How To Give An Effective Presentation (With Examples)

Even if you have great ideas, nobody will listen if you don’t know how to give a compelling presentation.

You can observe the importance of communication skills in everyday life.

Our leaders aren’t always those who possess the greatest expertise, but rather individuals who understand how to speak to a crowd.

In your career, how you frame your ideas will be the key to influencing those who matter. Learn how to give a compelling presentation, and you’ll enjoy an advantage over the competition.

In this article, we’ll discuss the general structure and key elements of great presentations. We’ll also provide you with the most important tips to consider when creating your own.

How to Structure Your Presentation

Every effective presentation uses an easy-to-follow structure that includes:

• A compelling introduction. The purpose of the introduction is to briefly sum up what you’re going to talk about and convey why the topic is relevant to the audience.

  Make sure to:

  1. Start with an attention-grabber. You need to make the audience feel invested in your presentation as early as possible.

     There are a million different strategies to do this, such as:

     • Cite a shocking statistic. A surprising statistic makes the audience realize that they’re uninformed about the subject, inviting them to listen and learn more.

     • Tell a brief anecdote. Humans love stories. If you capture the audience’s emotional attention, then you’ll have their intellectual attention too.

       Great anecdotes are also widely relatable. The audience will care more if they feel your presentation directly relates to them.

     The type of attention-grabber you choose may depend on the type of presentation you’re giving. Be creative, test different methods, and observe what works.

  2. Clearly convey what the subject of your presentation is. After all effective presentations, the audience should be able to recall its core message clearly.

• Body of evidence. The body is where you present evidence to support the core message you stated in your intro.

  Make sure that the body section of your presentation:

  1. Split each argument into clearly distinct sections. Think back to a compelling TED talk or presentation you’ve watched. You can probably still recall the main points and arguments that were given.

     Make sure that your evidence and arguments are separated clearly, rather than messily blended into each other.

  2. Use rhetorical techniques. The reason that most effective presentations include many of the same elements is that they’re proven to work.

     Use tools such as repetition to drive a point home.

     Humans respond well to numbers and statistics. If you can quote a percentage or figure to highlight your point, then definitely take that opportunity.

     Consider what the audience likely wants to know and find a method to address their concerns.

• Conclusion. Use the conclusion to sum up your key takeaways.

  You want to loop back to your original statement using what you said during the body of the presentation, but in a new and memorable way.

  This is your last chance to make a lasting impression on the audience, so don’t just lazily repeat what you’ve already said.

  Many presenters mistakenly treat the conclusion as an afterthought that’s added in as a custom. In fact, it’s probably one of the most important parts of your entire presentation.

Top Tips for Writing an Effective Presentation

Most compelling presentations follow several similar guidelines that hold true whether the audience is a large crowd or a few company administrators.

Here are a few of the most important ones to help you when writing your own presentation:

1. Use a short, easy-to-follow structure. When watching the most effective presentations, it’s easy to identify the introduction, body, and conclusion.

   This simple structure makes the presentation easy to comprehend while watching and similarly easy to recall afterward.

   Also, try to limit your presentation to a maximum of ten slides. It’ll make it easier for the audience to digest your message and process your evidence.

2. Limit the amount of clutter on each slide. Less is more when it comes to making a memorable presentation.

   The end result of cramming paragraphs of compelling evidence into a slide is that nobody will process even a single line.

   Many marketing experts recommend a six-word limit per slide.

   That doesn’t mean you can’t convey information through other means, such as images and simple charts.

3. Pay attention to design details. It’s often obvious to audiences from the first minute if a presentation is worth listening to or a complete snore.

   This is often due to design decisions that can make or break the presentation. Make sure to use eye-pleasing:

   • Color schemes. Too much color contrast on a slide can distract from its contents. Too little can make the entire presentation seem boring and ignorable.

   • Fonts. Imagine how seriously you would take a presentation that uses the same fonts often used in second-grade classrooms.

     Choose a font and size that are appropriate for your type of presentation and stick to them consistently throughout each slide.

     Don’t switch between upper and lowercase rules, or your slides will look sloppy.

   • Format. A single badly-pixelated image can make your entire presentation seem amateur and sloppy.

     Make sure your lines and text are neatly aligned.

4. Practice your delivery. What’s on the screen is only half of the presentation; the other is the actual presenter.

   Presentation delivery is composed of two key parts:

   • Vocal delivery. Research shows that effective speakers know how to appropriately vary the pitch, volume, and pace of their voices.

     This isn’t just a gimmick and makes intuitive sense.

     If a presenter raises their voice when emphasizing a key point, we assume that they must be confident in their message.

     If a speaker pauses after delivering a shocking message, then their point seems more surprising and meaningful.

     Research some popular presentations on the internet and observe the different ways that speakers employ their voices as a tool.

     There also isn’t any catch-all strategy. Experiment with which vocal delivery methods fit your style and seem to work successfully.

   • Body language. Our brains are wired to pay attention to body language when someone is speaking to us.

     Even if someone makes a great point, a stiff posture and dead energy can easily distract from their message.

     Of course, you don’t need to swing your arms around and go overboard.

     Just make sure that when you prepare for your presentation, don’t just focus on its contents and ignore practicing natural and appropriately dynamic body language.

5. Create “wow” moments. Think back to any memorable presentations you’ve watched. They’re probably memorable not because you remember the majority of their details, but because of one or two moments that really stood out.

   A great example is Bill Gates’ 2009 TED talk about his foundation’s efforts to reduce the spread of malaria.

   Gates started the presentation off by stating: “Now, malaria is, of course, transmitted by mosquitoes. I brought some here so you could experience this.”

   He then promptly walked to the center of the stage and opened a small jar that contained non-infected mosquitos.

   The presentation is well-remembered even a decade later because he captured everyone’s attention through surprise.

   The human brain gets bored easily. If you really want to make people remember your presentation, include something unexpected.

6. Polish multiple times. Don’t review your presentation once and call it a day. Perfection requires iteration.

   A popular and effective approach is to start by outlining your ideas and structure to make sure you’re satisfied with the foundation.

   From there, add in all your details and what you want to say. Don’t be afraid to end up with a messy, bloated monster of a presentation.

   The next step is to polish your presentation down to the bare essentials. Examine what information is critical for your core message and what isn’t.

   This step is often the most difficult, as it can be challenging to choose what information to eliminate to reach that target of six words per slide.

   Once you feel like your presentation is polished enough, ask a trusted colleague to take a look at it. A fresh pair of eyes can help you identify what elements require further refining.

7. Practice in front of people. You can practice a million times in front of a mirror, but it still won’t prepare you for stepping in front of an actual crowd.

   You need to become accustomed to confidently addressing a group of faces.

   If you’re an absolute beginner at public-speaking, then consider taking some classes.

8. Use a remote. Using a remote to advance your slides allows you to face the audience at all times.

   Turning your back to the audience and fiddling with Microsoft Powerpoint on your laptop is extremely disruptive to any presentation.

9. Prepare backup material. During the presentation, you’re going to discover that not everything you say is going to resonate with the audience.

   It’s prudent to prepare backup material such as anecdotes or different rhetorical techniques to choose from.

10. Be genuine. Although you want your presentation to be polished and well-practiced, make sure to maintain a sense of authenticity when delivering it.

    Use small moments of humor to make your message more memorable and interesting to listen to.

    Don’t be afraid to mess up either. The audience understands that it’s natural to stumble and forget information, as long as it’s obvious you’ve prepared for your presentation.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.