Due to the rapid rate of change in the online advertising marketplace, I’ve seen new products, tools, features and services spring up and disappear over the last ten years, and while there’s no magic formula for what works and what doesn’t, I have seen one consistent factor play a key role in the success (or otherwise!) of any of these – how that new product or service is presented to the people who will make or break its acceptance.

I’m still amused and, at times, dumbfounded at the variance in presentation skills – from senior executives with decades of experience who are unable to do more than mumble their way through, to a recent graduate with the self-confidence to get up and talk in front of hundreds of people without blinking an eyelid.

While there are plenty of presentation skills courses available out there, I wanted to highlight a few little tips and tricks everyone should be using.

What’s the purpose of your presentation?
Ask yourself what is the goal of your presentation? To sell a product? To gain buy-in for a proposal? To inform about the success of a new service recently launched?

And once you know that goal, does every single slide in your presentation, and every single word you’re going to utter, reinforce that goal?

Be brutally honest with yourself – every unnecessary slide and word is a point at which you WILL lose engagement with some of your audience.

What are you using to present?
Remember that your presentation is a support to help you achieve your goal, and nothing more than that. Say there was a power cut, or your laptop stopped working – can you give your presentation without any slides? Can you achieve your purpose with a flip-chart and a single marker? If not, then you’re too reliant on your slides, and you need to rethink your strategy.

Your content should be IN YOUR HEAD, not on your slides. The slides are simply a guide – use single words and prompts, and keep them as simple and as visual as possible – and think about getting away from slides altogether: what about a live demo of your product? What about video or audio? Go back to your purpose, and use the materials which offer the most support to the achievement of that purpose.

Once you have your support materials prepared, get to know the environment in which you’re presenting. How will the seating be laid out? Do you need to prevent people spreading too far apart if the venue is a little too large for your audience? Will people be able to see and/or hear your material from the back of the room, be that the slides, screenshots, a video, a demo of your product?

Are you ready to present?
There is nothing worse than a presenter with a slide fill of text, who proceeds to turn their back to their audience and read off the slides. This isn’t just a pet peeve – this is unprofessional, and a guarantee that your audience will be unengaged with what you’re trying to say.

Know your material, and be comfortable with it. This is not about rehearsing again and again (although if this works for you, go for it), but instead, simply understand, believe in, and be passionate about what you’re talking about. If you’re presenting on something you know nothing about, you’re the wrong person in your organisation to be talking – go and find the right one!

And finally, know when to shut up – don’t ramble on a particular point, and don’t trail your sentences off. Always, always remember the purpose of your presentation, focus everything you’re saying on that, and it’s better to be brief than boring.

Summary
Purpose, preparation, and passion – simple as that!