debates, sales pitch, or even casual conversations, where we discuss with an audience (that can be familiar or not) about a subject that we want to convince, to think in a similar or same perspective that we do. If we are playing the speaker role, we need to bring…

11 Best Body Language Tips For Engaging Presentations (#11 is Underrated)

The 7 basic elements of public speaking.

Public speaking is an area where we progress with each experience; your presentation will never be perfect, especially if it is the first one. Embrace it and be authentic.

Reference and Further Reading

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Top 10 easy tips for conducting audience analysis, what makes a good presentation for a job interview 7 tips, top 41 famous speeches in history, here’s an excellent keynote speech guide: with 2 great examples, 18 public speaking questions answered, 15 ted talks to inspire career growth.

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Blog Beginner Guides How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

Written by: Krystle Wong Jul 20, 2023

A top-notch presentation possesses the power to drive action. From winning stakeholders over and conveying a powerful message to securing funding — your secret weapon lies within the realm of creating an effective presentation .  

Being an excellent presenter isn’t confined to the boardroom. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work, pursuing an academic career, involved in a non-profit organization or even a student, nailing the presentation game is a game-changer.

In this article, I’ll cover the top qualities of compelling presentations and walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to give a good presentation. Here’s a little tip to kick things off: for a headstart, check out Venngage’s collection of free presentation templates . They are fully customizable, and the best part is you don’t need professional design skills to make them shine!

These valuable presentation tips cater to individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, encompassing business professionals, sales and marketing teams, educators, trainers, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, public speakers and presenters. 

No matter your field or role, these tips for presenting will equip you with the skills to deliver effective presentations that leave a lasting impression on any audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 10 qualities of a good presentation?

Step-by-step guide on how to prepare an effective presentation, 9 effective techniques to deliver a memorable presentation, faqs on making a good presentation, how to create a presentation with venngage in 5 steps.

When it comes to giving an engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression, it’s not just about the content — it’s also about how you deliver it. Wondering what makes a good presentation? Well, the best presentations I’ve seen consistently exhibit these 10 qualities:

1. Clear structure

No one likes to get lost in a maze of information. Organize your thoughts into a logical flow, complete with an introduction, main points and a solid conclusion. A structured presentation helps your audience follow along effortlessly, leaving them with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Regardless of your presentation style , a quality presentation starts with a clear roadmap. Browse through Venngage’s template library and select a presentation template that aligns with your content and presentation goals. Here’s a good presentation example template with a logical layout that includes sections for the introduction, main points, supporting information and a conclusion: 

2. Engaging opening

Hook your audience right from the start with an attention-grabbing statement, a fascinating question or maybe even a captivating anecdote. Set the stage for a killer presentation!

The opening moments of your presentation hold immense power – check out these 15 ways to start a presentation to set the stage and captivate your audience.

3. Relevant content

Make sure your content aligns with their interests and needs. Your audience is there for a reason, and that’s to get valuable insights. Avoid fluff and get straight to the point, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Effective visual aids

Picture this: a slide with walls of text and tiny charts, yawn! Visual aids should be just that—aiding your presentation. Opt for clear and visually appealing slides, engaging images and informative charts that add value and help reinforce your message.

With Venngage, visualizing data takes no effort at all. You can import data from CSV or Google Sheets seamlessly and create stunning charts, graphs and icon stories effortlessly to showcase your data in a captivating and impactful way.

5. Clear and concise communication

Keep your language simple, and avoid jargon or complicated terms. Communicate your ideas clearly, so your audience can easily grasp and retain the information being conveyed. This can prevent confusion and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message. 

6. Engaging delivery

Spice up your presentation with a sprinkle of enthusiasm! Maintain eye contact, use expressive gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your audience glued to the edge of their seats. A touch of charisma goes a long way!

7. Interaction and audience engagement

Turn your presentation into an interactive experience — encourage questions, foster discussions and maybe even throw in a fun activity. Engaged audiences are more likely to remember and embrace your message.

Transform your slides into an interactive presentation with Venngage’s dynamic features like pop-ups, clickable icons and animated elements. Engage your audience with interactive content that lets them explore and interact with your presentation for a truly immersive experience.

8. Effective storytelling

Who doesn’t love a good story? Weaving relevant anecdotes, case studies or even a personal story into your presentation can captivate your audience and create a lasting impact. Stories build connections and make your message memorable.

A great presentation background is also essential as it sets the tone, creates visual interest and reinforces your message. Enhance the overall aesthetics of your presentation with these 15 presentation background examples and captivate your audience’s attention.

9. Well-timed pacing

Pace your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides, neither rushing through nor dragging it out. Respect your audience’s time and ensure you cover all the essential points without losing their interest.

10. Strong conclusion

Last impressions linger! Summarize your main points and leave your audience with a clear takeaway. End your presentation with a bang , a call to action or an inspiring thought that resonates long after the conclusion.

In-person presentations aside, acing a virtual presentation is of paramount importance in today’s digital world. Check out this guide to learn how you can adapt your in-person presentations into virtual presentations . 

Preparing an effective presentation starts with laying a strong foundation that goes beyond just creating slides and notes. One of the quickest and best ways to make a presentation would be with the help of a good presentation software . 

Otherwise, let me walk you to how to prepare for a presentation step by step and unlock the secrets of crafting a professional presentation that sets you apart.

1. Understand the audience and their needs

Before you dive into preparing your masterpiece, take a moment to get to know your target audience. Tailor your presentation to meet their needs and expectations , and you’ll have them hooked from the start!

2. Conduct thorough research on the topic

Time to hit the books (or the internet)! Don’t skimp on the research with your presentation materials — dive deep into the subject matter and gather valuable insights . The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel in delivering your presentation.

3. Organize the content with a clear structure

No one wants to stumble through a chaotic mess of information. Outline your presentation with a clear and logical flow. Start with a captivating introduction, follow up with main points that build on each other and wrap it up with a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.

Delivering an effective business presentation hinges on captivating your audience, and Venngage’s professionally designed business presentation templates are tailor-made for this purpose. With thoughtfully structured layouts, these templates enhance your message’s clarity and coherence, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for your audience members.

Don’t want to build your presentation layout from scratch? pick from these 5 foolproof presentation layout ideas that won’t go wrong. 

4. Develop visually appealing and supportive visual aids

Spice up your presentation with eye-catching visuals! Create slides that complement your message, not overshadow it. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean you need to overload your slides with text.

Well-chosen designs create a cohesive and professional look, capturing your audience’s attention and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your message. Here’s a list of carefully curated PowerPoint presentation templates and great background graphics that will significantly influence the visual appeal and engagement of your presentation.

5. Practice, practice and practice

Practice makes perfect — rehearse your presentation and arrive early to your presentation to help overcome stage fright. Familiarity with your material will boost your presentation skills and help you handle curveballs with ease.

6. Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and seek feedback from friends and colleagues. Constructive criticism can help you identify blind spots and fine-tune your presentation to perfection.

With Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature , receiving feedback and editing your presentation is a seamless process. Group members can access and work on the presentation simultaneously and edit content side by side in real-time. Changes will be reflected immediately to the entire team, promoting seamless teamwork.

7. Prepare for potential technical or logistical issues

Prepare for the unexpected by checking your equipment, internet connection and any other potential hiccups. If you’re worried that you’ll miss out on any important points, you could always have note cards prepared. Remember to remain focused and rehearse potential answers to anticipated questions.

8. Fine-tune and polish your presentation

As the big day approaches, give your presentation one last shine. Review your talking points, practice how to present a presentation and make any final tweaks. Deep breaths — you’re on the brink of delivering a successful presentation!

In competitive environments, persuasive presentations set individuals and organizations apart. To brush up on your presentation skills, read these guides on how to make a persuasive presentation and tips to presenting effectively . 

Whether you’re an experienced presenter or a novice, the right techniques will let your presentation skills soar to new heights!

From public speaking hacks to interactive elements and storytelling prowess, these 9 effective presentation techniques will empower you to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make your presentations unforgettable.

1. Confidence and positive body language

Positive body language instantly captivates your audience, making them believe in your message as much as you do. Strengthen your stage presence and own that stage like it’s your second home! Stand tall, shoulders back and exude confidence. 

2. Eye contact with the audience

Break down that invisible barrier and connect with your audience through their eyes. Maintaining eye contact when giving a presentation builds trust and shows that you’re present and engaged with them.

3. Effective use of hand gestures and movement

A little movement goes a long way! Emphasize key points with purposeful gestures and don’t be afraid to walk around the stage. Your energy will be contagious!

4. Utilize storytelling techniques

Weave the magic of storytelling into your presentation. Share relatable anecdotes, inspiring success stories or even personal experiences that tug at the heartstrings of your audience. Adjust your pitch, pace and volume to match the emotions and intensity of the story. Varying your speaking voice adds depth and enhances your stage presence.

5. Incorporate multimedia elements

Spice up your presentation with a dash of visual pizzazz! Use slides, images and video clips to add depth and clarity to your message. Just remember, less is more—don’t overwhelm them with information overload. 

Turn your presentations into an interactive party! Involve your audience with questions, polls or group activities. When they actively participate, they become invested in your presentation’s success. Bring your design to life with animated elements. Venngage allows you to apply animations to icons, images and text to create dynamic and engaging visual content.

6. Utilize humor strategically

Laughter is the best medicine—and a fantastic presentation enhancer! A well-placed joke or lighthearted moment can break the ice and create a warm atmosphere , making your audience more receptive to your message.

7. Practice active listening and respond to feedback

Be attentive to your audience’s reactions and feedback. If they have questions or concerns, address them with genuine interest and respect. Your responsiveness builds rapport and shows that you genuinely care about their experience.

8. Apply the 10-20-30 rule

Apply the 10-20-30 presentation rule and keep it short, sweet and impactful! Stick to ten slides, deliver your presentation within 20 minutes and use a 30-point font to ensure clarity and focus. Less is more, and your audience will thank you for it!

9. Implement the 5-5-5 rule

Simplicity is key. Limit each slide to five bullet points, with only five words per bullet point and allow each slide to remain visible for about five seconds. This rule keeps your presentation concise and prevents information overload.

Simple presentations are more engaging because they are easier to follow. Summarize your presentations and keep them simple with Venngage’s gallery of simple presentation templates and ensure that your message is delivered effectively across your audience.

1. How to start a presentation?

To kick off your presentation effectively, begin with an attention-grabbing statement or a powerful quote. Introduce yourself, establish credibility and clearly state the purpose and relevance of your presentation.

2. How to end a presentation?

For a strong conclusion, summarize your talking points and key takeaways. End with a compelling call to action or a thought-provoking question and remember to thank your audience and invite any final questions or interactions.

3. How to make a presentation interactive?

To make your presentation interactive, encourage questions and discussion throughout your talk. Utilize multimedia elements like videos or images and consider including polls, quizzes or group activities to actively involve your audience.

In need of inspiration for your next presentation? I’ve got your back! Pick from these 120+ presentation ideas, topics and examples to get started. 

Creating a stunning presentation with Venngage is a breeze with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates for all your communication needs. 

Here’s how to make a presentation in just 5 simple steps with the help of Venngage:

Step 1: Sign up for Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account or simply log in to access your account. 

Step 2: Pick a design from our selection of free presentation templates (they’re all created by our expert in-house designers).

Step 3: Make the template your own by customizing it to fit your content and branding. With Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily modify text, change colors and adjust the layout to create a unique and eye-catching design.

Step 4: Elevate your presentation by incorporating captivating visuals. You can upload your images or choose from Venngage’s vast library of high-quality photos, icons and illustrations. 

Step 5: Upgrade to a premium or business account to export your presentation in PDF and print it for in-person presentations or share it digitally for free!

By following these five simple steps, you’ll have a professionally designed and visually engaging presentation ready in no time. With Venngage’s user-friendly platform, your presentation is sure to make a lasting impression. So, let your creativity flow and get ready to shine in your next presentation!

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How to give a good presentation that captivates any audience

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What are the main difficulties when giving presentations?

How to create an effective presentation, after that, how do i give a memorable presentation, how to connect with the audience when presenting.

If you’ve ever heard someone give a powerful presentation, you probably remember how it made you feel. Much like a composer, a good speaker knows precisely when each note should strike to captivate their audience’s attention and leave them with a lasting impression.

No one becomes a great public speaker or presenter without practice. And almost everyone can recall a time one of their presentations went badly — that’s a painful part of the learning process.

Whether you’re working within a small creative team or a large organization, public speaking and presentation skills are vital to communicating your ideas. Knowing how to present your vision can help you pitch concepts to clients, present ideas to your team, and develop the confidence to participate in team meetings.

If you have an upcoming presentation on the horizon and feel nervous, that’s normal. Around 15-30% of the general population experience a fear of public speaking . And, unfortunately, social anxiety is on the rise, with a 12% increase in adults over the last 20 years . 

Learning how to give a good presentation can dismantle your fears and break down these barriers, ensuring you’re ready to confidently share your point of view. 

It’s the week before your presentation, and you’re already feeling nervous . Maybe there’ll be an important mentor in the room you need to impress, or you’re looking for an opportunity to show your boss your value. Regardless of your countless past presentations, you still feel nervous. 

Sharing your vision and ideas with any sized group is intimidating. You’re likely worrying about how you’ll perform as a presenter and whether the audience will be interested in what you offer. But nerves aren’t inherently negative — you can actually use this feeling to fuel your preparation.

It’s helpful to identify where your worries are coming from and address your fears. Here are some common concerns when preparing for an upcoming presentation:

Fear of public speaking: When you share your ideas in front of a group, you’re placing yourself in a vulnerable position to be critiqued on your knowledge and communication skills . Maybe you feel confident in your content, but when you think about standing in front of an audience, you feel anxious and your mind goes blank.

It’s also not uncommon to have physical symptoms when presenting . Some people experience nausea and dizziness as the brain releases adrenaline to cope with the potentially stressful situation . Remember to take deep breaths to recenter yourself and be patient, even if you make a mistake.

Losing the audience’s attention: As a presenter, your main focus is to keep your audience engaged. They should feel like they’re learning valuable information or following a story that will improve them in life or business.

Highlight the most exciting pieces of knowledge and ensure you emphasize those points in your presentation. If you feel passionate about your content, it’s more likely that your audience will experience this excitement for themselves and become invested in what you have to say.

Not knowing what content to place on presentation slides: Overloading presentation slides is a fast way to lose your audience’s attention. Your slides should contain only the main talking points and limited text to ensure your audience focuses on what you have to say rather than becoming distracted by the content on your slides.

Discomfort incorporating nonverbal communication: It’s natural to feel stiff and frozen when you’re nervous. But maintaining effective body language helps your audience stay focused on you as you speak and encourages you to relax.

If you struggle to incorporate body language into your presentations, try starting small by making hand gestures toward your slides. If you’re working with a large audience, use different parts of the stage to ensure everyone feels included. 

Each presenter has their own personal brand and style. Some may use humor to break the ice, while others might appeal to the audience’s emotional side through inspiring storytelling. 

Watching online presentations, such as TED talks, is an excellent way to expose yourself to various presentation styles and develop your own. While observing others, you can note how they carry themselves on stage and learn new ways to keep your audience engaged.

Once you’ve addressed what’s causing your fears, it’s time to prepare for a great presentation. Use your past experience as inspiration and aim to outshine your former self by learning from your mistakes and employing new techniques. Here are five presentation tips to help you create a strong presentation and wow your audience:

1. Keep it simple

Simple means something different to everyone.

Before creating your presentation, take note of your intended audience and their knowledge level of your subject. You’ll want your content to be easy for your intended audience to follow.

Say you’re giving a presentation on improving your company’s operational structure. Entry-level workers will likely need a more straightforward overview of the content than C-suite leaders, who have significantly more experience. 

Ask yourself what you want your audience to take away from your presentation and emphasize those important points. Doing this ensures they remember the most vital information rather than less important supporting ideas. Try organizing these concepts into bullet points so viewers can quickly identify critical takeaways.

2. Create a compelling structure

Put yourself in your audience member’s shoes and determine the most compelling way to organize your information. Your presentation should be articulate , cohesive, and logical, and you must be sure to include all necessary supporting evidence to strengthen your main points.

If you give away all of your answers too quickly, your audience could lose interest. And if there isn’t enough supporting information, they could hit a roadblock of confusion. Try developing a compelling story that leads your audience through your thought processes so they can experience the ups and downs alongside you. 

By structuring your presentation to lead up to a final conclusion, you’re more likely to keep listeners’ attention. Once you’ve reached that conclusion, you can offer a Q&A period to put any of their questions or concerns to rest. 

3. Use visual aids

Appealing to various learning styles is a great way to keep everyone on the same page and ensure they absorb your content. Visual aids are necessary for visual learners and make it easier for people to picture your ideas.

Aim to incorporate a mixture of photos, videos, and props to engage your audience and convey your key points. For instance, if you’re giving a presentation on anthropology subject matter, you could show your audience an artifact to help them understand how exciting a discovery must have been. 

If your presentation is long, including a video for your audience to watch is an excellent way to give yourself a break and create new jumping-off points for your speech.

4. Be aware of design techniques and trends

Thanks to cutting-edge technology and tools, you have numerous platforms at your disposal to create a good presentation. But keep in mind that although color, images, and graphics liven things up, they can cause distraction when misused.

  Here are a few standard pointers for incorporating visuals on your slides: 

• Don’t place blocks of small text on a single slide
• Use a minimalistic background instead of a busy one
• Ensure text stands out against the background color
• Only use high-resolution photos
• Maintain a consistent font style and size throughout the presentation
• Don’t overuse transitions and effects

5. Try the 10-20-30 rule

Guy Kawasaki, a prominent venture capitalist and one of the original marketing specialists for Apple, said that the best slideshow presentations are less than 10 slides , last at most 20 minutes, and use a font size of 30. Following this strategy can help you condense your information, eliminate unnecessary ideas, and maintain your audience’s focus more efficiently.

Once you’re confident in creating a memorable presentation, it’s time to learn how to give one. Here are some valuable tips for keeping your audience invested during your talk: 

Tip #1: Tell stories

Sharing an anecdote from your life can improve your credibility and increase your relatability. And when an audience relates to you, they’re more likely to feel connected to who you are as a person and encouraged to give you their full attention, as they would want others to do the same.

Gill Hicks utilized this strategy well when she shared her powerful story, “ I survived a terrorist attack. Here’s what I learned .” In her harrowing tale, Hicks highlights the importance of compassion, unconditional love , and helping those in need.

If you feel uncomfortable sharing personal stories, that’s okay. You can use examples from famous individuals or create a fictional account to demonstrate your ideas.

Tip #2: Make eye contact with the audience

Maintaining eye contact is less intimidating than it sounds. In fact, you don’t have to look your audience members directly in their eyes — you can focus on their foreheads or noses if that’s easier.

Try making eye contact with as many people as possible for 3–5 seconds each. This timing ensures you don’t look away too quickly, making the audience member feel unimportant, or linger too long, making them feel uncomfortable.

If you’re presenting to a large group, direct your focus to each part of the room to ensure no section of the audience feels ignored. 

Tip #3: Work on your stage presence

Although your tone and words are the most impactful part of your presentation, recall that body language keeps your audience engaged. Use these tips to master a professional stage presence:

• Speak with open arms and avoid crossing them
• Keep a reasonable pace and try not to stand still
• Use hand gestures to highlight important information

Tip #4: Start strong

Like watching a movie trailer, the first seconds of your talk are critical for capturing your audience’s attention. How you start your speech sets the tone for the rest of your presentation and tells your audience whether or not they should pay attention. Here are some ways to start your presentation to leave a lasting impression:

• Use a quote from a well-known and likable influential person 
• Ask a rhetorical question to create intrigue
• Start with an anecdote to add context to your talk 
• Spark your audience’s curiosity by involving them in an interactive problem-solving puzzle or riddle

Tip #5: Show your passion

Don’t be afraid of being too enthusiastic. Everyone appreciates a speaker who’s genuinely excited about their field of expertise. 

In “ Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance ,” Angela Lee Duckworth discusses the importance of passion in research and delivery. She delivers her presentation excitedly to show the audience how excitement piques interest. 

Tip #6: Plan your delivery

How you decide to deliver your speech will shape your presentation. Will you be preparing a PowerPoint presentation and using a teleprompter? Or are you working within the constraints of the digital world and presenting over Zoom?

The best presentations are conducted by speakers who know their stuff and memorize their content. However, if you find this challenging, try creating notes to use as a safety net in case you lose track.

If you’re presenting online, you can keep notes beside your computer for each slide, highlighting your key points. This ensures you include all the necessary information and follow a logical order.

Tip #7: Practice

Practice doesn’t make perfect — it makes progress. There’s no way of preparing for unforeseen circumstances, but thorough practice means you’ve done everything you can to succeed.

Rehearse your speech in front of a mirror or to a trusted friend or family member. Take any feedback and use it as an opportunity to fine-tune your speech. But remember: who you practice your presentation in front of may differ from your intended audience. Consider their opinions through the lens of them occupying this different position.

Tip #8: Read the room

Whether you’re a keynote speaker at an event or presenting to a small group of clients, knowing how to read the room is vital for keeping your audience happy. Stay flexible and be willing to move on from topics quickly if your listeners are uninterested or displeased with a particular part of your speech.

Tip #9: Breathe

Try taking deep breaths before your presentation to calm your nerves. If you feel rushed, you’re more likely to feel nervous and stumble on your words.

The most important thing to consider when presenting is your audience’s feelings. When you approach your next presentation calmly, you’ll put your audience at ease and encourage them to feel comfortable in your presence.

Tip #10: Provide a call-to-action

When you end your presentation, your audience should feel compelled to take a specific action, whether that’s changing their habits or contacting you for your services.

If you’re presenting to clients, create a handout with key points and contact information so they can get in touch. You should provide your LinkedIn information, email address, and phone number so they have a variety of ways to reach you. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all template for an effective presentation, as your unique audience and subject matter play a role in shaping your speech. As a general rule, though, you should aim to connect with your audience through passion and excitement. Use strong eye contact and body language. Capture their interest through storytelling and their trust through relatability.

Learning how to give a good presentation can feel overwhelming — but remember, practice makes progress. Rehearse your presentation for someone you trust, collect their feedback , and revise. Practicing your presentation skills is helpful for any job, and every challenge is a chance to grow.

Understand Yourself Better:

Big 5 Personality Test

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

How to write a speech that your audience remembers

6 presentation skills and how to improve them, 3 stand-out professional bio examples to inspire your own, tell a story they can't ignore these 10 tips will teach you how, how to make a presentation interactive and exciting, your guide to what storytelling is and how to be a good storyteller, reading the room gives you an edge — no matter who you're talking to, 18 effective strategies to improve your communication skills, writing an elevator pitch about yourself: a how-to plus tips, how to disagree at work without being obnoxious, the importance of good speech: 5 tips to be more articulate, the 11 tips that will improve your public speaking skills, 30 presentation feedback examples, fear of public speaking overcome it with these 7 tips, how to not be nervous for a presentation — 13 tips that work (really), 8 clever hooks for presentations (with tips), stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Do You Have What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation?

• Michael Foley

Three skills anyone can learn.

Great presentations are all about how well you engage your audience. Here are three ways to do that:

• Be balanced: Strike the right balance between structure and improvisation during your presentation. Rather than preparing your content in a narrative form, take the time to segment it by topic. Leave room to respond to your audience’s immediate needs, even if that means going off script for a while.
• Be generous: You goal should be to offer your audience something of value. Let this  principle guide the content you choose to present.
• Be human: Rehearse to familiarize yourself with your content, but do not memorize it. If you go blank for a moment, don’t apologize and act flustered, just pause, take a breath, collect your thoughts and continue on. Your audience wants you to be relatable.

Have you ever seen a really great presentation? Honestly, they’re pretty rare.

• Michael Foley is an educator and coach, and founder of Clarity Centra l, a communications training and consulting firm based in Chicago. He is also an adjunct lecturer of leadership at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

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How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples

August 3, 2018 - Dom Barnard

For many people the thought of delivering a presentation is a daunting task and brings about a  great deal of nerves . However, if you take some time to understand how effective presentations are structured and then apply this structure to your own presentation, you’ll appear much more confident and relaxed.

Here is our complete guide for structuring your presentation, with examples at the end of the article to demonstrate these points.

Why is structuring a presentation so important?

If you’ve ever sat through a great presentation, you’ll have left feeling either inspired or informed on a given topic. This isn’t because the speaker was the most knowledgeable or motivating person in the world. Instead, it’s because they know how to structure presentations – they have crafted their message in a logical and simple way that has allowed the audience can keep up with them and take away key messages.

Research has supported this, with studies showing that audiences retain structured information  40% more accurately  than unstructured information.

In fact, not only is structuring a presentation important for the benefit of the audience’s understanding, it’s also important for you as the speaker. A good structure helps you remain calm, stay on topic, and avoid any awkward silences.

What will affect your presentation structure?

Generally speaking, there is a natural flow that any decent presentation will follow which we will go into shortly. However, you should be aware that all presentation structures will be different in their own unique way and this will be due to a number of factors, including:

• Whether you need to deliver any demonstrations
• How  knowledgeable the audience  already is on the given subject
• How much interaction you want from the audience
• Any time constraints there are for your talk
• What setting you are in
• Your ability to use any kinds of visual assistance

Before choosing the presentation’s structure answer these questions first:

• What is your presentation’s aim?
• Who are the audience?
• What are the main points your audience should remember afterwards?

When reading the points below, think critically about what things may cause your presentation structure to be slightly different. You can add in certain elements and add more focus to certain moments if that works better for your speech.

What is the typical presentation structure?

This is the usual flow of a presentation, which covers all the vital sections and is a good starting point for yours. It allows your audience to easily follow along and sets out a solid structure you can add your content to.

1. Greet the audience and introduce yourself

Before you start delivering your talk, introduce yourself to the audience and clarify who you are and your relevant expertise. This does not need to be long or incredibly detailed, but will help build an immediate relationship between you and the audience. It gives you the chance to briefly clarify your expertise and why you are worth listening to. This will help establish your ethos so the audience will trust you more and think you’re credible.

Read our tips on  How to Start a Presentation Effectively

2. Introduction

In the introduction you need to explain the subject and purpose of your presentation whilst gaining the audience’s interest and confidence. It’s sometimes helpful to think of your introduction as funnel-shaped to help filter down your topic:

• Introduce your general topic
• Explain your topic area
• State the issues/challenges in this area you will be exploring
• State your presentation’s purpose – this is the basis of your presentation so ensure that you provide a statement explaining how the topic will be treated, for example, “I will argue that…” or maybe you will “compare”, “analyse”, “evaluate”, “describe” etc.
• Provide a statement of what you’re hoping the outcome of the presentation will be, for example, “I’m hoping this will be provide you with…”
• Show a preview of the organisation of your presentation

In this section also explain:

• The length of the talk.
• Signal whether you want audience interaction – some presenters prefer the audience to ask questions throughout whereas others allocate a specific section for this.
• If it applies, inform the audience whether to take notes or whether you will be providing handouts.

The way you structure your introduction can depend on the amount of time you have been given to present: a  sales pitch  may consist of a quick presentation so you may begin with your conclusion and then provide the evidence. Conversely, a speaker presenting their idea for change in the world would be better suited to start with the evidence and then conclude what this means for the audience.

Keep in mind that the main aim of the introduction is to grab the audience’s attention and connect with them.

3. The main body of your talk

The main body of your talk needs to meet the promises you made in the introduction. Depending on the nature of your presentation, clearly segment the different topics you will be discussing, and then work your way through them one at a time – it’s important for everything to be organised logically for the audience to fully understand. There are many different ways to organise your main points, such as, by priority, theme, chronologically etc.

• Main points should be addressed one by one with supporting evidence and examples.
• Before moving on to the next point you should provide a mini-summary.
• Links should be clearly stated between ideas and you must make it clear when you’re moving onto the next point.
• Allow time for people to take relevant notes and stick to the topics you have prepared beforehand rather than straying too far off topic.

When planning your presentation write a list of main points you want to make and ask yourself “What I am telling the audience? What should they understand from this?” refining your answers this way will help you produce clear messages.

4. Conclusion

In presentations the conclusion is frequently underdeveloped and lacks purpose which is a shame as it’s the best place to reinforce your messages. Typically, your presentation has a specific goal – that could be to convert a number of the audience members into customers, lead to a certain number of enquiries to make people knowledgeable on specific key points, or to motivate them towards a shared goal.

Regardless of what that goal is, be sure to summarise your main points and their implications. This clarifies the overall purpose of your talk and reinforces your reason for being there.

Follow these steps:

• Signal that it’s nearly the end of your presentation, for example, “As we wrap up/as we wind down the talk…”
• Restate the topic and purpose of your presentation – “In this speech I wanted to compare…”
• Summarise the main points, including their implications and conclusions
• Indicate what is next/a call to action/a thought-provoking takeaway
• Move on to the last section

5. Thank the audience and invite questions

Conclude your talk by thanking the audience for their time and invite them to  ask any questions  they may have. As mentioned earlier, personal circumstances will affect the structure of your presentation.

Many presenters prefer to make the Q&A session the key part of their talk and try to speed through the main body of the presentation. This is totally fine, but it is still best to focus on delivering some sort of initial presentation to set the tone and topics for discussion in the Q&A.

Other common presentation structures

The above was a description of a basic presentation, here are some more specific presentation layouts:

Demonstration

Use the demonstration structure when you have something useful to show. This is usually used when you want to show how a product works. Steve Jobs frequently used this technique in his presentations.

• Explain why the product is valuable.
• Describe why the product is necessary.
• Explain what problems it can solve for the audience.
• Demonstrate the product  to support what you’ve been saying.
• Make suggestions of other things it can do to make the audience curious.

Problem-solution

This structure is particularly useful in persuading the audience.

• Briefly frame the issue.
• Go into the issue in detail showing why it ‘s such a problem. Use logos and pathos for this – the logical and emotional appeals.
• Provide the solution and explain why this would also help the audience.
• Call to action – something you want the audience to do which is straightforward and pertinent to the solution.

Storytelling

As well as incorporating  stories in your presentation , you can organise your whole presentation as a story. There are lots of different type of story structures you can use – a popular choice is the monomyth – the hero’s journey. In a monomyth, a hero goes on a difficult journey or takes on a challenge – they move from the familiar into the unknown. After facing obstacles and ultimately succeeding the hero returns home, transformed and with newfound wisdom.

Storytelling for Business Success  webinar , where well-know storyteller Javier Bernad shares strategies for crafting compelling narratives.

Another popular choice for using a story to structure your presentation is in media ras (in the middle of thing). In this type of story you launch right into the action by providing a snippet/teaser of what’s happening and then you start explaining the events that led to that event. This is engaging because you’re starting your story at the most exciting part which will make the audience curious – they’ll want to know how you got there.

• Great storytelling: Examples from Alibaba Founder, Jack Ma

Remaining method

The remaining method structure is good for situations where you’re presenting your perspective on a controversial topic which has split people’s opinions.

• Go into the issue in detail showing why it’s such a problem – use logos and pathos.
• Rebut your opponents’ solutions  – explain why their solutions could be useful because the audience will see this as fair and will therefore think you’re trustworthy, and then explain why you think these solutions are not valid.
• After you’ve presented all the alternatives provide your solution, the remaining solution. This is very persuasive because it looks like the winning idea, especially with the audience believing that you’re fair and trustworthy.

Transitions

When delivering presentations it’s important for your words and ideas to flow so your audience can understand how everything links together and why it’s all relevant. This can be done  using speech transitions  which are words and phrases that allow you to smoothly move from one point to another so that your speech flows and your presentation is unified.

Transitions can be one word, a phrase or a full sentence – there are many different forms, here are some examples:

Moving from the introduction to the first point

Signify to the audience that you will now begin discussing the first main point:

• Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
• First, let’s begin with…
• I will first cover…
• My first point covers…
• To get started, let’s look at…

Shifting between similar points

Move from one point to a similar one:

• In the same way…
• Likewise…
• Equally…
• This is similar to…
• Similarly…

Internal summaries

Internal summarising consists of summarising before moving on to the next point. You must inform the audience:

• What part of the presentation you covered – “In the first part of this speech we’ve covered…”
• What the key points were – “Precisely how…”
• How this links in with the overall presentation – “So that’s the context…”
• What you’re moving on to – “Now I’d like to move on to the second part of presentation which looks at…”

Physical movement

You can move your body and your standing location when you transition to another point. The audience find it easier to follow your presentation and movement will increase their interest.

A common technique for incorporating movement into your presentation is to:

• Start your introduction by standing in the centre of the stage.
• For your first point you stand on the left side of the stage.
• You discuss your second point from the centre again.
• You stand on the right side of the stage for your third point.
• The conclusion occurs in the centre.

Key slides for your presentation

Slides are a useful tool for most presentations: they can greatly assist in the delivery of your message and help the audience follow along with what you are saying. Key slides include:

• An intro slide outlining your ideas
• A  summary slide  with core points to remember
• High quality image slides to supplement what you are saying

There are some presenters who choose not to use slides at all, though this is more of a rarity. Slides can be a powerful tool if used properly, but the problem is that many fail to do just that. Here are some golden rules to follow when using slides in a presentation:

• Don’t over fill them  – your slides are there to assist your speech, rather than be the focal point. They should have as little information as possible, to avoid distracting people from your talk.
• A picture says a thousand words  – instead of filling a slide with text, instead, focus on one or two images or diagrams to help support and explain the point you are discussing at that time.
• Make them readable  – depending on the size of your audience, some may not be able to see small text or images, so make everything large enough to fill the space.
• Don’t rush through slides  – give the audience enough time to digest each slide.

Guy Kawasaki, an entrepreneur and author, suggests that slideshows should follow a  10-20-30 rule :

• There should be a maximum of 10 slides – people rarely remember more than one concept afterwards so there’s no point overwhelming them with unnecessary information.
• The presentation should last no longer than 20 minutes as this will leave time for questions and discussion.
• The font size should be a minimum of 30pt because the audience reads faster than you talk so less information on the slides means that there is less chance of the audience being distracted.

Here are some additional resources for slide design:

• 7 design tips for effective, beautiful PowerPoint presentations
• 11 design tips for beautiful presentations
• 10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea

Group Presentations

Group presentations are structured in the same way as presentations with one speaker but usually require more rehearsal and practices.  Clean transitioning between speakers  is very important in producing a presentation that flows well. One way of doing this consists of:

• Briefly recap on what you covered in your section: “So that was a brief introduction on what health anxiety is and how it can affect somebody”
• Introduce the next speaker in the team and explain what they will discuss: “Now Elnaz will talk about the prevalence of health anxiety.”
• Then end by looking at the next speaker, gesturing towards them and saying their name: “Elnaz”.
• The next speaker should acknowledge this with a quick: “Thank you Joe.”

From this example you can see how the different sections of the presentations link which makes it easier for the audience to follow and remain engaged.

Example of great presentation structure and delivery

Having examples of great presentations will help inspire your own structures, here are a few such examples, each unique and inspiring in their own way.

How Google Works – by Eric Schmidt

This presentation by ex-Google CEO  Eric Schmidt  demonstrates some of the most important lessons he and his team have learnt with regards to working with some of the most talented individuals they hired. The simplistic yet cohesive style of all of the slides is something to be appreciated. They are relatively straightforward, yet add power and clarity to the narrative of the presentation.

Start with why – by Simon Sinek

Since being released in 2009, this presentation has been viewed almost four million times all around the world. The message itself is very powerful, however, it’s not an idea that hasn’t been heard before. What makes this presentation so powerful is the simple message he is getting across, and the straightforward and understandable manner in which he delivers it. Also note that he doesn’t use any slides, just a whiteboard where he creates a simple diagram of his opinion.

The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout – by Rick Rigsby

Here’s an example of a presentation given by a relatively unknown individual looking to inspire the next generation of graduates. Rick’s presentation is unique in many ways compared to the two above. Notably, he uses no visual prompts and includes a great deal of humour.

However, what is similar is the structure he uses. He first introduces his message that the wisest man he knew was a third-grade dropout. He then proceeds to deliver his main body of argument, and in the end, concludes with his message. This powerful speech keeps the viewer engaged throughout, through a mixture of heart-warming sentiment, powerful life advice and engaging humour.

As you can see from the examples above, and as it has been expressed throughout, a great presentation structure means analysing the core message of your presentation. Decide on a key message you want to impart the audience with, and then craft an engaging way of delivering it.

By preparing a solid structure, and  practising your talk  beforehand, you can walk into the presentation with confidence and deliver a meaningful message to an interested audience.

It’s important for a presentation to be well-structured so it can have the most impact on your audience. An unstructured presentation can be difficult to follow and even frustrating to listen to. The heart of your speech are your main points supported by evidence and your transitions should assist the movement between points and clarify how everything is linked.

Research suggests that the audience remember the first and last things you say so your introduction and conclusion are vital for reinforcing your points. Essentially, ensure you spend the time structuring your presentation and addressing all of the sections.

Like what you're reading?

14 effective presentation tips to impress your audience

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera July 15, 2022

An effective presentation can communicate key ideas and opinions, save time, and contribute to your overall success as a business, but good presentation skills don’t come naturally to everyone. In this blog post, you’ll find 14 effective presentation tips you can implement in your next presentation to make it a success. 

Whether you’re preparing for an important presentation at work or school, or you’re looking for ways to generally improve your presentation skills, you’ll find these presentation tips useful. We’ve gathered a list to help you impress your audience from the get-go. You’ll find tips for creating and presenting your slides, talking in front of an audience, and other effective presentation techniques to help you stand out. 

Most common presentation mistakes

Before we list our top effective presentation tips, let’s explore the most common presentation mistakes. If you’ve made one or more mistakes in this list, you’re not alone. Most people have made at least one mistake. However, what’s important is to be aware of these errors and try avoiding them next time.

#1 A poor start

One of the most common mistakes people make is undermining the importance of the first few minutes or seconds of their presentation. 

Let’s say you’ve practiced your key talking points meticulously and gone over your slides a million times, but when you’re in the spotlight and need to say your first line, do you know exactly what to say to wow the audience? 

The start of your presentation is crucial. Not only because how you start sets the tone for the rest of your presentation, but also because people generally require around 8 seconds to decide whether they find the subject interesting enough to keep listening. Starting your presentation with a captivating intro is even more important than you think. To ensure you start off right, read our guide on how to start your presentation . 

#2 Lack of preparation

Yes, even though it’s clear that you should prepare before giving a presentation, it’s still a common mistake amongst presenters. Preparing content and talking points is an obvious start, but there are other steps that you might be overlooking.

Before you even join a meeting or walk into a room where you’re going to present, consider the technical requirements and get familiar with the equipment. If you’re presenting online, make sure to test-run your presentation and the visual aids you’re going to use. The last thing you want is a broken video link, poor audio, or a weak connection when you’re presenting. 

Also, consider the questions your audience might want to ask you about the topic. Think about how you’d answer those questions, or do even further research to really impress the audience with your answers. 

Explore other ways to prepare for a presentation to feel even more confident when presenting.

#3 Losing track of time

It’s great to feel passionate about your topic. However, you’ll have to consider your audience’s level of interest and knowledge. Some details might seem fascinating to you, and you’d like to talk about them for hours, but for your audience, too much information will drain their energy and lose their attention. 

Therefore, make sure to keep track of time. Also, consider your audience’s interests. A concise presentation is always better than a long one with a ton of information. Plus, you’ll have a higher chance of keeping your audience’s attention throughout the presentation. 

Effective presentation tips

Now that we’ve looked at some of the most common presentation mistakes – let’s dive into effective presentation tips that’ll help you excel in future presentations. 

#1 Tell a story

Stories connect, inspire, and empower people. Telling a story can entice action, help understand an idea, and make people feel connected to the storyteller. It’s also one of the most effective presentation tips. A study by organizational psychologist Peg Neuhauser found that a well-told story is easier to remember than facts, which makes it a highly effective learning technique. 

With that in mind, telling a story when you’re presenting can engage your audience and make it a more memorable experience. You can either share a personal story or a historical event, just make sure to have a clear connection between the story and the topic you’re presenting. 

#2 Work on your body language

Body language can make a huge difference in how your presentation is perceived. It’s one of the presentation tips you definitely shouldn’t overlook. 

Body language says a lot about a person’s confidence level, emotions, state of mind, and even credibility. For the audience, it’s a way to understand what the person is saying and how interested they are in the topic. 

Therefore, work on your body language to better convey the message you’re trying to communicate. Practice in front of a mirror before your presentation and be conscious of your hand gestures and facial expressions. 

#3 Understand your audience

Before crafting your presentation, you must know who you’re speaking to. Understanding the interests, demographics, professional background, and other valuable information of your audience is crucial in making your speech successful. 

If you’re speaking at an event, contact the organizers to get more information about other speakers and the audience. If you’re presenting at work, you may already know your audience fairly well. Use this information to your advantage and create content you know they’ll resonate with.

#4 Use high-quality visuals

What’s one of the most effective presentation techniques? Use of visuals. They play a crucial role in your presentation. However, only high-quality visuals will make a good impression and effectively communicate your message. Use high-quality visuals like images, videos, graphs, maps, and others to really land your point. 

Using visuals is a great way to convey your ideas as they’re easier to process than text. If you’re not sure where to find great visuals, check out our blog post on presentation visuals for five free resources.

P.S. the Prezi library holds a variety of images, videos, GIFs, stickers, and other visuals, including different charts and maps to spice up your presentation. It’s all available in your dashboard .

#5 Use data visualizations

Do you want to showcase statistics or other datasets in your presentation? Use data visualizations to make your data stand out and impress your audience. 

There’s nothing more boring than a bunch of data presented in a flat way. If you want to tell a story with your data, use interactive infographics or slides enriched with eye-catching visuals. Showcasing data will make your ideas appear more trustworthy and credible. 

Prezi Design offers a range of templates to choose from. You can start creating data visualizations from scratch or choose a template and edit the data there. 

#6 Make it engaging with interactive elements

It’s not easy to deliver an engaging presentation. People can easily get distracted or try to multitask, especially in the virtual environment. Sometimes, it’s difficult to focus on the speaker and the written text. Other times, the content just isn’t impressive enough to hold the audience’s attention. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

You can make your presentation more engaging for everyone by including interactive content like graphs and charts. With interactive data visualizations, you’ll make the data discovery process more engaging and exciting for your audience. 

Your audience will be able to hover over data points and click on certain icons or datasets to discover information on their own. Interactive visualizations will make the presentation more memorable and impressive. 

As you can see in the example below, you can discover different data by engaging with the infographic. 

#7 Stay consistent with fonts and color styles

You want your presentation to look visually appealing and highlight essential information. To make that happen, stay consistent with font styles and color schemes throughout your presentation. 

Use one or two fonts max to make the text easy to read and understand. Also, use a carefully selected color scheme that’s not too distracting. If you’re using Prezi Design, you can easily copy and paste styles by right-clicking on your data visualizations and selecting “copy styles.” This makes it easier to stay consistent and saves time when picking matching colors. 

#8 Structure your presentation properly

Before creating your presentation, think about its structure. What’s the main idea you want to convey? Use that as your starting point, and only include information that adds value to the narrative. 

Plan out the first topics carefully to properly introduce your argument. Add the essential information in the middle part of your presentation. Lastly, close your presentation with a summary of the main points and leave your audience with an afterthought. Also, plan when you’re taking questions and for how long. 

For more insight, watch this tutorial on how to structure your presentation:

#9 Practice your public speaking skills

Public speaking may not be your forte, but you can get better with practice. Don’t decline a great opportunity to share your ideas with a larger audience just because you feel nervous speaking in front of a group of people. 

One of the best ways to improve your public speaking skills is to practice in front of your family or friends – people you feel comfortable with. Also, focus on the topic you’re presenting and get excited about the idea you want to convey. This way you’ll appear more confident and feel less nervous about public speaking. 

Explore other public speaking tips from Jessica Chen, the founder, and CEO of Soulcast Media: 

#10 Show your slides next to you on-screen

If you’re presenting on Zoom or in a virtual meeting , think twice before you share your screen. The days of hiding behind slides are over. People want to see and connect with other people, not sit through another run-of-the-mill screen share. To do that, use Prezi Video to showcase all your content right next to you in your video feed. 

As a result, your presentation will look more engaging than a traditional virtual presentation . Also, your audience will have the chance to read your body language and follow along with what you’re saying even better. 

If you already have your slides prepared, don’t worry – you can easily integrate them into Prezi. 

See Prezi Video in action and check out our video templates to get started.

#11 Calm down before presenting

Being in front of an audience can feel nerve-racking. However, there are ways to calm down before presenting that will make you feel more centered and confident. The last thing you want is all your hard work to go to waste just because of stress. 

Try breathing exercises or a five-minute guided meditation before presenting. The trick is to remove all distractions and focus on the present moment so you’re not overthinking right before starting your presentation. Also, be fully prepared and know exactly what to say and when which will help you feel more collected. If you want to discover other ways to feel and look more confident, read how not to be nervous before a presentation . 

#12 Use transitions and animations 

Add movement to your slides with transitions and animations. You’ll make your presentation more visually appealing and engaging. However, be careful not to overwhelm your audience with your choice of transitions and animations. 

Choose a transition that matches your presentation visually and use it throughout your presentation. Consider what animations will be relevant to your audience and select a few to add to your slides. Don’t overdo it. Keep the focus on the message you’re trying to convey, and use animations to only support that message. 

#13 Be enthusiastic 

When you’re in a room with a positive and enthusiastic person, you can’t help but feel uplifted as well. High-energy people have this effect on others. Most importantly, a lot of people tend to mimic people’s behavior and mirror their energy when they feel a connection or relate to them. That’s called the chameleon effect . 

When you’re presenting, you want your audience to feel curious about what you’re presenting. You may also want to leave your audience feeling uplifted, interested to know more, or inspired. To have that effect on others, try to convey those emotions when presenting. Practice your speech, slow down your narration at times, or take a pause after you’ve delivered a statement, and use different presentation techniques to present your project and really drive your points home. 

#14 End your presentation in a memorable way

The first few minutes of your presentation are crucial for captivating your audience’s attention. However, don’t underestimate the importance of ending your presentation as powerfully as you started it. 

The way you end your presentation will play a crucial part in how your audience will remember it. You want to make a memorable impression by closing your presentation with a summarizing statement, a rhetorical question, a call to action, or another impactful way. Discover 10 ways you can end your presentation in our guide.  

There are a lot of factors to consider when creating and delivering a presentation. You want your slides to look professional and visually appealing while conveying your main points. You also want to look and sound confident even if you’re nervous about public speaking. Whatever your concerns may be, remember that preparation is essential. Practice and dedication are the keys to giving a successful presentation . Make sure to follow these effective presentation tips to excel in your future presentations. If you’re interested in creating a captivating presentation with Prezi, contact us to learn more or try it for free . 

Elevating presentations with Prezi AI

Embrace the innovation of Prezi to bring your presentations to life. With its unique platform, Prezi AI offers more than just visually appealing templates; it provides an immersive narrative experience, engaging your audience with a story-driven approach. By integrating Prezi AI , our platform’s capabilities are further enhanced, offering intelligent design suggestions and optimizing content layouts to ensure your presentations are not only beautiful but impactful. This integration is a perfect example of effective presentation techniques in action, using technology to create a more engaging presentation.

Interactive elements: transforming passive listening into active engagement

Prezi revolutionizes the way information is presented by incorporating interactive elements that invite audience participation. With Prezi AI, these features become even more accessible, suggesting ways to make your presentation more engaging through clickable areas, zoomable images, and dynamic visualizations. This level of interaction encourages exploration, making your message more memorable and transforming a standard presentation into an effective presentation.

Adding a personal touch in digital presentation with video

Prezi Video stands out by seamlessly integrating your content alongside your video feed, bridging the gap between traditional presentations and personal engagement. This feature is crucial for those looking to follow presentation tips that emphasize the importance of connecting with your audience on a more personal level. Prezi AI enhances this experience, ensuring your content is displayed in the most effective way possible, making your virtual presentations feel as though you’re directly conversing with your audience.

Mastering presentation artistry with Prezi

The journey to becoming a skilled presenter involves continuously refining your approach and embracing tools that elevate your ability to communicate effectively. Prezi, enriched with Prezi AI, is one such tool that transforms ordinary presentations into captivating experiences. By leveraging these advanced features, you can deliver presentations that are successful, memorable, and truly unforgettable, embodying the essence of tips for presentation mastery.

Whether you’re an experienced speaker or preparing for your first presentation, Prezi equips you with the tools to succeed. Engage your audience, tell compelling stories, and deliver your message with confidence and creativity. Following effective presentation tips and exploring how Prezi AI can transform your next presentation is a step towards mastering the art of impactful communication. Delve into the features and begin your journey to presentation mastery today.

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6 Key Elements of a Great Presentation

Whether you're presenting to co-workers or conference attendees, a strong presentation can create buy-in, generate interest, and even further your career..

Whether you're presenting in a boardroom or at a conference, a strong presentation can go a long way toward furthering your career. If you project confidence and competence, you'll be able to engage and impress any audience.

But as you might imagine, pulling off a great presentation or conference talk isn't easy. A confident speaker can still be foiled by a low-quality presentation deck , and likewise, a great deck can't make up for lack of preparation .

I've had the question of what makes a great presentation on my mind a lot lately. On March 9, I'll be speaking at SXSW for the third year in a row. My talk is called " The Visual-First Method: Boost Conversions Now ," and will explain how organizations can transition into making visual communication their primary means of communicating both internally and externally. After nine years running a visual communication agency, it's a topic I know well. Even so, a great deal of preparation goes into this and all the talks that I deliver, which total dozens a year.

With all of this in mind, I'll outline the six elements that every successful presentation needs.

1. It has a clear objective.

What are you trying to achieve with this presentation? Should your audience walk away impressed and informed with what you achieved? Ready to learn more about your company? Excited to download your ebook?

Define your goals clearly, right at the outside. The objective of your presentation will drive everything from your script to your slide deck.

2. It's useful to your audience.

No one likes to sit through an hour-long sales pitch. Nor do they want to hear a talk that doesn't teach them something, or benefit them in some way. So if you think that talking about what your company does for the entirety of your next conference presentation is a good idea, you're sorely mistaken.

Every presentation should genuinely and meaningfully offer value to its audience. That means sharing key strategies that have worked for you; offering up enlightening data or insights; or telling a story that they may be able to learn from. Only in considering your audience's needs will you gain their confidence and trust.

3. It's well-rehearsed.

Yes, you absolutely need to practice. What you say should not only be said clearly, it should be delivered in an organized fashion and should be carefully coordinated with what you show on screen. Practice also helps you project confidence as a speaker, and that, too, will be more compelling for your audience.

And even if you've done this presentation a dozen times, rehearsal is essential. After all, every audience is different, so you may need to adjust your presentation each time to your audience's unique needs and interests.

4. Your presentation deck uses as little text as possible.

We've all attended one of those presentations where the slide deck had too much text. It's impossible to read more than a few words at a time while also listening attentively to the speaker.

Don't give attendees a reading assignment. It'll make the overall experience of your presentation less enjoyable. Your audience is liable to feel distracted and even a little stressed. Instead, focus on visualizing the topics you're discussing and supplementing them in meaningful ways -- with the help of graphs, for example.

5. Your contact information is clearly featured.

On my conference presentation, I include my company's logo and our Twitter handle on every slide. I want to make sure that the audience has ample opportunity to learn who we are, and to reach out and connect. This is especially useful for conference presentations, and may not be necessary for internal presentations at your place of work. Still, don't forget to make sure that everyone has a way to reach out to you, and remind them of your name and contact information on your last slide.

6. It includes a call-to-action.

Just as every presentation has a clearly defined goal, so too must it have a clear call-to-action. What do you want your audience to do at the end of your presentation? You'll need to give them an easy way to follow through on next steps.

At conferences, I like to leave audiences with a way to learn more about the topic I've been discussing. That's why I'll often share a link to an ebook at the end of my talks.

Still, when it comes to calls-to-action, there are as many options as there are goals. Determine what's right for you.

Incorporate these strategies into your next presentation, and you'll see more engagement and improved conversions. It will also make for more satisfied audiences, no matter where you're presenting.

A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta

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13 Things to Include in Your Next PowerPoint Presentation

Your visual presentation can be improved with these 13 tips and tricks.

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When putting together a presentation or deck for a big meeting, including a visual component is key. Creating and sharing a PowerPoint presentation can help you drive home key concepts with the support of text, images, graphs and tables and other multimedia elements. Having a tangible and concrete slide deck can also anchor you while also keeping your audience engaged, which can help increase your confidence as a presenter, especially if you aren’t the most extroverted person in the room.

Of course, developing an effective PowerPoint requires plenty of consideration, from determining the structure and design to navigating the technical aspects. To help, here are 13 things to include in your next PowerPoint as well as key dos and don’ts to ensure your presentation goes off without a hitch.

>> Learn More: 5 Types of Presentations Every CEO Needs to Have

What to include in your PowerPoint presentation

A strong PowerPoint presentation should include the following components.

1. Who you are

When presenting to an unfamiliar audience — for example, if you’re speaking at an academic conference or giving a pitch to investors — it’s crucial to introduce yourself. Establish credibility and trust by briefly discussing your line of work, past accomplishments or related projects you have worked on.

2. Your logo

While you may have included your logo in your introduction, you can also put it on each slide of the presentation. This helps your brand “stick” and can be particularly effective when speaking about or on behalf of your company. [Read more about creating a small business marketing plan .]

3. An agenda

Next, write an agenda slide. Not only does this set expectations for your audience and maintain the flow of the presentation, but it can also keep you on track in both drafting and presenting your information.

4. A clear roadmap

In addition to establishing an agenda early on, you can also break down that agenda further with a clear roadmap for your presentation, which is especially helpful for longer PowerPoints with multiple sections. Don’t be afraid to return to the roadmap as needed to allow your audience to follow along better.

5. Information not on your slides

Your PowerPoint slide deck is designed to supplement and enhance your oral presentation, not replace it. Ensure your verbally-presented information adds value by including information that is not on your slides. Keep written text to a minimum, focusing on key words and main ideas. You can expand on these concepts in greater detail as you present.

6. Engaging visuals

The primary benefit of a PowerPoint is the ability to add visuals. In addition to any text on-slide and your verbal presentation content, enhance your message with engaging visual elements, such as graphs and infographics. Relying less on text helps ensure the focus remains on you, the presenter, while also illustrating your key takeaways effectively.

7. Updated data

There’s nothing wrong with reusing or repurposing a slide deck you’ve already created — as long as you keep everything current. If your PowerPoint includes statistics, industry trends , information on your business or other data, check every number and update as necessary before presenting.

8. The answer to ‘so what?’

Even if you include the most compelling and clear information in your presentation, it won’t make an impact if your audience doesn’t understand the bigger picture. Aim to answer the unspoken question of “so what?” by clarifying why the message is important and why it is relevant to your listeners.

9. Key takeaways

Your key takeaways are arguably the most important part of your presentation. Highlight these main points at the end of your PowerPoint ― or, for longer presentations, at the end of each section ― to help your audience remember them. Generating your key takeaways in the outlining stage can also help you structure your slide content.

10. Backup slides

Because a presentation is designed to be clear and concise, you may not always have the time or opportunity to go in-depth on certain topics or audience questions. Having backup slides with additional information can encourage further audience understanding — without letting the presentation veer off-track or run over time.

11. An objection slide

Depending on your presentation topic, your audience may have objections. Get ahead of these objections by dedicating a section to it in your PowerPoint. Give people the opportunity to raise any concerns and address known or anticipated issues directly.

12. A call-to-action slide

Consider what you want your audience to do after listening to your presentation. Are there specific actions to take, ideas to consider or a person to contact? Lay this out for your audience in a call-to-action slide.

13. Contact information

Display your contact information on the last slide to encourage your audience to reach out to you. They will likely appreciate the opportunity to reach out to you should they wish to discuss further and you may also make a valuable connection in the process. [Read more about how to improve customer service for e-commerce sites .]

Dos and don’ts of PowerPoint presentations

If you’re planning to use PowerPoint as a business tool, here are some key dos and don’ts to keep in mind:

• Do use speaker notes to your advantage: While your slides should be relatively clutter-free and light on text, you can include speaker notes at the bottom of the page that are only visible to you, the presenter. Use this section to include any facts, examples or questions you want to highlight in the presentation.
• Do keep your slide backgrounds subtle and consistent: Selecting a background or color scheme that’s too bold or busy can make your presentation hard on the eyes. Ensures sufficient visual contrast between the background and text colors so you and your audience can see it clearly. Microsoft has developed several built-in themes with this visual contrast in mind, though you can also create your own template if you have an eye for design.
• Do have a backup plan: Technology can fail us at the most inopportune times. Should the PowerPoint or your computer have issues, you’ll want to have a backup of your presentation on a memory stick, a CD or on the cloud. In the worst-case scenario, the tech won’t work and you won’t have any visuals to present. If that happens, take a deep breath, then deliver your presentation with a focus on the message. [Related article: Top 10 Cloud Storage Services for Business ]
• Don’t read your PowerPoint word for word: When presenting, your goal is to engage your audience and maintain their attention throughout. Reciting information verbatim from your slides can limit your connection with your audience and hurt your ability to “read the room.” Use the PowerPoint to guide and illustrate as needed but let you and your verbal presentation be the focus.
• Don’t go overboard on transitions and effects: It can be tempting to add slide transitions and sound effects for some visual excitement. However, these special effects rarely enhance your message and can be distracting or even come off as “gimmicky.” Additionally, PowerPoints with effects tend to run more slowly than those without, particularly if you’re presenting on a different computer than the one used to create the slide deck.
• Don’t include too many slides or too much information: People should not spend the entirety of your presentation reading, nor should there be so much information that they become overwhelmed and tune out altogether. Limit the number of slides in your presentation, as well as the amount of text on any given slide. Use your oral presentation to expand on key points and engage with your audience.

Scott Gerber contributed to this article.

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More From Forbes

The three basic secrets of all successful presentations.

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In my presentation, which you can see here on the Stanford Business School YouTube Channel , I gave students very specific techniques they could use immediately to pitch their ideas to colleagues, instructors, and professional investors. I shared three essential components of all successful presentations. By ‘successful,’ I mean presentations that accomplish their intended effect—to move people to action, to close a sale, to receive project funding, etc.

Successful presentations are understandable, memorable, and emotional.

Understandable. Successful presentations are free of jargon, buzzwords, complexity, and confusion. Although there are many ways to make a presentation clear and understandable, my favorite technique is what I call the “Twitter-friendly headline.” I learned this from studying Steve Jobs and other inspiring communicators. In 2001 the iPod was “1,000 songs in your pocket.” In 2008 the MacBook Air was “The world’s thinnest notebook.” Steve Jobs always described his products in one sentence. Even before Twitter existed, Jobs’ product descriptions never exceeded 140 characters.

The other day I spoke to bestselling author Daniel Pink about his new book, To Sell is Human . Pink is skilled at public speaking and had years of experience as a political speechwriter before he wrote books. When he prepares for a presentation he asks himself, “What’s the one big idea I want people to take away from my presentation?” If you’re pitching a product, what’s the one thing you want your customers or investors to know about it? If you can express it in 140 characters or less, you’ll help your audience make sense of your product and how it will benefit their lives.

Memorable. If your audience cannot remember what you said in your presentation or recall your idea, it doesn’t matter how great it is! Again, there are many techniques to communicate ideas in memorable ways, but my favorite is a concept I’ve discussed in an earlier column —the rule of three. Neuroscientists generally agree that the human mind can only consume anywhere from three to seven points in short term, or “working memory” (This is why the phone number is only seven digits. Long ago scientists discovered if you ask people to remember eight digits, they forget just about the entire sequence of numbers). The magic number—not too many and not too few—seems to be three.

Try to incorporate the rule of three in your presentations. You can divide your presentation into three parts, discuss “three benefits” of a product, or give your audience “three action steps” they can take. Packaging the content into groups of three makes it far easier to remember.

Emotional. There’s a large body of research that shows the emotional component of a message trumps the analytical. Yes, you need to show data and evidence to reinforce your position, but it’s the emotional part of a presentation that often moves people to action.

Storytelling is the easiest and most effective way to make your presentation emotional. I once interviewed a prominent attorney who won the largest punitive judgment against a pharmaceutical company at the time—$250 million. He showed me the slides he used in his opening argument. The first six slides told a story and showed pictures of the person who lost his life. When the trial was over he asked the jurors why they voted the way they did. It seems the drug company lawyers had called to the stand scientists who confused the jurors with mountains of data and statistics. The jurors, however, were more moved by the simple story that opened the trial. They specifically mentioned the story as one of the reasons behind their decision. Stories are powerful, under-appreciated, and rarely used. If you want to stand out, tell more of them.

Poor communication and presentation skills can sink your brand and your career. I see it happen all the time. I’ve also seen way too many great ideas go undiscovered because the people who have those ideas fail to communicate effectively. We need big ideas to solve big problems, and we need inspiring leaders who can present those ideas so they are understandable, memorable, and make an emotional connection with their audiences.

Carmine Gallo is the communications coach for the world’s most admired brands. He is a popular keynote speaker and author of several books, including the international bestsellers The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs . His new book, The Apple Experience , is the first book to reveal the secrets behind the stunning success of the Apple Retail Store. Carmine has recently launched an eLearning course titled, The New Rules of Persuasive Presentations . Follow Carmine on Facebook or Twitter .

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Blog > How to structure a good PowerPoint Presentation

How to structure a good PowerPoint Presentation

08.09.21   •  #powerpoint #tips.

When creating presentations, it is particularly important that they are well organized and have a consistent structure.

A logical structure helps the audience to follow you and to remember the core information as best as possible. It is also important for the presenter, as a good presentation structure helps to keep calm, to stay on the topic and to avoid awkward pauses.

But what does such a structure actually look like? Here we show you how to best organize your presentation and what a good structure looks like.

Plan your presentation

Before you start creating your presentation, you should always brainstorm. Think about the topic and write all your ideas down. Then think about the message you want to communicate, what your goal is and what you want your audience to remember at the end.

Think about who your audience is so that you can address them in the best possible way. One possibility is to start your presentation with a few polls to get to know your audience better. Based on the results, you can then adapt your presentation a little. Use the poll function of SlideLizard and have all the answers at a glance. SlideLizard makes it possible to integrate the polls directly into your PowerPoint presentation which helps you to avoid annoying switching between presentation and interaction tool. You can keep an eye on the results while the votes come in and then decide whether you want to share them or not.

• an informative
• an entertaining
• an inspiring
• or a persuasive presentation?

Typical Presentation Structure

The basic structure of a presentation is actually always the same and should consist of:

Introduction

Make sure that the structure of your presentation is not too complicated. The simpler it is, the better the audience can follow.

Personal Introduction

It is best to start your presentation by briefly introducing yourself which helps to build a connection with your audience right away.

Introduce the topic

Then introduce the topic, state the purpose of the presentation and provide a brief outline of the main points you will be addressing.

Mention the length

In the introduction, mention the approximate length of the talk and then also make sure you stick to it.

The introduction should be no longer than two slides and provide a good overview of the topic.

Icebreaker Polls

According to studies, people in the audience only have an average attention span of 10 minutes, which is why it is important to increase their attention right at the beginning and to arouse the audience's interest. You could make a good start with a few icebreaker polls for example. They lighten the mood right at the beginning and you can secure your audience's attention from the start.

For example, you could use SlideLizard to have all the answers at a glance and share them with your audience. In addition, the audience can try out how the polls work and already know how it works if you include more polls in the main part.

Get to know your audience

As mentioned earlier, it is always useful to think about who your audience actually is. Ask them questions at the beginning about how well they already know the topic of your presentation. Use SlideLizard for this so that you have a clear overview about the answers. You can use both single- and multiple-choice questions or also open questions and display their results as a WordCloud in your presentation, for example.

Include a quote

To make the beginning (or the end) of your presentation more exciting, it is always a good idea to include a quote. We have selected some powerful quotes for PowerPoint presentations for you.

Present your topic

The main part of a presentation should explain the topic well, state facts, justify them and give examples. Keep all the promises you made earlier in the introduction.

Length and Structure

The main part should make up about 70% of the presentation and also include a clear structure. Explain your ideas in detail and build them up logically. It should be organized chronologically, by priority or by topic. There should be a smooth transition between the individual issues. However, it is also important to use phrases that make it clear that a new topic is starting. We have listed some useful phrases for presentations here.

Visualize data and statistics and show pictures to underline facts. If you are still looking for good images, we have selected 5 sources of free images for you here.

Focus on the essentials

Focus on what is most important and summarize a bit. You don't have to say everything about a topic because your audience won’t remember everything either. Avoid complicated sentence structure, because if the audience does not understand something, they will not be able to read it again.

Make your presentation interactive

Make your presentation interactive to keep the attention of your audience. Use SlideLizard to include polls in your presentation, where your audience can vote directly from their smartphone and discuss the answers as soon as you received all votes. Here you can also find more tips for increasing audience engagement.

Repeat the main points

The conclusion should contain a summary of the most important key points. Repeat the main points you have made, summarize what the audience should have learned and explain how the new information can help in the future.

Include a Q&A part

Include a Q&A part at the end to make sure you don't leave any questions open. It's a good idea to use tools like SlideLizard for it. Your audience can ask anonymous questions and if there is not enough time, you can give them the answers afterwards. You can read more about the right way to do a question slide in PowerPoint here.

Get Feedback

It is also important to get feedback on your presentation at the end to keep improving. With SlideLizard you can ask your audience for anonymous feedback through star ratings, number ratings or open texts directly after your presentation. You can then export the responses and analyse them later in Excel.

Presentation style

Depending on the type of presentation you give, the structure will always be slightly different. We have selected a few different presentation styles and their structure for you.

Short Presentation

If you are one of many presenters on the day, you will only have a very limited time to present your idea and to convince your audience. It is very important to stand out with your presentation.

So you need to summarize your ideas as briefly as possible and probably should not need more than 3-5 slides.

Problem Solving Presentation

Start your presentation by explaining a problem and giving a short overview of it.

Then go into the problem a little more, providing both intellectual and emotional arguments for the seriousness of the problem. You should spend about the first 25% of your presentation on the problem.

After that, you should spend about 50% of your presentation proposing a solution and explaining it in detail.

In the last 25%, describe what benefits this solution will bring to your audience and ask them to take a simple but relevant action that relates to the problem being discussed.

Tell a Story

A great way to build an emotional connection with the audience is to structure a presentation like a story.

In the introduction, introduce a character who has to deal with a conflict. In the main part, tell how he tries to solve his problem but fails again and again. In the end, he manages to find a solution and wins.

Stories have the power to win customers, align colleagues and motivate employees. They’re the most compelling platform we have for managing imaginations. - Nancy Duarte / HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations

Make a demonstration

Use the demonstration structure to show how a product works. First talk about a need or a problem that has to be solved.

Then explain how the product will help solve the problem and try to convince your audience of the need for your product.

Spend the end clarifying where and when the product can be purchased.

Chronological structure

When you have something historical to tell, it is always good to use a chronological structure. You always have to ask yourself what happens next.

To make it more interesting and exciting, it is a good idea to start by telling the end of something and after that you explain how you got there. This way you make the audience curious and you can gain their attention faster.

Nancy Duarte TED Talk

Nancy Duarte is a speaker and presentation design expert. She gives speeches all over the world, trying to improve the power of public presentations.

In her famous TED Talk "The Secret Structure of Great Talks" she dissects famous speeches such as Steve Jobs' iPhone launch speech and Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. In doing so, she found out that each presentation is made up of 4 parts:

• What could be
• A moment to remember
• Promise of “New Bliss”

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About the author.

Helena Reitinger

Helena supports the SlideLizard team in marketing and design. She loves to express her creativity in texts and graphics.

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Slide transitions.

Slide transitions are visual effects which appear in PowerPoint when one slide moves to the next. There are many different transitions, like for example fade and dissolve.

Solution Presentation

A solution has already been found during a solution presentation. The only thing that remains is to find a solution on how to realize the decision.

Learning on Demand

Learning on Demand means that the content is available extactly when it's needed by the learner

Virtual Reality

With Virtual Reality people can practice situations and important processes in a virtual room by putting on special digital glasses. They can influence what happens themselves.

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The Importance of Presentation Skills: That You Must Know About

Presentation Skills are essential for effectively conveying ideas and engaging an audience. This blog explores the Importance of Presentation Skills, highlighting how they boost confidence, enhance communication, and improve professional success. Master these skills to leave a lasting impression and achieve your goals.

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1) A Brief Introduction to Presentation Skills 

2) Importance of Presentation Skills in Personal Life 

3) Importance of Presentation Skills in Professional Life 

4) Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills 

5) Conclusion 

A Brief Introduction to Presentation Skills  

Presentation Skills can be defined as the ability to deliver information confidently and persuasively to engage and influence the audience. Be it in personal or professional settings; mastering Presentation Skills empowers individuals to convey their ideas with clarity, build confidence, and leave a lasting impression. From public speaking to business pitches, honing these skills can lead to greater success in diverse spheres of life.  You can also refer to various presentation skills interview questions and Answers  to build you confidence! 

Importance of Presentation Skills in Personal Life  

Effective Presentation Skills are not limited to professional settings alone; they play a significant role in personal life as well. Let us now explore  the Importance of Presentation Skills in one’s personal life:    

Expressing Ideas Clearly   

In day-to-day conversations with family, friends, or acquaintances, having good Presentation Skills enables you to articulate your thoughts and ideas clearly. Whether you're discussing plans for the weekend or sharing your opinions on a particular topic, being an effective communicator encourages better understanding and engagement. 

Enhancing Social Confidence  

Many individuals struggle with social anxiety or nervousness in social gatherings. Mastering Presentation Skills helps boost self-confidence, making it easier to navigate social situations with ease. The ability to present yourself confidently and engage others in conversation enhances your social life and opens doors to new relationships. 

Creating Memories on Special Occasions  

There are moments in life that call for public speaking, such as proposing a toast at a wedding, delivering a speech at a family gathering, or giving a presentation during special events. Having polished Presentation Skills enables you to leave a positive impression on the audience, making these occasions even more memorable. 

Handling Challenging Conversations  

Life often presents challenging situations that require delicate communication, such as expressing condolences or resolving conflicts. Strong Presentation Skills help you convey your feelings and thoughts sensitively, encouraging effective and empathetic communication during difficult times. 

Building Stronger Relationships  

Being a skilled presenter means being a good listener as well. Active listening is a fundamental aspect of effective Presentations, and when applied in personal relationships, it strengthens bonds and builds trust. Empathising with others and showing genuine interest in their stories and opinions enhances the quality of your relationships. 

Advocating for Personal Goals  

Whether you're pursuing personal projects or seeking support for a cause you're passionate about, the ability to present your ideas persuasively helps garner support and enthusiasm from others. This can be beneficial in achieving personal goals and making a positive impact on your community. 

Inspiring and Motivating Others  

In one’s personal life, Presentation Skills are not just about delivering formal speeches; they also involve inspiring and motivating others through your actions and words. Whether you're sharing your experiences, mentoring someone, or encouraging loved ones during tough times, your Presentation skills can be a source of inspiration for others. 

Exuding leadership traits  

Effective Presentation Skills go hand in hand with leadership qualities. Being able to communicate clearly and influence others' perspectives positions you as a leader within your family, social circles, or community. Leadership in personal life involves guiding and supporting others towards positive outcomes. 

Unlock your full potential as a presenter with our Presentation Skills Training Course. Join now!  

Importance of Presentation Skills in Professional Life  

Effective Presentation skills are a vital asset for career growth and success in professional life. Let us now explore the Importance of Presentation skills for students and workers:  

Impressing Employers and Clients  

During job interviews or business meetings, a well-delivered Presentation showcases your knowledge, confidence, and ability to communicate ideas effectively. It impresses employers, clients, and potential investors, leaving a positive and memorable impression that can tilt the scales in your favour. 

Advancing in Your Career  

In the corporate world, promotions and career advancements often involve presenting your achievements, ideas, and future plans to decision-makers. Strong Presentation Skills demonstrate your leadership potential and readiness for higher responsibilities, opening doors to new opportunities. 

Effective Team Collaboration  

As a professional, you often need to present projects, strategies, or updates to your team or colleagues. A compelling Presentation facilitates better understanding and association among team members, leading to more productive and successful projects. 

Persuasive Selling Techniques  

For sales and marketing professionals, Presentation skills are instrumental in persuading potential customers to choose your products or services. An engaging sales pitch can sway buying decisions, leading to increased revenue and business growth. 

Creating Impactful Proposals  

In the corporate world, proposals are crucial for securing new partnerships or business deals. A well-structured and compelling Presentation can make your proposal stand out and increase the chances of successful negotiations. 

Gaining and Retaining Clients  

Whether you are a freelancer, consultant, or business owner, Presentation Skills play a key role in winning and retaining clients. A captivating Presentation not only convinces clients of your capabilities but also builds trust and promotes long-term relationships. 

Enhancing Public Speaking Engagements  

Professional life often involves speaking at conferences, seminars, or industry events. Being a confident and engaging speaker allows you to deliver your message effectively, position yourself as an expert, and expand your professional network. 

Influencing Stakeholders and Decision-makers  

As you climb the corporate ladder, you may find yourself presenting to senior management or board members. Effective Presentations are essential for gaining support for your ideas, projects, or initiatives from key stakeholders. 

Handling Meetings and Discussions  

In meetings, being able to present your thoughts clearly and concisely contributes to productive discussions and efficient decision-making . It ensures that your ideas are understood and considered by colleagues and superiors. 

Professional Development  

Investing time in honing Presentation Skills is a form of professional development. As you become a more effective presenter, you become a more valuable asset to your organisation and industry. 

Building a Personal Brand  

A strong personal brand is vital for professional success. Impressive Presentations contribute to building a positive reputation and positioning yourself as a thought leader or industry expert. 

Career Transitions and Interviews  

When seeking new opportunities or transitioning to a different industry, Presentation Skills are essential for communicating your transferable skills and showcasing your adaptability to potential employers. 

Learn different statistical data with our Data Analysis Skills Course – Join today!

Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills 

Now that you know about the Importance of Presentation Skills in your personal and professional life, we will provide you with tips on how to  Improve Your Presentation Skills .

1) Know Your Audience: Understand the demographics and interests of your audience to tailor your Presentation accordingly. 

2) Practice Regularly: Rehearse your speech multiple times to refine content and delivery. 

3) Seek Feedback: Gather feedback from peers or mentors to identify areas for improvement. 

4) Manage Nervousness: Use relaxation techniques to overcome nervousness before presenting. 

5) Engage with Eye Contact: Maintain eye contact with the audience to establish a connection. 

6) Use Clear Visuals: Utilise impactful visuals to complement your spoken words. 

7) Emphasise Key Points: Highlight important information to enhance audience retention. 

8) Employ body language: Use confident and purposeful gestures to convey your message. 

9) Handle Q&A Confidently: Prepare for potential questions and answer them with clarity. 

10) Add Personal Stories: Include relevant anecdotes to make your Presentation more relatable. 

Learn different methods of delivering presentations with our Presenting with Impact Training – Join today!

Presentation Skills are a valuable asset, impacting both personal and professional realms of life. By mastering these skills, you can become a more effective communicator, a confident professional, and a persuasive influencer. Continuous improvement and adaptation to technological advancements will ensure you stay ahead in this competitive world. 

Learn about presentation styles with our Presentation Skills Training   – Join today! 

Frequently Asked Questions

Visual aids can make your presentation engaging and easier to understand. They help illustrate key points and keep the audience’s attention. Using visuals like charts, images, and videos can make your message clearer and more memorable.

Common mistakes include reading directly from slides, overloading slides with text, and not practising enough. To avoid them, practice thoroughly, use bullet points, and keep your slides simple.

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The Knowledge Academy’s Knowledge Pass , a prepaid voucher, adds another layer of flexibility, allowing course bookings over a 12-month period. Join us on a journey where education knows no bounds.

The Knowledge Academy offers various Presentation Skills Courses , including Presentation Skills Training, Presenting with Impact Training, and Data Analysis Skills Course. These courses cater to different skill levels, providing comprehensive insights into Types of Communication .  

Our Business Skills Blogs cover a range of topics related to Presentation Skills, offering valuable resources, best practices, and industry insights. Whether you are a beginner or looking to advance your Presentation Skills, The Knowledge Academy's diverse courses and informative blogs have got you covered.  

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25 Great Presentation Examples Your Audience Will Love

Written by: Chloe West

If you're starting a presentation from scratch, you know that being met with a blank, empty slide can feel a bit intimidating, especially if you're meeting a deadline, overwhelmed with ideas, or not very design-savvy.

This begs the question: How and where do you even start?

One of the easiest places to start is with an idea of the look and feel you want your presentation design to have, along with a complementary layout. Once you have that, all you need to do is fill out the design with your copy and images, and voila, you're done.

To help guide you in this choice, we've put together 25 awesome presentation examples, ranging from business presentations to product presentations and a wide range of use cases in between. Plus, we'll also share ready-to-use templates to move your presentation from blank to almost done!

If you’re short on time, use Visme AI Designer to help you save time and boost your creativity. With just a simple text prompt to our AI Designer Chatbot, choose a style, and voila, your unique design is ready in under two minutes!

Presentation Example #1: Colorful Slides

Draw your audience and keep them engaged with bright, colorful slides in your presentation. This portfolio presentation showcases a designer’s collaboration with Nike. And it’s a great example of how fun and playfulness can not only look good but also draw the reader's attention to key areas you’d like them to focus on.

As great as adding colors can be, there is a right and wrong way of creating colorful presentations tastefully. In fact, it’s suggested that presentations be designed with 2-3 color schemes that are consistent and complimentary from start to finish. 

This is an example of a presentation with well-balanced colors. Tones of blue as the main color, with complementary colors of white and soft neon yellows, are all used in and around the illustrations present.

Image Source

Presentation Example #2: Embedded Video

If you aren’t physically present to give your presentation, you can still put on a show by creating a video presentation.

Adding embedding or using videos in your presentation breaks the monotony of scrolling through a sequence of static slides.

It stops the reader in their tracks to share a demonstration, product details, or essential facts that might be easily summarized in a few lines or are better visualized.

But embedding a single video within your presentation isn’t the only option; you can get creative and use videos as background images instead of regular static images.

Check out this explainer video presentation example. It’s short yet effective and filled with vivid videos, text, and animation.

Visme allows you to easily upload your own videos or import them from YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms

Or tap into our extensive library of royalty-free stock videos and assets so you’re sure to find the perfect videos for your presentation.

For more check this quick guide on How to Embed a YouTube Video in Powerpoint & More .

Presentation Example #3: Interactivity

Not all presentations or slideshows will be or need to be presented.

If your presentation is sent to a client or stakeholder to review on their own, or is used for a self-paced training session, interactive presentations can enhance the experience.

By adding  interactivity to your presentation, you give reader autonomy and ensure that they don’t get bored reading on their own but can find and maintain their pace until the end.

Visme allows you to easily incorporate interactivity with coding. You can add a clickable table of contents, hotspots,  add links to  objects and more.

Consider this informative presentation example: Her last slide includes an RSVP button for people to learn more about the service she teased within her presentation.

This is the perfect lead generation and call-to-action for increasing your customer or membership base.

When you design your presentation with Visme, you can link text and other elements to your website. You can even create and embed a lead generating form in your presentation.

Presentation Example #4: Metaphors

If you can appeal to your audience with a metaphor from pop culture or another well-known reference, you’re sure to keep their attention.

That’s why we love this presentation example that uses superhero comparisons to talk about storytelling.

This storyline is catchy, and it gets the audience intrigued as to what comparison they’re going to make next. Plus, who doesn’t want to be compared to a superhero?

During your next presentation, see if there are any popular references that you can make easy comparisons to in your topic. But don’t try too hard to fit a comparison in, or your audience will be confused.

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Presentation Example #5: Animation

Who doesn’t love a good animated presentation? 

Animation is not only fun but memorable. Some of the best animated presentation software out there offers dozens of features to amp up your presentation design. 

However, like all things, too much of a good thing can be bad.  Just because animation is great doesn’t mean you need to add it to all your slides. Sometimes, simply adding a slight animation makes for the perfect slide.

And that’s exactly where this presentation example comes in.

While it’s not much, having each expert’s quote pop up after the rest of the information is already on the slide gives the presentation a slightly more fun air than if the entire slide content was static.

Visme has a wide range of animation features that require no coding or design skills. You can add slide transitions, animate objects or images or animated characters to highlight sections of your page

Presentation Example #6: Device Mockups

If you're a UX designer or planning to launch a new product, website, or software that's best displayed on a phone or computer, include a mock-up and screenshot in your presentation.

After all, a standalone screen grab with no formatting is a recipe for boring content, whereas a mockup of a laptop gives the reader a realistic point of view and visual experience.

This good presentation example represents exactly how well a mockup can make your content and overall presentation look professional.

When it comes to mock-ups, Visme has got you covered. Readily access professionally designed mockup presentation templates already inside or you can use the mockup generator to instantly design your own. It goes beyond device mockups and allows you to create branding, product, social media and print mockups.

Presentation Example #7: Visual Hierarchy

When we say visual hierarchy , we mean that the elements need to be organized in order of importance.

In this specific example we’re focused more on the presentation text rather than design.

Pay attention to how the header text and body content differ.

The headers on each of the above slides is in a large, all caps font while the body copy is much smaller and in sentence case. This creates a visual hierarchy that makes it obvious which font is the header, and therefore the most important part of the slide content.

Presentation Example #8: Icons

A common mistake most people make when designing their presentations is solely using words. By only using text in your presentation, you’re bound to lose your readers' or viewers' interest.

But maybe you don’t want to add all the bells and whistles that come with an elaborate design. That’s fine, but a simple alternative is to use icons.

Beautiful icons give your presentation a professional look and feel, help to illustrate your point and guide the viewers’ eyes to key points.

This is an example of a good presentation that uses icons to emphasize each of the slide points.

Access thousands of high-quality icons, shapes and graphics!

• Vector icons to spice up any Visme design or document
• Free to use , and great for print or web.
• Customize colors to fit your design needs.

Not only is this much more creative than boring bulleted slides on PowerPoint, it’s an incredibly easy thing to do on a presentation maker like Visme. Simply search for an icon relevant to your point and search through hundreds of options.

Presentation Example #9: Monochromatic Slides

A monochromatic color scheme consists of tints and shades of a single color and can be extremely visually appealing when done well.

This presentation example includes multiple bright colors in the overall presentation, but they’ve utilized one at a time to create monochromatic slides.

In other types of design, like an infographic or social media graphic, you’d stick to a single monochromatic color scheme.

But this example does a great job of utilizing monochromatic harmonies in a presentation while still keeping it engaging by focusing on more than one color the entire time.

Presentation Example #10: Use Images as a Background

The use of images as backgrounds within your presentation can elevate your presentation’s design.

With high-quality images, you can complement your storytelling and actively take your audience on a visual journey that keeps their eyes focused on important details that would have otherwise been missed by simply using text alone in your presentation.

This Nike pitch deck is an effective presentation example of how visuals can evoke emotion, keep the reader engaged and properly portray the message of your overall presentation.

Looking for the perfect image for your presentations can be frustrating. Instead of picking an image out of desperation, you can create one from your inspiration with Visme's AI Image Generator .

Enter a detailed prompt, choose from a range of styles, and in a matter of seconds, you will have a royalty-free AI-generated image ready to be added to your presentation.

And if you already have your stock of images you'd like to upload but they need a bit of editing, use the AI Touch Up Tools to resize, reshape, unblur, remove backgrounds and more, until you're completely satisfied with the results.

Presentation Example #11: Consistency

When putting together a presentation, you want it to be obvious that your slides are cohesive and meant to go together in the slideshow. This means you should be utilizing the same color scheme, fonts and overall theme throughout your presentation.

This presentation created with Visme is a great example of consistency throughout the slides.

Each of these slides follows the same design even though the content on each one differs.

Use the Brand Wizard to help maintain your presentation's visual and brand consistency. This AI-powered tool will help to create a brand kit you can easily access while you're designing.

Insert your URL in the Brand Wizard and watch it grab your assets (company logo, fonts, and colors) and add them to your brand kit. It'll also suggest templates within the Visme library that automatically match your brand.

Presentation Example #12: Fancy Fonts

If you’re a luxury or creative brand that wants to translate your style or showcase your work and add some personality to your text in your presentations, then you should incorporate fancy fonts.

When you’re using fancy fonts, they should be used sparingly, especially in a large font capacity, like a header. You don’t want to place too much text in a fancy font or it gets to be too hard to read, giving both you—as the presenter—and your audience a headache.

Here’s a perfect and practical example of how to incorporate fancy fonts into your presentation:

Using this fancy script font in their presentation gives their slides a more playful air and allows them to further connect with their audience.

Presentation Example #13: Flat Design

Another creative presentation idea you can use would be adding flat designs.

These are usually two-dimensional graphics with bright colors and a minimalist look and feel. Since they're so versatile, flat designs can be used across different industries.

Take a look at this LinkedIn presentation example. The visuals on each slide are characters illustrated in flat design. Utilizing this style can be a great way to create beautiful slides that your audience can’t get enough of.

Be sure that your illustrations are relevant to your slide content so they don’t seem out of place. Just because something looks pretty doesn’t necessarily mean it makes sense in your presentation.

Presentation Example #14: Slide Progress

Most people tend to forget about the table of contents when you’re presenting. Letting your audience know how far along your presentation they are can be a great way to keep them engaged and following along.

This can be especially useful when you’re doing a training session or a lengthy webinar presentation.

Look at this presentation example, which includes a slide progression countdown to let the audience know how many points are left to be covered.

Presentation Example #15: Data Visualization

When you’re sharing complex or detailed data in your presentations, it’s always best to use data visualization .

By adding charts, graphs and other data widgets, you make your data more digestible for your audience and effortlessly highlight key points without losing their interest.

This presentation example does a great job of using data visualization to present stats and information in a fun and approachable way.

Visme has over 40 customizable charts,  graphs, maps and data widgets for you to choose from. You can also import data manually from a spreadsheet, Google Sheets, or apps like Google Analytics into your charts.

Maybe you’d like to start using data visualization, but you’re not sure which one might be the best for your data. We have a detailed guide on 33 Data Visualization Types and how to choose the one that works best for you and your industry.

Presentation Example #16: Minimalistic Slides

You don’t have to stuff tons of information into each one of your presentation slides.

Sometimes less is more.

You can place only the most important words and visuals on a slide and let your voice do the rest. Or you can just add more slides for each of your points.

This presentation example uses minimalistic slides that only focus on a single point at a time.

You don’t have to have a ton of design elements on a slide for it to be visually appealing. This presentation includes just the basics and it still looks well designed and teaches something to its audience.

Presentation Example #17: Graphics

Another great way to create a minimalistic and visually appealing presentation is by placing equal emphasis on text and graphics.

We love the way this next presentation example utilized graphics in each one of their slides.

This presentation covers 25 need-to-know marketing stats, and while the data isn’t placed into charts and graphs, they’ve still come up with a way to add visuals.

This is a great way to incorporate graphics into their slides.

They’ve put a large emphasis on the text, especially since that’s the only white on the slide with the rest monochromatic, but they’re still adding visuals to further emphasize the content.

Presentation Example #18: Lowercase Text

Not every heading has to be in title format and not every sentence has to be in sentence case.

In fact, this presentation provides a great example of how visual hierarchy can still be achieved while utilizing all lowercase letters.

Use larger fonts for headers and smaller fonts for your body, and you can also take advantage of this unique typography design in your presentation.

Just remember that visual hierarchy is still important. The lowercase text works in this presentation because they’ve made it so obvious which text needs to be read first.

Presentation Example #19: Transition

Your transition matters. Notice how I didn’t pluralize the word “transition.” This is because you should only be using a single kind of transition per presentation.

You don’t want to overwhelm your audience or make your presentation look overly busy. Take note of how seamless this presentation example’s slide transition is.

Customize this presentation template and make it your own!

• Add your own text, images, colors and more
• Add interactive buttons and animations
• Customize anything to fit your design and content needs

Not only does the slide transition in the same direction each time, but all of the design elements also glide in the same direction creating a beautiful and visually appealing transition.

Presentation Example #20: Focus on Text

While everyone loves adding stylish graphics, photos or icons, only some presentations need to be built that way. Some presentations can mainly focus on the text while only having a few or no slides with graphics or images.

This presentation example uses only text on each slide. However, it uses two contrasting colors to highlight the speaker's main points and guide the viewer's eyes.  This makes it creative without having to add a ton of visuals.

This presentation uses different colors and different sizes to emphasize the more important pieces of text, making it creative without having to add a ton of visuals.

Presentation Example #21: Focus on Graphics

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can also have a presentation that puts a huge focus on visuals.

While this presentation still includes text to help tell the full story, no one in the audience is going to be looking at the text. Check out the graphics in this presentation example.

These illustrations are visually immersive and draw the audience in. Creating a focus on graphics in your presentation gives your viewers something fun to look at while you speak about the content.

Presentation Example #22: Photography

Another great way to include visuals in your presentation is using photography.

There are many different ways to include images in your presentation , but this Adidas presentation example does a great job of using them as background images.

Each slide has a photo in the background and a color overlay on top so the text can still be seen easily.

Figure out how you could include photos in your next presentation.

You can hire a photographer to do a curated photo session for your brand, or you can check out the millions of stock photos available in Visme’s photo library.

Presentation Example #23: Section Headers

Each time you move onto another main point in your presentation, it’s a good idea to break it up with a new section header.

We love how this presentation example utilized section headers to make them jump out at the audience. There’s no doubt that we’re moving onto another main point in this slideshow.

Blow your text up like this next time you’re making a transition to the next section of your presentation. It’ll be sure to grab your audience’s attention.

Presentation Example #24: Pop of Color

Another design style that you might love is having a pop of color that really stands out from the rest of the design. It’s a great way to emphasize certain parts of your slides and create a focal point for your audience.

This sales budget presentation template works because it uses a black-and-white color scheme and a pop of bright color to attract the viewer's eyes to the most important parts of each slide.

Your eyes are immediately drawn to the words in blue, and it’s used strategically because of that. Try this out in your next presentation to highlight the most important words or parts of your slide.

Presentation Example #25: Strong Start

Want to keep your audience awake and engaged for your presentation? Start off with a killer first slide.

Take this presentation’s introduction slide for example. It's a great way of making people sit up a little straighter and causing ears to perk up.

Asking a powerful question or making a strong—maybe even controversial—opening statement is a great way to create a strong start to your presentation and really draw your audience in. This can be a great hook when presenting a sponsorship deck or a presentation proposal, because it helps to differentiates you from others.

Startling your audience can actually be a good way to pique their curiosity and keep them engaged.

Not sure what your bold question or statement should be?

Use the AI Writer to help brainstorm some fun suggestions. Enter a prompt explaining what you want to create. The AI writer can also edit, proofread, and summarize sections of your presentation. So, you polish your work before the big presentation.

Get Inspired With These Presentation Examples

Now that you’ve surfed through these great presentation examples, hopefully, you’ve got some inspiration to create your next slideshow.

Choose one of these examples and make it your own with Visme's presentation software . Its intuitive design makes creating professional presentations easy for anyone with little to no design experience.

And if you need a presentation ready and done like yesterday, use Visme's AI presentation maker to do the heavy lifting. All you need to do is describe your presentation's goal and look and feel, choose your designs, and voila, you'll get your presentation ready in seconds.

But Visme isn't only for presentations; you can create proposals, reports, sales and marketing material, and so much more. Try Visme for free and see how Visme can help elevate your content creation workflow and projects.

Create beautiful presentations faster with Visme.

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About the Author

Chloe West is the content marketing manager at Visme. Her experience in digital marketing includes everything from social media, blogging, email marketing to graphic design, strategy creation and implementation, and more. During her spare time, she enjoys exploring her home city of Charleston with her son.

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The three essential elements of a great presentation.

All that may be true, but if you simply follow your slides, there is a very good chance you will read from them. There is also a good chance you will fail to ace two of the key parts of your talk—the opening and the closing. These are the areas of the presentation that engage and persuade the audience. And the parts that drive home your most essential message. If you skip them and jump right into the content—which so many speakers do—you may very well lose the chance to connect your audience with the content and convince them of your message.

So let’s take a look at the separate parts of the presentation, and be sure we understand exactly why they are needed, and how we might put them together for a terrific presentation or speech. Please note that even the most informal talks do better when you follow this format. With a little planning and practice it will become your “go to” structure.

Opening and key message

• A strong start with a key message provide context, a reason for listening.
• A strong start builds your confidence, even as it captures and directs your audience’s attention.
• A strong start connects you with your audience, and them to your message.
• Start with a one-sentence overview. This is your key message. It should be short enough to say in one breath. It should be the one thing you want your audience to take away. If you could only say one sentence, this would be it.
• Write it down. Say it out loud. If it is just “in your head” it could be very vague or “slippery.” If you can write it down or say it out loud, then you know it is a message, not just a thought.

Content or Body of Presentation

• The message needs the evidence or proof that only the body of the presentation can provide. As a standalone, it may be intriguing, but it probably lacks substance.
• The body must be organized and clear. This is where you lay out your case, and you want to follow a logical structure.
• The body should strike a balance between being too detailed and too broad. Be sure you think through your time frame, your audience, and the nature of this content. How detailed does it need to be? How simple can it be? If it is too detailed, the audience may fade. If it is too broad, they will get bored and possibly insulted.
• The body should strike a balance between facts and feelings. Depending again on content and the makeup of the audience members, you will want to include not just facts, but some kind of emotional appeal. If you tend to lean on emotional appeal, be sure to balance that with solid facts and figures.
• Include pertinent, updated facts and findings. I recently found a great statistic I wanted to use, until I discovered the research was over ten years old. No good. Also consider the sources of the statistics you use; will they be credible with your audience?
• Include humor, stories, examples, case studies, and discussion questions. Get your audience talking with each other to whatever degree seems appropriate. Get them to do something with you or each other, even if it is as simple as answering your “quiz” questions or raising a hand.
• Humor is great but don’t feel you must tell a joke. Instead, use a personal anecdote or reaction. Blend it into your content; don’t make a big issue of it.

Closing/repeat of key message/call to action

• A great closing builds your confidence and lets you end with power and punch, not a whimper.
• A great closing drives the main message home. We need to hear things more than once, especially the things that it is important to remember.
• A great closing creates a satisfying sense of closure. Imagine going to a concert or a play and wondering “is it over?” Great experiences come with a resounding close.
• A great closing includes a reminder of where you started, which improves recall of your key message, and a call to action can take advantage of an emotional high at the end.
• Repeat or rephrase your key message one last time. Make it be the first and the last thing your audience hears.
• If you have a call to action, state it here and say it strong. “Call today. Get started now. Remember to sign up.” These are clear calls to action.
• Plan and rehearse your closing. Don’t leave it to chance. At the end of your presentation you will feel a strong sense of relief. Don’t just end abruptly, but leave enough time to wrap up properly.

So even if time is short, the presentation is informal, or you just don’t know how to get started, make sure these three elements of your talk are well planned and that you deliver them with aplomb. Without these essentials, it might be just a bunch of words. With them, you have a compelling talk.

************************************************************************

I would love to hear from you. How do you structure your presentations for best results?

Author Gail Zack Anderson, founder of Applause, Inc. is a Twin Cities-based consultant who provides coaching and workshops for effective presentations, facilitation skills for trainers and subject matter experts, and positive communication skills for everyone. She can be reached at [email protected] .

Web site: www.applauseinc.net

Blog: www.managementhelp.org/blogs

twitter: @ApplauseInc

Gail Zack Anderson

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After a while, all PowerPoint presentations look exactly the same, don’t they? Wrong! The way a PowerPoint is designed can really change the feel of the whole presentation. The world is filled with bad PowerPoint presentations. But precisely because of that, a good PowerPoint will stand out even more. Check out these amazingly good presentation examples to get some design ideas for your next PowerPoint.

Why presentations are important

Before we go through the presentation examples, it’s important to talk a little about what makes a PowerPoint presentation really good. It’s a common mistake to think that the design of your PowerPoint is a secondary factor in a presentation. Content and information are definitely vital, but the design also affects the overall way people react to your presentation. Sometimes even more that you could imagine.

Think about it this way: you probably won’t go to an important presentation dressed as if you just got out of bed. If it’s a really important one, you’ll probably even worry about looking your best. You probably won’t think twice about spending a little more time grooming yourself and making sure you look good. And this is because appearances do matter. Whether we like it or not, people unconsciously read many things from the way we present ourselves visually. And these ideas can stick for a long, long time in people’s minds. And, even more, they are built incredibly fast. According to Forbes, first impressions are made in the first 7 seconds of a meeting .

Business presentations are exactly the same. There are many things your audience can read from your presentation design alone. For once, the way your presentation looks will probably give them an impression of how professional you and your business are. A plain, all-white presentation can give the impression that you’re lazy or that you did it last minute. The way a presentation looks can certainly influence how trustworthy you look, or how committed to a project, or how relatable you are.

Characteristics of a good presentation deck

People can read many things from a presentation, and it’s your duty to work on the image you want to project. A bad presentation can make you look unprofessional, yes. But a presentation is also a great opportunity to establish your brand visually and to make sure it stays on your audience’s minds. It’s up to you to take advantage of the possibilities presentations offer you.

It’s definitely easier said than done, though. Making a unique PowerPoint design demands creativity and imagination. So before you check out the presentation examples, look at this short list of design ideas. Hopefully, you could use these as inspiration for your next PowerPoint. They’ll surely take any plain presentation to the next level.

Title slides

You probably have experienced this: You get distracted from a presentation for 5 seconds, and suddenly you have no idea of what the speaker is talking about. You’ve gotten yourself lost, and it’s pretty difficult to get back on track when you don’t even know what new topic you’re talking about. Title slides are a great way to show your audience in what section of your presentation you’re on.

Even if you don’t have title slides for each section, you should certainly have a presentation starter Title slide. This slide is vital because it’ll set the feel for all the rest of the presentation. Just as with yourself, people tend to judge a presentation right from the start. It’s incredibly important that you showcase what you want to showcase (professionalism, relatability, etc.) on your title slide.

You want your audience looking forward for the rest of the presentation, not to feel dread and boredom. Make it eye-catching without going over the top, and make sure the topic is clear. You can check out some of our other presentation examples to see how a high impact first slide is done.

Cohesive color palette

There is no easier way to make your presentation look unprofessional than to go overboard with colors. Even if the speaker isn’t necessarily the one that has designed the PowerPoint presentation, he or she will be automatically connected to it. That is why a “Rainbow” presentation will give the feel that the speaker doesn’t really know what they are doing. Even if the speaker is doing a good job, the picture that will remain in the audience’s minds will be of the PowerPoint presentation. And if this one looks improvised or unprofessional, that will also reflect on their idea of the presenter.

Finding good colors for your presentation can be a tricky task. The overall general rule is to pick colors that complement each other, and that have good contrast. This way, the presentation will not be eye-straining while still being easy to read. The easiest way to apply this is to pick one of the premade color schemes from Microsoft Office.

However, you probably have some extra requirements, like for example to use your brand’s colors. Things like this can make it harder to find a good color palette. There is no easy way to handle colors in a presentation. But the easiest tip is: when in doubt, keep it simple.

If you want to know more about colors and how to use them, you can check out how to pick the right colors for your next presentation .

Data representation

PowerPoint presentations are, above all, a visual aid. That’s why you should take advantage of the visual potential they have. Many business presentations include some kind of data to illustrate a certain point or prove something. For example, growth or sales rates, or consumers per country, and so on. Many presentations’ main sin is that they try to showcase all this data in a written way like it’s a report. It’s one of the easiest ways to bore your audience and make them lose focus.

If you’re saying exactly the same that is written in the PowerPoint, why should they listen to you? You should aim to show something in a different way that will make them understand the things you’re saying easier. For example, if you want to share some percentages concerning some specific aspect of your business, the list of numbers will probably bore pretty quickly your audience. But if you show it visually, in a pie chart for example, your audience will be able to understand it easily.

Captivating visuals

“Captivating visuals” do not mean only photos and pictures. Sure, customized illustrations are great, as you will see in some of our presentation examples. But you don’t need them to create a great presentation. Many people think that it means adding at least one stock picture or something similar to every slide. Truth is, what presentations really need is visuals that complement smartly the information display.

This can be done by many different ways. Illustrations and pictures are a great option for this. They exemplify one or more points, but most important, they break the “all-text” image that is so frustrating for the audience. And to achieve this, illustrations and pictures are not the only way to do so. As has been said before, graphs and charts are a great way to represent data. And these elements also help to break the “all-text” effect. Other great options to do this are to use icons and geometrical. These can help to highlight your points, while still being sober and not very intrusive.

But the most vital thing to consider visually is the layout . The way you organize the information inside a slide can make all the difference between a plain slide and a professional looking one. The more your presentation looks like a textbook, the more difficult it’ll be for your audience to focus in it. Break down your information in smaller parts and see how they can fit into the slide. It’s a difficult thing to learn, but once you see the presentations examples, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

What not to do when designing a presentation

You can also check these bad PowerPoint examples , to know what to avoid. Some times, it can be just as useful to know what not to do! But right now, let’s go through some of the things that can really make a difference in turning your presentation from plain to spectacular.

Presentation Examples

Here you’ll find some amazing presentation examples done by our designers here at 24Slides. Hopefully, these will give you the inspiration you need to make a more unique, eye-catching presentation. Even the plainest, most boring presentation has a solution. It’s just a matter of knowing how to make it really stand out.

In 24Slides, our designers divide their styles into three categories: Corporate, Creative and Playful. This way, customers can pick the style that they feel they fit best with their brand and their presentation. To know more about these 3 styles and to see how they differentiate from each other, you can look out other of our professionally redesigned PowerPoint examples . You will find the original presentation and how it was remade in all 3 of these styles. This way, you can really see the difference between them, and pick the one that fits better your needs!

But for now, let’s go straight to the presentation examples! Here you’ll find some of the best Before-and-After transformations. This way you can really see how much of a difference a well-designed PowerPoint can really make.

This presentation was redesigned in a Creative style. This style is in some way the perfect middle between the other two. It’s more serious and business-like than the Playful style, but more flexible and casual than the Corporate one. This Adidas presentation is the perfect example of the Creative style. It showcases all the information in a professional way, but still keeping it visually attractive.

Adidas has a difficult color scheme to work with since it’s a brand that works mainly with blacks, greys, and white. It’s easy to make a boring presentation with that palette, as you can see with the all-grey background of the original presentation. Our designers change it for a more visually striking photo-background. But they kept the background photos at a high transparency percentage to make sure they didn’t hinder the text. They also added the brand logo with the back lines. This slide really shows how a slide layout can really change the feel of a presentation.

This slide is a perfect example of improving data visualization. Why put everything in written sentences, when you can show it in a much more effective way as a graph?

b) Linkedin

The Playful style is my personal favorite. Playful PowerPoint designs are proof that presentations don’t have to be boring or dull. This style is great for catching your audience’s attention. It includes a lot of personalized illustrations that will really make a presentation pop. This style is certainly less serious, but no less professional. You can see the effort that has been put into these slides, and how carefully crafted they are.

Check out the difference between these two slides. While the original one is certainly more serious, it’s the redesigned one that looks like a professional presentation. Dark backgrounds are great start to give a presentation a professional look, but it’s not enough. Anyone can change the background color. This PowerPoint example, despite not having a dark background, looks way more professional. It looks customized and detailed. Our designers took Linkedin colors to make a slide that really represented the brand. The effort put into it it’s what makes it a really unique-looking presentation.

This slide is also a good example of the importance of title slides. If you see the original one, you’ll probably brace yourself for a long and boring presentation. With the fixed one, you give the presentation a whole new feel. The customized illustration reflect perfectly the presentation topic and intrigues you enough to make want to hear more about it.

Finally, we have the Corporate Presentation style. This one is certainly the most serious of all three of them. This is the kind of presentation you want to show your boss to prove how reliable and rigorous you are with your job. It’s a great style for presenting data and cold hard facts.

The original presentation had a theme, with the blue lines in the upper and lower sides of the slide. But the use of different colors made it look a little improvised and overall just dated. The new design, on the other hand, looks clean and stylish. Something as simple as adding a visual element, like the central photo, can do a huge difference. Instead of highlighting text with different colors, the designers focused on separating the information in sections and using a monochromatic color scheme. This way, the audience can distinguish easily each part of the slide, while still keeping the design sharp.

Even something as simple as bullet points change completely when you use a more professional layout!

d) McDonald’s

This MacDonalds’ presentation is an amazing example of what a Playful presentation is all about. Vibrant colors, unique illustrations, and a distinctive layout. If you look at the original SWOT Analysis of this presentation example, it is completely plain and forgettable. But the fixed slide is truly unique. It conveys the information in a way that could not have been done for any other company in the world. It’s original and entertaining while still showcasing all the information needed.

This PowerPoint is also a good example of and amazing use of color. The original presentation was clearly trying to follow the brand’s official color scheme of red and yellow. But in practice, it made the presentation look pretty amateur. Our designers, on the other hand, made a customized color palette that made the presentation look not only professional but unique. They kept the red and yellow tones, but didn’t use them as the main colors. Instead, they created a whole scheme of colors that complimented them, and that allow them to add so much more detail into the presentation.

The customized icons are one of those things that really can make a difference. In the new presentation, you can be sure that the data being shown is from a fast food company. Making sure your presentation reflects your company is more than just pasting a logo in every slide. This presentation is a great example of how to do it right. Every single slide reflects its product in a playful, innovative way.

Oracle’s PowerPoint is another great presentation of example of the creative style. This presentation takes a plan, boring PowerPoint and transforms it into a unique one.

Check out how much a professional layout can change a slide. In the original one, all the element are crammed together. It’s even a little bit uncomfortable to read. There are too many things happening at once. The fixed slide conveys the exact same information, but in a way more organized, professional way. This is a great example of how to showcase data smartly. The designer used all their tools (shapes and colors to make divisions, icons, etc.) to convey the information in a visually attractive way.

Creative style is all about thinking out of the box, so this slide transformation is a perfect presentation example. While the original slide is not that bad, it’s a little dull. But if you change the layout and add a more interesting color scheme, the slide will look much better!

Here is another great presentation example of the creative style. Creative is actually the style more in demand by our customers, since it looks both sharp and fun. And this Amazon’s presentation really shows that.

Details do matter. While in the original slide there were graphs, the colors clashes, and it looks pretty cramped. Our designers changed the color palette to reflect the brand, the bar graphs for pie charts and adding a soft-edged caption box. Just with this, the slide looks more cohesive and with an intended design.

This slide is another example that visuals and layout matter. Having slide after slide filled with bullet points becomes boring very quickly. Think about in which other ways you could represent the information, and build your layout accordingly.

Finally, here’s another presentation example of a corporate style PowerPoint. This serious, straightforward style is ideal when you want a more sober, business-like presentation.

As much as a good minimalist style , less is not always more. The original slide with just a quote looks kind of empty, rather than minimalist. As has been said before, a basic gradient background will not fool anyone into thinking that there was time put into that presentation design. Adding “stunning visuals” don’t necessarily mean having custom icons or vector illustrations. Sometimes something as simple as a complementary picture and some geometrical detail, as in this slide, can really make the message stand out.

Make better presentations

Hopefully this presentation examples will inspire you when you have to do your next PowerPoint. Presentation design takes time and effort, but practice makes perfect. Do not expect a PowerPoint that looks from a professional designer’s portfolio at first try. Design is not something you can learn overnight.

However, if you don’t have the time to spend in learning how to design your own PowerPoints, or you want a really professional finish, you should definitely contact put team of designers here at 24 Slides. Your presentation will be as unique as anyone of these examples, and will reflect perfectly your brand and what you want to convey.

And depending how much time you invest a week in doing PowerPoints, it’ll probably even be more cost-efficient to hire presentation designers. This way you get better presentations that you could have done on your own, and at the same time, save time for your other tasks. So ask yourself: do you really need to learn how to design presentations? Or is it just another task taking time and energy from other more important things to do?

If it’s just taking time away from you, why not let the professionals so what they’ve been trained to do? Here at 24Slides we have incredible designers that will make sure that your presentations is everything you want it to be. You can focus on your tasks at hand, and receive your presentation ready within 24 hours, and more professional-looking than ever.

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What is the importance of a good business presentation?

By: Author Shrot Katewa

If you one of those who are thinking “Why the heck is a good business presentation important”? Trust me, you are not alone! We get this question A LOT! We also encounter clients who not only don’t understand the importance of a good presentation, but also hesitate to ask. I suppose that they probably feel it must be obviously important to have something which has “good” attached to it.

Honestly, creating a good business presentation does require you to put in a bit of effort. It requires a bit of skills, knowledge, willingness and practise to pull things together. It can also take quite some time to create that perfect business presentation which works for you.

So, WHY is it important to have a good business presentation? It is important to have a good business presentation because a  well-crafted, visually appealing business presentation can say that you are professional and value quality. On the contrary, not-so-good presentation fails to hold your audience’s attention, and can even lead to unfavourable outcomes. A business presentation is often the first document about your organisation that your clients or partners get to see.

Thus, it is important to have a good business presentation in order to build a first impression, a good brand image and most particularly to convince your audience about your business/idea.

Overwhelmed? Don’t worry, in this post we will evaluate the various aspects of creating a good business presentation. Hopefully, you will feel more confident to create a business presentation by the end of this post. Let’s have a look at some of the key things you should know –

Things to keep in mind before starting work on your business presentation?

While there is a lot of thinking one needs to do for the actual presentation, there are few things one should keep in mind even before they start working on their business presentation. You need to know what kind of presentation needs to be created. You need to ask yourself, who am I making this 

business presentation for? Who is my audience? What is the size of my audience? How big will be the screen size on which I’ll be presenting? Do I need to email this deck or is it something that I will be presenting in-person? The amount of time you have with your audience/stakeholders.

These questions essentially help produce a self-created design brief. Answers to these questions can be critical as they sort of give creative direction throughout the presentation. For example –

• Font size – Audience size can help you define the size of the text. If there is a large audience, the possibility of them being further away from the screen increases. In such a scenario, a general rule of thumb we follow is – “larger the audience size, the larger the font size”.
• Amount of information on each slide – This is in direct correlation with the first point. If you are presenting to a larger audience, you should obviously not cram a lot of information in a single slide. You will definitely have more liberty to put in additional information if your deck is viewed by a smaller audience. Even so, one should keep in mind that too much text and too much of the information on any single slide is a recipe for a bad presentation.
• File size and images – If you intend to send the presentation over email to your audience, do keep in mind the size of the file. The size of presentation file can easily get out of control if precautions are not taken. We shall cover this topic on how to keep the image size under control in another blog post.
• Number of slides – In order to identify the number of slides, the first thing you may want to look at is the total time that you have at hand. Next, identify approximately how much time you intend to spend on each slide. Divide the two, and you have an approximate number for the total slides that you should have. Be sure to consider some time for Q&A. For example – if you 30 minutes for a meeting – you may want to set aside at least about 10 minutes for Q&A. You’re then left with 20 minutes. If you intend to spend about 2 minutes per slide, your goal should be to restrict the presentation to about 10 slides.

As per Guy Kawasaki , the creator of the term “Death by Powerpoint” and the “ 10/20/30 rule ”, one should take no more than 10 slides, and 20 minutes to explain their business/idea. Also, one should use no less than 30 point font in order to maintain readability. I feel this is a great benchmark to keep in mind.

What do we mean by a “good business presentation”?

Any good business presentation should be able to do at least the following – 

• Give an overview of your organisation
• Objective of the meeting
• Synergy/next steps in the partnership

A business presentation is a tool or a handy reference document that provides an overview of your business, the purpose of the meeting and possible next steps. As I mentioned earlier, it is often the first document about your organisation that your clients or partners get to see. Thus, it should definitely give a brief overview of your organisation, specify the objective of your meeting and highlight the future roadmap or the next steps envisaged.

What should be included in a good business presentation?

Not every business is the same. Therefore, business presentations also vary based on your business. Thus, it is difficult to have a structure that fits with every specific requirement. Having said that, a general list of contents that should be included in your business presentation are as follows – 

• Cover slide – this slide may have a title and the date
• Vision & mission
• Business overview – objective of the business, sectors/industries, number of years, office locations, team size etc.
• Details of the products or services
• Case study of a project
• Testimonials
• Partnership opportunity – this should take into consideration the areas of business of your potential audience, and also highlight how a partnership would be mutually beneficial to both organisations.

It is of utmost importance that each presentation is customized to your audience, and it should be designed keeping your audience at the core. This means, highlighting specific products or services that may work in favour of the partnership specific to a client. 

Is it worth putting the effort in creating a good business presentation?

Absolutely! While it may seem a lot of effort to create a good business presentation, we’ve seen that a well-designed presentation that is crisp and conveys the right message, and is also visually appealing, has as much as a 63% higher chances of conversion . It is important to note that having a good business presentation isn’t everything, but not having one definitely sets you back by a few steps! We strongly advise organisations to put efforts in ensuring a good business presentation. Through our partnerships, we’ve seen that the most amount of time taken in creating a good business presentation goes into designing it. Now, we understand that not everyone always has the time, skills, or resources to put in the effort for designing a good business presentation. Thus, we have put together some pro-tips that can help you in achieving this task easily.

Pro-tips on creating a good business presentation easily

There are a few ways you can save some time and effort in creating a good business presentation. We’ve listed our top 3 recommendations below-

1. Buy presentation templates – There are quite a few platforms available on the internet that provide you with well designed presentation templates. These templates are great if you don’t wish to spend much time on designing the deck as these are pre-designed by professionals with dummy content and dummy text. However, the flipside is that while the design has been already created, they are generalised and not specific to your content. Therefore, you may still need the necessary skills to edit the presentation, and you still end up spending a lot of time. If this is the course you plan to take, I would recommend Envato Market . 

• You get a professional looking presentation
• Templates are highly generalised
• Customization still requires moderate to high level of expertise and a lot of time
• Since templates are open to use for all, your presentation may end up looking similar to someone else who may have used the same template.
• Doesn’t work if you have many presentations to be designed

2. Hire design interns – this is a great option especially if you have many presentations/designs that you need created. While interns are not experts, good candidates can give you great designs which are more professional than most non-designers. 

• Great for large/high volume design needs.
• Highly customised designs
• High time and effort associated for identifying and hiring good design interns
• Interns will mostly be available for a short period of 3-4 months. Thus, post design changes can be a challenge
• May lack focus on messaging as their expertise is often in design and not in communication

3. Hire a presentation design agency – If there is a lot at stake, we would recommend going with this option. While it might seem a bit cost heavy, however, we’ve seen this to be a great return on investment especially if you are pitching for a project with a total revenue potential of at least 10 times the cost of hiring the agency for this task.  For example, if you’re planning to raise $1 million, hiring a professional agency for a presentation design and spending upto $5000 may not be a bad idea after all. 

• Highly customised designs with great precise messaging
• No further customization needed (generally) – even if needed it is generally carried out by the agency
• Saves time – allows you to parallely work on other areas of business. Also, absolutely useful if you have a short turn-around time. 
• Cost – while high at times, cost-value proposition can easily outweigh this as a con.

In case you intend to hire a professional agency, you can write to us at [email protected]

We’ve established that having a good business presentation is indeed important. While it can take some time and effort, it is worth the investment. A bit of pre-planning can help you reach your end objective faster and easily. Identify which route you may want to take to design your presentation, and soon you will have a great presentation for your business.

5 Essential Parts of Good Presentation Design To Pitch Your Business Idea

One may have a great business idea. He may also have a plan, a vision, and the determination to make it happen. All of this won’t make him succeed unless he knows how to deliver a sales pitch. One can give you tips to pitch your business idea but the key is in good presentation design.

Table of Contents

The 5 Parts of Good Presentation Design

One must possess an appeal, style, and a belief in his own vision. He must convince all prospects to see the world through his eyes. That is you, your charisma, and your personality. One must know how to close that deal. That is an art and a skill that can be learned. It can be mastered and perfected to make people believe your vision. It all starts and ends with a good presentation.

1. Act a Part, Be a Part

Before polishing your PowerPoint slide show, make sure you look at the part. Leaving a good impression is very important in our business world. Having a good presentation design is essential, but first things first. You won’t close any deals if you do not look like the boss.

Wearing the right shirt matters. So does having some nice haircut and polished shoes. One must project confidence above anything else.

Only then you can turn on your WordPress site and share your vision with an audience. If there is any discrepancy between your perfect presentation and your look, people will notice. Make sure you are what you sell, with all your heart and soul.

2. Paint a Picture

Now we come to the important part. Even if you have some silver tongue, do not underestimate the power of images. Your logo design matters. So does the shape or size of those fonts. Every detail matters. One custom-made presentation deck design is a must-have when giving any sales pitch.

Whether one uses PowerPoint or WordPress, he must paint a good picture. Using stats, iconographic, and animations is what moves people into action. Words are very unnecessary sometimes.

People respond better to interesting images that capture their imagination. Slides after slides of quality content and interesting pictures. Keep that in mind when pitching any business idea.

If you are an artist, you can design your own pitch deck. If not, use some professional help. There are so many slides and theme samples one can access for free anytime. Today’s design trends ask for simplicity and straightforwardness to achieve good presentation design.

If you browse through some google slides themes you will get a general idea of what customers like to see these days. They wish to be inspired with some positive vibes.

So whatever you are selling, make sure to paint some nice pictures. Good presentation design shows them why your product or service will make their life better. Do that with some high-quality and artistic imagery. Just make sure that your style is in tune with your customer’s needs and desires.

3. Share Your Vision

Pitching too many numbers is not good. Too many stats or facts is not great either. It makes people bored and it gives them headaches. You lose their attention by draining the energy out of their brains. Knowing how to create a great slide-show presentation can spare you all that trouble.

Focus on your vision instead of quarterly numbers or financial reports. You must have a vision first. Something that transcends any simple product. Some unique concept that makes people feel like they are a part of something bigger. It is up to you to find that concept deep within you and share it with the world.

Turn that feeling into a website or a slideshow that keeps people on the edge of their seats. It must evoke feelings of community, belonging, and support. Even if you sell bubble gums. 

4. Be Honest

Any good entrepreneur must learn how to read any room. He must know how to read people too. Do not insult the intelligence of your customers by pitching them the same old routine. They have social media. They read books about business and psychology.

Use good presentation design to signal honesty about your product. Nothing hurts more than empty promises so do not make those. Keep it friendly and simple. Focus on adding some value to your customers’ lives.

Show them why your product adds that value. Show them with vivid and stylish images, not empty words or promises. Its style and value above boring data that no one remembers after hearing them once. 

5. Close the Deal

The art of closing is not something one can learn overnight. Many marketing gurus wrote books and articles about this subject. All tips to pitch your business idea fall short if you can’t close that deal. Timing is everything when capitalizing on your pitch.

Even a killer presentation must end with an effective call to action. Recognizing the moment when your prospect is having second thoughts is the key. This is when you strike and deal that final blow. At this moment, the importance of good presentation design comes into play. Use it to inspire your prospects. Use it to close that deal.

Now you know the importance of good presentation design. Many businessmen these days forget the significance of any visual display. They believe that convincing needs fancy vocabulary and some manipulation techniques . Some of this is true, but a picture is worth more than a thousand words.

People like hearing about your vision, but to believe it, they must see it. That is where WordPress and presentation design comes into play. Learning some basic coding will help you share any business ideas with the world.

Just remember that any presentation is not just about some slide shows. It is about you dressing up like a boss, acting like a boss, and being confident like you are the king of this world. Yes, a good presentation sells. So learn to present yourself and your business. 

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Full Transcript of Kamala Harris’s Democratic Convention Speech

The vice president’s remarks lasted roughly 35 minutes on the final night of the convention in Chicago.

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By The New York Times

• Aug. 23, 2024

This is a transcript of Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech on Thursday night in which she formally accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency.

OK, let’s get to business. Let’s get to business. All right.

So, let me start by thanking my most incredible husband, Doug. For being an incredible partner to me, an incredible father to Cole and Ella, and happy anniversary, Dougie. I love you so very much.

To our president, Joe Biden. When I think about the path that we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude. Your record is extraordinary, as history will show, and your character is inspiring. And Doug and I love you and Jill, and are forever thankful to you both.

And to Coach Tim Walz. You are going to be an incredible vice president. And to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign, your support is humbling.

So, America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was, no doubt, unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys. So, my mother, our mother, Shyamala Harris, had one of her own. And I miss her every day, and especially right now. And I know she’s looking down smiling. I know that.

So, my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.

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