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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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Home Blog Business Business Presentation: The Ultimate Guide to Making Powerful Presentations (+ Examples)

Business Presentation: The Ultimate Guide to Making Powerful Presentations (+ Examples)

A business presentation is a purpose-led summary of key information about your company’s plans, products, or practices, designed for either internal or external audiences. Project proposals, HR policy presentations, investors briefings are among the few common types of presentations. 

Compelling business presentations are key to communicating important ideas, persuading others, and introducing new offerings to the world. Hence, why business presentation design is one of the most universal skills for any professional. 

This guide teaches you how to design and deliver excellent business presentations. Plus, breaks down some best practices from business presentation examples by popular companies like Google, Pinterest, and Amazon among others! 

3 General Types of Business Presentations

A business presentation can be given for a number of reasons. Respectively, they differ a lot in terms of content and purpose. 

But overall, all types of business presentations can be classified as:

• Informative
• Persuasive 
• Supporting 

Informative Business Presentation 

As the name suggests, the purpose of an informative presentation is to discern the knowledge you have — explain what you know. It’s the most common type of business presentation out there. So you have probably prepared such at least several times. 

Examples of informative presentations:

• Team briefings presentation 
• Annual stakeholder report 
• Quarterly business reviews
• Business portfolio presentation
• Business plan presentation
• Project presentation

Helpful templates from SlideModel:

• Business plan PowerPoint template
• Business review PowerPoint template
• Project proposal PowerPoint template
• Corporate annual report template

Persuasive Business Presentation 

The goal of this type of presentation is to persuade your audience of your point of view — convince them of what you believe is right. Developing business presentations of this caliber requires a bit more copywriting mastery, as well as expertise in public speaking . Unlike an informative business presentation, your goal here is to sway the audience’s opinions and prompt them towards the desired action. 

Examples of persuasive presentations:

• Pitch deck/investor presentations
• Sales presentation  
• Business case presentation 
• Free business proposal presentation
• Business proposal PowerPoint template
• Pitch deck PowerPoint template
• Account Plan PowerPoint template

Supporting Business Presentation 

This category of business PowerPoint presentations is meant to facilitate decision-making — explain how we can get something done. The underlying purpose here is to communicate the general “action plan”. Then break down the necessary next steps for bringing it to life. 

Examples of supporting presentations:

• Roadmap presentation
• Project vision presentation 
• After Action Review presentation 
• Standard operating procedure (SOP) PowerPoint template 
• Strategy map PowerPoint template 
• After action review (ARR) PowerPoint template 

What Should Be Included in a Business Presentation?

Overall, the content of your business presentation will differ depending on its purpose and type. However, at the very minimum, all business presentations should include:

• Introductory slide 
• Agenda/purpose slide
• Main information or Content slides
• Key Takeaways slides
• Call-to-action/next steps slides

We further distill business presentation design and writing best practices in the next section (plus, provide several actionable business PowerPoint presentation examples!). 

How to Make a Business Presentation: Actionable Tips

A business presentation consists of two parts — a slide deck and a verbal speech. In this section, we provide tips and strategies for nailing your deck design. 

1. Get Your Presentation Opening Right 

The first slides of your presentation make or break your success. Why? By failing to frame the narrative and set the scene for the audience from the very beginning, you will struggle to keep their interest throughout the presentation. 

You have several ways of how to start a business presentation:

• Use a general informative opening — a summative slide, sharing the agenda and main points of the discussion. 
• Go for a story opening — a more creative, personal opening, aimed at pulling the audience into your story. 
• Try a dramatic opening — a less apparent and attention-grabbing opening technique, meant to pique the audience’s interest. 

Standard Informative Opening 

Most business presentation examples you see start with a general, informative slide such as an Agenda, Problem Statement, or Company Introduction. That’s the “classic” approach. 

To manage the audience’s expectations and prepare them for what’s coming next, you can open your presentation with one or two slides stating:

• The topic of your presentation — a one-sentence overview is enough. 
• Persuasive hook, suggesting what’s in it for the audience and why they should pay attention. 
• Your authority — the best technique to establish your credibility in a business presentation is to share your qualifications and experience upfront to highlight why you are worth listening to. 

Opening best suited for: Formal business presentations such as annual reports and supporting presentations to your team/business stakeholders. 

Story Opening 

Did you ever notice that most TED talks start with a quick personal story? The benefit of this presenting technique is that it enables speakers to establish quick rapport and hold the listener’s attention. 

Here’s how Nancy Duarte, author of “Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations” book and TED presenter, recommends opening a presentation: 

You know, here’s the status quo, here’s what’s going on. And then you need to compare that to what could be. You need to make that gap as big as possible, because there is this commonplace of the status quo, and you need to contrast that with the loftiness of your idea. 

Storytelling , like no other tool, helps transpose the audience into the right mindset and get concentrated on the subject you are about to discuss. A story also elicits emotions, which can be a powerful ally when giving persuasive presentations. In the article how to start a presentation , we explore this in more detail.

Opening best suited for: Personal and business pitches, sales presentations, other types of persuasive presentations. 

Dramatic Opening 

Another common technique is opening your presentation with a major statement, sometimes of controversial nature. This can be a shocking statistic, complex rhetoric question, or even a provocative, contrarian statement, challenging the audience’s beliefs. 

Using a dramatic opening helps secure the people’s attention and capture their interest. You can then use storytelling to further drill down your main ideas. 

If you are an experienced public speaker, you can also strengthen your speech with some unexpected actions. That’s what Bill Gates does when giving presentations. In a now-iconic 2009 TED talk about malaria, mid-presentation Gates suddenly reveals that he actually brought a bunch of mosquitoes with him. He cracks open a jar with non-malaria-infected critters to the audience’s surprise. His dramatic actions, paired with a passionate speech made a mighty impression. 

Opening best suited for: Marketing presentations, customer demos, training presentations, public speeches. 

Further reading: How to start a presentation: tips and examples. 

2. Get Your PowerPoint Design Right

Surely, using professional business PowerPoint templates already helps immensely with presentation deck design since you don’t need to fuss over slide layout, font selection, or iconography. 

Even so, you’ll still need to customize your template(s) to make them on brand and better suited to the presentation you’re about to deliver. Below are our best presentation design tips to give your deck an extra oomph. 

Use Images, Instead of Bullet Points 

If you have ever watched Steve Jobs’s presentations, you may have noticed that he never used bullet-point lists. Weird right? Because using bullet points is the most universal advice in presentation design. 

But there’s a valid scientific reason why Jobs favored images over bullet-point texts. Researchers found that information delivered in visuals is better retained than words alone. This is called the “ pictorial superiority effect ”. As John Medina, a molecular biologist, further explains :

“Hear a piece of information, and three days later you’ll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65%.”

So if your goal is to improve the memorability of your presentation, always replace texts with images and visualizations when it makes sense. 

Fewer Slides is Better

No matter the value, a long PowerPoint presentation becomes tiring at some point. People lose focus and stop retaining the information. Thus, always take some extra time to trim the fluff and consolidate some repetitive ideas within your presentation. 

For instance, at McKinsey new management consultants are trained to cut down the number of slides in client presentations. In fact, one senior partner insists on replacing every 20 slides with only two slides . Doing so prompts you to focus on the gist — the main business presentation ideas you need to communicate and drop filler statements. 

Here are several quick tips to shorten your slides:

• Use a three-arc structure featuring a clear beginning (setup), main narrative (confrontation), ending (resolution). Drop the ideas that don’t fit into either of these. 
• Write as you tweet. Create short, on-point text blurbs of under 156 symbols, similar to what you’d share on Twitter. 
• Contextualize your numbers. Present any relevant statistics in a context, relevant to the listeners. Turn longer stats into data visualizations for easier cognition. 

Consistency is Key 

In a solid business presentation, each slide feels like part of the connecting story. To achieve such consistency apply the same visual style and retain the same underlying message throughout your entire presentation.

Use the same typography, color scheme, and visual styles across the deck. But when you need to accentuate a transition to a new topic (e.g. move from a setup to articulating the main ideas), add some new visual element to signify the slight change in the narrative. 

Further reading: 23 PowerPoint Presentation Tips for Creating Engaging and Interactive Presentations

3. Make Your Closure Memorable 

We best remember the information shared last. So make those business presentation takeaways stick in the audience’s memory. We have three strategies for that. 

Use the Rule of Three 

The Rule of Three is a literary concept, suggesting that we best remember and like ideas and concepts when they are presented in threes. 

Many famous authors and speakers use this technique:

• “Duty – Honor – Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be” . Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
• “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” are the unalienable rights of all humans that governments are meant to protect.” Thomas Jefferson 

The Rule of Three works because three is the maximum number of items most people can remember on their first attempt. Likewise, such pairings create a short, familiar structure that is easy to remember for our brains. 

Try the Title Close Technique

Another popular presentation closing technique is “Title Close” — going back to the beginning of your narrative and reiterating your main idea (title) in a form of a takeaway. Doing so helps the audience better retain your core message since it’s repeated at least two times. Plus, it brings a sense of closure — a feel-good state our brains love. Also, a brief one-line closure is more memorable than a lengthy summary and thus better retained. 

Ask a Question 

If you want to keep the conversation going once you are done presenting, you can conclude your presentation with a general question you’d like the audience to answer.

Alternatively, you can also encourage the members to pose questions to you. The latter is better suited for informational presentations where you’d like to further discuss some of the matters and secure immediate feedback. 

Try adding an interactive element like a QR code closing your presentation with a QR code and having a clear CTA helps you leverage the power of sharing anything you would like to share with your clients. QR codes can be customized to look alike your brand.

If you are looking for a smoother experience creating presentations on the fly, check out the AI PowerPoint maker —it offers everything you can ask forfrom presentation design in a couple of clicks.

12 Business Presentation Examples and What Makes Them Great 

Now that we equipped you with the general knowledge on how to make a presentation for business, let’s take a look at how other presenters are coping with this job and what lessons you can take away from them. 

1. N26 Digital Bank Pitch Deck 

This is a fine business pitch presentation example, hitting all the best practices. The deck opens with a big shocking statement that most Millennials would rather go to the dentist than step into a bank branch. 

Then it proceeds to discuss the company’s solution to the above — a fully digital bank with a paperless account opening process, done in 8 minutes. After communicating the main product features and value proposition, the deck further conceptualizes what traction the product got so far using data visualizations. The only thing it lacks is a solid call-to-action for closing slides as the current ending feels a bit abrupt. 

2. WeWork Pitch Deck

For a Series D round, WeWork went with a more formal business presentation. It starts with laying down the general company information and then transitions to explaining their business model, current market conditions, and the company’s position on the market.

The good thing about this deck is that they quantify their business growth prospects and value proposition. The likely gains for investors are shown in concrete numbers. However, those charts go one after another in a row, so it gets a bit challenging to retain all data points. 

The last part of their presentation is focused on a new offering, “We Live”. It explains why the team seeks funds to bring it to life. Likewise, they back their reasoning with market size statistics, sample projects, and a five-year revenue forecast. 

3. Redfin Investor Presentation 

If you are looking for a “text-light” business presentation example, Redfin’s investor deck is up to your alley. This simple deck expertly uses iconography, charts, and graphs to break down the company’s business model, value proposition, market share, and competitive advantages over similar startups. For number-oriented investors, this is a great deck design to use. 

4. Google Ready Together Presentation 

This isn’t quite the standard business presentation example per se. But rather an innovative way to create engaging, interactive presentations of customer case studies .

The short deck features a short video clip from a Google client, 7-11, explaining how they used the company’s marketing technology to digitally transform their operations and introduce a greater degree of marketing automation . The narrated video parts are interrupted by slides featuring catchy stats, contextualizing issues other businesses are facing. Then transitions to explaining through the words of 7-11 CMO, how Google’s technology is helping them overcome the stated shortcomings.

5. Salesforce Business Presentation Example 

This is a great example of an informational presentation, made by the Salesforce team to share their research on customer experience (CX) with prospects and existing customers.

The slide deck errs on the lengthier side with 58 slides total. But bigger topics are broken down and reinforced through bite-sized statistics and quotes from the company leadership. They are also packaging the main tips into memorable formulas, itemized lists, and tables. Overall, this deck is a great example of how you can build a compelling narrative using different statistics. 

6. Mastercard Business Presentation

This slide deck from Mastercard instantly captures the audience’s attention with unusual background images and major data points on the growth of populations, POS systems, and payment methods used in the upcoming decade.

Perhaps to offset the complexity of the subject, Mastercard chose to sprinkle in some humor in presentation texts and used comic-style visuals to supplement that. However, all their animations are made in a similar style, creating a good sense of continuity in design. They are also using colors to signify the transition from one part of the presentation to another. 

In the second part, the slide deck focuses on distilling the core message of what businesses need to do to remain competitive in the new payments landscape. The team presents what they have been working on to expand the payment ecosystem. Then concludes with a “title close” styled call-to-action, mirroring the presentation title.

7. McKinsey Diversity & Inclusion Presentation 

This fresh business slide deck from McKinsey is a great reference point for making persuasive business presentations on complex topics such as D&I. First, it recaps the main definitions of the discussed concepts — diversity, equity, and inclusion — to ensure alignment with the audience members. 

Next, the business presentation deck focuses on the severity and importance of the issue for businesses, represented through a series of graphs and charts. After articulating the “why”, the narrative switches to “how” — how leaders can benefit from investment in D&I. The main points are further backed with data and illustrated via examples. 

8. Accenture Presentation for the Energy Sector

Similar to McKinsey, Accenture keeps its slide deck on a short. Yet the team packs a punch within each slide through using a mix of fonts, graphical elements, and color for highlighting the core information. The presentation copy is on a longer side, prompting the audience to dwell on reading the slides. But perhaps this was meant by design as the presentation was also distributed online — via the company blog and social media. 

The last several slides of the presentation deck focus on articulating the value Accenture can deliver for their clients in the Energy sector. They expertly break down their main value proposition and key service lines, plus quantify the benefits. 

9. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Technical Presentation 

Giving an engaging technical presentation isn’t an easy task. You have to balance the number of details you reveal on your slides to prevent overwhelm, while also making sure that you don’t leave out any crucial deets. This technical presentation from AWS does great in both departments. 

First, you get entertained with a quick overview of Amazon’s progress in machine learning (ML) forecasting capabilities over the last decade. Then introduced to the main tech offering. The deck further explains what you need to get started with Amazon Forecast — e.g. dataset requirements, supported forecasting scenarios, available forecasting models, etc. 

The second half of the presentation provides a quick training snippet on configuring Amazon SageMaker to start your first project. The step-by-step instructions are coherent and well-organized, making the reader excited to test-drive the product. 

10. Snapchat Company Presentation

Snapchat’s business model presentation is on a funkier, more casual side, reflective of the company’s overall brand and positioning. After briefly recapping what they do, the slide deck switches to discussing the company’s financials and revenue streams.

This business slide deck by Snap Inc. itself is rather simplistic and lacks fancy design elements. But it has a strong unified theme of showing the audience Snapchat’s position on the market and projected vector of business development. 

11. Visa Business Acquisition Presentation 

If you are working on a business plan or M&A presentation for stakeholders of your own, this example from Visa will be helpful. The presentation deck expertly breaks down the company’s rationale for purchasing Plaid and subsequent plans for integrating the startup into their business ecosystem. 

The business deck recaps why the Plaid acquisition is a solid strategic decision by highlighting the total addressable market they could dive into post-deal. Then it details Plaid’s competitive strengths. The slide deck then sums up all the monetary and indirect gains Visa could reap as an acquirer. 

12. Pinterest Earnings Report Presentation 

Annual reports and especially earnings presentations might not be the most exciting types of documents to work on, but they have immense strategic value. Hence, there’s little room for ambiguities or mistakes. 

In twelve slides, this business presentation from Pinterest clearly communicates the big picture of the company’s finance in 2021. All the key numbers are represented as featured quotes in the sidebar with diagrams further showcasing the earning and spending dynamics. Overall, the data is easy to interpret even for non-finance folks. 

To Conclude 

With these business presentation design tips, presentation templates , and examples, you can go from overwhelmed to confident about your next presentation design in a matter of hours. Focus on creating a rough draft first using a template. Then work on nailing your opening slide sequence and shortening the texts in the main part of your presentation when needed. Make sure that each slide serves a clear purpose and communicates important details. To make your business presentation deck more concise, remove anything that does not pertain to the topic. 

Finally, once you are done, share your business presentation with other team members to get their feedback and reiterate the final design.

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Business Presentations, Corporate Presentations, Design, Design Inspiration, Examples, Executive Reports, Inspiration, Presentation Ideas Filed under Business

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How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

By Krystle Wong , Jul 20, 2023

A top-notch presentation possesses the power to drive action. From winning stakeholders over and conveying a powerful message to securing funding — your secret weapon lies within the realm of creating an effective presentation .  

Being an excellent presenter isn’t confined to the boardroom. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work, pursuing an academic career, involved in a non-profit organization or even a student, nailing the presentation game is a game-changer.

In this article, I’ll cover the top qualities of compelling presentations and walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to give a good presentation. Here’s a little tip to kick things off: for a headstart, check out Venngage’s collection of free presentation templates . They are fully customizable, and the best part is you don’t need professional design skills to make them shine!

These valuable presentation tips cater to individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, encompassing business professionals, sales and marketing teams, educators, trainers, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, public speakers and presenters. 

No matter your field or role, these tips for presenting will equip you with the skills to deliver effective presentations that leave a lasting impression on any audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 10 qualities of a good presentation?

Step-by-step guide on how to prepare an effective presentation, 9 effective techniques to deliver a memorable presentation, faqs on making a good presentation, how to create a presentation with venngage in 5 steps.

When it comes to giving an engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression, it’s not just about the content — it’s also about how you deliver it. Wondering what makes a good presentation? Well, the best presentations I’ve seen consistently exhibit these 10 qualities:

1. Clear structure

No one likes to get lost in a maze of information. Organize your thoughts into a logical flow, complete with an introduction, main points and a solid conclusion. A structured presentation helps your audience follow along effortlessly, leaving them with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Regardless of your presentation style , a quality presentation starts with a clear roadmap. Browse through Venngage’s template library and select a presentation template that aligns with your content and presentation goals. Here’s a good presentation example template with a logical layout that includes sections for the introduction, main points, supporting information and a conclusion: 

2. Engaging opening

Hook your audience right from the start with an attention-grabbing statement, a fascinating question or maybe even a captivating anecdote. Set the stage for a killer presentation!

The opening moments of your presentation hold immense power – check out these 15 ways to start a presentation to set the stage and captivate your audience.

3. Relevant content

Make sure your content aligns with their interests and needs. Your audience is there for a reason, and that’s to get valuable insights. Avoid fluff and get straight to the point, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Effective visual aids

Picture this: a slide with walls of text and tiny charts, yawn! Visual aids should be just that—aiding your presentation. Opt for clear and visually appealing slides, engaging images and informative charts that add value and help reinforce your message.

With Venngage, visualizing data takes no effort at all. You can import data from CSV or Google Sheets seamlessly and create stunning charts, graphs and icon stories effortlessly to showcase your data in a captivating and impactful way.

5. Clear and concise communication

Keep your language simple, and avoid jargon or complicated terms. Communicate your ideas clearly, so your audience can easily grasp and retain the information being conveyed. This can prevent confusion and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message. 

6. Engaging delivery

Spice up your presentation with a sprinkle of enthusiasm! Maintain eye contact, use expressive gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your audience glued to the edge of their seats. A touch of charisma goes a long way!

7. Interaction and audience engagement

Turn your presentation into an interactive experience — encourage questions, foster discussions and maybe even throw in a fun activity. Engaged audiences are more likely to remember and embrace your message.

Transform your slides into an interactive presentation with Venngage’s dynamic features like pop-ups, clickable icons and animated elements. Engage your audience with interactive content that lets them explore and interact with your presentation for a truly immersive experience.

8. Effective storytelling

Who doesn’t love a good story? Weaving relevant anecdotes, case studies or even a personal story into your presentation can captivate your audience and create a lasting impact. Stories build connections and make your message memorable.

A great presentation background is also essential as it sets the tone, creates visual interest and reinforces your message. Enhance the overall aesthetics of your presentation with these 15 presentation background examples and captivate your audience’s attention.

9. Well-timed pacing

Pace your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides, neither rushing through nor dragging it out. Respect your audience’s time and ensure you cover all the essential points without losing their interest.

10. Strong conclusion

Last impressions linger! Summarize your main points and leave your audience with a clear takeaway. End your presentation with a bang , a call to action or an inspiring thought that resonates long after the conclusion.

In-person presentations aside, acing a virtual presentation is of paramount importance in today’s digital world. Check out this guide to learn how you can adapt your in-person presentations into virtual presentations . 

Preparing an effective presentation starts with laying a strong foundation that goes beyond just creating slides and notes. One of the quickest and best ways to make a presentation would be with the help of a good presentation software . 

Otherwise, let me walk you to how to prepare for a presentation step by step and unlock the secrets of crafting a professional presentation that sets you apart.

1. Understand the audience and their needs

Before you dive into preparing your masterpiece, take a moment to get to know your target audience. Tailor your presentation to meet their needs and expectations , and you’ll have them hooked from the start!

2. Conduct thorough research on the topic

Time to hit the books (or the internet)! Don’t skimp on the research with your presentation materials — dive deep into the subject matter and gather valuable insights . The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel in delivering your presentation.

3. Organize the content with a clear structure

No one wants to stumble through a chaotic mess of information. Outline your presentation with a clear and logical flow. Start with a captivating introduction, follow up with main points that build on each other and wrap it up with a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.

Delivering an effective business presentation hinges on captivating your audience, and Venngage’s professionally designed business presentation templates are tailor-made for this purpose. With thoughtfully structured layouts, these templates enhance your message’s clarity and coherence, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for your audience members.

Don’t want to build your presentation layout from scratch? pick from these 5 foolproof presentation layout ideas that won’t go wrong. 

4. Develop visually appealing and supportive visual aids

Spice up your presentation with eye-catching visuals! Create slides that complement your message, not overshadow it. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean you need to overload your slides with text.

Well-chosen designs create a cohesive and professional look, capturing your audience’s attention and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your message. Here’s a list of carefully curated PowerPoint presentation templates and great background graphics that will significantly influence the visual appeal and engagement of your presentation.

5. Practice, practice and practice

Practice makes perfect — rehearse your presentation and arrive early to your presentation to help overcome stage fright. Familiarity with your material will boost your presentation skills and help you handle curveballs with ease.

6. Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and seek feedback from friends and colleagues. Constructive criticism can help you identify blind spots and fine-tune your presentation to perfection.

With Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature , receiving feedback and editing your presentation is a seamless process. Group members can access and work on the presentation simultaneously and edit content side by side in real-time. Changes will be reflected immediately to the entire team, promoting seamless teamwork.

7. Prepare for potential technical or logistical issues

Prepare for the unexpected by checking your equipment, internet connection and any other potential hiccups. If you’re worried that you’ll miss out on any important points, you could always have note cards prepared. Remember to remain focused and rehearse potential answers to anticipated questions.

8. Fine-tune and polish your presentation

As the big day approaches, give your presentation one last shine. Review your talking points, practice how to present a presentation and make any final tweaks. Deep breaths — you’re on the brink of delivering a successful presentation!

In competitive environments, persuasive presentations set individuals and organizations apart. To brush up on your presentation skills, read these guides on how to make a persuasive presentation and tips to presenting effectively . 

Whether you’re an experienced presenter or a novice, the right techniques will let your presentation skills soar to new heights!

From public speaking hacks to interactive elements and storytelling prowess, these 9 effective presentation techniques will empower you to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make your presentations unforgettable.

1. Confidence and positive body language

Positive body language instantly captivates your audience, making them believe in your message as much as you do. Strengthen your stage presence and own that stage like it’s your second home! Stand tall, shoulders back and exude confidence. 

2. Eye contact with the audience

Break down that invisible barrier and connect with your audience through their eyes. Maintaining eye contact when giving a presentation builds trust and shows that you’re present and engaged with them.

3. Effective use of hand gestures and movement

A little movement goes a long way! Emphasize key points with purposeful gestures and don’t be afraid to walk around the stage. Your energy will be contagious!

4. Utilize storytelling techniques

Weave the magic of storytelling into your presentation. Share relatable anecdotes, inspiring success stories or even personal experiences that tug at the heartstrings of your audience. Adjust your pitch, pace and volume to match the emotions and intensity of the story. Varying your speaking voice adds depth and enhances your stage presence.

5. Incorporate multimedia elements

Spice up your presentation with a dash of visual pizzazz! Use slides, images and video clips to add depth and clarity to your message. Just remember, less is more—don’t overwhelm them with information overload. 

Turn your presentations into an interactive party! Involve your audience with questions, polls or group activities. When they actively participate, they become invested in your presentation’s success. Bring your design to life with animated elements. Venngage allows you to apply animations to icons, images and text to create dynamic and engaging visual content.

6. Utilize humor strategically

Laughter is the best medicine—and a fantastic presentation enhancer! A well-placed joke or lighthearted moment can break the ice and create a warm atmosphere , making your audience more receptive to your message.

7. Practice active listening and respond to feedback

Be attentive to your audience’s reactions and feedback. If they have questions or concerns, address them with genuine interest and respect. Your responsiveness builds rapport and shows that you genuinely care about their experience.

8. Apply the 10-20-30 rule

Apply the 10-20-30 presentation rule and keep it short, sweet and impactful! Stick to ten slides, deliver your presentation within 20 minutes and use a 30-point font to ensure clarity and focus. Less is more, and your audience will thank you for it!

9. Implement the 5-5-5 rule

Simplicity is key. Limit each slide to five bullet points, with only five words per bullet point and allow each slide to remain visible for about five seconds. This rule keeps your presentation concise and prevents information overload.

Simple presentations are more engaging because they are easier to follow. Summarize your presentations and keep them simple with Venngage’s gallery of simple presentation templates and ensure that your message is delivered effectively across your audience.

1. How to start a presentation?

To kick off your presentation effectively, begin with an attention-grabbing statement or a powerful quote. Introduce yourself, establish credibility and clearly state the purpose and relevance of your presentation.

2. How to end a presentation?

For a strong conclusion, summarize your talking points and key takeaways. End with a compelling call to action or a thought-provoking question and remember to thank your audience and invite any final questions or interactions.

3. How to make a presentation interactive?

To make your presentation interactive, encourage questions and discussion throughout your talk. Utilize multimedia elements like videos or images and consider including polls, quizzes or group activities to actively involve your audience.

In need of inspiration for your next presentation? I’ve got your back! Pick from these 120+ presentation ideas, topics and examples to get started. 

Creating a stunning presentation with Venngage is a breeze with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates for all your communication needs. 

Here’s how to make a presentation in just 5 simple steps with the help of Venngage:

Step 1: Sign up for Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account or simply log in to access your account. 

Step 2: Pick a design from our selection of free presentation templates (they’re all created by our expert in-house designers).

Step 3: Make the template your own by customizing it to fit your content and branding. With Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily modify text, change colors and adjust the layout to create a unique and eye-catching design.

Step 4: Elevate your presentation by incorporating captivating visuals. You can upload your images or choose from Venngage’s vast library of high-quality photos, icons and illustrations. 

Step 5: Upgrade to a premium or business account to export your presentation in PDF and print it for in-person presentations or share it digitally for free!

By following these five simple steps, you’ll have a professionally designed and visually engaging presentation ready in no time. With Venngage’s user-friendly platform, your presentation is sure to make a lasting impression. So, let your creativity flow and get ready to shine in your next presentation!

Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

Careers Marketing Leadership Sep 6, 2018

4 key steps to preparing for a business presentation, don’t let a lack of prep work sabotage your great ideas..

Timothy Calkins

Yevgenia Nayberg

Being able to effectively present ideas to others is a crucial skill in many careers. But too often, honing the ability to stand in front of colleagues and deliver recommendations gets neglected in the shuffle of other more pressing priorities.

Yet struggling to get your ideas across can shake others’ faith in your abilities. That loss of confidence can quickly reduce your chances of advancement and long-term success, says Tim Calkins , a clinical professor of marketing at the Kellogg School who spent years as a brand manager for Kraft Foods and now serves as a consultant.

“You can be the smartest person in the room,” Calkins says, “but if you can’t put together a good business presentation, you’re going to be frustrated because the senior people will think very highly of the person with the nice presentation, even when they might not have great ideas.”

“It’s not a TED Talk,” he says. “It’s not like doing a speech at a wedding. A business presentation is a really unique event.”

Calkins, the author of the forthcoming book How to Wash a Chicken: Mastering the Business Presentation , offers four recommendations that can help you prepare and present with confidence (for those curious, the book’s title refers to the first presentation Calkins ever gave, as an eight year old boy at a 4-H fair).

Dedicate Time to Prepare

Preparation should start the moment the presentation is scheduled, Calkins says. And by preparation, he may not mean quite what you think.

“A lot of people worry about delivery, their breathing and how they move around the room,” Calkins says. “You should really spend your time ahead of the meeting thinking about your audience, developing a clear recommendation, and finding a clear and logical story.”

Specifically, Calkins stresses the importance of gathering information, drafting the presentation, and allowing plenty of time to incorporate feedback from stakeholders.

Calkins recalls a time at Kraft when he was preparing for a big presentation. He knew that the company needed to shift its strategy with regard to its line of barbecue sauces. After iterating with his team for weeks, the team delivered a strategic recommendation to cut back on promotions and improve the product’s quality. Taking these actions would cause an initial loss, but would lead to later growth. Though the strategy was somewhat risky, it was approved.

The “polish” on the speech Calkins gave to senior leadership—his presence in the front of the room, the authority in his voice—was nearly beside the point.

“The presentation was so logical and clear that we could have sent anyone on the team to present it,” Calkins says. “Heck, we could’ve sent the summer intern up there. The recommendation was just that tight.”

Figure Out Your Story

Calkins is often amazed by how many people deliver presentations with little sense of the narrative they want to convey.

“People often start writing and constructing pages before they know the story,” he says. “That’s a disastrous approach because what you end up with is a lot of data, but you don’t end up with a story, a narrative flow that makes sense.”

Calkins suggests that presenters look to their objective—the recommendation—to determine the key points they can deploy to support that objective. From there, framing the presentation is as simple as determining what information to include in its beginning, middle, and end.

“We’re swimming in a world with so much information. We spend our time thinking about analytics, big data, and all these wonderful things we can do. But people cannot understand a page of numbers very well.” 

Calkins recommends starting with the company’s status quo along with a quick backstory on how it came to be. “If your audience doesn’t know much about your business, then a bit of history might be useful to provide some perspective on the situation,” he writes.

You can move from there into your key points, with data backing up each statement. Once you have established those key points, it is critical to ask yourself how each of those statements clearly relates to the other points—and how it ladders up to the recommendation itself.

“What you’re trying to find is a story that you tell page by page, one point to the next point,” Calkins says.

Make Sure Your Data Serve Your Story

Just as there should be data to back up each of your main points, there should be a main point to each piece of data.

While data are key to building a reasoned, supported argument, you have to be judicious—more is not always better. A deluge of data can muddy a presentation’s flow and frustrate your audience to the point where they tune you out to check their email.

“We’re swimming in a world with so much information,” he says. “We spend our time thinking about analytics, big data, and all these wonderful things we can do. But people cannot understand a page of numbers very well.”

Rather than using every bit of information at your disposal, Calkins recommends whittling that data down to the elements that provide the most compelling support for your points—and which allow you to move on to the next part of your narrative.

Remember, too, that not every piece of data is equally credible. Analysis from a trusted provider will carry more weight. “Only use support points that you understand and trust,” recommends Calkins. “You don’t want people to question your sources.”

Keep Your Language Simple and Relatable

We all want to sound smart—or would that be “ erudite ” ? —when we speak. This signals to others that our opinions are sound and our recommendations are well reasoned. But it turns out that the key to gaining people’s support for an idea rests on quite the opposite track.

“One of the things that happens when people present is they try to use all these fancy words because, in theory, it makes them look smart,” he says. “But it’s totally opposite.”

Studies have shown that reaching for big words tends to make texts unnecessarily complex, when simpler versions are more understandable and digestible. They also make the author of the simpler version seem more intelligent than their more loquacious counterparts.

“The simpler you make it, the smaller the words, the more compelling it is,” Calkins says. “And that’s the heart of any presentation. If it feels simple and easy and logical, people are going to understand it and they’re going to accept it and they’re going to approve it.”

Clinical Professor of Marketing

About the Writer Glenn Jeffers is a writer based in Los Angeles.

How to Make a Business Presentation in 7 Easy Steps [Free Business Presentation Templates]

Updated: May 02, 2022

Published: September 11, 2019

There’s a reason many people despise public speaking. Defining your presentation style , putting together engaging slides, getting your point across clearly, handling unexpected questions, and squeezing a laugh out of the audience is a lot to consider.

Still, nearly all of us have to give business presentations every so often — especially salespeople . And the most daunting part of preparing for any presentation is that there’s always room to improve. 

Even the most seasoned speakers headlining at conferences or reps who top the leaderboard every month can improve their storytelling, deliver their message more clearly, and perfect their physicality. And so can you.

There are an infinite number of presentation tips out there, so we’ve distilled the vast pool of tips down to what will make the biggest impact on your presentation — and we’ve left you with actionable takeaways you can apply to your presentations today.

How to Make a Business Presentation

1. make a plan.

Things won’t go according to plan if you don’t even have a plan in the first place. Before building your slide deck , create an outline that includes the main points and pieces of evidence you want to get across.

This outline will act as your anchor while you build a slide deck and give your presentation, pointing you toward the key arguments you know you need to touch on.

I like to start with the bare bones: introductory remarks , the three points I hope my audience remembers from my talk, and concluding remarks. Then, I add sub-points to each of those three points that comprise the meat of my presentation.

These bullet points become helpful later, too, when I’m putting together my slides. They show me how much material I have on each takeaway, which allows me to split my content into the appropriate number of slides.

A well-delivered, memorable introduction and conclusion are essential ingredients of a presentation. Don’t overlook them in your outline.

Even a couple of quick bullet points on exactly what you plan to cover in each will help you set an engaging, confident tone at the start and wrap up in a way that helps your material stick in your audience’s mind.

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2. Choose a slide deck

Select a slide deck that matches the tone of your presentation. There are three primary factors that can influence your deck style:

• The formality of your workplace . A good litmus test is your company’s dress code. For example, if you wear business formal attire to work, stick with a slide deck with neutral colors like navy, white, grey, and black, and keep your fonts sharp. If your workplace is more casual or prizes creativity over ceremony, consider a more colorful deck, but keep it to two to three complementary colors to avoid creating slides that are too busy.If you’re looking for a slide deck that’s creative but not overwhelming, consider something like this ( you can download this slide deck template for free here ):

• The content you’re presenting. Serious research and financial data, for example, are suited for more professional decks. Informal recaps, brainstorms, and planning sessions may give you more bandwidth to use brighter colors.Here’s an example of a slide that would be well-suited for data:

Download the Slide Deck Template for Free

• Your personal brand . If you’re known at work for your sense of humor or your GIF reaction time on Slack, you’ll be able to get away with a more friendly font and colorful template. If you lean into professionalism and want to express rigor in your analysis or ideas, select a deck with few distractions — keep the colors neutral.

We had our designers here put together a set of free business presentation templates that you can start using today. 

3. Lead with a story and a laugh

One of the reasons it’s so easy to get wrapped up in TED Talks for hours on end is that nearly every presenter begins with a compelling story.

Whether it’s the harrowing tale of a near-death experience or a heartwarming recap of the speaker’s daughter’s first day of preschool, a great story engages the audience’s attention. It should also allow the speaker to build a personal connection with listeners and serve as a memorable cornerstone of the presentation.

When possible, begin your presentations with a story. The key, once you’ve shared your story, is to succinctly tie its main point back to the focus of your presentation.  

Don’t feel you must tell a story that’s groundbreaking or unique — in fact, relatable stories will be most effective at breaking through to your audience.

For example, a marketing director at HubSpot recently began a presentation about her team’s redesign project by sharing a personal anecdote about her struggles clearing weeds in her garden.

Finally, add humor where it feels natural. Getting a laugh out of your audience within the first minute will put them at ease and set a positive tone for the information they’re about to take in. 

4. Add verbal signposts

One of the best pieces of presentation advice I’ve ever gotten came from a college professor who believed our brains needed what he called “signposts”: verbal cues that could stick in an audience’s mind even as the details slipped away. 

He challenged us to distill our presentations down to three key takeaways and come up with one-to-three-word phrases that represented each point. Then, we were to reference those three cues or signposts in our introduction — just before diving into their details — and once again at the end.

If there were slides involved, he also had us select a simple image for each signpost that would be repeated throughout the deck.

Here’s an example: if you were giving a presentation pitching a website redesign, you might talk about all of the benefits a redesign would bring. Your website would be more visually consistent with your brand, the user experience would vastly improve, and you’d improve loading time to boost your search rankings.   

The signposts for this presentation might be: 

• Brand Consistency
• Improved UX

Even if the audience forgot the mechanics of how each of these areas would improve with the redesign, they would walk away with three easy-to-remember phrases that summarized the value of your proposed project.

Since taking that professor’s class, I’ve watched and created presentations completely differently. I always look for a speaker’s signposts and incorporate my own into every presentation I build. Signposts help me retain more material and communicate my points more directly.

5. Rely on images and charts rather than text and tables

Humans process images faster than text. And, as a speaker, it’s a disconcerting experience to see your audience squinting their eyes as they try to make out a hundred tiny words or numbers on your slides, scribbling down as much information as they can before you skip to the next section.  

To avoid this issue, rely on images whenever possible. Keep the attention on you, the expert, by selecting an image or two to drive home your point. Don’t try to squeeze all of your information on a single slide.

6. Incorporate audience interaction

We all dread sitting through boring presentations. And no matter how experienced a speaker you are, there’s inevitably going to be a low-energy point of your talk during your first dry run.  

To keep the energy up, add in a quick moment of audience interaction. There are many different ways to re-engage listeners with participation:  

• Quiz them and have them raise their hands to vote on options.
• Ask a question.
• Have them turn to a neighbor and share one reaction to what they just heard.
• Have people stand up momentarily if they agree with a given statement.

Movement will engage attention in a new way and refresh the energy of the room, carrying you through to the end of the presentation.

7. Hold a couple of non-essential data points until the Q&A at the end

You will always want to use adequate data to make a business case and provide a meaningful, truthful presentation. However, it’s okay if you’re not able to fit every detail into your presentation. 

In fact, if you intend to hold a question and answer session at the end of the presentation , leaving a couple of interesting but non-essential data points out during the presentation can give you impressive material to work with during the Q&A.

Anticipate several questions you’re likely to get or have a colleague watch a practice run-through and come up with three questions for you. Then, choose a couple of pieces of evidence not included on the slides themselves and have them in your mental back pocket to support your answers. 

Data always speaks more loudly than statements that don’t have a specific piece of evidence behind them. Remember, you’re an expert on your presentation topic — and additional, specific points can only help you when it comes to demonstrating your expertise.

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How to Make a Business Presentation (12 Easy Tips)

Jul 25, 2022

Whether over online or in the conference room, there’s a lot to consider when making a business presentation. Finding your unique presentation style that balances humor, confidence, approachability, and professionalism is no easy feat. Above all, capturing and retaining your audience’s attention is the most important and often the most difficult thing to juggle.

In this blog, we’ll share how to make a business presentation that’s compelling, engaging, persuasive, and memorable. Feel free to skip ahead to our 12 tips or start creating your own business presentation with a professional template

4. Remember the 10/20/30 rule

The 10/20/30 is a tried and true rule for presentations: your presentation should not have more than 10 slides, be longer than 20 minutes, and should not use fonts smaller than 30 point size. This golden rule can also apply to video presentations which tend to be more engaging and memorable.

5. Don’t overload slides with information

Viewers become overwhelmed when there is too much information on one slide. Remember to tailor and trim your content to its most important elements. If you need to explain a complicated process, try including a screen recording rather than including a wordy explanation.

6. Tell a story to connect with your audience

Storytelling is a presenter’s greatest asset. Hook your audience in from the very beginning and lead them down a path that illustrates the problem or conflict, explain the problem-solving process, and celebrate solutions and wins at the end. If you don’t have a shiny solution to present at the end that’s okay, but make sure that your audience knows how your story continues.

7. Inject business-friendly humor

If you want your idea or information to stick, you have to connect with your audience. There’s no better way to do this than with a little business-appropriate humor. Don’t be afraid to crack a joke, reference a meme, or share a gif to get a laugh.

8. Make your presentation interactive

Help your audience break out of autopilot by engaging with them during your presentation. Create a dialogue between you and your audience by asking questions, using anecdotes, or opening it up to stories and feedback.

9. Use visual aids to keep your audience engaged

Visual aids can say more and make a bigger impact than words alone. Include pictures, diagrams, video clips, and animations to make key points stick. You can also include webcam recordings to keep your audience engaged and connected to your message.

10. Follow your brand design guidelines

Presentations should be viewed with as much scrutiny as a social media post or any other external communication. Be sure to keep your presentation on-brand so it’s instantly recognizable to your audience. Your presentation might be the first impression you make, so set the tone by adhering to your brand guidelines. With Animoto’s Saved Brand feature , you just need to save your font, brand colors, and logo once then you can instantly apply them to all future videos.

11. Prepare a Q&A session after your presentation

Now that you’ve spent time talking at your audience, it’s time to talk with them. Leave enough time for a Q&A session at the end of your presentation to clarify certain points, hear feedback, and make the audience feel more involved and valued. If you don’t have enough time for a Q&A session, you can follow up with a Google form or email to compile questions then send out a short question and answer video so everyone has a chance to learn more.

12. Practice your business presentation

Before you step into the spotlight, it’s critical to know your material . If you aren’t sold on your information, your audience won’t be either. Run through your presentation as many times as it takes to stick. Try recording yourself to identify any repetitiveness, ambiguity, or redundancies. Not only will this make your business presentation more concise, it will boost your confidence come presentation day!

Now that you know how to make your best presentations yet, it’s time to start creating! With Animoto, you can create professional video presentations in minutes. No more finnicking with layouts or animations – Animoto’s easy-to-use templates do the presentation design work for you. The best part? You can get started for free !

1. Choose a template: There are hundreds of templates to choose from! The Presentation template is designed to share your screen and webcam recordings so you can present just like you would in person. Check out our presentation templates to spark inspiration and start creating.

2. Upload your photos and video clips: Easily upload then drag and drop your favorite photos and video clips into our templates to make them your own. Then fill in the gaps with our Getty Images stock library!

3. Record your screen and webcam: With Animoto, you can record you screen and webcam and seamlessly add it to your video! Not only can webcam recordings make your presentations more personal and relatable, but screen recordings allow you to show your audience exactly what they need to see. Just click the Record button in your workspace, record your video, and drag and drop it into your project. This blog has all the tips and directions you’ll need to create a professional recording in minutes.

4. Personalize your business presentation: Create a Saved Brand to apply your brand elements with just one click. You can also add extra text boxes, choose your own animations, and select from our library of 3,000+ licensed music tracks to set the scene. For added personalization and to explain topics in further detail, you can record and edit a personalized voice-over message to overlay in your video.

5. Download and present your presentation: Once you’ve created your professional presentation, you’re ready to start sharing! Click the Share button to send to your desired social destination or embed in an email. You can also download your video to your laptop or a USB drive to carry with you to the conference room.

Need help getting started? The Meeting Recap template below is one of our most popular templates for sharing the results of a campaign or event. You can easily customize it with your own brand elements, facts and figures, and photos to make an engaging and energetic video that stands out from traditional presentations.

For more inspiration, check out our blog “ 11 Easy Video Presentation Ideas (For Your Business) ” for a breakdown of our most popular video presentation templates. Or, you can start browsing our workplace templates to find one that suits your needs.

No matter where you start, Animoto makes it easy to create professional, engaging, modern business presentations, no experience required. Try it out for free !

Business presentation FAQs

How to start a presentation.

Getting started can feel like the hardest part. In addition to the tips and tricks shared above, we recommend using a customizable video template to start creating without getting bogged down by powerpoint formatting.

How to end a presentation?

How you end a presentation is almost as important as how you start one! Recap with a quick summary and key takeaways, state a clear call to action, and leave the floor open for a quick Q&A session and further clarification.

What makes a good presentation?

Good presentations are engaging, memorable, and inspiring. They don’t overwhelm the audience with information, rather, they offer clear takeaways that can be digested or acted upon right away. Check out these presentation templates for some great examples.

How to make a presentation interactive?

Don’t just talk at your audience, engage with them! You can make your presentation interactive with polls, Q&A sessions, asking for examples or stories, exercises, or even games. As long as the interaction is relevant to the topic, it is bound to make your presentation more memorable.

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How to Prepare an Impactful Business Presentation in 8 Steps

/ Steven Hobson / Business English , Confidence , English Presentations , Speaking

For non-native speakers, giving a business presentation in English can be a scary experience, especially if you don’t do it often or feel insecure about speaking English in front of others.

Over the years, I have helped a range of professionals prepare for business presentations, as well as training teachers to prepare their students for presentations when I ran my own language school in Brazil.  

During this time I constructed a very effective approach that can be used if you are preparing for a business presentation but do not have a coach or trainer t o guide you.

In this post, I’m going to share with you this proven approach which consists of 8 steps.

Step 1: The Foundation to Your Business Presentation – Goal, Audience, Past Experience

This first step is essential for a successful business presentation, as it sets the foundation for the rest of your preparation.

Ask yourself what exactly it is that you want to achieve with this presentation. In other words, what is the goal?  What do you want to communicate and how do you want the audience to react or take action?

In addition to this, consider your audience. How many people will you be presenting to? Do you know the audience personally or are they unknown to you? What will they be expecting? Are there any cultural differences you need to be aware of?  For what reasons are they listening to your business presentation?

lastly, if you have given business presentations in English before, reflect on your experience. What were your main challenges and how will you face them this time around? What improvements do you need to make?

I prepared an executive who once told me that he froze up when he was stopped to ask questions during his presentations. He was worried about whether he was going to understand the questions correctly, as well as being capable of giving a good answer under pressure.

For this, we worked on how to ask for clarification if he wanted to make sure he understood the questions, and then we wrote down all the possible questions he could get asked and rehearsed the answers.

This reflection and extra preparation helped the executive to overcome his nerves and anxiety for his next business presentation.

Step 2: Prepare the Slides with Minimum Text

One of the biggest mistakes I see people making when putting their slides together is including too much text. Or even worse, their speech is the text which is written on the slides.

If there is too much text, three damaging things can happen.

First, the presenter spends more time reading the slides and doesn’t look at the audience enough. This makes it difficult to establish a connection with your audience.

Secondly, good eye contact can communicate confidence and authority , which helps the audience to agree with or believe your message. Therefore, spending too much time looking at the slides can affect how confident or authoritative you look, which will consequently weaken your message.

Thirdly, it confuses your audience because they don’t know whether to read the slides or listen to you. Both, they cannot do. And potentially they could miss important parts, let alone diminish engagement.

So ask yourself these questions when preparing your slides: Is there too much text?  Could the slides be better summarized? Could there be more images?

The slides should really be as condensed as possible using keywords , as well as being visual.

Step 3: Record Yourself from Beginning to End

Before writing down your speech or doing any rehearsals, record yourself (audio or video) giving the business presentation from beginning to end.

Your presentation will be unpolished and rough, however, this exercise will give you some immediate and useful insights on how you present and what you need to improve.

When playing back the recording try to look out for the following:

• the parts of the presentation you are finding difficult to explain,
• if you are being objective enough or taking too long to explain something,
• how often you use filler word s, such as “erm”, “um”,
• whether you are using a variety of linking phrases between parts,
• if there are any grammar mistakes you can recognise.

These insights will help when you start working on your speech, which is the next step.

Furthermore, you can compare this initial recording with future recordings. This will help you perceive your progress, which will build confidence.

Step 4: The Introduction

Next, you’re going to focus on the separate parts of the business presentation, beginning with the introduction.

The introduction normally includes a few sentences to welcome the audience, say a little bit about who you are, communicate the objective of the business presentation, and then give an outline of the main parts of the presentation.

I recommend writing down the script and memorizing the introduction word for word, as it is only going to be a few sentences. You can write it in the ‘notes’ section at the bottom of the PowerPoint slides.

Memorizing the introduction will strengthen the delivery of it, and a strong intro will not only calm down your nerves , it will also give the audience a great first impression of you which helps to build trus t .

Practice out loud a few times then move on to the middle section.

Click here for introduction phrases for a business presentation.

Step 5: The Middle

Just like the introduction, write down the script for the middle part. However this time, the reason for writing the middle section is to make your speech more objective and straight to the point, rather than memorizing it word for word.

I suggest working through your business presentation part by part. Write the script for a specific section, practice saying it aloud a few times, then move on to the next part.

An important part of the middle section is how you link all the different parts and slides together. Make sure you use a variety of linking phrases to join everything up and maximize presentation flow.

Here’s an example of a linking phrase: “Ok, I’ve explained how ABC works. Now I’d like to change direction and talk about XYZ.”

Linking phrases help you move through the business presentation smoothly and the audience will be able to follow it easier.

Once you have written your speech, a useful exercise is to run through the presentation only saying the linking phrases. This will help you identify if you are using enough variety and it will cement the structure of the presentation in your mind.

Click here for more linking phrases for the middle section of a business presentation.

Step 6: The End

For the ending, use the same method as the introduction and middle section – writing the speech and then practicing it orally.

Just like the intro, the ending is normally quite short and consists of a summary or conclusion, followed by questions, then thanking the audience.

Click here for expressions to help you with the ending of a business presentation.

Step 7: Practice and Repeat from Top to Bottom

Practice and repetition is the most important aspect of preparing for a business presentation.

By now, you have edited your slides, written your speech, and practiced each section individually a few times. You have also chosen a variety of linking phrases to improve the flow of the presentation.

At this point, you need to practice the presentation aloud as many times as you can from beginning to end. I suggest that you record yourself every now and again, listen to the playback and note down where you think you can improve.

Go back to that very first recording and compare yourself now. Your progress will be visible and this will increase confidence. As you continue to practice, you’ll find that your fluency level will improve.

If possible, practice in front of work colleagues and ask them to give you feedback. This will give you experience presenting in front of people, and there’s always something which we miss while other people notice.

Alternatively, look for a coach or trainer to help you. I offer this service online. Apply for a free evaluation here.

Step 8: Anticipate Audience Questions 

When you are feeling comfortable giving the presentation, the next step is to anticipate questions that your audience might ask. Write down how you would like to answer these questions and practice them orally.

You will either invite the audience to ask questions after you have finished the business presentation or in some cases, the audience will interrupt you during the presentation.

It is more challenging when you get interrupted because it breaks the flow. An effective way to prepare for this is to get somebody to ask you anticipated questions during specific slides as you are practicing the presentation. This will help you get used to being interrupted, answering the question, then resuming the presentation again.

Conclusion

By following this 8 step approach, you will find that your confidence and fluency will improve significantly at giving business presentations.

The crucial part is the practice. You can never practice too much.

Be disciplined enough to define a practice routine and follow through with it. When you feel comfortable, practice a few more times. You’ll see that it is worth the effort after receiving praise for delivering a successful business presentation.

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Tags business English business presentations confidence English presentations English speaking ESL Learn English speak confidently

Author: Steven Hobson

Steven is a business English coach, a certified life coach, writer, and entrepreneur. He helps international professionals build confidence and improve fluency speaking English in a business environment.

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.css-1qrtm5m{display:block;margin-bottom:8px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5714285714285714;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.35px;letter-spacing:-0.35px;font-weight:300;color:#606F7B;}@media (min-width:600px){.css-1qrtm5m{font-size:16px;line-height:1.625;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.5px;letter-spacing:-0.5px;}} Best Practices 5 essential preparation steps for a successful presentation

by Tom Rielly • June 15, 2020

Keeping your presentation visuals minimalistic, simple, and clear is just one important step to remember when designing a hit presentation. Leaving nothing to chance, great presenters prove quite methodical as they prepare. Here’s a checklist for everything you need to keep in mind before your next presentation:

1. Choose the right software for your needs

The easiest way to select the right presentation software for you is to simply find the one that is native to your device. For example, if you have a Mac, use Apple Keynote, if you work on Windows, use PowerPoint. Google Slides is recommended if you’re working with someone, as it makes collaboration very easy. Another software option is Prezi: a specialty tool called Prezi that creates a presentation using motion, zoom, and panning across one giant visual space.

2. Organize your files

As you develop your script and visuals, you will need to start assembling all the assets for your slides. Create a unique folder on your computer to hold these items. Keep the folder organized by media type (presentation drafts, photos, videos, scripts) and back them up frequently to the Cloud or external disk. Label each file with a specific descriptive name, e.g. “Susan Johnson singing magpie 2020”, as opposed to “IMG_4043.jpg”, which can make it confusing to find your assets. The more organized you are up front, the easier preparing for your presentation will be.

3. Prepare your presentation materials

Make sure your presentation materials (script, graphics, actual slides) are saved in at least two safe spots (for example, your computer and an external USB drive) and are backed-up frequently. If you are using an online presentation software, such as Google Slides, be sure to also download a copy of your presentation in case the internet connection is unreliable. Having all the individual assets on hand in addition to your presentation slides can be helpful if you experience tech issues before presenting, or if you need to make any last minute changes. Make sure to label your final presentation with the title and your name so it’s easy to find.

4. Practice, practice, practice!

Remember, practice makes perfect. People often run out of time making their presentations and have no time to practice. Most TED speakers practice at least ten times. Neuroscientist Jill-Bolte Taylor gave one of the most successful Talks in TED history with nearly 27 million views. How did she do it? She practiced her Talk over 40 times! By rehearsing multiple times you will naturally memorize your Talk, which means you won’t need note cards when you give your final presentation.

5. Do a final test run

Before presenting, make sure the equipment you need is working properly. It’s generally good practice to rehearse standing on the exact stage with the exact lighting using the exact computer that you will be using in your final presentation.

Here’s a quick checklist of what to look for when testing your equipment:

• If you're not using your own computer, the one provided might be slower and have trouble playing media. If you have videos or other media, make sure they play correctly
• Test the projector to make sure it’s HD
• Make sure images are clear
• Test the sound of any clips you use, as this is what goes wrong most frequently
• If you’re using a mic, test the volume

Don’t let technical issues or other blunders overshadow your presentation. By following these guidelines, and with a little preparation, you can engineer out the problems BEFORE they happen.

Ready to learn more about how to make your presentation even better? Get TED Masterclass and develop your ideas into TED-style talks

© 2024 TED Conferences, LLC. All rights reserved. Please note that the TED Talks Usage policy does not apply to this content and is not subject to our creative commons license.

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How to prepare an awesome business presentation.

Written by Kai Xin Koh

Business presentations are inescapable in today’s world, where entrepreneurship and innovation are at the heart of businesses. With limited resources, only the best ideas and concepts are taken seriously and given the opportunity to shine. It is therefore important to deliver business presentations in the most effective and captivating way as possible, giving you the edge to stand out from your competitors and clinch the deal. Here are 12 ways to deliver effective business presentations.

How to Prepare an Awesome Business Presentation

Great business presentations need not be complex, so don’t fret, we’ll show you the steps you can take to get started! Here are the basics you need to remember.

1. Know your audience

Your presentation should fit the needs of the audience, and so you have to know who they are, what they have done and their background. These are essential questions that you need to have answers to in order to deliver an effective presentation that will appeal to your audience of investors or executives. Look up the biographies, social media accounts and the general background of your audience members, then use this information to craft your presentation appropriately.

2. Practice makes perfect

You may have heard this phrase a lot, but “practice makes perfect” is arguably the only way that will guarantee you a great presentation! The more you practice, the more familiar and comfortable you will be with the contents of the presentation. Record every practice presentation and replay it to see what you could improve on and change for the next practice. Modifying and improving your delivery every time will only get you closer to a more impactful and effective business presentation.

3. Show your passion and sincerity

You are presenting to a room full of people, so use that to your advantage! Rely on the human aspect of your presentation by emotionally connecting with the investors or executives through stories that express your passion and sincerity about the content you are presenting. Not only will this move the audience but it will also convince the investors or executives that you can make this project happen successfully.

4. Be business savvy

No matter what the contents of your presentation may be, ensure that you present your material through a business perspective. After all, investments are a business decision, and projects need to make sense financially. Know the numbers in your project at your fingertips and estimate profits that the business venture can potentially rake. Do not simply focus on the product or idea, but also focus on its practicality in terms of profits and business.

5. Make your presentation visual and interactive

If you are presenting a product, demonstrate how it works to your audience. Get them involved in seeing how this product can be used to make their lives easier or more luxurious. Research shows that physical touch or interaction with a product will make the person more inclined to want the product. If you are presenting an idea or business venture, try making the slides as interactive and visual as possible, to draw your audience into the subject matter of your presentation.

6. Be concise

In your business presentation, try introducing your idea or product in the simplest manner possible and avoid adding too much information that may take attention away from the product or idea. The best way to ensure that you are not over-complicating your presentation with technical terms and jargon is to think that you are presenting to a 5-year-old. Be so clear and concise that even a child will buy into your idea or product!

7. Prepare a guide

While points 5 and 6 aim at simplifying your presentation, at the same time we do not want to oversimplify the content or material of the presentation. To supplement your sharing, you can have a pamphlet that goes into detail about the product or idea; information that you have purposefully missed in your presentation. This pamphlet can complement your slides and you can pass them around before you start your presentation.

8. Show the audience — “why your product/idea?”

It is important to show the investors or executives you’re presenting to why your product or idea is needed. Why is it a missing piece in the world right now? What makes your product unique, as compared to others in the market? Answering these questions will not only make what you offer desirable, but will also allow you to stand out from your competitors. Show the investors or executives what your product or idea has that differentiates itself from the others.

9. Be confident, but not arrogant

Confidence is key when you are presenting. This comes down to body posture, the way you speak, and the eye contact you make with others. However, it is essential that your confidence does not come across as cockiness or arrogance. Australian entrepreneur Jodie Fox, co-founder of Shoes of Prey, gives great advice regarding this. She says,

“You need to get in there and confidently present the idea, and the basis on which you have come to that idea but to demonstrate that you are listening when your idea is challenged, and then enter into a dialogue if you’re invited to.”

10. Be calm

During and after the presentation, there may be questions thrown at you but always remember to keep your cool! We know that this advice is easy to understand yet hard to follow. However, do keep in mind that only you know your idea or product the best; you have been involved in its conception and are familiar with it. Take your time in answering the questions and do not be fazed.

11. Be honest

Even if you know your product or idea like the back of your hand, you may not be able to answer every question that you are being asked by the investor or executive. Maintain your composure when you are asked a question that you do not know the answer to, be truthful and tell them that you do not know the answer to their question, but do so tactfully; in this case, honestly is the best policy. Tell them that you will get back to them immediately after you have clarified about their question. Do this through email or call them personally to answer their questions after the presentation.

12. Take the opportunity to learn

At the end of the day, even if you do not get the deal or approval from your target audience, take every presentation that you have done as an opportunity to learn and grow. Use the feedback and criticisms of these investors and executives to improve on your idea, product and presentation. Listen to their advice, take good notes and use it as constructive criticism aimed at helping your project. Come back stronger and better with an improved concept or product!

There you have it — 12 pointers to help you prepare an awesome business presentation! Just remember:

• Know your audience
• Practice makes perfect
• Show your passion and sincerity
• Be business savvy
• Make your presentation visual and interactive
• Prepare a guide
• Show the audience — “why your product/idea?”
• Be confident, but not arrogant
• Take the opportunity to learn

Use these steps as a general guideline to help you with your future business presentations. We do have one last tip: Try watching an episode or two of Shark Tank in your free time; we find it to be a great show that teaches you the dos and don’ts of business presentations (plus, you get time to kick back and relax a little!).

All the best!

Article Written By: Kai Xin Koh

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How to Give A Great Business Presentation in 2024

January 25, 2024

If you need to prepare a business presentation, you want it to be a success.  Most people write their business presentations in the wrong way. 

Preparing a business presentation is a real skill.  and it’s a skill you can learn.  over the last 15 years we’ve coached thousands of people to be brilliant business presenters. , do please call us and we’ll tell you about our business presentation coaching – it’s fast and good value., so that you shine when you next present, we’ve put together some quick tips to prepare like a professional:, how to prepare business presentations – 12 steps, don’t open powerpoint, define your audience, have a single message, segment your presentation, start strong, use stories and examples, finish strong, use clear language, plan for questions, decide on visual aids, 1. do not open powerpoint to prepare business presentations.

While PowerPoint is good for many things, it’s terrible for planning business presentations.  You should only start using PowerPoint at the very end of the presentation planning process.  Remember, a good presentation does not involve narrating slides. Instead, think of a presentation as a talk that may or may not involve visual aids.

Restrain yourself.  We know you will be tempted to create slides.  But this is the biggest presenting mistake that people make. Instead, start on step 2 of the presentation preparing process and come back to PowerPoint only after you’ve planned everything else.

2. Be clear on who your audience is and what you want to achieve.

To prepare properly, you need to know your audience.  For example, you might be addressing just 10 people in an audience of 1000

Or you might want everyone in the room to change their behaviour slightly. The more tightly you define your objective, the greater your chance of success. When you present to the board, you need to confider what is important to them.

The better you understand your audience, their fears, concerns and desires, the more focused you will be. 

Contact us for a free consultation on your coaching needs

3. Have a single message that summarises your business presentation

Distil what you want to say into a single sentence. This phrase should encapsulates your presentation. Avoid vague statements like “I want to tell them about our new product” The sharper your message, the better.

Imagine someone in your audience being asked after your presentation, ‘What was that presentation about?’  If you know exactly what they will answer, you have a brilliant presentation. Read more about the So What Test.

4. Break your business presentation into clear parts 

A three part structure is often the most effective. For each part of your presentation, have a clear message. You need a strong start to your presentation .  Then three key parts to your presentation.  Then finish with a powerful end. 

5. Start your presentation with a high impact statement

Work out something that will make people sit up and listen. Tell them what you are going to tell them.  Get them excited.  Learn more here about how to start a presentation with impact .

6. Identify stories, anecdotes and examples

Learn how to use stories in your business presentations . Find ones to support your messages. The more you illustrate what you want to say with a real story, the more powerful your presentation becomes. The best stories are personal real life examples. Bring it to life with memorable phrases.

7. Finish your presentation with a clear message, request or call to action

What you say last will be remembered best.  Here are some tips about ending your presentation effectively .

8. Learn about using clear simple language in your business presentation

Cut out all jargon or corporate speak. Your presentation skills training should teach you some basic elements of rhetoric which will bring life to your presentations and make it easy for you to engage your audiences. Learn about Power Language and how to use it in your presentations.

9. Incorporate pauses, short sentences, great eye contact 

A presentation is a performance. If you look and sound good there is a better chance of success in your presentation. You will also look and sound more confident when you present.  Discover the Power of the pause in presentations .

10. Work out what questions you could be asked

When preparing important business presentations, you need to dedicate time to preparing answers to potential questions. Practice how you will answer questions using tried and tested question answering techniques.  

11. Now, work out if you really need any visual aids or handouts

You may now decide that some charts, diagrams, pictures will help get your message across even more powerfully. If you do use these in your presentation, make sure your training course shows you best practice for preparing visual aids, slides and charts.

12. Practise, practise, practise

You will only get better by practising your important presentation. The best online presentation training courses will show you a method and process so that you continue to improve after your training. For example, you should learn to use use a critical knowledgeable audience and a camera to refine your performance and to set up a feedback loop.

The more you rehearse and perfect, the better you will get.

If you want to learn about the online presentation training courses we run, please   contact us today

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Unlock your full potential and take your presentations to the next level with Benjamin Ball Associates.

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email [email protected] to find out more and discuss transforming your speeches, pitches and presentations.

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Business Presentation: 21 Tips For A Persuasive Business Speech

When it comes to having a persuasive and convincing business presentation, it goes way beyond just having a bunch of colorful slides. 

So, whether your business presentation is for prospective clients or board members of an organization, what matters most is ensuring that your presentation is impressive and convincing. 

In this article, we shall be guiding you through a handful of 21 expert tips to help you ace your business presentation with a persuasive speech that is sure to convert your audience.

But before we start, we need to understand this concept;

What is a Business Presentation?

A business presentation is a piece of formal information that is presented in front of stakeholders, business owners, members of the board, or investors in order to showcase a potential business opportunity, challenge, risk, or innovation with facts, data points, and analytical reasoning.

Business presentation is usually carried out with the aid of some presentation tools. Such tools include projectors, statistical documents, flip charts, video, audio presentation materials, etc. 

Interestingly, the ultimate goal of a business presentation is to capture and sustain your audience’s interest while passing your ideas across to them.

Highly Recommended Articles to Read After This One:

7 Elements of a Sales Presentation that Converts

13 Ways to Deliver a Compelling Pitch Presentation

The question is, ‘How do you structure a business presentation to get the best result’? Let’s look at these insights.

7 Insights on How to Prepare and Structure a Business Presentation

In structuring your presentation, the first thing to do while preparing your draft is to decide which form you want your presentation to take. 

This could be informative, entertaining, persuasive, or inspiring. So, whichever form you would like your presentation to take, here are some useful tips on how to structure your presentation.

1.     Start with facts and a story 

In order to get your audience’s attention and keep them longing for more, it is best to start your presentation with facts about the current situation.

After telling them the fact about the current state of things, you then back it up with a story about how such facts could affect them.

Related Article: 8 Key Things to Know for Better Storytelling

2.     Go down to the explanation

After establishing the fact and backing it with a story initially, the next thing in line is to elaborate on the fact you have laid down. With this, your audience can have a clearer understanding of what you are talking about.

The objective here is to take your audience through the road map of how to get to the solution or destination because you had already established in your introduction.

3.     Pitch your ideas and solution to the audience 

Yes, while trying to guide your audience by explaining the facts you had already established, chances are that there will be potential hurdles along the way in the process line. 

So, this is where your idea and solutions come in, and at this point, you have to pitch how your ideas and proposals will help your audience solve the impending problems along with the road map.

At this point, all your audience needs are data, tests, and experiments through which the problem can be solved. Click here to find more tips on how to pitch your ideas.

4.     Make room and prepare for objections

Sure, while you propose your solutions and ideas to your audience, you will most likely be faced with questions and objections about your choice of solution for a problem. 

Objections and challenges to your proposed idea from an audience are very common and to be expected in any business presentation. 

However, since you have already done your research about the subject matter, you should be able to give convincing answers or alternative solutions to any objections or questions about your proposition.

5.    Have facts and social proofs to back your solutions

While the objections and questions from your audience may seem like the end of the road for your presentation, you will be able to give precise answers to their questions and objections with the right preparation. 

Also, to show your audience that you have prepared enough for the presentation, you can convince them more by using some facts, figures, and well-crafted stories to seal your answers.

After giving precise answers to your audience’s questions and trying to clear the air about any objections they may have, it’s time to reemphasize your presentation’s main ideas. 

Doing this will bring back your audience’s interest and attention to the idea and solutions you are proposing to them. 

That will also serve as a reminder that creates ripples of your message in their head even after your presentation.

7.     Close with a befitting story 

Your closing story could be the completing part of the story you shared before starting your presentation. Alternatively, it could be another story that will resonate with the main message or ideas in your presentation within your audience.

Whichever one you are closing with, ensure that it is strong enough to nail your points and ideas and create ripples of the message in your presentation within your audience.

7 Insights on How to Deliver a Business Presentation

How you deliver your message to your audience determines the effectiveness of your presentation.

Irrespective of where you will deliver your business presentation and the number of people you may have as your audience, one important goal you want to achieve is to ensure that your business presentation turns out a huge success at the end of the session. 

1.     Start strong

The first step of delivering a business presentation is Starting your business presentation with a huge banger that will keep your audience expectant and set the tone for your presentation’s entire content. 

For instance, you may start with a famous quote or some shocking statistics that awaken their consciousness of paying rapt attention to your presentation’s content.

Alternatively, you can also have a good kick off with an attention-grabbing image, an interesting video, or even a touching story about something familiar to your audience (or related to their services, products, and customers).

Nevertheless, since the first impression is key to your business presentation’s overall success, you need to assure your audience that your business presentation is worth their time, not just a dry talk where you dispiritedly keep talking to them. 

2.    Interact with your audience

Talking “at” your audience instead of talking and having a conversation with them is one of the death traps to making your business presentation sleep-inducing and super boring.

To make your business presentation more practical and engaging, you can politely request your audience to signify by raising their hands if they agree to a point or argument in your presentation.

By so doing, you are most likely to avoid the most dreaded “ death by PowerPoint ” and having your audience flow with you throughout your presentation.

3.     Use visual aids where necessary

Depending on your business presentation’s content, adding some visual aids in your slides can boost the level of your audience’s interest and attention in your presentation.

While using visual aids, ensure that they are images or videos that will help give a clearer insight and understanding of your points to your audience, instead of serving as an explanation aid for yourself.

Nevertheless, when using visual aids, they should be kept simple and short so that they won’t defeat the purpose of getting your audience’s attention and help them get your points better. 

4.     Have a laid down strategy for your presentation

Before walking up to the podium to address your audience, you must have done thorough background research on the subject matter with ample rehearsal on how you will present each point.

Irrespective of how nervous you may be at the sight of your audience, never try to get through the whole presentation as fast as you can before you slump in their presence.

Instead, mount the stage with an intent and a purpose. Be determined that your presentation’s purpose won’t be defeated by the faces that make up your audience. 

Also, create charts, images, drawings, and bullet points to present your idea, and don’t stick to a globe of words all over your slides.

With that last tip, you will be able to avert the pitfall of standing up to read through your slides in a monotone that will send all your audience to sleep within the shortest time.

5.    Establish eye contact with your audience and smile

Personalizing your presentation and interaction with your audience is an excellent way to have them respond to your presentation instead of standing up to speak to them like a robot.

While giving your presentation, ensure that you establish friendly eye contact with many members of your audience so that they can feel that yes, you are communicating with them individually.

Maintaining some level of contact with your audience is a good way to tell your audience that you are confident in your ideas. It can also mean that you value the time your audience has spared to listen to your presentation.

And spotting a few friendly faces within your audience to whom you can smile at once in a while is also another great way to regain your confidence, especially when you are feeling nervous.

6.    Be enthusiastic about your presentation   

Vanessa Edwards, the founder of the science of people, and famous TED talker has a funny, yet interesting video on how to prepare your voice, voice warm ups, and your opening lines…in a way that gets the audience excited.

Your vibes matter as much as the idea you are sharing during a business presentation. For this reason, it is a helpful insight to feel passionate about your presentation. 

The reasoning is quite simple. At the slightest time when you begin to express some cues of tiredness and boredom about your presentation, your audience will feel the same and even more.

Anyone who is listening to your presentation will be able to tell how passionate you are when it comes to the points you are sharing in your presentation. 

They can tell through your stage usage, eye contact, pitch, and your overall body language .

You can adopt some preparatory strategies such as vocal exercises, stretching, listening to songs, or even reading some inspirational quotes to boost your enthusiasm about your business presentation. 

You may also have a bottle of water close to you to keep you hydrated and energized throughout your presentation.

7.     Be authentic and original in your delivery

No audience ever wants to listen to a presenter that comes all polished up to lecture them on a particular topic with some bodily cues that depict pretense. 

The obvious truth is that when you are original in your expression and presentation, your audience will appreciate your presentation and be more likely to trust your words.

Summarily, the whole point of delivering a great business presentation is by connecting with your audience and sharing your ideas with them in the best way possible. 

 7 Ways to Make a Memorable Business Presentation

Preparing for a business presentation and coming on stage to deliver and making it memorable are two different things. 

This is usually the case since it is generally difficult to persuade others to buy your ideas, adopting your proposal or solution to a problem. 

1.     Show your audience that you have carried out enough research

One way to make your business presentation memorable and persuasive is to research the topic or subject matter extensively. 

With such research carried out before, you can confidently show your audience that you are in the best position to speak to them on the subject matter. 

While doing this, you can help your points sink more and be more persuasive when you use examples and illustrations from your audience’s world or even using images and visual aids that resonate with your audience’s industry.

Besides visual aids, you can also use some technical languages that are unique to your audience’s industry.  

By so doing, you are giving your audience a sense of individuality since they will be convinced that the presentation was specially prepared for them.

2.     Exhibit some level of doggedness

When presenting ideas that are meant to persuade your audience, your first attempt may not yield the expected results. 

For this reason, always consider a second attempt if your first attempt at persuading your audience didn’t work out. 

With this, you can build on objections raised during the first encounter to make the second presentation more persuading and memorable.

3.     Be prepared to proffer alternative solutions

In some cases, your key ideas in a presentation may be opposed or faced with some potential obstacles. 

In this case, while preparing for your presentation, ensure that you outline or identify other alternative solutions that can be adopted in a situation where an inevitable obstacle hinders your proposed solution.

4.     Establish an emotional connection between yourself and your audience

In most cases, emotional cues help create and establish your decision-making process, and this can work wonders even where facts and figures cannot work.  

According to Antonio Damasio , a renowned neuroscientist, “emotion and feelings play a major role in humans’ reasoning.” Here is a video where he explains and describes the place of emotion in human decision making.

5.     Incorporate a story or two into your business presentation

Although facts and data are known to be very good at persuading people, one of the best ways to persuade your audience with your presentation is by telling them a well-crafted story. 

With this, you can boost your audience’s interest in your presentation, and even help them to understand your points better.

6.    Present your speech with conviction

Generally, commanding some level of conviction in what you are saying is very important in public speaking, and this trait is critical, especially when presenting a persuasive presentation. 

One reason why conviction in your expression is crucial is that any iota of hesitation from you is enough to stir your audience into doubt about the ideas you share with them. Remember, doubt is very insidious!

• The opening statement
• About 3-4 sentences outlining your central idea or message
• The top 3 most important aspects of your proposal

In case you have some challenges memorizing your presentation, here are some tips to help you do so professionally.

7.     Show proof about what others are doing

Having some social proof is a powerful psychological concept that can help you persuade your audience to believe and buy your ideas and proposals when doing a business presentation.

Having social proof about others has a bandwagon effect that can quickly help you to sway your audience towards your ideas. 

As a way of incorporating social proofs into your business presentation, you can tell your audience about how many of your customers have already adopted your solutions and how they are enjoying your ideas from such solutions.

References & Further Reading

Visme. 15 Expert Tips for Giving a Powerful Business Presentation .

VisualHackers. 13 Tips for a Powerful Business Presentation .

HBR, Chris Anderson. How to Give a Killer Presentation .

13 Ways to Effectively Deliver an Awesome Pitch Presentation

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Knowledge Base > Presentations > How to Create an Effective Business Presentation?

How to Create an Effective Business Presentation?

A good business presentation is about much more than the slides you unveil when performing in front of the general public, senior management in your organization, or even a venture investor. To create an effective business presentation online, you need to master several skills, from public speaking to the ability to seem likable to your audience. Many are stressed out by just the threat of making a business presentation, while others look forward to it. With the help of our presentation creator and the tips listed below, you will be able to prepare a powerful business presentation that keeps your audience wanting more.

How to prepare a great business presentation

Regardless of how you feel about it, in the contemporary business world many employees must communicate their discoveries and ideas to an audience as part of their professional lives. Public speaking skill is a must, and business presentations require good speech proficiency and charisma – but this isn’t too hard to master with our tips. Business presentations are an excellent opportunity to talk directly to individuals who are interested in your industry, to get ideas for moving your initiatives ahead, and to form important personal relationships.

Determine why you’re creating a business presentation. Essentially, a corporate presentation is intended for usage within the company or to highlight your accomplishments at trade exhibitions, conferences, major events, or shows. Decide early on your topic matter, who your target audience will be and what message you want to send them. These points will guide you towards the entire presentation.

When creating a business presentation, avoid information overload. This is how it should be: one corporate presentation expresses one idea. For the viewer, too much information might be perplexing. Remember that a good presentation is not just your PowerPoint file – it’s issues you talk about, the point you’re making and the story you tell. You need to be able to speak about your business with passion, and know when to talk and when to ask questions.

Use visual tools to communicate your point. You may easily communicate highly technical topics to your audience without using too many words if you use visual aids in your business presentation. Many people distribute leaflets; you may substitute Publuu flipbooks for them.

How do you give a powerful business presentation?

Know your audience.

Knowing your target audience is the first step in creating a powerful business presentation. Internal corporate presentations differ greatly from those intended to pique the interest of customers. As a result, you must conduct research to determine who your business presentation is intended for.

The first step in preparing your business presentation should be a brief examination of the audience who is going to receive it. You must identify their needs, both in terms of the information they require from you as well as the manner in which you will present it to them.

To do so, you must first determine the form that will pique their interest, as well as the amount of information they will be able to absorb. This is determined by the group that will be listening to your business presentation. A wealthy investor is likely to be intelligent but extremely busy, for example. Think what needs this person has and how can you satisfy them.

Flipbooks – great way to give business presentations

You can greatly improve your business presentations by using flipbooks , which are a popular format among many audiences. But what exactly is a flipbook? A flipbook is a type of interactive document you can use for your interactive presentation . It has the appearance of a real book, with pages that can be flipped through (complete with page-turning sound effects, shadows. bending corners, etc.). It looks exactly like a printed e-book, with pages that can be flipped and turned, thanks to the latest HTML5 technology – without the cost of printing! Flipbooks are far more effective than PowerPoint’s PDF and PPT formats.

Publuu is a well-known flipbook creator . By replacing a boring slide show with a flipbook from Publuu, you can create great business presentations for your clients while adding style and creativity. If you take a look at Publuu’s offer you’ll discover that Publuu makes it simple to convert Adobe PDF files (including those created in PowerPoint) into beautiful flipbooks that open instantly without the need for additional software. You can publish digital business presentations in flipbook format in no time and capture the attention of your audience.

But flipbooks are not just a version of e-books. With flipbooks you can add elegant multimedia elements to your business presentation – links, image gallery and background sounds. They combine the features of a classic PowerPoint presentation and a catalog that you hand to the recipient. Flipbooks from Publuu are becoming more and more common, and are a great choice for your business presentation. Moreover, they will allow you to turn any digital document into a high-quality business presentation, which is a great idea that can help you stand out and present an existing document to the audience.

Publuu’s presentation example

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MAKE YOUR OWN

Know your subject.

You must know what you are talking about in order to give a successful business presentation. Usually, you need to have the necessary skills and be familiar with the main ideas of your company. Planning and research will help you deliver an outstanding business presentation. Each of the main points you discuss should be familiar to you. Even if they are laypeople, your audience could notice that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Your credibility is harmed by your lack of knowledge on the subject. A good presentation requires competence, so make sure you’ve done your homework.

Don’t delegate it; you must be knowledgeable about the subject, especially since you will most likely be answering questions from the audience. Do your research on your own. Prepare for your business presentation in the same way that you would for a test. Familiarize yourself with two or three key sources of information; you must know more than just the main points of your presentation.

The event for which the business presentation is being prepared will also influence its structure. When speaking in front of nonprofessionals, you can safely use a topic-based approach, making general statements about the main topic and sending the details to those who are interested later. People who know what you’re talking about will be much more interested in details and specific examples. When dealing with business experts, be prepared for discussions and people who point out issues you didn’t expect.

Tell, don’t sell – tell a story, don’t force your product

People visualize things in terms of stories rather than data because, since the first ape fell from the tree, we have thought in terms of stories. If you want to tell people something, you must tell them a story. Data and statistics are powerful tools and no business presentation can function without them, but storytelling can be compelling because it affects both minds and hearts.

All public speaking expert seem to agree that people think in terms of stories, whether they are coworkers, bosses, or investors. Our minds evolved to tell stories and share them with other apes.

If possible, begin your presentations with an anecdote that relates to the topic of your presentation. Incorporate story threads into your content – stories always hold people’s attention. Your story needs to accompany the main flow of the presentation – be sure to return to it in your speech to get your message across.

Instead of telling your audience about the benefits of your product, tell them about a real-life experience with your service. For example, “When I published the presentation in flipbook format, it received seven times the number of social media likes as when I did it in Google Docs”. Allow the audience to consider the change and what will occur if they choose our product. Any presentation, whether a business proposal or business presentation is made to influence the audience and change their minds about your company.

A story must have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. When you end a business presentation end it with a story, then the audience will understand and remember it better than dry facts. Use names, examples, pictures, or anything else that is real and tangible.

Show us the money!

Visuals are a crucial part of creating eye-catching presentations for your audience. Photos, videos, and art are excellent means to convey your message. To make raw data seem more relevant, use data visualizations such as bar graphs, pie charts, and others. Since you are delivering a business presentation, you need to present things and use all the channels to their maximum potential. Avoid walls of text – not even students want to see what they hear.

Never tell your audience what they’re seeing. There’s nothing worse than PowerPoint slides filled with walls of text – well, maybe slides with images and the speaker forgetting what he was going to talk about. The truth is, that your speech needs to function on its own and slides need to accompany it. That’s also another reason why you need to create a good story for a business presentation – storytelling helps you guide your speech and sustain your message as you introduce the audience to your company profile .

How to present yourself for a business presentation?

Remember, the important part of being confident, is convincing yourself that you’re confident. It’s perfectly acceptable to be anxious, but you don’t have to show it. The more self-assured you appear, the more assured you will feel. You need to appear casual and in control when you present your business presentation to the audience of high-profile listeners. This does not imply that you should be arrogant. Just try to relax and tell yourself that what you’re doing isn’t out of the ordinary. Remind yourself that your audience is unlikely to be able to notice your anxiety. Before you start delivering your business presentation, take a big breath and exhale.

An important part of seeming natural is body language. To seem confident, straighten your back and face the audience. Maintain a straight posture with your head up and your shoulders back and relaxed. Don’t turn any portion of your body away from the audience. Try to stay active and move your hands to seem natural, when delivering your business presentation.

Relax beforehand. You can’t go into a business presentation sweating bullets or stuttering because you’re so nervous that you can barely see straight. Instead, take a breather at least a few hours before your business presentation, whether it means drinking a cup of hot cocoa, meditating, or going for a walk. If you’re calm and relaxed, your audience will find it easier to connect to you. Your goal is connection, not perfection. Instead of providing a flawless business presentation, you want to connect with your audience, and it’s a lot simpler to do so if you act natural, like you do everyday.

Arrive early to get a sense for the venue where you’ll be giving your presentation. You’ll be less stressed if you perform in familiar surroundings. If you’re giving a presentation in an auditorium or similar large facility, take a stroll around it or sit in the audience to get a sense of the space.

What to wear when delivering a business presentation

To deliver a professional business presentation, you have to dress professionally as well. Start with a button-down shirt with a collar. Bright colors and patterns should be avoided in favor of basic, bland hues like white or mild pastels. Match it with a blazer or a woolen suit jacket, preferably in a dark hue like black, navy, gray, or brown. The single-breasted design would be more elegant.

Match the color of your trousers to the color of your jacket, preferably as a part of a two-piece suit. If you’re a woman, a knee-length skirt is a good option. Women’s work clothing includes both pants and skirts, and so you can choose a pencil skirt in the same color family as your suit jacket, such as black, navy, gray, or brown. You need to appear professional when delivering a high quality business presentation, and bright color distracts from your consummate professional appearance.

Match the suit with a pair of polished leather shoes. Men could choose formal lace-up styles in black or dark brown, such as Oxfords. If you’re a lady, low heels are OK, but high heels or similar designs that seem more seductive than professional should be avoided. The most acceptable and least conspicuous shoes are black and dark brown.

Finally, keep your jewelry and accessories subdued. Both men and women are affected by this. Watches and other pieces of jewelry should be kept to a minimum. Avoid any non-traditional jewelry, such as piercings in your eyebrows or nose. Keeping your accessories to a bare minimum while delivering a business presentation can let you appear more professional and elegant.

Main steps in preparing a good business presentation

To prepare a solid business presentation, you should always consider its purpose. When it comes to organizing an outline of a speech, you should always start with its end in mind. Consider what you’re attempting to say and select the most effective way to say it. Start by making a list of your most significant points. Check to see whether you can come up with an effective, crucial point that will stick in people’s minds. What is one thing you want your audience to remember from this presentation?

Don’t merely throw information to your audience. Consider the impact this information will have on the people who listen to your business presentation. What point are you attempting to make with the data? To make the most impact on your audience and effectively create and plan your business presentation, learn about your audience’s background. If they aren’t aware of your subject, you’ll need to incorporate specific information in your presentation and make sure you have the time to do so. Ask friends and family how do they see your business, ask them for various tips, and summarize them in form of some bullet points. Use the answers to make notes as you design crucial PowerPoint slides.

You should also think about what your audience is hoping to get out of your business presentation. For instance, are you attempting to sell them a product, introduce them to a new idea, or change their mindset? To understand your listeners, you should also consider the demographics of your target audience. Do you have a harder audience, or a group of individuals that are thrilled to hear what you have to say?

When preparing a business presentation, begin with a strong opening statement. After you’ve gathered your data, you can begin planning out the exact appearance of presentation. A presentation must begin with a strong opening that captures the attention of the audience. If you want to advertise your business start with saying something powerful about your company – especially if it’s controversial. Usually you have something that distinguishes you from your competition – any professional public speaker would advise you to start with that! If you follow tips like these, you will become a great speaker yoursel in no time.

Of course, take care to introduce yourself – establish your identity and, more importantly, your credentials. Tell them your business skills and explain why it’s you as a speaker will introduce them to your company. With a question or an unusual fact, start by grab your audience’s attention. Start with something personal, like the story we mentioned above. You have the option of working on your key points first and saving the introduction for last – that will help you make your point and deliver the message effectively.

To make your ideas more apparent to your audience, use connecting statements and phrases, which bridge the gap between ideas. Use phrases like “for example”, “And another thing”. You need to make your presentation seem more consistent and flowing naturally. You can’t just go between bullet points, counting one-two=three. You need to inform your audience that you’ll be switching subjects, preventing them from becoming confused.

And finally, take care to end your business presentation properly. A conclusion should go back to your introduction and summarize your arguments, leaving your audience thinking about the subject you covered. Keep your conclusion succinct, since it should only take up 5 to 10% of your business presentation, even only one slide. In the conclusion, restate your main point. Begin with something like “As you can see…” and then restate your primary argument succinctly. A visual aid might also be beneficial. Add one last graphic aid that summarizes your idea and will stay with the audience for a long time.

These tips can help you in crafting a successful business presentation, but it’s all up to you and your public speaking skills to make it work!

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• PRESENTATION SKILLS

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Regardless of whether your presentation is going to be delivered formally, such as at work or informally, for a club or perhaps a Best Man's speech. You should always aim to give a clear, well-structured delivery.  That is, you should know exactly what you want to say and the order in which you want to say it. 

Having thought about and planned a good structure will also help to alleviate any nervousness you may be feeling in the build up to your talk.

Clarity of ideas and good organisation should help result in a lively, logical and compelling message, delivered in a confident and professional way

Organising the presentation material may include:

• Blue Sky Thinking (the ideas).
• Selecting the main points.
• Deciding whether to illustrate.
• Introduction and conclusion.

Blue Sky Thinking (The Ideas)

Keeping your objectives in mind ( see our page: Preparing Your Presentation ), write down all the points you wish to make, irrespective of order.

For an introduction to Blue Sky Thinking, see our section on Brainstorming - part of our guide to problem solving.

Select Your Main Points

The talk/presentation should be divided into three sections:

• Introduction (beginning)
• Main Content (middle)
• Conclusion (end)

A useful structure would be the following:

Tell the audience in the introduction what your subject is and how you have organised the presentation (by stating the key elements).

Then tell them the details of the key elements and/or messages (by expanding and qualifying the key points in more detail and providing supporting evidence).

Then tell the audience what you have just told them (by summarising the key points, concluding with the main subject again).

Work on the main content first.

From your notes decide on the most important things that need to be said. If you have too much material, be selective.

As a guide:

3 key points are sufficient for a 10-15 minute presentation.

6 key points are sufficient for a 30 minute presentation.

8 key points are sufficient for a 45 minute presentation.

Arrange the key points in logical order and expand them with supporting material - discussion, argument, analysis and appeal.  If you are hoping to persuade people then it is advisable to address potential objections within the presentation so that you present a reasoned, well-balanced view.

Decide Whether to Illustrate

Most talks benefit from personal anecdotes, real-life situations or hypothetical examples to bring them to life. 

If the presentation is short and informal it is probably not necessary to use any visual aids.  Use visual illustrations if anything requires expanding, clarifying or simplifying.  Illustrations of any type should be relevant and fully explained.  Bear in mind that a talk will last longer if visual aids are used.

PowerPoint or other presentation software is often used to support a presentation, although care needs to be taken to ensure that this technology aids the presentation and does not detract from the main essence of your talk. Do not use visual aids or PowerPoint just for the sake of it or to show off your technological prowess, there is nothing more distracting than whizzy and pointless PowerPoint animations in a presentation.

See our page: Visual Aids for more information.

Introduction and Conclusion

The introduction should give a preview of what you are going to say and should gain the attention of the listeners with a statement of purpose.  Make it clear whether you wish to accept questions as they arise during the presentation, thereby breaking your flow and risk being side-tracked, or will invite questions at the end.

The conclusion should repeat the main points but this time try to use different words and summarise the main point and argument.   End decisively, so that no-one is in any doubt that your presentation is finished. This is also the time to ask the audience whether they have any questions.

Continue to: Writing Your Presentation Working with Visual Aids

See also: Deciding the Presentation Method | Managing the Presentation Event Coping with Presentation Nerves | Dealing with Questions