What Are Presentation Skills, and How Can You Improve Them?

Delivering a message to the audience requires certain presentation skills. Today, presentation skills are crucial in almost every field, and most of us are required to give presentations at some point in our life. While some people make presentations without batting an eyelid, others may find it challenging. Fortunately, effective presentation skills can be learned as they are not inborn expertise or a personality trait.

But what are presentation skills? Let’s delve deeper to understand the importance of presentation skills.

Presentation Skills - The What, Why, and How?

Presentation skills are abilities people need to deliver engaging, compelling, educational, transformative, informative, instructive, or enlightening presentations. Presentation skills are closely related to public speaking. To become good at presenting, you need to feel comfortable and confident speaking in front of others.

That said, here is the importance of presentation skills:-

It helps you improve your time management skills
It helps you connect with an audience
It helps you communicate better with people
It helps you gain self-confidence

Now that we know what presentation skills are, let’s delve deeper to understand some important skills to give good presentations.

What are the 7 Presentation Skills?

Presentations are an essential part of most jobs, which requires you to give solid, informative presentations. There are various aspects of a presentation and several skills required to deliver a successful one. Some of these effective presentation skills include:-

1. Storytelling

“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.” - Robert McAfee Brown.

Using storytelling skills in a presentation is a powerful tool to grab and hold your audience’s attention. But why is storytelling important? Experts argue that our brains are hardwired to store information in the form of a story. When we hear “once upon a time,” there was this character, our minds get immediately carried away to this imaginary scene. This is why storytelling is an essential presentation skill that you must master. Here are some sure-shot ways to grab the attention of your audience with stories in your next presentation:-

Immerse the audience in your story
Tell a personal story
Create suspense
Bring your story’s characters to life
Build upto the S.T.A.R moment (Something They’ll Always Remember!)
End with a positive outcome

2. Time Management

You are making the presentation and realize you are reaching close to your allotted time. But it’s fine to go over a few minutes to complete the presentation, right? Wrong! If you go over the time, you risk losing your audience’s attention. As a result, your great takeaway misses its marks. Therefore, it is crucial to rehearse and time yourself during preparation.

3. Verbal Communication

Verbal communication is one of the most important oral presentation skills one can think of. Adding the ability to communicate clearly and concisely to your well-planned presentation is like the icing on the cake. Here are some steps to improve your verbal communication:-

Practice and enhance your verbal expertise
Be loud and clear
Do not read from your notes
Have presence of mind
Remember, it’s a two-way communication

4. Delivery

Delivery refers to the way you perform or give your presentation. It is a vital aspect of every presentation. In fact, delivery is just as important as the presentation’s content. It is critical to be aware of what you are saying and how you are saying it. Delivery skills include eye contact, body language, volume, tone, word choice, pacing, and appearance.

5. Persuasion

Making a presentation is all about selling your idea using your persuasion skills. Persuasion as a presentation skill is the ability to clearly and convincingly present your idea to an audience. Further, it involves connecting deeply with others, both emotionally and thoughtfully. Persuasive presenting is a highly valuable skill that helps greater learning for both the presenter and the listeners.

6. Leadership

When you stand in front of a group of people and deliver a presentation, you are a leader. The audience expects you to lead them and guide them towards knowledge, awareness, emotion, and action. In a presentation, you need to inform and inspire others to buy into your idea, the same as a leader. Reading from slides, avoiding eye contact, or mumbling are not the characteristics of a leader. On the other hand, speaking with passion, emotion, and humor, showing confidence, and ending the presentation with a call to action - are the characteristics of a leader, the characteristics of an excellent presenter.

7. Stress Management

Several people find presentations to be stressful experiences. Even if you are comfortable before presentations, a stressful experience can appear when you are in front of an audience. Stress can make you feel nervous and dry your mouth, which in turn leads to getting tongue-tied in front of the audience. Therefore, managing stress and delivering under pressure is one essential oral presentation skill.

What are the 5 Ps of Presentation?

Dry mouth, racing heart, sweaty palms, shaking hands - a room full of people waiting for you to present? If you are wondering how to improve presentation skills, nail that presentation, and walk out of the room feeling confident and satisfied, the following are the five steps, the five Ps to success:-

#1: Plan

We have all heard the famous quote, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” - by Alan Lakein.

The first P in delivering a presentation is planning. It is inevitable to plan for the presentation you want to deliver successfully. Planning a presentation includes identifying the sources, using online tools, meeting people for input, and planning the structure. The structure includes the opening, content, and end of the presentation. Planning involves everything from how, what, when, where, and whom to present. In the planning phase, you must also decide on the visual aids to help you deliver the information.

#2: Prepare

The most effective way to feel confident while making a presentation is to know your subject matter inside out. It is important to prepare your presentation keeping in mind the audience. Make sure not to pitch your idea above their level of understanding. Similarly, do not leave out essential information that they might not be aware of.

#3. Polish

The ability to polish your content is an effective presentation skill that can help engage your audience. Polishing is a creative exercise that makes your presentation striking and lively. You can polish your script by including facts and figures, anecdotes, quotations, brain-teasing probers, etc. However, you should make sure that polishing of presentation does not affect the basic purpose and structure of the presentation.

#4: Practice

Every achievement in the world is a product of practice. Practice over and over again until the words become familiar. Convince a family member or friend to listen, do it in front of a mirror, or videotape and watch your presentation. You can capture and eliminate several mistakes with this process.

#5: Present

The moment of truth! The presentation is about how you say it more than what you say. While the audience may not remember most of the information, their impression of you will remain. The two essential elements of a successful presentation are confidence and a smile on your face. Confidence comes naturally when you have succeeded in preparing yourself for the presentation. So, stand straight, take a deep breath, smile, and own the stage! The most basic factors to remember while presenting include eye contact, tone, face gestures, and body language. You can master all these presentation skills with practice and more practice.

A Quick Guide to Effective Presentation Skills

During a presentation, your delivery plays a significant part in making you look confident and enthusiastic. Following is a quick guide that you can use to deliver successful presentations with effective presentation skills:-

1. Understand Your Audience

The success of a presentation lies in finding the overlap between the audience’s needs and your call to action. Most presenters focus on displaying their knowledge rather than understanding the needs and concerns of their audience. All your efforts can get wasted if they do not understand the message you intend to deliver. Therefore, it is critical to ensure that you do not go overboard in your presentation.

2. Add a Story to Your Presentation

Storytelling is an effective presentation skill that can help you deliver engaging presentations. Although adding a story to your presentation is not a compulsion, it is most definitely an effective way of grabbing your audience’s attention. People generally like a personal touch in the presentation, which a story can provide. Even if they do not come to listen to your story, they cannot help taking an interest in such incidents. You can even inject a funny anecdote into the presentation to make it interesting.

3. Practice and Practice Again

Practice, Practice, and Practice: Make this your presentation mantra! Practice is the key to successful presentations. If you do not practice, you will not recognize your flaws. To understand the areas you need to improve, it is vital to rehearse your presentation repeatedly. While practicing, make sure to focus on the pauses and speed of your speech. Practicing can also help you become more confident and improve your body language.

4. Relax Before the Presentation

While practicing is essential to delivering effective presentations, do not overdo it. You must calm your senses before the presentation, or you might make some blunders while presenting. Make sure to arrive early and allow yourself plenty of time to settle before making the presentation. Follow the most popular go-to advice for jitters - take deep breaths! And oh, do not forget to drink plenty of water and keep yourself hydrated.

5. Interact, Not Recite

There may be a lack of conversation while addressing an audience during the presentation. However, it is never a good idea to just state or recite what you’ve fed to your brain. Instead, talk to the audience, ask them questions, and make them feel more involved to receive responses from them. This is where the importance of presentation skills comes into play. Use words like “you” and “your” to make them feel like you are talking to them individually. Influence and inspire your audience by engaging with them and making them understand your message.

6. Make Your Conclusion as Impressive as Your Introduction

Usually, people end their presentation with a thank you or best wishes. However, this is when you can be creative and leave an impression on people. Do not just convey your messages; instead, influence them to take a call to action. You can even leave a question about another topic that you will answer in your next presentation.

The Top 7 Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Your presentation skills and the ability to influence people with your words and ideas make you successful in different fields of your life. Therefore, enhancing these skills can greatly benefit your professional life. But how to improve your presentation skills? Let’s find out.

1. Body Language - Face and Hands

One of the first things to consider before making a presentation is the use of your face and hands.

Ensure to make eye contact while delivering your messages.
Match your facial expressions with what you’re saying to avoid confusion.
Keeps your arms uncrossed.
Avoid fidgeting with markers or rocking on your knees.

A word of advice: In some cultures, looking someone in the eye is considered rude or aggressive. So be aware of cultural differences before the presentation and adapt accordingly.

2. Body Posture

“Stand up straight” has been the motto of mothers and teachers for generations. And truth be told, it matters; maintaining a good posture while presenting is vital to making the right impression on the audience. Standing straight, rather than slouching, will make you look and feel more confident. In addition to making you look confident, a good posture can help your project your voice clearly. Furthermore, avoid reading off a piece of paper as it can make your presentation monotonous. These effective oral presentation skills can help you deliver successful presentations.

3. Body Position

Given that most of the eyes in the hall will be on you, any unusual actions might distract people from focusing on the message you are trying to deliver. So when you are standing in front of a room full of people, avoid shifting your weight and pacing back and forth on the same spot. Furthermore, never have your back to the audience, apart from writing on board.

4. Voice - Volume, Pitch, and Pauses

The way you present your ideas is as important as the content of your presentation - in fact, more. For instance, if you present a topic enthusiastically, your audience will enjoy it more than when your presentation includes more points, but you simply mumble into your notes. Following are some tips for presentation skills that you can use in your next presentation:-

Adapt the volume and pitch of your voice to add emphasis.
Pronounce every word carefully and clearly.
Sound enthusiastic - avoid speaking in monotone.
Project your voice to the farthest end of the room.
Use a pace that’s easy to follow.

5. Verbal Fillers

One of the things that most people do while giving presentations is using fillers. What are fillers, you ask? Fillers are words that we unconsciously use to fill gaps between the things we mean to say. Some of the most common fillers include ‘um,’ ‘err,’ ‘ah,’ ‘like,’ ‘ok,’ ‘right then,’ etc. The best way to avoid using fillers is to practice. Record a 2 to 3-minute speech on your phone and play the video to see what verbal fillers you use.

6. Move Around

Moving around is an effective tip to help you enhance your business presentation skills. Avoid standing behind a podium or computer to reduce the distance between the audience and yourself. Movement can help grasp your audience’s interest and make them follow your presentation. The following is a common technique you can use to incorporate movement in your presentation:-

Introduce yourself from the center of the stage.
Make your first point on the left side of the stage.
For your second point, stand in the center again.
Discuss the third point from the right side of the stage.
Conclude your presentation in the center.

7. Keep it Simple

While presenting, one thing to remember is not to overwhelm your audience with information. Make sure that your messages are clear and concise, and you do not go on and on about them. Furthermore, it can help if you have a maximum of three main points that you state at your presentation’s beginning and end. Why? Because this can help the audience remember these points. Also, avoid using jargon - know who your audience is and tailor your presentation accordingly.

Presentation Skills for Better Public Speaking

As we have already established, presentation skills are closely related to public speaking. Want to keep your audience engaged in your public speaking presentation? The following presentation skills can help you in public speaking:-

1. Start Your Presentation Strong

How you start your presentation will decide if the audience will listen to your message. To engage your audience immediately as you start, you can tell an interesting story or show a compelling picture. These public speaking techniques can effectively keep your audience hooked right from the beginning of the presentation.

2. Create a Variety for the Audience

Want to become a master in public speaking? Then create variety in your presentation! Instead of just talking every time, you can use different communication methods to deliver your message. Use videos and images, or ask questions to the audience to keep them interested.

3. Speak Loudly and Clearly

As a public speaker, you can improve your presentations by speaking loudly and clearly. If you want people to hear what you say, you need to speak at a good audible volume. If the person sitting at the farthest corner of the room can hear you, your volume is great.

4. Speak at an Optimal Pace

Speaking at a good pace is an essential oral presentation skill in public speaking. It helps the audience understand your message, take notes, and ask questions. You should not speak too quickly, making it difficult for the audience to understand what’s being said. Similarly, the pace should not be too slow that you run out of time and people become bored.

5. Have a Plan B

If you have your presentation on a hard drive or laptop, make sure to have a backup of the presentation in paper format to avoid last-minute hassles.

Honing Presentation Skills In Kids At an Early Age

Most children feel nervous and experience fear when asked to present in front of people. They are often worried about forgetting the content of their presentation or being judged. As presentations are usually mandatory in schools, a child needs to improve their oral presentation skills at this early age. As you have rightly heard, “Catch them young.” Children are more prone to acquire these skills when young and inexperienced than when they are older. The importance of presentation skills in kids includes:-

Improves communication skills
Increases self-esteem
Improves planning skills
Understands the power of persuasion

Importance of Presentation Skills in Your Career

Presentation skills are crucial in every aspect of your life - right from putting your ideas in front of your family to presenting a business proposal at your workplace. Soft skills are slowly gaining relevance in the workplace environment. No matter your position, if you cannot present the message you want to convey, you can lose an opportunity of a lifetime. There are various benefits associated with business presentation skills, which include:-

1. Builds Your Morale

When you are unable to deliver your message to your audience, dissatisfaction increases. However, by developing presentation skills, you can learn more about your business, conduct your way through people, and create your own network. As a result, your morale increases, and so does your belief in yourself.

2. Helps You Become a Better Professional

You can become a good professional with the ability to communicate and display your knowledge in a better way. By becoming a better professional, you can not just gain better opportunities but also make your way through the company with ease.

3. Reduces Miscommunication

With effective presentation skills, you can ensure to deliver the right messages to your team members, avoiding miscommunications and increasing efficiency. Furthermore, it reduces stress among team members to perform better.

4. Ensures Time Management

Excellent presenters always convey their messages in the allotted time. With effective business presentation skills, you will be able to complete your presentation on time, making it easier for people to retain the information.

Keep Refining Your Presentation Skills

Effective presentation skills do not always come naturally to most people. You can nail your presentations by learning and practicing these skills over time. Watch videos of successful presenters, practice in front of your friends, or join online presentation courses, but never stop working on refining your presentation skills.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you introduce yourself in a presentation?

Introducing yourself in a presentation is the pitch you make to the audience to stick around. You should start all your presentations by introducing yourself. Apart from sharing your name, provide some information to your audience about your background and your unique traits. Make your introduction interesting for the audience to get hooked to your presentation.

What is the importance of presentation skills?

If you have effective presentation skills, you are good at communicating. Presenting your information clearly is the key to getting your messages across. Today, presentation skills are required in almost all fields. It helps you engage better with your audience, teammates, students, managers, etc.

How do I end a speech?

You had your audience at the open. Now it’s time to make sure they remember you after the presentation ends. Instead of just concluding your presentation by saying “Thank You,” try the following effective techniques for ending a speech:-

Direct call to action
A brief story or anecdote to drive the message
Call to question that ties with your call to action
A short, appropriate, and powerful quote

How do I improve my presentations at the workplace?

Presenting a message to an audience is one thing and presenting ideas in the workplace to key stakeholders is another game. You must have effective business presentation skills to master your business presentations. The following tips can help improve your presentations at your workplace in the future:-