Infographic: The do’s and don’ts of presenting

What are the do’s and don’ts for a great presentation? Just have a look at this infographic.

For some people, making a presentation before a crowd comes as naturally as breathing. For others, it’s nothing short of a nightmare. If you belong to the latter category, don’t worry: here are more than a dozen useful tips for acing a presentation. 

As any presenter worth his salt would tell you, you can never practise too much, so try to rehearse your talk as much as you can. Find a friend to give you sound feedback or record yourself and play it back to see how the audience will respond to your presentation. 

Make sure your first few words have the power to grab your audience’s interest and attention and hold it. Let your passion shine through.Use stories and personal anecdotes that will help you build a comfortable rapport with the people listening to you. If you can research your audience in advance and find out their interests and needs, you can structure your content in a way that benefits them. 

While slides are powerful tools to enhance your presentation, do not rely on them overly. Don’t let your audience feel that you are merely reading out data from a screen. If necessary, use cue cards to jot down important ideas. Maintain eye contact to let your audience know you are personally invested in the message. If you think that you can make your presentation more exciting and interactive by using videos, handouts and other props, use them. 

And finally, don’t forget to pay attention to your body language. Keep an eye out for fidgeting hands, nervous pacing or bad posture that can convey the wrong message to your audience. Edit out the ‘Umms’ and ‘Uhhs’ so that you appear relaxed and confident. 

 

 

About the author

Sarah Brown is a writer for Walkerstone. Get a higher res version of the infographic here

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