Giving a presentation is actively participating in a project. During a presentation, different actors are involved. The construction of a presentation is therefore not to be taken lightly. You must be able to involve your colleagues and your hierarchy, while transmitting valuable information to them. Based on this observation, it is possible to establish a list of points to respect for a successful presentation.
Here are the essential points for a successful presentation :
Clearly define your objectives before giving a presentation
Document yourself and master your subject
Build the plan and think about storytelling
Prepare your oral and rehearse
Be natural when presenting
Clearly define your objectives before giving a presentation
Defining your goals comes down to asking yourself this question: Why am I giving this presentation? This may seem innocuous but this question allows you to determine the limits of the subject matter . You will clarify your ideas! If you don't know why you are making this presentation then you can be sure that you will not interest your audience. Giving a presentation just because you were asked to and without really involving yourself is counterproductive for you, as well as for your hierarchy and all the participants in the presentation.
Document yourself and master your subject
To make a good presentation, it is first of all to master its subject! You are an expert in your profession and you know the workings of your organization perfectly. You therefore have the skills to make a presentation on a certain topic . However, this is not always enough. A successful presentation is a presentation rich in relevant information ! The data you have are elements that say a lot about the performance of your service (or even your company or association). Data has another advantage, it can express the maximum amount of information in a minimum of space. In addition, staying awake to prepare for a presentation can be useful for finding inspiration.You will have stored knowledge that will allow you to determine the proposal that you will make at the end of your presentation.
Build the plan and think about storytelling
Your presentation revolves around slides. These slides follow one after the other like movie shots. They tell stories! Just like a screenwriter, you asked yourself why do this story and you documented yourself in order to have a relevant story. Now you need to structure your story. Again, think like a screenwriter. The screenwriter always has an idea about the end of his story before even starting to write his screenplay. It is the same for you. Think first about the conclusion of your presentation! Then you will organize your introduction and the different steps to reach your conclusion.
Also, do not load a slide with a multitude of information. If a slide turns out to be too busy, split it into several slides. Also, don't make a presentation that contains endless slides. If this is the case, your message is not clear to you and contains irrelevant information. In this case, you will lose your audience in this uninteresting content. Also keep in mind that your presentation accompanies your words, in other words, you are not there to read what is projected!
Thanks to the data, you can enhance your presentations with data storytelling . Data storytelling is effective in facilitating the understanding of your message while adding narrative elements through data. Especially since an interactive graphic will provide information on the past, present and future of the element presented!
The use of images also contributes to your storytelling. They must also be chosen with care. An image is a visual element whose interpretation can be different depending on each person. Then use images whose symbolism is easily understood and by all. If you want to go into more detail, Le Monde has published tips for analyzing the images.
P reparing your oral and rehearsing
You have finished your layout and soon you will make your presentation. So it's time to repeat! You have to be efficient and stick to the time limit. During your rehearsals, think about the pace at which you will deliver your presentation. Manage the fluency of your speech. Do not go quickly, leave short silences, articulate … Be as understandable as possible! In addition, body language must also be taken into consideration. During your rehearsal, work on your gestures, your posture and your gaze. Always keep in mind that you are the narrator of the story you want to share !It is during your rehearsals that the strength of your words will emerge!
The narration also goes through your rhetoric. By adding similes, metaphors and other figures of speech, you will gain the attention of your audience. For example, anaphora is a process of repeating a term at the beginning of each sentence to emphasize it!
Anadiplosis is a process which consists in using the last word of a sentence (or of a proposition) as the first word of the following sentence (or of the proposition). This figure of speech is particularly useful for understanding correlations and for making transitions.
And to finish with the examples, there is of course the rhetorical question. It's simply asking a question that the audience knows the answer to or that you answer yourself. It is a question of feigning questioning to maintain attention. Now you have mastered your presentation.
Be natural when presenting
This is the big day. You are standing facing your audience. Behind you, your magnificent presentation. You rehearsed, so you internalized your speech. To succeed in your oral, you have to make a good impression! So, dress accordingly and above all be comfortable in your clothes. Try to start your presentation relaxed.
During a presentation, your first words are crucial. This gives you the impression that your audience will make of you. If stress starts to creep up on you, take a short break, breathe slowly, reduce the rate of your speech, identify kind, smiling faces, and address those people. What's more, tell yourself that you know each of your slides!
In a context where everything is accelerating, where you have to know how to demand the best to succeed, many companies are still juggling between Powerpoint and Excel to make presentations of their data ! That's why we created Powerslide, an interactive presentation solution that enhances your data! Powerslide allows you to directly (and simply) create your graphics and then present them interactively in the same application. You can also filter your data, generate maps, incorporate images, add effects directly to them, easily integrate your presentations into your website, obtain the graph best suited to your needs...Take advantage of our trial version to discover even more features.