7 Steps to Create the Most Stunning Business Presentation
By: Paul Medea
Have you ever had to sit through a business presentation that was boring and unattractive? All you could have thought about was when it would end, right? Well, to ensure that your audience doesn’t undergo the same experience when you present, it is crucial to keep certain things in mind.
A business presentation can open doors of opportunities and boost your personal as well as organizational growth magnanimously. It can help close deals with potential investors, increase client retention, and reduce the employee turnover rate. Remember, it is extremely vital to make your business presentations stand apart.
Here are seven tips that will help you with your next business presentations:
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Draft an Outline
Drafting an outline before crafting your presentation is quite similar to putting up a map before commencing on a road trip! It navigates you through the routes, prevents you from getting lost, and establishes a plan that keeps you going.
Creating a planned outline or a draft is extremely crucial to ensure that your presentation is organized and well-structured. It gives you an idea about the amount of research that needs to be done for each sub-topic and the material required for various slides.
You can start by listing the main headings such as Introduction, Problems and Solutions, Opportunities, Market Value, etc. After that, you can mention the number of slides needed for each heading, divide them into further sub-headings, and compile your data accordingly.
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Pick Your Deck
Selecting the right deck of slides can be an ice-breaker for your presentation. It sets the tone of your presentation and establishes your personal brand. While selecting a deck, remember the formality of the presentation and its purpose.
For instance, if you are delivering a formal presentation, pick a deck that has neutral colors with minimal design and is meant for business professionals. If your presentation reflects a brainstorming session, you can experiment with pops of colors and different fonts.
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Commence with an Anecdote
Have you ever wondered why we find it so easy to spend hours listening to TED Talks and interviews? One of the key reasons for their success and popularity is their personal nature. For example, any professional delivering a TED Talk weaves a story around his/her experience, knits words into anecdotes, and delivers a personal experience to the audience.
Thus, starting your business presentation with an anecdote can instantly establish a connection with the audience, help you keep them in the loop, and make your presentation much more interesting. While your story shouldn’t necessarily be groundbreaking, it can be anything from an employee experience to a funny office incident that people could relate to.
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Grasp the Audience’s Attention with Images and Videos
It is an established fact that visuals can keep your audience on their toes for a much longer time and help retain their focus on your slides.
Thus, it is crucial to use images and videos in your presentation. You can pick free stock images from the internet, use relatable pictures that you might have, and put short clips. Here are a few things to keep in mind while using images and videos –
- Ensure your visuals are of high resolution, so that they do not pixelate on a bigger screen.
- If your images/videos are not from a free collection, you must mention the source to avoid copyright issues.
- If you are adding videos, ensure synchronization between the audio and video.
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Use Stunning Graphs and Charts
Using graphics and captivating charts in your slides can help notch up your presentation. Instead of bombarding your slides with text and numbers, create appropriate graphs with those values.
For instance, if you want to draw a comparison between sales of different quarters, you can use a bar graph and do the needful. This would eliminate any unnecessary text on the slides and replace them with an intriguing visual.
If you find the task of creating graphs and charts burdensome, you can use pre-designed presentation templates and craft stunning graphs in the blink of an eye.
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Include Quizzes, Polls, Rhetorics, and Q&As
No matter how great a presenter you are, there can always be moments of low energy where you’d find somebody in the audience yawning, cross talking, or even leaving mid-session. Well, here’s a hack to keep the ball rolling and increase audience participation – incorporate interactive elements in your presentation. You can do this by adding quizzes with trivia questions, asking the audience for their opinions, conducting polls with yes or no questions, and conducting an engaging session for the audience.
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Sum Up with a Strong Conclusion
Summing up with a strong conclusion can act as a cherry on top of your presentation. It can help the audience remember you for a much longer period. You can do this by closing with a strong quote or asking a mind-boggling question. It will help your audience keep thinking about the presentation for a longer time, providing a perfect closure to your talk.
Conclusion
Business presentations can be nerve-wrecking initially, and even after certain experiences, it is absolutely normal to feel a pit in your stomach! Even the most seasoned speakers and presenters fumble and always find some room for improvement. Thus, it is crucial to practice, seek feedback. and conquer the stage with your charm!
We hope these tips and tricks help you win over your audience and deliver a flawless presentation!
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