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Presentation Skills Quotes

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There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.

Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

Presentation skills are key. People who work for you represent your brand. You want them to present themselves - and represent you - in a certain way.

Leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills.

Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.

There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars.

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.

The most precious things in speech are the pauses.

No one ever complains about a speech being too short!

You must feel what you're singing, not just have a good presentation of the language.

Carve every word before you let it fall.

Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.

The simplest way to customize is to phone members of the audience in advance and ask them what they expect from your session and why they expect it. Then use their quotes throughout your presentation.

The very best financial presentation is one that's well thought out and anticipates any questions... answering them in advance.

Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public.

My singing wasn't horrible, but my dancing really made it look silly. It's not like I'm a horrible singer that can't sing. But I don't have the consistency or the presentation skills that a good performer has.

There are good leaders who actively guide and bad leaders who actively misguide. Hence, leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills.

I never use notes, they interfere with me.

Of those who say nothing, few are silent.

He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit.

We've drifted into this presentation mode without realizing the cost to the content and the audience in the process.

Are you an action-oriented, take-charge person interested in exciting new challenges? As director of a major public-sector organization, you will manage a large armed division and interface with other senior executives in a team-oriented, multinational initiative in the global marketplace. Successful candidate will have above-average oral-presentation skills

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25 Powerful Quotes Highlighting The Importance Of Presentation Skills

Have you experienced tremors before giving a presentation? Your body starts shaking and you get blank in front of everyone!  I guess we all can relate to this. 

Indeed, giving a presentation is not an easy task. The hesitation and fear of speaking in front of everyone!

Be it a student giving a presentation in front of the whole class or an adult office meeting, everyone needs good presentation skills. 

In this post, we have curated a list of insightful quotations from well-known people and excellent presenters to motivate and encourage to deliver compelling presentations in any situation.

Thought-provoking quotes on presentation skills

What could be better than learning from the ideas of the best presenters? We have collected a list of quotations for you to help you learn presentation skills like no other and improve your presentation skills using them.

1. “If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation, your audience never will.” – Harvey Diamond

2. “they may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – carl w. buechner., 3. “performance is not about getting your act together, but about opening up to the energy of the audience.” – benjamin zander, 4. “the brain doesn’t pay attention to boring things.” – john medina, 5. “many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much. “ -robert greenleaf, 6. “ask yourself, ‘if i had only sixty seconds on the stage, what would i absolutely have to say to get my message across.” – jeff dewar, 7. “make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.”- dorothy sarnoff, 8. “proper planning and preparation prevent poor performance” – stephen keague, 9. “when deciding between giving a longer or shorter presentation, pick shorter. ‘i wish you had talked longer’ are six words you’ll seldom hear from audiences.” – sam harrison, 10. “simplify the complex ideas than the simplest ideas with accessible language.” – salomi sonawane, 11. “the success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.” – lilly walters, 12. “be the presenter you would want to listen to” – cath daley, 13. “it’s much easier to be convincing if you care about your topic. figure out what’s important to you about your message and speak from the heart”- nicholas boothman, 14. “speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners.”- dale carnegie, 15. “who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. the power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.” – joseph conrad, 16. “words have incredible power. they can make people’s hearts soar, or they can make people’s hearts sore. “ – dr. mardy grothe, 17. “in presentations or speeches less really is more.” – stephen keague, 18.”the audience only pays attention as long as you know where you are going.” – philip crosby, 19. “to communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world, and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” – tony robbins, 20. “to sway an audience, you must watch them as you speak.”  – c. kent wright 21.”the best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you are talking about.” – michael h. mescon,  22. “when speaking in public, your message – no matter how important – will not be effective or memorable if you don’t have a clear structure.” – patricia fripp,  23. “i do not speak of what i cannot praise.” – johann wolfgang von goethe  , 24. “if you’re not comfortable with public speaking – and nobody starts out comfortable; you have to learn how to be comfortable – practice. i cannot overstate the importance of practicing. get some close friends or family members to help evaluate you, or somebody at work that you trust.” -hillary clinton, 25. “storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.” – robert mckee, improve presentation skills with some strategies and techniques  , 1. practice before performance.

Rehearsing before a presentation may help you build confidence and allow you to be more fluent and natural with your content. Among many other self-confidence-boosting activities and techniques, practice acts as a great strategy. Try acting like you are presenting in front of people multiple times. Ask someone to see it and give feedback. You can also record yourself and eliminate or add anything you need to improve your skills for the moment .

2. Be presentable with your looks and body language

What you are wearing and how you are carrying yourself make a first impression even before your words! . Wear a comfortable but formal or semiformal dress you feel good in.

While you record yourself, also check your motion and body language, which need to be corrected.  

3. Be confident with your words, even when you make a mistake

Confidence is key to any presentation skill. Go in front of the public with full confidence. Don’t let your fear destroy your moment. Think positive. Drink water. Sleep well before your day. Don’t stress yourself with worries. And you are good to go!

4. Make your audience speak too.

Most presentations are one-sided; including space for the audience’s opinion or response or allowing them to ask a few questions can help you a lot. It will keep your presentation engaging as well as interactive where possible.

5. Smiles and emotions say it all.

Give your presentation with all your emotions. As said above, people might not remember what you say but how you make them feel. Interact with the audience with your emotions, share experiences, or tell a story for your presentation to be connected with the audience. 

Last words…

To conclude, to be a great presenter, be yourself rather than fake it. Keep your information short, crisp, and engaging. Don’t hesitate, and practice well before the performance. Focus on content and your body tone. Speak to yourself as you would hear it as a listener.

Remember, self-development and social circumstances, such as the ability to talk confidently in front of an audience, are greatly aided by developing one’s self-confidence and public speaking. We believe these quotes and tips may help you improve your presentation skills!

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of  Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

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50 quotes to enhance your presentations

• Written by: Shay O’Donnell
• Categories: Sales presentations , Visual communication
• Comments: 6

Whether you’re looking to inspire your audience, need a strong presentation starter, or want a concise soundbite to end your presentation with, using a quote in your presentation can be a great way to support your slides’ story and enhance your presentation’s flow. Presentation quotes give you – as the presenter – a moment to breathe, while the audience is reading the slide ( a reminder of why you shouldn’t be reading your quotes aloud is here ). They enable your audience to quickly and concisely understand your presentation’s key message, and give you an extra boost of credibility to boot.

The struggle comes when you have to find presentation quotes that fit your story, come from a reputable source, and have an attribution to get you through legal and compliance checks. But worry not: BrightCarbon have done the hard work for you!

We have compiled 50 presentation quotes and categorized them into 10 themes so that you can easily find a quote that resonates with your message, be it in a sales presentation, keynote speech, or training deck. All the quotes include references and attributions, so that you can sail through compliance and get on with creating a stunning presentation!

Pop this in your bookmarks tab (you’ll thank us later!), then dig in and find the perfect presentation quotes below:

Innovation quotes for presentations

• “Innovation, as I understand it, is both about doing different things as well as doing things differently.” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biotech Entrepreneur From an interview with Dr. Bhavana Weidman on nature.com (January 04, 2014)
• “Innovation is more than having new ideas: it includes the process of successfully introducing them or making things happen in a new way. It turns ideas into useful, practicable and commercial products or services.” John Adair, Writer on Business Leadership. Effective Innovation (2009), Revised Edition ch. 11
• “Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.” Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon From ‘The electricity metaphor for the web’s future’, presented at TED2003 (February 2003)
• “Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries. “Innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren’t there before.” Meg Wheatley, Author and Management Consultant Leadership and the New Science (2001)
• “We are all looking for the magic formula. Well, here you go: Creativity + Iterative Development = Innovation.” James Dyson, Founder of Dyson ‘James Dyson on Innovation’,  Ingenia , Issue 24 (September 2005)

Design quotes for presentations

• “Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.” Freeman Thomas, Automobile and Industrial Designer Reviving Professional Learning Communities: Strength Through Diversity, Conflict, Teamwork, and Structure (2012) p. 63
• “The urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living. The assumption is that somewhere, hidden, is a better way of doing things.” Harry Bertoia, Artist and Designer As quoted in 1000 Chairs , Carlotte and Peter Fiell (2005) p. 66
• “People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc. As quoted in ‘The Guts of a New Machine’, Rob Walker, The New York Times Magazine (November 30, 2003)
• “Design is redesign.” Jan Michl, Professor Emeritus, Phdr. History and Theories of Design ‘On seeing design as redesign’,  Scandinavian Journal of Design History , Issue 12 (2002) p. 7-23
• “Design is not about products, design is about relationships.” Hella Jongerius, Industrial Designer ‘Beyond the New: a search for ideals in design’, a manifesto by Hella Jongerius and Louise Schouwenberg (2015) 

Education and learning quotes for presentations

• “We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.” Margaret Mead, Anthropologist and Author As quoted in How They Work In Indiana : Business-Education Partnerships , Andrew L. Zehner (1994)
• “The most important thing any teacher has to learn, not to be learned in any school of education I ever heard of, can be expressed in seven words: Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.” John Holt, Author and Educator Growing Without Schooling , Issue   40 (1984)
• “True education means fostering the ability to be interested in something.” Sumio Iijima, Physicist ‘About myself, To the younger generation’,  Innovative Engine  (September 25, 2007)
• “If you think education is expensive — try ignorance.” ‘Ask Ann Landers’ Syndicated Advice Column (October 4, 1975)
• “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” Plutarch, Greek Historian, Biographer, and Essayist On Listening to Lectures

Success quotes for presentations

• “Success is fucking up on your own terms.” Guillermo del Toro, Director and Producer From Portland Mercury Q&A (September 29, 2010)
• “We cannot say what brings us success. We can only pin down what blocks or obliterates success. Eliminate the downside, the thinking errors, and the upside will take care of itself. This is all we need to know.” Rolf Dobelli, Author and Businessman The Art of Thinking Clearly (2013)
• “The secret to success is the willingness to serve without aspiring for rewards.” Cham Joof, Gambian Historian Gambia, Land of our heritage,  p IV
• “Failure and success are not episodes, they are trajectories. They are tendencies, directions, pathways. Each decision, each time at bat, each tennis serve, each business quarter, each school year seems like a new event, but the next performance is shaped by what happened last time out, unless something breaks the streak. The meaning of any particular event is shaped by what’s come before.” Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Author and Management Consultant Confidence (2006)
• “Success is more than a good idea. It is timing.” Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop From an interview on bookbrowse.com

Creativity quotes for presentations

• “Relaxed, playful and harmonious moments are the birth place of creativity.” Amit Ray, Author and Spiritual Master Meditation: Insights and Inspiration (2010) p. 58
• “Originality is going back to the origin and finding an empty chair. Would you gladly sit on it? No thank you. It is empty for a reason. That’s where my ass was. Not where my head is now.” Giannina Braschi, Puerto Rican Poet, Novelist, and Essayist World Literature Today (2012)
• “Creativity isn’t about the advantage or disadvantage of a specific time or culture. Creativity is something that comes internally from a human being having a genuine mistrust of rules. And that may be the constant. It’s almost like there’s some rebellion in it.” Paula Scher, Graphic Designer From an interview conducted by Neal Shaffer (2006)
• “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple of them and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” John Steinbeck, Author Conversations with John Steinbeck , ed. Thomas Fensch (1988)
• “Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem.” Rollo May, Psychologist and Author The Courage to Create (1975) p. 115

Teamwork and collaboration quotes for presentations

• “In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” Margaret Wheatley, Management Consultant As quoted in 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself , Steve Chandler (2004) p. 123
• “Life is not a solo act. It’s a huge collaboration.” Tim Gunn, Fashion Consultant and Author ‘Postings | Recent Entries From Our Blogs’, Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times (December 21, 2010)
• “Collaboration is important not just because it’s a better way to learn. The spirit of collaboration is penetrating every institution and all of our lives. So learning to collaborate is part of equipping yourself for effectiveness, problem solving, innovation and life-long learning in an ever-changing networked economy.” Don Tapscott, Business Executive and Consultant ‘The spirit of collaboration is touching all of our lives’, The Globe and Mail (June 7, 2013)
• “As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people’s ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” Amy Poehler, Actress, Comedian, Director and Producer From The Joy of Success: What It Means to Transform Success Into Excellence,  Tochukwu O. Okafor MPA (2013) p. 53
• “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” Michael Jordan, Basketball Hall of Fame Player and Businessman As quoted in The Victory Letters : Inspiration for the Human Race , Cheri Ruskus (2003) p. 68.

Knowledge quotes for presentations

• “While knowledge is increasingly being viewed as a commodity or intellectual asset, there are some paradoxical characteristics of knowledge that are radically different from other valuable commodities. These knowledge characteristics include the following: Using knowledge does not consume it. Transferring knowledge does not result in losing it. Knowledge is abundant, but the ability to use it is scarce. Much of an organization’s valuable knowledge walks out the door at the end of the day.” Kimiz Dalkir, Director at McGill School of Information Studies Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice, 2nd ed . (2011)
• “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan, Astronomer and Popular Science Writer From That’s Weird!: Awesome Science Mysteries , Kendall F. Haven (2001)
• “Investing in people is the single most important thing in the knowledge economy. Traditionally, wealth was defined by land and natural resources. Today the most important resources is between our ears.” Barack Obama Remarks by President Obama at Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Town Hall, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (April 27, 2014)
• “You can’t manage knowledge – nobody can. What you can do is to manage the environment in which knowledge can be created, discovered, captured, shared, distilled, validated, transferred, adopted, adapted and applied.” Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell Learning to Fly – Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations (2005) p. 24-25
• “The Information Age offers much to mankind, and I would like to think that we will rise to the challenges it presents. But it is vital to remember that information — in the sense of raw data — is not knowledge, that knowledge is not wisdom, and that wisdom is not foresight. But information is the first essential step to all of these.” Arthur C. Clarke, Science Fiction Writer, Inventor, Futurist As quoted in ‘Humanity will survive information deluge — Sir Arthur C Clarke’, OneWorld South Asia (December 5, 2003)

Leadership quotes for presentations

• “Successful people become great leaders when they learn to shift the focus from themselves to others.” Marshall Goldsmith, Leadership Coach What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (2010) p. 72
• “Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” Martin Luther King, Jr. From an address at the Episcopal National Cathedral, Washington D.C. (March 31, 1968)
• “You can’t lead from behind your desk, you’ve got to get out in front, be visible, for your customers as well as for your employees. During a crisis, you’ve got to be calm and confident. You’ve got to always tell the truth. And you’ve got to be willing to face a crisis, not shy away from it, embrace it.” Geisha Williams, Fortune 500 Businesswoman ‘Geisha Williams: Set Your Sights High, Take Charge and Keep the Lights On’, Leadership California , Carol Caley (February 17, 2014)
• “Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering and adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.” Walt Disney As quoted in The Disney Way Fieldbook,  Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson (2000) p. 147
• “Embrace what you don’t know. What you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everyone else.” Sarah Blakely, Founder of Spanx ’10 Lessons I Learned from Sara Blakely That You Won’t Hear in Business School,’ Forbes , Kathy Caprino (May 23, 2012)

Mistakes and failure quotes for presentations

• “We tell our young managers: ‘Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice’” Akio Morita, Co-Founder of Sony Corporation As quoted in The Sony Vision , Nick Lyons (1976) p. 101
• “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” Oprah Winfrey Commencement address at Harvard University (30 May 2013)
• “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” Suzy Kassem, Author Rise Up And Salute The Sun (2010)
• “Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you. Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t bet against yourself. And take risk. NASA has this phrase that they like, “Failure is not an option.” But failure has to be an option. In art and exploration, failure has to be an option. Because it is a leap of faith. And no important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. … In whatever you are doing, failure is an option. But fear is not.” James Cameron, Film Director From ‘Before Avatar … a curious boy’, presented at TED2010 (February 13, 2010)
• “I view this year’s failure as next year’s opportunity to try it again. Failures are not something to be avoided. You want to have them happen as quickly as you can so you can make progress rapidly.” Gordon Moore, Engineer and Co-Founder of Intel Corporation ‘An Interview with Gordon Moore’, Ingenuity 5 (2), Laura Schmitt (May 2000)

Planning and strategy quotes for presentations

• “Chance favours the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur, Microbiologist, Chemist and Inventor Lecture, University of Lille (December 7, 1854)
• “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. ” Michael Porter, Economist, Researcher, Author ‘What is strategy?’ Harvard Business Review  (November 1996) p. 70
• “Business strategy is the battleplan for a better future.” Patrick Dixon, Author and Business Consultant Building a Better Business (2005)
• “Managers who extensively plan the future get the timing wrong. Sometimes they arrive to market too early and so must wait for the demand to catch up. Sometimes they are too late and so must accelerate to rejoin the future.” Shona L. Brown and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos (1998) p.135
• “Strategy is about stretching limited resources to fit ambitious aspirations.” K. Prahalad, Organizational Theorist As quoted in The Wal-Mart Way , Don Soderquist (2005) p. 178

We hope you found what you needed from our list of presentation quotes! If you’re about to paste that quote onto your deck, but want to know how to format it to perfection, check out our guide to advanced typography in PowerPoint .

Have an idea for a quote we should add to the list? Is there a key theme you want some presentation quotes for? Let us know in the comments below!

Shay O’Donnell

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Thanks for this post.It’s a helpful quotes for enhance slides.

Glad it was useful Amit! Thank you for your feedback.

it helped me a lot… thanks!

Amazing Quotes. Really Good. These quotes help me making my presentation perfect Thanks & Regard vinita

Thanks for this post

thanks for information

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It is, quite simply, the best deck we have. I did a nice presentation with it yesterday and would like to do the same next week... I am sure it will get a lot of use. The visual impact and flow are compelling! Peter Francis Janssen

Ace the Presentation

55 Powerful and Inspiring Quotes to Start Your Presentation

Have you ever stopped to think about the best strategies to start a presentation and gain the audience’s attention or interlocutor? Did you know that using motivational phrases to create a presentation is a great alternative?

It doesn’t matter if you’re a student and you’re presenting a paper, or if you’re a renowned speaker. Knowing how to speak well in public implies several factors, and at any moment of your speech is a crucial moment to ensure that the presentation is successful.

According to businessman and filmmaker Peter Davies,

“Motivation is like food for the brain; you can’t have enough at a meal. Motivation needs continuous and regular recharges to nurture deep and transform a human being into a winner.”

Among the techniques you can and should use, the citation should undoubtedly be among the main in your list.

A relevant quote, which is aligned with the theme of its presentation, tied to the purpose and objective, creates a strong connection with the audience, often arousing interest and attention.

An unforgettable introduction is the first step in starting a presentation or speech. Often, we are focused only on the content presented, completely forgetting that, for the public to pay attention, it is necessary to arrest them from the beginning.

5 Best Techniques to start a Presentation or Speech

• Quote someone else

Opening your presentation with a relevant quote can help set the whole tone for the rest of your speech. However, when making the quote, you need to remember two essential things: a) Quote the source of the sentence and b) “Tie it” to the central theme of the presentation.

However, an important point to consider when speaking in public: Citations will depend on the style of the audience, and the moment the presenter lives. Do not push too hard or adopt a tone of voice or language that does not suit the public.

• Don’t be afraid to use humor.

A touch of humor is a great way to break the ice with the audience, relieve tension and connect with everyone. As the example given above quote, the key to success is making the joke related to the topic being discussed.

If this tip is not your style, you can address the other information in this article.

During the presentation, telling a story is another very clever way to start a speech.  After all, stories compellingly connect people.

But, as in the case of jokes, your story needs to bridge or contain a message that can link the introduction to the presentation

‘s content.

An excellent way to use storytelling is by using an “imaginary” scenario, but that is your life story; this will leave the participants interested and can identify better with you.

• Be bold and use a striking phrase.

This technique consists of giving a brief thought-provoking statement, which will set the tone of the presentation theme, especially if this is said with a strong voice, which draws attention and leaves the group ready to hear what’s next.

Therefore, when you start the speech, you can speak a bold and striking phrase and use the silence technique later, increasing the effect of the phrase.

In this sense, an example of an excellent way to catch the public’s attention is to say the sentence and pause, up to 10 seconds. 

This plan will make the audience anxious and attentive.

• Cite notable statistics

Using surprising statistics will show the public an immediate value in their knowledge, leaving them more interested throughout their presentation. 

It also helps stimulate the audience’s thoughts; this technique works very well when the facts reported are not common knowledge but are nevertheless relevant and stimulating.

Please make sure to be brief in the opening statement, so your opening won’t get too many easy-to-forget details.

1. “Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” Coco Chanel

We are often afraid to start a project no matter how much we have ideas that are outside the box, and when compared to other people, we thought that this would not be successful. 

This phrase from Coco Chanel helps us understand that to be successful, and we need to subject ourselves to error sometimes.

2.  “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

We have here a phrase from one of the strong women of history known as the defender of human rights unless we identify ourselves with what people think of us; none has power over what we are and want to be.

3. “Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” Oprah Winfrey

With the illustrious phrase of another inspiring woman Oprah Winfrey, it became clear how error always has a positive side; getting it right is not always what we need from error comes the improvement of an idea that can continuously be improved.

4. “The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.” Henry Ford

If we discover what makes us happy, we can always succeed because happiness is the path of inspiration that leads us to unimaginable ways.

5. “A belief is only a thought you keep thinking.” Abraham Hicks

Beliefs are socialized since we were born, depending on the socio-cultural context and the people around us. Anything is possible if you think so.

6. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Maya Angelou

Often we can criticize something or behavior when we think we can do better; Angelou encourages us to get up and do it. If we still can’t change, maybe we have to change our attitude towards the situation that bothers us.

7. If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. Napoleon Hill

Sometimes we think that success comes from great attitudes, and from thinking so much about an idea that surpasses all the others, we stand by and do nothing. Napoleon Hill encourages us to start step-by-step and what matters here is how we make it small or big.

8. Innovation, as I understand it, is both about doing different things as well as doing things differently.” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone, and for that, we need not only to experience things we’ve never done before, but the way can also lead us to new paths.

9. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” Steve Jobs

When we choose the course we want to take in college, we often choose a course that our parents choose, and that doesn’t make us happy, which we shouldn’t do because we are supposed to live for ourselves and our happiness.

10. “Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.” Margaret Mead

Every human being is unique in its way, and our particular way of being cannot be compared to any other. Hence we need not be afraid when we do something new, even if someone else has already done it.

Have you ever stopped to think about the best strategies to start a presentation and gain the audience’s attention or interlocutor? Did you know that using motivational phrases to create a presentation is a great alternative? It doesn’t matter if you’re a student and you’re presenting a paper, or if you’re a renowned speaker. Knowing…

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5 QUICK TIPS ON HOW TO GIVE AN EFFECTIVE MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH

This post is part 3 of a series of posts that where we will be sharing with you quick tips on how to deliver all types of speech that we mentioned in our most-read post on this blog, 10 Types of Speeches. Instead of just telling you that there is a motivational speech or an…

26 Motivational and Inspirational Quotes on Life, Success, and Positive Thinking to Make Your Day

If you came here looking for short, but powerful motivational and inspirational quotes that will lift you up when you are feeling discouraged, or share a pearl of wisdom and help you achieve success in your endeavors, then you have come to the right place. Motivational and Inspirational Quotes have a great effect on us….

11. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson

This means that sometimes we will have bad days and things will be difficult, but this does not mean that we will not have good days, so we must always be kind and cheerful.

12. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s much easier to follow the path that many people have taken may seem safer. Yet, here Emerson suggests that choosing a direction is knowledge, adventure, or whatever it is we decided to learn new things and share with other people that would be the trail.

13. “People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.” Edmund Hillary

People aren’t born brilliant. They make decisions and make choices that push outside the box and are exceptional.

14. “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” William Faulkner

Faulkner encourages us to be our competence, neither that of descendants or ascenders nor anyone but ourselves. Hold your hand and go hard.

15. “Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it ‘to whom it may concern.” Ken Haemer

You have got to prepare yourself for whichever situations or people you’re going to come across in different environments and conditions so that you don’t do things that don’t make sense.

16. Some people feel the rain. Others get wet.” Bob Marley

We can interpret this Bob Marley phrase as when faced with a chaotic situation, some people will despair, and others will calm down, focus, and look at the problem as an opportunity. Who the hell are you?

17. “When I’m old and dying. I plan to look back on my life and say ‘Wow, an adventure’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe.’” Tom Preston Werner

Werner means to live your life without fears and live your life intensely because you never know how it will be tomorrow.

18. Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take place wherever you are and be someone; get action.” Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt encourages us to get better lives by doing something, turning into reality our dreams by consistently taking action.

19. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barack Obama

It’s for no one but ourselves that we need to improve or reinvent ourselves.

20. You have to go wholeheartedly into anything to achieve anything worth having.” Frank Lloyd Wright

Wright tells us that following our heart is the best way to reach out to more incredible things in life; anything we put, our real feelings and natural energy will glow.

21. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela

With this simple phrase, Mandela brings us a crucial message to live an extraordinary life; when we start by somewhere and are not there yet, it seems unreachable but never is if we don’t give up trying.

22. “There are only two days of the year when you can do nothing: one is called yesterday and the other tomorrow” Dalai Lama

Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today; live each day as if it were your last.

23. “In the end, everything works out, and if it didn’t work, it’s because it hasn’t come to an end” Fernando Sabino

What Sabino means is you have to be patient because someday, our time to shine will come.

24. “The pessimist sees difficulty at every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity at every difficulty” Winston Churchill

When we sync our minds to positive thinking, anything we face is reachable, and we get things done because everything turns into an opportunity to learn and grow.

26. “You have to be a protagonist. You can’t just listen to the band play, and you have to be part of the band” Sonia Hess

In life, we face many situations that we work and live with people, but we don’t need to be ordinary because we are not; we have to show and give our best in anything we do.

27. Our failures are sometimes more fruitful than our successes” Henry Ford

With mistakes, we learn, we improve, and one day we reach perfection.

28. “Change your mind and change your world” Norman Vincent Peale

If we have an open mind, we will find that our way of thinking is not always the right one, and when we change our review, we will be able to put it into practice in our lives.

29. “One day you must stop dreaming, take the plans out of the drawer and somehow start” Amyr Klink

Klink encourages us to materialize any ideas or dreams we may have and not spend days only daydreaming about them.

30. “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change, simply by changing his attitude” Oprah Winfrey

Sometimes the attitude we face in certain realities is the ones that prevent us from enjoying more extraordinary things in life. So you may want to think about some philosophy or way of thinking that you could use a change.

31. “Keep in mind that your desire to achieve success is more important than anything” Abraham Lincoln

What Lincoln means is that we must work hard to achieve our goals and put them as priorities in life if we want to achieve them.

32. “Be content to act. Leave the speech to others” Baltasar Gracián

This means to live your life no matter what other people think; if you are happy with it, be gentle with yourself.

33. “To achieve success, you need to accept all the challenges that lie ahead of you. You can’t just accept the ones you prefer” Mike Gafka

Gafka means that Challenges turn us better if we submit to the lesson they have to teach us.

34. “A successful warrior is an average man, but with a sharp focus like a laser beam” Bruce Lee

Lee means that even though a warrior is seen with prestige, he is a regular man. Still, the difference between them and what he is, is how he put attention to what he wants, and we can compare that analogy with daily situations such us when we see some people more successful than others.

35. “Logic can lead from point A to point B. Imagination can lead anywhere” Albert Einstein

Things go far beyond what they seem to be, don’t focus on the obvious, and also see subtexts.

36. “The task is not so much to see what no one has seen, but to think what no one has thought about what everyone sees.” Arthur Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer gives us a lesson about creativity; most of the time, we look for new ideas that no one ever thought about; however, imagination can recreate helpfully something that already exists.

37. “It is much better to set out in search of great conquests, even exposing oneself to failure, than to align oneself with the poor in spirit, who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a grey gloom, where they know neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

Living adventurously and risky is much more satisfying and rewarding than having a monotonous and safe life.

38. “What we predict rarely occurs; what we least expect usually happens.” Benjamin Disraeli

This means always to expect the unexpected.

39. “Unless we change our way of thinking, we will not be able to solve the problems caused by the way we get used to seeing the world.” Albert Einstein

Einstein encourages us to see situations more dynamically because we socialized in a certain way with ease; our thoughts can become a cycle of ignorance.

40. “Persistence is the least path to success.” Charles Chaplin

Chaplin means that we insist and don’t give up on what we want to do. Indeed, we are going to make it no matter how much time it takes.

7 Steps for Writing an Inspiring Graduation Speech 

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3 KEY Things For Delivering a Successful Speech

Have you ever had to give a speech and have no idea how to direct their thoughts or start talking? In this article, we will discuss in a straightforward way how to work the oratory to develop the ability to speak well with different audiences, arousing their attention, respect, and provoking reflections. Speeches are moments…

41. “To discover consists in looking at what everyone is seeing and thinking something different.” Roger von Oech

This means that we have to think like no one ever thought or even imagined to discover something.

42. “Sometimes we feel that what we do is only a drop of water in the sea. But the sea would be smaller if it lacked a drop”. Mother Teresa de Calcuta

We all make a difference in this world; every soul counts, and every opinion counts either. Please don’t give up on sharing what you got because it is critical.

43. “The more our knowledge increases, the more evident is our ignorance.” John F. Kennedy

The more things you learn, the more things you need to learn because no one can know anything about anything.

44. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the plane takes off against the wind, not in his favor.” Henry Ford

Remember that Henry Ford suggested the car model we use today back in his time, and nobody but him believed it was possible, he had nobody but himself to hold hands. Don’t give up.

45. “No matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.” Confucius

Do things in your time and never give up.

46. “An entrepreneur sees opportunities where others see only problems.” Michael Gerber

Someone who sees a chance to grow in any situation is a winner, and he has nothing to lose because, in any position of life, we can get something that could be what we didn’t expect.

47. Choose a job you like, and you won’t have to work a single day of your life.” Confucius

If you choose a job that you love, you don’t feel like you’re working; you’re doing a leisure activity.

48. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you do, you will succeed.” Albert Schweitzer

As Nga, a rapper, says, there is no way to happiness because happiness is when we vibrate good feelings, especially do things we love, life becomes more accessible.

49. “Don’t play games you don’t understand, even if you see many other people making money with them.” Tony Hsieh

Don’t do things through other people’s influence to make your life easier.

50. “Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we do things without good energy, they can easily be ruined.

51. “The thoughts we choose to have are the tools we use to paint the picture of our lives.” Louise Hay

Your way of thinking will determine the course of our lives, which means always be open to new forms of thinking so you can live in a more inclusive World.

52. “Success is born of wanting, determination, and persistence in reaching a goal. Even not reaching the target, who seeks and overcomes obstacles, at least will do admirable things.” José de Alencar

What Alencar means is that when we want something, even if we don’t get what we were thinking at first, we always get something.

53. “To act, that is the true intelligence. I will be whatever I want. But I have to want whatever it is. Success lies in being successful, not in being able to succeed. Palace conditions have any wide land, but where will the palace be if they don’t do it there?” Fernando Pessoa

Pessoa says that when we want something, conditions don’t determine if we thrive or not, but our vibration towards it and that will makes us anything we desire.

54. “You can get anything you want in life if you help other people get what they want.”  Zig Ziglar

If you are kind to other people, they will give back in the future.

55. I like the impossible because there is less competition.” Walt Disney

Walt means that the unthinkable doesn’t exist; most people can’t perseverance, so he does because few people can.

How you open your presentation determines how interested the public will be in what will be said afterward. So, when thinking about how to start a speech or presentation, evaluate if your introduction is completely bland; this will be the initial message that the audience will get from the speaker and the display itself.

Reference and Further Reading

Ace The Presentation. Amadebai, E. 11 Best Body Language Tips for Engaging Presentations.

Ace The Presentation. Amadebai, E. 120 Persuasive Speech Topics.

Ace The Presentation. Amadebai, E. 8 Awesome Persuasive Speech Techniques.

Ezine Articles. Toney, B (2011). Key Elements of a Persuasive Speech.

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101 Quotes to inspire speakers

Average: 4.5 ( 2 votes)

Inspiration sometimes runs dry, and for presenters feeling uninspired can lead to a poor performance.

Where do you go when you need a bit of extra lift?  Sometimes the well thought out words of history’s very best orators can be just the ticket. 

From drafting speeches, to calming your nerves right before you step into the spotlight , we’ve collected the top inspiring 101 quotes from thought leaders around the world.

Check nuggets of wisdom from Dale Carnegie , Mark Twain, Tony Robbins and Winston Churchill (we’ve even thrown in some William Butler Yeats and Seth Godin for good measure.) 

Continue reading more quotes below or  download the eBook from SlideShare . 

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams ( Tweet this )

“There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.” - Jean de la Bruyere ( Tweet this )

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” – Henry Ford ( Tweet this )

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward ( Tweet this )

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou ( Tweet this )

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” –  Margaret Mead ( Tweet this )

“You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart.” – John Ford  ( Tweet this )

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” – D. H. Lawrence  ( Tweet this )

“Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.” – Dionysius Of Halicarnassus  ( Tweet this )

“What we say is important… for in most cases the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” – Jim Beggs   ( Tweet this )

“If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour.” – Dianna Booher  ( Tweet this )

“There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” – Dale Carnegie ( Tweet this )

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain ( Tweet this )

“A good orator is pointed and impassioned.” – Marcus T. Cicero  ( Tweet this )

“Oratory is the power to talk people out of their sober and natural opinions.” – Joseph Chatfield  ( Tweet this)

“He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.” – Joseph Conrad ( Tweet this )

“There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience.” – Alexander Gregg ( Tweet this )

“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.” – Lilly Walters  ( Tweet this )

“Best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about.” – Michael H. Mescon  ( Tweet this )

“There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars.” – Mark Twain  ( Tweet this )

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” – Alexander Graham Bell  ( Tweet this )

“90% of how well the talk will go is determined before the speaker steps on the platform.” – Somers White ( Tweet this )

“It takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time.” – Wayne Burgraff  ( Tweet this )

“The most precious things in speech are the... pauses.” – Sir Ralph Richardson ( Tweet this )

“Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.” – Martin Fraquhar Tupper ( Tweet this )

“The problem with speeches isn’t so much not knowing when to stop, as knowing when not to begin.” – Frances Rodman ( Tweet this )

“Words have incredible power. They can make people’s hearts soar, or they can make people’s hearts sore. – Dr. Mardy Grothe ( Tweet this )

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” – Mark Twain ( Tweet this )

“If you can’t communicate and talk to other people and get across your ideas, you’re giving up your potential.” – Warren Buffet ( Tweet this )

“If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.” – Gerald R. Ford ( Tweet this )

“Always give a speech that you would like to hear.” – Andrii Sedniev ( Tweet this )

“If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will.” – Harvey Diamond ( Tweet this )

“Find out what’s keeping them up nights and offer hope. Your theme must be an answer to their fears .” – Gerald C Myers ( Tweet this )

“In presentations or speeches less really is more.” – Stephen Keague ( Tweet this )

“Speeches measured by the hour die with the hour”          – Thomas Jefferson ( Tweet this )

“It’s much easier to be convincing if you care about your topic. Figure out what’s important to you about your message and speak from the heart” – Nicholas Boothman ( Tweet this )

“Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.” – Dale Carnegie ( Tweet this )

“Speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners.” – Dale Carnegie ( Tweet this )

“It is not failure itself that holds you back; it is the fear of failure that paralyzes you.” -Brian Tracy ( Tweet this )

“All you need is something to say, and a burning desire to say it… it doesn’t matter where your hands are.” – Lou Holtz ( Tweet this )

“If you don’t use stories audience members may enjoy your speech, but there is no chance they’ll remember it.” – Andrii Sedniev ( Tweet this )

“There is no such thing as presentation talent, it is called presentation skills” -David JP Phillips ( Tweet this )

“The audience only pays attention as long as you know where you are going.” - Philip Crosby ( Tweet this )

“Ask yourself, ‘If I had only sixty seconds on the stage, what would I absolutely have to say to get my message across.” - Jeff Dewar ( Tweet this )

“It’s all right to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation.” – Rob Gilbert ( Tweet this )

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, and to sit down and listen.”   – Winston Churchill ( Tweet this )

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin ( Tweet this )

“Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it: To Whom It May Concern.” – Ken Haemer ( Tweet this )

“The goal of effective communication should be for listeners to say ‘Me too!’ versus ‘So what?'” – Jim Rohn ( Tweet this )

“The royal road to a man’s heart is to talk to him about the things he treasures most.” – Dale Carnegie ( Tweet this )

“To communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world, and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” – Tony Robbins ( Tweet this )

“To sway an audience, you must watch them as you speak.” – C. Kent Wright ( Tweet this )

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein ( Tweet this )

“If you can’t state your position in eight words, you don’t have a position. “ – Seth Godin ( Tweet this )

“The way something is presented will define the way you react to it.” – Neville Brody ( Tweet this )

“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.” – William Butler Yeats ( Tweet this )

“A presentation is a chance to share, not an oral exam.” – M.F. Fensholt ( Tweet this )      

“Speech is power. Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson ( Tweet this )

“Words do two major things: they provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” – Jim Rohn ( Tweet this )

“Every speaker has a mouth, an arrangement rather neat. Sometimes it’s filled with wisdom, sometimes it’s filled with feet.” – Robert Orben ( Tweet this )

“Humor is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” – Mary Hirsch ( Tweet this )

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” – Oscar Wilde ( Tweet this )

“Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything.” – Herbert Gardner ( Tweet this )

“The world is waiting for your words.” – Arvee Robinson ( Tweet this )

“Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.” – Jim Rohn ( Tweet this )

“A designer knows he or she has achieved perfection, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery  ( Tweet this )

“If God is in the details, then the Devil is in PowerPoint.” – @AngryPaulRand ( Tweet this )

“The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.” – Paul Arden ( Tweet this )

“All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson ( Tweet this )

“Communication works for those who work at it .” – John Powell ( Tweet this )

“If you wing it when speaking, you’ll get wing it results.” – Arvee Robinson ( Tweet this )

“Your smile is a messenger of your goodwill.” – Dale Carnegie ( Tweet this )

“If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought.” – Dennis Roth ( Tweet this )

“Make sure you have stopped speaking before your audience has stopped listening.” – Dorothy Sarnoff ( Tweet this )

“Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much. ” - Robert Greenleaf ( Tweet this )

“If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.” - Winston S. Churchill ( Tweet this )

“The most valuable of all talents is never using two words when one will do.” -Thomas Jefferson ( Tweet this )

“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” -John Wooden ( Tweet this )

“Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.” - Charles de Gaulle ( Tweet this )

“Creative thinking is merely intelligent plagiarism.” - Aristotle ( Tweet this )

"Always be yourself and have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and try to duplicate it." -Bruce Lee ( Tweet this )

“Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.” - Reed Markham ( Tweet this )

“Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.” - Zig Ziglar ( Tweet this )

“A talk is a voyage with purpose and it must be charted. The man who starts out going nowhere, generally gets there.” - Dale Carnegie  ( Tweet this )

“I have not failed. I’ve simply discovered 10,000 ways that don’t work.” - Thomas Edison ( Tweet this )

“Buried deep within each of us is a spark of greatness, a spark than can be fanned into flames of passion and achievement. That spark is not outside of you it is born deep within you.” -James A. Ray ( Tweet this )

“The energy level of the audience is the same as the speaker’s. For better...or for worse.” -Andras Baneth ( Tweet this )

"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation." -Arthur Ashe ( Tweet this )

“Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.” - Cesar Chavez ( Tweet this )

“I do not speak of what I cannot praise.” - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe  ( Tweet this )

“If you're not comfortable with public speaking - and nobody starts out comfortable; you have to learn how to be comfortable - practice. I cannot overstate the importance of practicing. Get some close friends or family members to help evaluate you, or somebody at work that you trust.” -Hillary Clinton ( Tweet this )

“Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes ( Tweet this )

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt ( Tweet this )

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” - Bill Gates ( Tweet this )

"Good transitions can make a speech more important to the audience because they feel they are being taken to a positive conclusion without having to travel a bumpy road." - Joe Griffith ( Tweet this )

"When speaking in public, your message - no matter how important - will not be effective or memorable if you don't have a clear structure." - Patricia Fripp ( Tweet this )

“The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.” -Lady Bird Johnson ( Tweet this )

“The best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you are talking about.” -Michael H. Mescon ( Tweet this )

“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.” - Robert McKee ( Tweet this )

“If something comes from your heart, it will reach the heart of your audience.” — فوزیه کوفی (Fawzia Koofi)‎ ( Tweet this )

How do we achieve our dreams and goals as a speaker? The inspiring story of Dale Carnegie's road to success

60 ideas and quotes on breaking through a creative block

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• Dale Carnegie quotes to help you become a better speaker

Resources | Storytelling | Strategy

50 powerful quotes to start your presentation.

Written by Kai Xin Koh

When was the last time you attended a conference where the speaker didn’t just say: “Oh hi, my name is XYZ and today, I’ll be speaking to you about Topic X”?

Great stories possess riveting narrative arcs that begin strong and end strong. We’ve written at length about some of the best ways to end your presentation , but how does one design a presentation to start without sounding too cliche?

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a powerful and memorable quote that relates to the message of your talk.

Powerful quotes have so much power on your presentation. Not only does it help reinforce your message, it also helps boost your credibility since it implied the quote is ‘agreeing’ with your statement.

Take this TED talk by Andrew Solomon for example. Notice how he skilfully uses a quote from a book by Emily Dickinson to set the stage for his numerous anecdotes regarding the topic on Depression in his presentation:

Hence, if you’re looking to follow suit and start your next presentation strong with a powerful quote, we’ve got you covered. Here, we compiled a list of 50 quotes that you can use to boost your next presentation.

50 Powerful Quotes To Start Your Presentation:

1)   “ The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” –  Mark Twain

2) “Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” –  Babe Ruth

3) “ If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” –  Albert Einstein

4) “ If you’re too comfortable, it’s time to move on. Terrified of what’s next? You’re on the right track.” –  Susan Fales Hill

5) “ Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” –  Bill Gates

6) “ You can’t look at the competition and say you’re going to do it better. You have to look at the competition and say you’re going to do it differently.” –  Steve Jobs

7) “ Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.” –  Jack Dorsey

8) “ Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.” –  Oprah Winfrey

9) “ Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark.” –  Jay Danzie

10)  “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” –  Warren Buffett

11)  “Some entrepreneurs think how can I make a lot of money? But a better way is to think how can I make people’s lives a lot better? If you get it right, the money will come.” –  Richard Branson

12)  “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse? ’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.” –  Elon Musk

13)  “There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” –  Ray Goforth

14)   “Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” –  Charles F. Kettering

15)  “People rarely buy what they need. They buy what they want.”   – Seth Godin

16)  “Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day.”   – Gary Vaynerchuck

17)  “The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place.” –  Orison Swett Marden

18)  “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”   –  David Brinkley

19)  “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.”   –  Einstein

20)  “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”   –  Lilly Tomlin

21)  “ When you run a part of the relay and pass on the baton, there is no sense of unfinished business in your mind. There is just the sense of having done your part to the best of your ability. That is it. The hope is to pass on the baton to somebody who will run faster and run a better marathon.”   – N. R. Narayana Murthy

22)  “Whatever you’re thinking, think bigger.” – Tony Hsieh

23)  “When you find an idea that you can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue.”   – Josh James

24)  “What would you do if you’re not afraid?” –  Sheryl Sandberg

25)  “Don’t worry about failure, you only have to be right once.”   – Drew Houston

26)  “When I’m old and dying. I plan to look back on my life and say ‘Wow, an adventure’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe’” – Tom Preston Werner

27)  “80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients.”   – Vilfredo Pareto

28)  “You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done.”   – Russell Simmons

29)  “We are really competing against ourselves, we have no control over how other people perform.”   – Pete Cashmore

30)  “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”   – Wayne Gretzy

31)  “Always remember, your focus determines your reality.”   – George Lucas

32)  “If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you.”   – Zig Ziglar

33)  “Words may inspire but action creates change.”   – Simon Sinek

34)  “It isn’t what we say or think that denies us, but what we do.”   – Jane Austen

35)  “Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be someone; get action.”   – Theodore Roosevelt

36)  “There is only one boss. The customer.” – Sam Walton

37)  “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama

38)  “You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having.” –  Frank Lloyd Wright

39)  “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

40)  “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” – Bob Marley

41)  “There is no great genius without some touch of madness.”    – Seneca

42)  “If you think you are too small to make an impact try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.” – Ekaterina Walter

43)   “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” – Mark Zuckerberg

44)   “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” –  Thomas Edison

45)  “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”  – Abraham Lincoln

46)  “Don’t build links. Build relationships.”   – Rand Fishkin

47)   “100 percent of the shots you don’t take, don’t go in.”   –  Wayne Gretzky, Hockey Legend

48)  “If you’ve got an idea, start today. There’s no better time than now to get going. That doesn’t mean quit your job and jump into your idea 100 percent from day one, but there’s always small progress that can be made to start the movement.” – Kevin Systrom, Founder of Instagram

49)   “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”   –  Jack Welch, Former CEO of GE

50)    “You must be very patient, very persistent. The world isn’t going to shower gold coins on you just because you have a good idea. You’re going to have to work like crazy to bring that idea to the attention of people. They’re not going to buy it unless they know about it.”  –   Herb Kelleher, Founder of Southwest Airlines.

There you have it!

Phew! – now you have an additional 50 powerful quotes that you can add in your presentation arsenal. Leave an unforgettable impression on your presentation with these quotes starting today!

Comment down your favourite quote. And let us know if you have any that we didn’t add to the list!

Article Written By: Kai Xin Koh

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Blog > Powerful Quotes for your PowerPoint Presentations

Powerful Quotes for your PowerPoint Presentations

07.24.20   •  #powerpointtips.

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a influential and morable quote that relates to the message of your talk. This can loosen up the beginning, consciously encourage important things while speaking or end the presentation with a meaningful conclusion and underline the main topic again.

This will bring liveliness and power to your presentation and create a more pleasant environment for your audience!

Quotes can be funny, inspirational, profound, successful, motivational, meaningless or basically everything! The most important thing is that they fit the today´s topic, correspond to the situation. This means, that they are appropriate and reinforce the actual theme.

If you are looking for great lines you can use in your PowerPoint or other presentations, you are perfectly right here! Read the following article to get inspired and to find a suitable citation you can use for your speech in school, work, business or anywhere and to leave an unforgettable impression on your presentation.

To save time, we have already created PowerPoint Templates below, which you can download for free!

According to time:

Quotes for Beginning

Quotes while presenting, quotes for ending.

According to category:

In case you need more specific citations, have a look at different sections of quotes:

Inspirational / Motivational

With quotations to open your presentation you can represent yourself in a great authentic and relaxed way. The audience gets an exciting insight into the upcoming topic and in the best case can relate with the citation and thus build a sympathetic bond to you as the presenter. And all this is achieved by just one simple sentence.

Powerful quotes to start your presentation

• "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain
• "If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough." – Albert Einstein
• "Words may inspire but action creates change." – Simon Sinek
• "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet." - Bob Marley
• "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." – David Brinkley
• "Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games." - Babe Ruth | Baseball Legend
• "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates
• "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently." - Warren Buffett
• "The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place." - Orison Swett Marden
• "You can't blame gravity for falling in love." - Albert Einstein

Using powerful citations while speaking makes your presentation much more exciting and memorable. A meaningful quotation gives your words much more power and emphasis and can additionally emphasize important things. Furthermore, if a listener hears a mentioned citation of your presentation one more time, he will most likely remember you.

Powerful quotes to reinforce essential topics

• "Some entrepreneurs think how can I make a lot of money? But a better way is to think how can I make people’s lives a lot better? If you get it right, the money will come." - Richard Branson
• "When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked." - Elon Musk
• "Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day." – Gary Vaynerchuck
• "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid." - Albert Einstein
• "When you find an idea that you can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue." – Josh James
• "Don’t worry about failure, you only have to be right once." – Drew Houston
• "You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done." - Russel Simmmons
• "If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you." – Zig Ziglar
• "Don’t build links. Build relationships." – Rand Fishkin
• "There is no great genius without some touch of madness." – Seneca

With citations you have the opportunity to clarify the topic just dealt with in one sentence and it is highly recommended to use this chance. Your audience will remember the end best, as it is the shortest, so it should be well chosen and memorable. It should also match your personality as well as the theme and be catchy.

Powerful quotes to close your presentation

• "100 percent of the shots you don’t take, don’t go in." – Wayne Gretzky | Hockey Legend
• "When I’m old and dying. I plan to look back on my life and say ‘Wow, an adventure’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe.’" – Tom Preston Werner
• "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been." – Wayne Gretzy
• "It isn’t what we say or think that denies us, but what we do." – Jane Austen
• "Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be someone; get action." – Theodore Roosevelt
• "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." – Barack Obama
• "You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having." – Frank Lloyd Wright
• "It always seems impossible until it’s done." – Nelson Mandela
• "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." – Thomas Edison
• "If you think you are too small to make an impact try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." - Ekaterina Walter

Best citations by category

• "Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value." - Albert Einstein
• "Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion." - Tony Hsieh
• "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." - Walt Disney
• "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein
• "He who only does what he can will always remain what he is." - Henry Ford

• "Success is like being pregnant, everybody congratulates you, but nobody knows how many times you got fucked." - Author unknown
• "If you want your children to listen, try talking softly to someone else." - Ann Landers
• "The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
• "Anger is a hot coal that you hold in your hand while waiting to throw it at someone else." - Buddha

• "Either you run the day or the day runs you." - Jim Rohn
• "It's the will not the skill." - Jim Tunney
• "Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work." - Joseph Barbara
• "I have never done that before so I should definitely be able to do it!" - Pippi Longstocking
• "The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work." - Harry Golden

• "Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich." - Henry Ford
• "The prize for success is that it unlocks harder challenges with more at stake for next time." - Author unknown
• "The opposite to good design is always bad design. There is no such thing as no design." - Adam Judge

• "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do." - Bob Dylan
• "The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it." - Henry Ford
• "If you want to be happy, be happy." - Leo Tolstoy
• "So far you have survived 100% of your worst days." - Author unknown
• "Great Lessons are only learned when the stakes are high." - Georgina Hobart

• "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." - John F. Kennedy
• "When in doubt, don't." - Benjamin Franklin
• "The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk." - Marcus Tullius Cicero
• "Easy choises, hard life. Hard choices easy life." - Jerzy Gregorek
• "What you begrudge others will be withheld from yourself." - Author unknown

Now you have 60 quotes you can incorporate into your presentation to stand out from the everyday, all-too-familiar phrases that everyone knows.

But remember: Under no circumstances should they be discriminatory, racist or offensive, so you need to make yourself known in advance through your audience.

Leave your personal impression and convince your audience with simple but incredibly strong lines!

Free PowerPoint Templates

In addition, we have already created some PowerPoint templates for you, which you can download for free. Simply replace the existing quotes or image if you want and adapt the slides to your presentation!

What are good quotes for starting a presentation?

By opening your presentation with a quote you can represent yourself in an authentic way. The audience gets an exciting insight into the upcoming topic and in the best case can relate with the quote and thus build a sympathetic bond to you as the presenter. And all this is achieved by just one simple sentence. Here is a list of good quotes to begin a presentation .

What are good quotes for ending a presentation?

With citations you have the opportunity to clarify the topic just dealt with in one sentence and it is highly recommended to use this chance. Your audience will remember the end best, so it should be well chosen and memorable. It should also match your personality as well as the theme and be catchy. Here is a list of good quotes to finish a presentation .

What are powerful quotes for a PowerPoint presentation?

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a influential and memorable quote that relates to the message of your talk. This can loosen up the beginning, consciously encourage important things while speaking or end the presentation with a meaningful conclusion and underline the main topic again. We have collected 60 powerful quotes for your PowerPoint presentation .

Related articles

About the author.

Philipp Angerer

Philipp is a creative supporter at SlideLizard in marketing and design. There he uses his imagination and provides creative freshness, also in blog articles.

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19 Great Quotes to Inspire You to Better Presenting

Here’s a list of 19  interesting quotes about presenting and public speaking that can inspire you to become better at presenting.

As well as being motivational these quotes include bits of presenting wisdom that are essential to keep your listeners on the edge of their seats.

I hope you enjoy them!

1) “If you can’t communicate and talk to other people and get across your ideas, you’re giving up your potential.”     Warren Buffet

2) “If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.” Gerald R. Ford

3) “Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” D. H. Lawrence

4)“If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour.” Dianna Booher

5) “The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.” Lilly Walters

6)  “If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation your audience never will.” Harvey Diamond

7) “Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.” Dionysius Of Halicarnassus

8 ) “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” Mark Twain

9) “No one ever complains about a speech being too short!” Ira Hayes

10) “90% of how well the talk will go is determined before the speaker steps on the platform.” Somers White

11) “It takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time.” Wayne Burgraff

12) “The most precious things in speech are the ……. pauses.” Sir Ralph Richardson

13) “Speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners.” Dale Carnegie

14) “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Carl W. Buechner

15) “ Well-timed silence has more eloquence than speech.” Martin Fraquhar Tupper

16) “Speeches measured by the hour die with the hour” Thomas Jefferson

17) “It’s much easier to be convincing if you care about your topic. Figure out what’s important to you about your message and speak from the heart” Nicholas Boothman

18) “Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.” Dale Carnegie

19) ” Be the presenter you would want to listen to” Cath Daley

If you take just a few of ideas from this list and put them into practice in your next presentation  then it will make it stand out and your audience will remember you.

I hope that these  inspire you to become  better at presenting. If you have a favourite quote about presenting or public speaking I’d love to hear it so please leave a comment below.

Until next time,

Kind regards,

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Spark's Presentation & Public Speaking Blog

Public speaking quotes: funny, inspiring insights for your presentation.

June 2, 2014

by Andy Saks

Over many years as a professional presenter and speaker, I’ve accumulated a treasure trove of funny, inspiring, insightful public speaking quotes.

These quotes are near and dear to my heart. They’ve helped me immensely, and helped me help others.

Some date back to biblical times. Others are hot off the Twitter press.

Sometimes I show them in a looping slideshow to warm up an audience before a keynote speech or presentation skills training program.

Other times I peek at them when I need some inspiration myself.

And here they are, for the first time, categorized and alphabetized for your presentation pleasure.

Which quotes make you laugh? Which inspire you? Which rub you the wrong way? Which of your favorites should I add? Which did you use in your presentation? Tell me by sharing your comment at the bottom of the page.

QUOTES FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY / FEAR

“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than delivering the eulogy.” – Jerry Seinfeld

“All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears, of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, or speaking before the Rotary Club, or the words ‘some assembly required.’” – Dave Barry

“…and from the first moment that I ever walked on stage in front of a darkened auditorium with a couple of hundred people sitting there, I was never afraid, I was never fearful, I didn’t suffer from stage fright, because I felt so safe on that stage. I wasn’t Patrick Stewart, I wasn’t in the environment that frightened me, I was pretending to be someone else, and I liked the other people I pretended to be. So I felt nothing but security for being on stage. And I think that’s what drew me to this strange job of playing make-believe.” — Patrick Stewart

“Feel the fear of public speaking and do it anyway.” – Arvee Robinson

“I was dreading winning. I didn’t even prepare an acceptance speech. I was worried that I would slip up or do something horrible. I was shaking in my seat, putting on a posed smile. Inside I was petrified.” – Leonardo DiCaprio (at the 1998 Academy Awards)

“It’s all right to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation.” – Rob Gilbert

“The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.” – George Jessel

“There are two types of speakers: Those who get nervous and those who are liars.” – Mark Twain

QUOTES ON ASKING QUESTIONS & LISTENING

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, and to sit down and listen.”  – Winston Churchill

“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.” – Jimi Hendrix

“Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.” – fortune cookie Andy got (really!)

“Nothing calms a person faster than hearing his own ideas repeated back.” – Sandra DeLozier

“One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears, by listening to them.” – Dean Rusk

“Open your ears before you open your mouth; it may surprise your eyes!” – Earl Nightingale

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

“The finest art of communication is not learning how to express your thoughts. It is learning how to draw out the thoughts of another.” – Ted Tripp

“Two monologues do not make a dialogue.” – Jeff Daly

“You can tell if a man is clever by his answers. You can tell if a man is wise by his questions.” – unknown

QUOTES ON HAVING A GREAT ATTITUDE

“Our attitude towards others determines their attitude towards us.” -Earl Nightingale

“Say what you mean, mean what you say, just don’t say it mean.” – Nguyen Van Tho

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” – Laurence Peter

“The words you speak today should be soft and tender, for tomorrow you may have to eat them.” – unknown

“Think lovingly, speak lovingly, act lovingly, and every need shall be supplied.” – James Allen

“You have to smile, if you expect anybody to smile back.” – Jonathan Evison

QUOTES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR AUDIENCE

“Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it: To Whom It May Concern.” – Ken Haemer

“In the preaching moment, there is a liminal moment in which is dawns on you standing there that yes, there is something more going on here that I did not anticipate…You feed of the congregation, because black preaching is so dialogical. The affirmation in that dialogue is the place where you locate revelation.” – Dale Andrews (professor, Boston University, and occasional preacher)

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!” – @mediatraining

“The goal of effective communication should be for listeners to say ‘Me too!’ versus ‘So what?'” – Jim Rohn

“The royal road to a man’s heart is to talk to him about the things he treasures most.” – Dale Carnegie

“To communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world, and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” – Tony Robbins

“To sway an audience, you must watch them as you speak.” – C. Kent Wright

“When are you going to understand that if it doesn’t pertain to me, I’m not interested?” – Candace Bergen as Murphy Brown

QUOTES ON CLARITY, SIMPLICITY AND WORD CHOICE IN SPEAKING

“Eloquence is the essential thing in a speech, not information.” – Mark Twain

“I understand a fury in your words, but not your words.” – William Shakespeare, Othello

“If we use common words on a great occasion, they are the more striking because they are felt at once to have a particular meaning, like old banners, or everyday clothes, hung up in a sacred place.” – George Eliot

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein

“If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour.” – Dianna Booher

“If you can’t state your position in eight words, you don’t have a position. “ – Seth Godin

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” – Jack Kerouac

“Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair-trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.” – James Thurber

“Speak clearly, if you speak at all. Carve every word before you let it fall.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” – Hans Hoffman

“The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter–’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” — Mark Twain

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like cuttlefish squirting out ink.” – George Orwell

“The way something is presented will define the way you react to it.” – Neville Brody

“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.” – William Butler Yeats

“Those who run to long words are mainly the unskillful and tasteless; they confuse pomposity with dignity, flaccidity with ease, and bulk with force.” – H.W. Fowler

QUOTES DEFINING PUBLIC SPEAKING AND PRESENTATIONS

“A presentation is a chance to share, not an oral exam.” – M.F. Fensholt

“All speaking is public speaking, whether it’s to one person or a thousand.” – Roger Love

“Eloquence is the power to translate a truth into language perfectly intelligible to the person to whom you speak.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Proper words in proper places make the true definition of a style.” – Jonathan Swift

“Speech is power. Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Through the picture, I see reality. Through the word, I understand it.” – Sven Lidman

“To speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.” – Ben Jonson

“Words do two major things: they provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” – Jim Rohn

“Words. Words, when spoken out loud for the sake of performance, are music. They have rhythm, and pitch, and timbre, and volume. These are the properties of music, and music has the ability to find us and move us and lift us up in ways that literal meaning can’t.” – Martin Sheen as President Bartlet, The West Wing

FUNNY QUOTES ON PUBLIC SPEAKING & PRESENTATIONS

“Don’t be afraid to talk to yourself. It’s the only way you can be sure somebody’s listening.” – F.P. Jones

“Every speaker has a mouth, an arrangement rather neat. Sometimes it’s filled with wisdom, sometimes it’s filled with feet.” – Robert Orben

“Light travels faster than sound. That’s why certain people appear bright until you hear them speak.” – Albert Einstein

“Look your audience straight in the eyes, and begin to talk as if every one of them owed you money.” – Dale Carnegie

“My job is to talk; your job is to listen. If you finish first, please let me know.”  – Harry Herschfield

“Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” – Mark Twain

“Public speaking is very easy.” – Dan Quayle

“Speak the truth, but leave immediately after.” – Slovenian proverb

“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it’s taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

QUOTES ON HONESTY IN SPEAKING

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” – Mark Twain

“I didn’t lie. I was writing fiction in my mouth.” – Homer Simpson

“Speech is a mirror of the soul. As a man speaks, so is he.” – Publilius Syrus

“Teach the tongue to say ‘I do not know.’” – Maimonides

“When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

QUOTES ON HUMOR IN PRESENTATIONS & PUBLIC SPEAKING

“Humor is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” – Mary Hirsch

“Humor is treacherous. It can charm, coax, and persuade, but it can also distract, baffle or alienate the audience.” – Eugene Finerman

“I learned at an early age that when I made people laugh, they liked me. This is a lesson I never forgot.” – Art Buchwald

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” – Oscar Wilde

“Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything.” – Herbert Gardner

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” -Mark Twain

QUOTES ON THE POWER AND IMPORTANCE OF SPEAKING

“Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.” – Charles Dickens

“Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half of people who have nothing to say and keep saying it.” – Robert Frost

“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” – Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

“If all my talents were to be taken from me by some inscrutable providence, and I had to make a choice of keeping but one, I would unhesitatingly ask to keep the power of speaking, because through it, I would quickly recover all the rest.” – Daniel Webster

“The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.” – Edward R. Murrow

“The tongue has the power of life and death.” – Solomon

“The tongue is like a sharp knife. It kills without drawing blood.” – Buddha

“When nobody speaks your name, or even knows it, you, knowing it, must be the first to speak it.” – Marlon Riggs

“Improve your communication skills and you will earn fifty percent more money over your lifetime…In my office you’ll not see the degree I got from the University of Nebraska. You’ll not see the master’s degree I got from Columbia. But you’ll see the award certificate I got from the [public] speaking course.” – Warren Buffett

INSPIRING PUBLIC SPEAKING QUOTES

“Between your brain and your mouth (or your fingers) is magic: your power to choose what you say next. Use that magic.” – Chris Brogan

“Oratory should raise your heart rate. Oratory should blow the doors off the place.” – Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn, The West Wing

“The difference between a good speech and a great speech is the energy with which the audience comes to their feet at the end. Is it polite? Is it a chore? Are they standing up because their boss just stood up? No. You want it to come from their socks.” – Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn, The West Wing

“The world is made up of words. And if you know the words that the world is made of, you can make of it whatever you wish.” – Terence McKenna

“The world is waiting for your words.” – Arvee Robinson

“Your words can make you rich” – Dr. Donald Moine

QUOTES ON OPENING LINES IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

“He who fails to please in his salutation and address is at once rejected, and never obtains an opportunity of showing his latest excellences or essential qualities.” – Samuel Johnson

“You had me at ‘Hello.’” – Renee Zellweger as Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire

QUOTES ON PASSION IN PUBLIC SPEAKING & PRESENTATIONS

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

“Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.” – Jim Rohn 

“I don’t like to hear cut-and-dried sermons. When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees!” – Abraham Lincoln

“It doesn’t matter how elegant the argument or inspiring the prose, a presentation won’t move anyone if the presenter isn’t visibly feeling what they are saying.” – John Neffinger, KNP Communications

“Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered pot holder.” – Raymond Chandler

“The best speeches come from the heart and reflect your passion. Speak as if your life depended on it.” – Arvee Robinson

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – Carol Buchner

“When genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” – D.H. Lawrence

“You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart.” – John Ford

“You cannot speak that which you do not know. You cannot share that which you do not feel.” – Jim Rohn

QUOTES ON POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS

“A designer knows he or she has achieved perfection, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Nolan Haims

“If God is in the details, then the Devil is in PowerPoint.” – @AngryPaulRand

“The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.” – Paul Arden

QUOTES ON PREPARATION IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

“All Abe Lincoln needed was a pencil and paper to make his speech at Gettysburg.” – @TipsForSpeakers

“All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Communication works for those who work at it.” – John Powell

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

“If you wing it when speaking, you’ll get wing it results.” – Arvee Robinson

“It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain

“Let he who would be moved to convince others be first moved to convince himself.” – T. Carlyle

“Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills, so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.” – Jim Rohn

QUOTES ON SALES PRESENTATIONS

“Good listeners generally make more sales than good talkers.” – B.C. Holwick

“He that has no silver in his purse should have silver on his tongue.” – Thomas Fuller

“If you can’t say it, you can’t sell it!” – Arvee Robinson

“Samson killed a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass. That many sales are killed every day with exactly the same weapon.” – unknown

“The single most important tool in selling is being able to communicate effectively.” – Dan Brent Burt

QUOTES ON SILENCE IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

“It’s the space you put between the notes that make the music.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.” – Dionysius of Halicarnassus

“Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.” – cowboy saying

“Speak only if you can improve upon silence.” – unknown

“Talking is like playing the harp; there is as much in laying the hand on the strings to stop their vibrations as in twanging them to bring out their music.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“The most precious things in speech are pauses.” – Ralph Richardson

“Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” – Abraham Lincoln

QUOTES ON SMILING IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

“So much is said with the electricity of the eyes, the intensity of a whisper. Less is more.” – Elizabeth Taylor

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the  smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia

“Your smile is a messenger of your goodwill.” – Dale Carnegie

QUOTES ON SPEED AND BREVITY IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

“A fool uttereth all his mind.” – Proverbs 29:11

“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.” – William Strunk, Jr.

“A speech is like a love affair. Any fool can start one, but it requires considerable skill to end it.” – unknown

“Be sincere, be brief, be seated.” – Franklin Roosevelt

“Blessed is the man who, having nothing [more] to say, refrains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.” – George Eliot

“For effective communication, use brevity. Jesus said, ‘Follow me.’ Now that’s brief!” – Jim Rohn

“He who talks more is sooner exhausted.” – Lao Tzu

“If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought.” – Dennis Roth

“If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready today. If you want me to speak for just a few minutes, it will take me a few weeks to prepare.” – Mark Twain

“It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what other men say in whole books.” – Nietzsche

“It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.” – Robert Southey

“It’s better to say nothing than spend 1,000 words or an hour speech saying nothing. Get to the point.” – Richard Branson

“It’s quite simple: say what you have to say and when you come to a sentence with a grammatical ending, sit down.” – Winston Churchill

“Make sure you have stopped speaking before your audience has stopped listening.” – Dorothy Sarnoff

“Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink.” – Martin Lomasney

“Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary.” – Evan Esar

“The best speech has a good beginning and a good ending – and has them close together.” – unknown

“The best way to make a good speech is to have a good beginning and a good ending – and have them close together.” – unknown

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.” – Voltaire

“Think all you speak, but speak not all you think. Thoughts are your own; your words are so no more.” – Patrick Delany

“To make a speech immortal, you don’t have to make it everlasting.” – unknown

“What is powerful is when what you say is just the tip of the iceberg of what you know.” – Jim Rohn

QUOTES ON STORYTELLING IN PRESENTATIONS

“Every story has its time to be told.” – Sekou Sundiata

“Stories open the hearts of your listeners, and then their wallets.” – Arvee Robinson

QUOTES ON WORDS VERSUS ACTIONS

“Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.” – Baltasa

“One deed is worth a thousand speeches.” – American proverb

“People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.” – unknown

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

“Words may show a man’s wit, but actions, his meaning. “ – Benjamin Franklin

ABOUT SPARK PRESENTATIONS

Spark owner and speaking quote compiler Andy Saks

Spark Presentations is a private company founded in 1998 that provides presentation skills training and speech coaching for executives, salespeople, marketers and other businesspeople, plus booth staff training for trade show exhibitors.

Spark also books professional presenters and public speakers to represent its clients at high-profile events, in roles like keynote speaker, trade show booth presenter, master of ceremonies (emcee) and auctioneer, as well as on camera talent and voice talent.

Spark’s client list includes large corporations like AT&T, Best Buy, Covidien, FedEx, Hyundai, Intel, Kimberly-Clark, Owens-Corning, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, and Volvo; high-tech industry players like AMD, Atrion, Citrix, Gigamon, and Symantec; service organizations like Vistage, 1nService and NERCOMP; and New England institutions like Community Rowing and the Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Spark’s owner, Andy Saks, is also the author of The Presentation Playbook Series: Be a Most Valuable Presenter (MVP) , a three-volume series of books that help businesspeople master common presentation situations by building and running speaking “plays” like a coach or player calls a key play in a game. Volume 1 is available now in print and PDF formats on Spark’s website and at these online retailers and formats:  Amazon print , Amazon Kindle , Apple iBooks and Barnes & Noble print and Nook .

For questions, quotes or orders, contact Andy Saks at 781-454-7600, email or Spark’s Contact page .

Posted in: Sparky Says: Presentation & Public Speaking Tips | 1 Comment

Tags: public speaking tips

One comment

by Melissa Johnson | August 2, 2017 at 9:45 am

Good stuff!

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45 Best Motivational Quotes For Work: Perfect For Presentations & Slide Decks

Focus, determination, and focus. How do you inspire your team? These quotes can help with motivation they need. Great for presentations, slide decks, corporate retreats, or reflection in your next team meeting.

Looking for even more quotations? Try these quotes on productivity and teamwork !

•  “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen, American film director
•  “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act. But a habit.” –  Aristotle, Greek philosopher
•  “If you are not where you want to be, do not quit, Instead reinvent yourself and change your habits.” – Eric Thomas, American motivational speaker
•  “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” – Henry Ford, American industrialist
•  “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford, American industrialist
•  “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese philosopher
•  “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” – Meister Eckhart, German theologian
•  “Abandon anything about your life and habits that might be holding you back. Learn to create your own opportunities.” – Sophia Amoruso, American businesswoman
•  “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken..” – Warren Buffett, American business magnate
•  “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” – John C. Maxwell, American author
•  “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player
•  “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”   – Mark Twain, American author
•  “You can have results or excuses. Not both.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American actor
•  “There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” – Alan Cohen, author
•  “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou, American poet
•  “Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.” – Leo Babauta, author
• “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” – Tim Ferriss, American entrepreneur
• “You have the power on your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor
•  “Work harder on you than everyone else and you will become unusually successful.” – Dani Johnson, Businesswomen
• “Self-esteem comes from achieving something important when it’s hard to do.” – Clayton M. Christensen, American business consultant
•  “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author
•  “Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.” – Miguel De Unamuno, Spanish essayist
•  “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend first four sharpening the axe. “ – Abraham Lincoln, 16th president
•  “What better place than here, what better time than now.” – Tony Robbins, American author
•  “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without” – Confucius, Chinese philosopher
•  “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur
•  “Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur
•  “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president
•  “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison, American inventor
•  “You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer, American journalist
•  “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president
•  “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi, Indian activist
•  “If we have the attitude that it’s going to be a great day it usually is.” – Catherine Pulsifier, Author
•  “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller, American business magnate
•  “If something is important enough, even if the odds are stacked against you, you should still do it.” – Elon Musk, business magnate
•  “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.” – Sheryl Sandberg, American business executive
• “Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure.” – Stanley McChrystal, retired United States Army general
•  “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together” – Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch post-impressionist painter
•  “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan, American basketball player
•  “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz, former American football player
•  "Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change." – Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist
•  "If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing. " – Ernest Hemingway, American novelist
•  "Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler." – Albert Einstein, Theoretical physicist
• "Innovation distinguishes from a leader and a follower." – Steve Jobs, American business magnate
• “Tough times never last, but tough people do.“ – Robert Schuller, motivational speaker

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Our Favorite Presentation Quotes

• By: Aristotle

Call us geeks if you like, but we like presentations. We flip through presentations on SlideShare, even when they’re about things we don’t understand. We read books on public speaking, just for fun. We seek out quotes on presenting daily, in the off chance that one will be relevant and inspiring to one of our clients.

Speaking of which, we thought we’d share what we consider to be some of the more poignant and timeless quotes out there on public speaking:

“ There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave. ” – Dale Carnegie

Preparation is always the difference. Here’s to no regrets, and doing what you set out to do!

“ Mere words are cheap and plenty enough, but ideas that rouse and set multitudes thinking come as gold from the mines. ” – A. Owen

One of the biggest obstacles to delivering a great presentation is too much humility, or small thinking. It doesn’t matter what you’re speaking about: if you or someone else has asked for the opportunity to discuss the topic, it matters enough to be treated as an idea of profound importance. Passion always shines through.

“ Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all. “ – Sir Winston Churchill

We think he meant that brevity counts, and that the more what you say reflects common or ancient principles, the more easily you can persuade your audience.

“ It takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time. ”  – Wayne Burgraff

We thought about this, and think it’s true. Great presentations are a labor of love.

“ There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking. ” – Jean de la Bruyere

Public speaking is an art, and like all arts, we seek extraordinary experiences when we see it.

Presenting is a craft as old as time, and great men and women have long observed some of the irrefutable laws of public persuasion. The next time you’re putting a deck together, take a moment to read some words of wisdom. These principles have stood the test of time, and they apply even to today’s modern business environment.

Question: What is your favorite presentation principle ?

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Ideas and insights from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning

Powerful and Effective Presentation Skills: More in Demand Now Than Ever

When we talk with our L&D colleagues from around the globe, we often hear that presentation skills training is one of the top opportunities they’re looking to provide their learners. And this holds true whether their learners are individual contributors, people managers, or senior leaders. This is not surprising.

Effective communications skills are a powerful career activator, and most of us are called upon to communicate in some type of formal presentation mode at some point along the way.

For instance, you might be asked to brief management on market research results, walk your team through a new process, lay out the new budget, or explain a new product to a client or prospect. Or you may want to build support for a new idea, bring a new employee into the fold, or even just present your achievements to your manager during your performance review.

And now, with so many employees working from home or in hybrid mode, and business travel in decline, there’s a growing need to find new ways to make effective presentations when the audience may be fully virtual or a combination of in person and remote attendees.

Whether you’re making a standup presentation to a large live audience, or a sit-down one-on-one, whether you’re delivering your presentation face to face or virtually, solid presentation skills matter.

Even the most seasoned and accomplished presenters may need to fine-tune or update their skills. Expectations have changed over the last decade or so. Yesterday’s PowerPoint which primarily relied on bulleted points, broken up by the occasional clip-art image, won’t cut it with today’s audience.

The digital revolution has revolutionized the way people want to receive information. People expect presentations that are more visually interesting. They expect to see data, metrics that support assertions. And now, with so many previously in-person meetings occurring virtually, there’s an entirely new level of technical preparedness required.

The leadership development tools and the individual learning opportunities you’re providing should include presentation skills training that covers both the evergreen fundamentals and the up-to-date capabilities that can make or break a presentation.

So, just what should be included in solid presentation skills training? Here’s what I think.

The fundamentals will always apply When it comes to making a powerful and effective presentation, the fundamentals will always apply. You need to understand your objective. Is it strictly to convey information, so that your audience’s knowledge is increased? Is it to persuade your audience to take some action? Is it to convince people to support your idea? Once you understand what your objective is, you need to define your central message. There may be a lot of things you want to share with your audience during your presentation, but find – and stick with – the core, the most important point you want them to walk away with. And make sure that your message is clear and compelling.

You also need to tailor your presentation to your audience. Who are they and what might they be expecting? Say you’re giving a product pitch to a client. A technical team may be interested in a lot of nitty-gritty product detail. The business side will no doubt be more interested in what returns they can expect on their investment.

Another consideration is the setting: is this a formal presentation to a large audience with questions reserved for the end, or a presentation in a smaller setting where there’s the possibility for conversation throughout? Is your presentation virtual or in-person? To be delivered individually or as a group? What time of the day will you be speaking? Will there be others speaking before you and might that impact how your message will be received?

Once these fundamentals are established, you’re in building mode. What are the specific points you want to share that will help you best meet your objective and get across your core message? Now figure out how to convey those points in the clearest, most straightforward, and succinct way. This doesn’t mean that your presentation has to be a series of clipped bullet points. No one wants to sit through a presentation in which the presenter reads through what’s on the slide. You can get your points across using stories, fact, diagrams, videos, props, and other types of media.

Visual design matters While you don’t want to clutter up your presentation with too many visual elements that don’t serve your objective and can be distracting, using a variety of visual formats to convey your core message will make your presentation more memorable than slides filled with text. A couple of tips: avoid images that are cliched and overdone. Be careful not to mix up too many different types of images. If you’re using photos, stick with photos. If you’re using drawn images, keep the style consistent. When data are presented, stay consistent with colors and fonts from one type of chart to the next. Keep things clear and simple, using data to support key points without overwhelming your audience with too much information. And don’t assume that your audience is composed of statisticians (unless, of course, it is).

When presenting qualitative data, brief videos provide a way to engage your audience and create emotional connection and impact. Word clouds are another way to get qualitative data across.

Practice makes perfect You’ve pulled together a perfect presentation. But it likely won’t be perfect unless it’s well delivered. So don’t forget to practice your presentation ahead of time. Pro tip: record yourself as you practice out loud. This will force you to think through what you’re going to say for each element of your presentation. And watching your recording will help you identify your mistakes—such as fidgeting, using too many fillers (such as “umm,” or “like”), or speaking too fast.

A key element of your preparation should involve anticipating any technical difficulties. If you’ve embedded videos, make sure they work. If you’re presenting virtually, make sure that the lighting is good, and that your speaker and camera are working. Whether presenting in person or virtually, get there early enough to work out any technical glitches before your presentation is scheduled to begin. Few things are a bigger audience turn-off than sitting there watching the presenter struggle with the delivery mechanisms!

Finally, be kind to yourself. Despite thorough preparation and practice, sometimes, things go wrong, and you need to recover in the moment, adapt, and carry on. It’s unlikely that you’ll have caused any lasting damage and the important thing is to learn from your experience, so your next presentation is stronger.

How are you providing presentation skills training for your learners?

Manika Gandhi is Senior Learning Design Manager at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. Email her at [email protected] .

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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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Quotes for inspiration ahead of your next presentation.

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George Washington before the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, 1787.

Since the dawn of humankind, speaking in front of a large audience has been, and remains, a daunting task. So daunting, in fact, that many of us are paralyzed with fear when required to make a speech or presentation. Therefore, for anyone seeking inspiration before preparing their next oral presentation, here are a few useful quotes on the art of public speaking – from writing a speech, to rehearsing it, to ultimately delivering it on stage.

Transposing a flurry of ideas in your head into short, clear sentences on a page is arguably the hardest and most time-consuming part of preparation. “That which is well conceived becomes clearly enunciated, and the words to say it come effortlessly.” French poet Nicolas Boileau, writing in 1674, provides a useful reminder that before clear writing and clear speaking comes clear thinking. No idea can be convincingly delivered if it hasn’t first been revamped into simpler, more direct language. Complex ideas, structures and expressions rarely sway audiences, who tune-out what they don’t immediately grasp.

As humbling as it may be to admit, audiences rarely give speakers the kind of undivided attention and active listening that speakers expect. Therefore, time management is key. Remember to KISS ( K eep I t S hort & S imple) since audience attention fades quickly. Thomas Jefferson writing to a friend in 1773, said, “ The most valuable of all talents is never using two words when one will do. ” The impact and memorability of a presentation is a function of how much meaning is packed into the shortest amount of speaking time. Think of it like an equation: Impact = amount of meaning divided by number of words.

Or, to put it back into plain English: cutting unnecessary words will boost the impact of your speech. For example:

• Use a stronger verb to replace a vague verb + adverb (‘run,’ versus ‘go quickly,’ uses 1 word instead of 2.)
• Use the active voice in place of the passive voice (‘Phillip sang a song,’ versus, ‘A song was sung by Phillip,’ uses 4 words instead of 6.)
• Use plain language, words understood by the widest audience (to ‘send’ versus to ‘dispatch’ )

On Rehearsal

“ A study said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person…Number two is death. ” Comedian Jerry Seinfeld created a memorable bit out of this relatable fear.

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You can overcome stage fright through rehearsal. Americans are fond of saying “fake it ‘till you make it,” and perhaps there is a nugget of truth to this expression when it comes to public speaking. In 1879, Mark Twain put it this way, “I never could make a good impromptu speech without several hours to prepare it.” A good speech should appear effortless, almost spontaneous, as if spoken confidently from a place of genuine personal belief, rather than recited from a prepared script. But, just like changing a golf swing, making a speech appear natural and effortless takes many repetitions.

Practice does make perfect and, more importantly, builds self-confidence. Tennis legend Arthur Ashe reminds us, “The key to success is self-confidence. The key to self-confidence is preparation.” Therefore, always make time for many rehearsals.

On Delivery

Whether you rehearse in front of a mirror, or your team, or in an auditorium, your performance will benefit from these run-throughs. You can use these opportunities to experiment with vocal variety, body language, and pauses for emphasis. Additionally, you will likely make edits to your text as you identify wordy, hard-to-deliver sentences that could be cut to make the speech crisper.

Beyond the technical aspects of flawless delivery, it is even more important to connect emotionally with your audience. A perfectly delivered speech that makes no audience connection is less memorable that an imperfectly delivered speech that engages the audience. In the words of American author Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said […] but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

When you don’t connect with the audience, your words, however well-conceived and rehearsed, will fall flat. However, the notion of audience connection is often misunderstood: creating connection with an audience does not require you to be emotional. Being relatable to an audience is enough, and this can be achieved through a well-placed anecdote, by appearing comfortable on stage, or by sharing your enthusiasm for your presentation.

In conclusion, since you will likely give more than one presentation during your career, keep in mind Winston Churchill’s definition of success. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

As we’ve seen from some of history’s most quotable, whether the year be 1674 or 2024, successful presentations follow a time-tested playbook, from preparation through to delivery.

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65 Presentation Skills Quotes To Inspire You

Following is our list of the most famous presentation skills quotations and slogans. We've compiled this selection of inspirational presentation skills quotes. Hopefully, these presentation skills quotes will keep you motivated not only during hard times but to expand your presentation skills knowledge!

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The Most Famous Presentation Skills Quotes

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Leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills. — Shiv Khera 40

Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident. — Dale Carnegie 48

Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 22

The entertainment is in the presentation. — John McTiernan 40

What I — Oprah Winfrey 1

In describing today — Alvin Toffler 0

PowerPoint makes us stupid. — James Mattis 71

To succeed in business it is necessary to make others see things as you see them. — John H. Patterson 2

Learn to express, not impress. — Jim Rohn 32

Be able to correctly pronounce the words you would like to speak and have excellent spoken grammar. — Marilyn vos Savant 32

• Learn to speak by listening. — Rumi
• Oratory is just like prostitution: you must have little tricks. — Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
• Confidence is the public face of competence. — Ron Suskind
• It is more important to influence people than to impress them. — Adrian Rogers
• Business today consists in persuading crowds. — Gerald Stanley Lee
• Use soft words and hard arguments. — English Proverbs
• Be confident in your abilities and never underestimate the power of practice and preparation. — Joe Rogan
• If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job. — Tom Landry
• We are born poets. we become orators. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
• Tell the audience what you're going to say, say it; then tell them what you've said. — Dale Carnegie

Presentation Skills Image Quotes

People Writing About Presentation Skills

Stillness is not the absence or negation of energy, life, or movement. Stillness is dynamic. It is unconflicted movement, life in harmony with itself, skill in action. It can be experienced whenever there is total, uninhibited, unconflicted participation in the moment you are in—when you are wholeheartedly present with whatever you are doing. — Erich Schiffmann 47

Delivering a successful presentation could mean landing a major new contract, better prices for your services, or getting the funding you need. — Lewis Howes 44

The world we know at present is in no fit state to take over the dreariest little meteor ... If we have the courage and patience, the energy and skill, to take us voyaging to other planets, then let us use some of these to tidy up and civilize this earth. One world at a time, please. — J. B. Priestley 32

I have now transformed into a sensitive; a person who is able to detect when spirits are present. It's a skill that's evolved over hundreds of paranormal investigations and has taught me that the human body is the best means of paranormal detection. I've become a fine-tuned instrument of spiritual sensitivity. — Zak Bagans 23

There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars. — Mark Twain 18

I think that no one, or very few, are born as good presenters. It's a skill that you learn. — Guy Kawasaki 15

Kate Benson is an expert in applying NLP in the education sector. She is thoroughly organised, highly skilled and the love for what she teaches comes across in her presentations. I guarantee you will have a thoroughly enjoyable experience. — Richard Bandler 15

This is an occupation known as painting, which calls for imagination, and skill of hand, in order to discover things not seen, hiding themselves under the shadow of natural objects, and to fix them with the hand, presenting to plain sight what does not actually exist. — Cennino Cennini 13

Few diseases present greater difficulties in the way of diagnosis than malignant endocarditis, difficulties which in many cases are practi- cally insurmountable. It is no disparagement to the many skilled physicians who have put their cases upon record to say that, in fully one-half the diagnosis was made post mortem. — William Osler 11

Gross and subtle, pure and mixed, simple and complex - in the end that there is no place where God is not. In every atom, He alone is present. From the ant to the universe, He spreads. The Lord who cares equally for all, the compassionate one who is all knowledge, tenderness, skill, holiness and beauty - He stands on all sides everywhere. — Vinoba Bhave 9

There are good leaders who actively guide and bad leaders who actively misguide. Hence, leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills. — Shiv Khera 9

Presentation skills are key. People who work for you represent your brand. You want them to present themselves - and represent you - in a certain way. — Marc Benioff 8

The more a person feels skilled, the more her moods will improve; while the more challenges that are present, the more her attention will become focused and concentrated. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 7

You must feel what you're singing, not just have a good presentation of the language. — Cecilia Bartoli 5

To Retain those who are present, be loyal to those who are absent. — Stephen Covey 5

My singing wasn't horrible, but my dancing really made it look silly. It's not like I'm a horrible singer that can't sing. But I don't have the consistency or the presentation skills that a good performer has. — William Hung 4

You present a challenge to Satan's plan. You carry something of God within you, something noble and holy, something the world needs - wisdom, kindness, mercy, skill. If Satan can neutralize you, he can mute your influence. — Max Lucado 4

The simplest way to customize is to phone members of the audience in advance and ask them what they expect from your session and why they expect it. Then use their quotes throughout your presentation. — Allan Pease 4

Opportunity shies away from need, but opportunity is attracted by talent and ability. What you don't want to happen is opportunity to turn cool on you. You don't want to offend opportunity. So the only thing you present to opportunity is ability, performance and skill. Don't present need to opportunity. — Jim Rohn 4

To make money, to gather knowledge, to learn a new skill, to explore new territory, even to get from A to B - for all these things you need time. For almost everything you need time, except for one thing: to embrace the present moment. — Eckhart Tolle 3

Skill development, speed and scale are the 3 important aspects that are relevant to the present-day growth and development module. — Narendra Modi 3

Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public. — Abraham Lincoln 3

We've drifted into this presentation mode without realizing the cost to the content and the audience in the process. — Edward Tufte 3

Of those who say nothing, few are silent. — Tom Neil 3

We can have skills training in mindfulness so that we are using our attention to perceive something in the present moment. This perception is not so latent by fears or projections into the future, or old habits, and then I can actually stir loving-kindness or compassion in skills training too, which can be sort of provocative, I found. — Sharon Salzberg 3

Reading is a majority skill but a minority art. Yet nothing can replace the exact, complicated, subtle communion between absent author and entranced, present reader. — Julian Barnes 2

As each wave of technology is released. It must be accompanied by a demand for new skills, new language. Consumers must constantly update their ways of thinking, always questioning their understanding of the world. Going back to old ways, old technology is forbidden. There in no past, no present, only an endless future of inadequacy — Richard Kadrey 1

This increase in the life span and in the number of our senior citizens presents this Nation with increased opportunities: the opportunity to draw upon their skill and sagacityand the opportunity to provide the respect and recognition they have earned. It is not enough for a great nation merely to have added new years to lifeour objective must also be to add new life to those years. — John F. Kennedy 0

The legacy of women's war work is our present post-industrial employment structure. It was the war that created the demand for a technologically advanced, de-skilled, low-paid, non-unionized female workforce and paved the way for making part-time work the norm for married women now. A generation later, it was the daughters of wartime women workers who completed their mothers' campaign for equal pay. — Linda Grant 0

Nevertheless, in order to imbue civilization with sound principles and enliven it with the spirit of the gospel, it is not enough to be illumined with the gift of faith and enkindled with the desire of forwarding a good cause. For this end it is necessary to take an active part in the various organizations and influence them from within. And since our present age is one of outstanding scientific and technical progress and excellence, one will not be able to enter these organizations and work effectively from within unless he is scientifically competent, technically capable and skilled in the practice of his own profession. — Pope John XXIII 0

The audience does not need to tune themselves to you - you need to tune your message to fit them. Skilled presenting requires you to understand their hearts and minds and create a message to resonate with what's already there. Your audience will be significantly moved if you send a message that is tuned to their needs and desires. They might even quiver with enthusiasm and act in concert to create beautiful results. — Nancy Duarte 0

Executive presence has to do with the whole of the person. It's much more than presentation skill, charisma or savvy. It shows up in three dimensions of the leader's persona - character, substance and style. It's now clear that for a leader to influence and make an impact, it is important for them to also develop qualities such as authenticity, integrity, resonance, practical wisdom, and vision. — Suzanne Bates 0

Donald Trump is going to have to live in the real world in which Vladimir Putin is exactly who he presents himself to be, and Putin is extremely skilled. He's not going to make it very easy for the United States or Germany. And he's going to test Trump. — David Remnick 0

As formal teaching and training grow in extent, there is the danger of creating an undesirable split between the experience gained in more direct associations and what is acquired in school. This danger was never greater than at the present time, on account of the rapid growth in the last few centuries of knowledge and technical modes of skill. — John Dewey 0

Are you an action-oriented, take-charge person interested in exciting new challenges? As director of a major public-sector organization, you will manage a large armed division and interface with other senior executives in a team-oriented, multinational initiative in the global marketplace. Successful candidate will have above-average oral-presentation skills — Winston Churchill 0

The present and future of knowledge attainment and essential business skills. — Bill Gates 0

Time has come to show India's strength to the world. Lets recognise our demographic dividend & present image of a Skilled India to the world. — Narendra Modi 0

As a skilled psychologist, Dr. Reznick draws from her wealth of experience to offer children and parents a treasure trove of skills to relieve stress. She presents well-written, easy-to-follow tools to use in every situation. From visualization techniques to breathing exercises, Dr. Reznick taps the power of a child's imagination to ensure kids achieve peace and success. — Judith Orloff 0

You have to learn certain skills to present magic. — David Copperfield 0

Enjoy the present hour, be mindful of the past; And neither fear nor wish the Approaches of the last. Learn of the skillful: He that teaches himself, hath a fool for his master. — Benjamin Franklin 0

Some critics of racing witlessly claim that spectators only attend to see someone die. This is utter and complete nonsense. I have been at numerous races where death is present. When a driver dies, the crowd symbolically dies, too. They come to see action at the brink: ultimate risk taking and the display of skill and bravery embodied in the sport's immortals like Nuvolari, Foyt, and thousands of others who operate at the ragged edge. — Brock Yates 0

Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn't know you knew. It is a learned skill to force yourself to articulate your life, your present world or your possibilities for the future. — David Whyte 0

Putting a man in space is a stunt: the man can do no more than an instrument, in fact can do less. There are far more serious things to do than indulge in stunts. . . . I do not discard completely the value of demonstrating to the world our skills. Nor do I undervalue the effect on morale of the spectacular. But the present hullabaloo on the propaganda aspects of the program leaves me entirely cool. — Vannevar Bush 0

Everywhere and at all times it is in thy power piously to acquiesce in thy present condition, and to behave justly to those who are about thee, and to exert thy skill upon thy present thoughts, that nothing shall steal into them without being well examined. — Marcus Aurelius 0

In Conclusion

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Home Blog Education Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Getting the perfect presentation design is just a step toward a successful presentation. For the experienced user, building presentation skills is the answer to elevating the power of your message and showing expertise on any subject. Still, one can ask: is it the same set of skills, or are they dependable on the type of presentation?

In this article, we will introduce the different types of presentations accompanied by the skillset required to master them. The purpose, as always, is to retain the audience’s interest for a long-lasting and convincing message.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Presentation Skills

Persuasive presentations, instructional presentations, informative presentations, inspirational presentations, basic presentation skills, what are the main difficulties when giving a presentation, recommendations to improve your presentation skills, closing statement.

Effective communication is the answer to reaching business and academic goals. The scenarios in which we can be required to deliver a presentation are as diverse as one can imagine. Still, some core concepts apply to all presentations.

 We define presentation skills as a compendium of soft skills that directly affect your presentation performance and contribute to creating a great presentation. These are not qualities acquired by birth but skills you ought to train and master to delve into professional environments.

You may ask: is it really that evident when a presenter is not prepared? Here are some common signs people can experience during presentations:

• Evasive body language: Not making eye contact with the audience, arms closed tightly to the body, hands in pockets all the time.
• Lack of interest in the presenter’s voice: dull tone, not putting an effort to articulate the topics.
• Doubting when asked to answer a question
• Irksome mood

The list can go on about common presenter mistakes , and most certainly, it will affect the performance of any presented data if the lack of interest by the presenter is blatantly obvious.  Another element to consider is anxiety, and according to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, 73% of the population in the USA is affected by glossophobia , which is the fear of public speaking, judgment, or negative evaluation by other people.

Therefore, presentation skills training is essential for any business professional who wants to achieve effective communication . It will remove the anxiety from presentation performance and help users effectively deliver their message and connect with the audience.

Archetypes of presentations

Persuasive presentations aim to convince the audience – often in short periods – to acquire a product or service, adhere to a cause, or invest in a company. For business entrepreneurs or politicians, persuasive presentations are their tool for the trade.

Unless you aim to be perceived as an imposter, a proper persuasive presentation has the elements of facts, empathy, and logic, balanced under a well-crafted narrative. The central pillar of these presentations is to identify the single factor that gathered your audience: it could be a market need, a social cause, or a revolutionary concept for today’s society. It has to be something with enough power to gather critiques – both good and bad.

That single factor has to be backed up by facts. Research that builds your hypothesis on how to solve that problem. A deep understanding of the target audience’s needs , concerns, and social position regarding the solution your means can offer. When those elements are in place, building a pitch becomes an easy task. 

Graphics can help you introduce information in a compelling format, lowering the need for lengthy presentations. Good presentation skills for persuasive presentations go by the hand of filtering relevant data and creating the visual cues that resonate with what your audience demands.

One powerful example of a persuasive presentation is the technique known as the elevator pitch . You must introduce your idea or product convincingly to the audience in a timeframe between 30 seconds and less than 2 minutes. You have to expose:

• What do you do 
• What’s the problem to solve
• Why is your solution different from others 
• Why should the audience care about your expertise

For that very purpose, using engaging graphics with contrasting colors elevates the potential power of your message. It speaks professionalism, care for details, and out-of-the-box thinking. Knowing how to end a presentation is also critical, as your CTAs should be placed with care.

Therefore, let’s resume the requirements of persuasive presentations in terms of good presentation skills:

• Identifying problems and needs
• Elaborating “the hook” (the element that grabs the audience’s attention)
• Knowing how to “tie” your audience (introducing a piece of information related to the hook that causes an emotional impact)
• Broad knowledge of body language and hand gestures to quickly convey your message
• Being prepared to argue a defense of your point of view
• Handling rejection
• Having a proactive attitude to convert opportunities into new projects
• Using humor, surprise, or personal anecdotes as elements to sympathize with the audience
• Having confidence
• Be able to summarize facts and information in visually appealing ways

You can learn more about persuasive presentation techniques by clicking here .

In the case of instructional presentations, we ought to differentiate two distinctive types:

• Lecture Presentations : Presentations being held at universities or any other educative institution. Those presentations cover, topic by topic, and the contents of a syllabus and are created by the team of teachers in charge of the course.
• Training Presentations : These presentations take place during in-company training sessions and usually comprise a good amount of content that is resumed into easy-to-take solutions. They are aimed to coach employees over certain topics relevant to their work performance. The 70-20-10 Model is frequently used to address these training situations.

Lecture presentations appeal to the gradual introduction of complex concepts, following a structure set in the course’s syllabus. These presentations often have a similar aesthetic as a group of professors or researchers created to share their knowledge about a topic. Personal experience does tell that course presentations often rely on factual data, adequately documented, and on the theoretical side.

An example of a presentation that lies under this concept is a Syllabus Presentation, used by the teaching team to introduce the subject to new students, evaluation methods, concepts to be learned, and expectations to pass the course.

On the other hand, training presentations are slide decks designed to meet an organization’s specific needs in the formal education of their personnel. Commonly known as “continuous education,” plenty of companies invest resources in coaching their employees to achieve higher performance results. These presentations have the trademark of being concise since their idea is to introduce the concepts that shall be applied in practice sessions. 

Ideally, the training presentations are introduced with little text and easy-to-recognize visual cues. Since the idea is to summarize as much as possible, these are visually appealing for the audience. They must be dynamic enough to allow the presenter to convey the message.

Those key takeaways remind employees when they revisit their learning resources and allow them to ruminate on questions that fellow workers raise. 

To sum up this point, building presentation skills for instructional presentations requires:

• Ability to put complex concepts into simpler words
• Patience and a constant learning mindset
• Voice training to deliver lengthy speeches without being too dense
• Ability to summarize points and note the key takeaways
• Empathizing with the audience to understand their challenges in the learning process

The informative presentations take place in business situations, such as when to present project reports from different departments to the management. Another potential usage of these presentations is in SCRUM or other Agile methodologies, when a sprint is completed, to discuss the advance of the project with the Product Owner.

As they are presentations heavily dependent on data insights, it’s common to see the usage of infographics and charts to express usually dense data in simpler terms and easy to remember. 

Informative presentations don’t just fall into the business category. Ph.D. Dissertation and Thesis presentations are topics that belong to the informative presentations category as they condense countless research hours into manageable reports for the academic jury. 

Since these informational presentations can be perceived as lengthy and data-filled, it is important to learn the following professional presentation skills:

• Attention to detail
• Be able to explain complex information in simpler terms
• Creative thinking
• Powerful diction
• Working on pauses and transitions
• Pacing the presentation, so not too much information is divulged per slide

The leading inspirational platform, TEDx, comes to mind when talking about inspirational presentations. This presentation format has the peculiarity of maximizing the engagement with the audience to divulge a message, and due to that, it has specific requirements any presenter must meet.

This presentation format usually involves a speaker on a stage, either sitting or better standing, in which the presenter engages with the audience with a storytelling format about a life experience, a job done that provided a remarkable improvement for society, etc.

Empathizing with the audience is the key ingredient for these inspirational presentations. Still, creativity is what shapes the outcome of your performance as people are constantly looking for different experiences – not the same recipe rephrased with personal touches. The human factor is what matters here, way above data and research. What has your experience to offer to others? How can it motivate another human being to pursue a similar path or discover their true calling?

To achieve success in terms of communication skills presentation, these inspirational presentations have the following requirements:

• Focus on the audience (engage, consider their interests, and make them a part of your story)
• Putting ego aside
• Creative communication skills
• Storytelling skills
• Body language knowledge to apply the correct gestures to accompany your story
• Voice training
• Using powerful words

After discussing the different kinds of presentations we can come across at any stage of our lives, a group of presentation skills is standard in any type of presentation. See below what makes a good presentation and which skills you must count on to succeed as a presenter.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a crucial aspect of giving an effective presentation. Nothing says more about respect for your audience and the organization you represent than delivering the presentation on time . Arriving last minute puts pressure on the tech team behind audiovisuals, as they don’t have enough preparation to test microphones, stage lights, and projector settings, which can lead to a less powerful presentation Even when discussing presentations hosted in small rooms for a reduced audience, testing the equipment becomes essential for an effective presentation.

A solution for this is to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Ideally, one hour is a sweet spot since the AV crew has time to check the gear and requirements for your presentation. Another benefit of this, for example, in inspirational presentations, is measuring the previous presenter’s impact on the audience. This gives insights about how to resonate with the public, and their interest, and how to accommodate your presentation for maximum impact.

Body Language

Our bodies can make emotions transparent for others, even when we are unaware of such a fact. Proper training for body language skills reduces performance anxiety, giving the audience a sense of expertise about the presented topic. 

Give your presentation and the audience the respect they deserve by watching over these potential mistakes:

• Turning your back to the audience for extended periods : It’s okay to do so when introducing an important piece of information or explaining a graph, but it is considered rude to give your back to the audience constantly.
• Fidgeting : We are all nervous in the presence of strangers, even more, if we are the center of attention for that moment. Instead of playing with your hair or making weird hand gestures, take a deep breath to center yourself before the presentation and remember that everything you could do to prepare is already done. Trust your instincts and give your best.
• Intense eye contact : Have you watched a video where the presenter stared at the camera the entire time? That’s the feeling you transmit to spectators through intense eye contact. It’s a practice often used by politicians to persuade.
• Swearing : This is a no-brainer. Even when you see influencers swearing on camera or in podcasts or live presentations, it is considered an informal and lousy practice for business and academic situations. If you have a habit to break when it comes to this point, find the humor in these situations and replace your swear words with funny alternatives (if the presentation allows for it). 

Voice Tone plays a crucial role in delivering effective presentations and knowing how to give a good presentation. Your voice is a powerful tool for exposing your ideas and feelings . Your voice can articulate the message you are telling, briefing the audience if you feel excited about what you are sharing or, in contrast, if you feel the presentation is a burden you ought to complete.

Remember, passion is a primary ingredient in convincing people. Therefore, transmitting such passion with a vibrant voice may help gather potential business partners’ interest.  

But what if you feel sick prior to the presentation? If, by chance, your throat is sore minutes before setting foot on the stage, try this: when introducing yourself, mention that you are feeling a bit under the weather. This resonates with the audience to pay more attention to your efforts. In case you don’t feel comfortable about that, ask the organizers for a cup of tea, as it will settle your throat and relax your nerves.

Tech Skills

Believe it or not, people still feel challenged by technology these days. Maybe that’s the reason why presentation giants like Tony Robbins opt not to use PowerPoint presentations . The reality is that there are plenty of elements involved in a presentation that can go wrong from the tech side:

• A PDF not opening
• Saving your presentation in a too-recent PowerPoint version
• A computer not booting up
• Mac laptops and their never-ending compatibility nightmare
• Not knowing how to change between slides
• Not knowing how to use a laser pointer
• Internet not working
• Audio not working

We can come up with a pretty long list of potential tech pitfalls, and yet more than half of them fall in presenters not being knowledgeable about technology.

If computers aren’t your thing, let the organization know about this beforehand. There is always a crew member available to help presenters switch between slides or configure the presentation for streaming. This takes the pressure off your shoulders, allowing you to concentrate on the content to present. Remember, even Bill Gates can get a BSOD during a presentation .

Presentations, while valuable for conveying information and ideas, can be daunting for many individuals. Here are some common difficulties people encounter when giving presentations:

Public Speaking Anxiety

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, affects a significant portion of the population. This anxiety can lead to nervousness, trembling, and forgetfulness during a presentation.

Lack of Confidence

Many presenters struggle with self-doubt, fearing that they may not be knowledgeable or skilled enough to engage their audience effectively.

Content Organization

Organizing information in a coherent and engaging manner can be challenging. Presenters often grapple with how to structure their content to make it easily digestible for the audience. Artificial Intelligence can help us significantly reduce the content arrangement time when you work with tools like our AI Presentation Maker (made for presenters by experts in presentation design). 

Audience Engagement

Keeping the audience’s attention and interest throughout the presentation can be difficult. Distractions, disengaged attendees, or lack of interaction can pose challenges.

Technical Issues

Technology glitches, such as malfunctioning equipment, incompatible file formats, or poor internet connectivity, can disrupt presentations and increase stress.

Time Management

Striking the right balance between providing enough information and staying within time limits is a common challenge. Going over or under the allotted time can affect the effectiveness of the presentation.

Handling Questions and Challenges

Responding to unexpected questions, criticism, or challenges from the audience can be difficult, especially when presenters are unprepared or lack confidence in their subject matter.

Visual Aids and Technology

Creating and effectively using visual aids like slides or multimedia can be a struggle for some presenters. Technical competence is essential in this aspect.

Language and Articulation

Poor language skills or unclear articulation can hinder effective communication. Presenters may worry about stumbling over words or failing to convey their message clearly.

Maintaining appropriate and confident body language can be challenging. Avoiding nervous habits, maintaining eye contact, and using gestures effectively requires practice.

Overcoming Impersonal Delivery

In virtual presentations, maintaining a personal connection with the audience can be difficult. The absence of face-to-face interaction can make it challenging to engage and read the audience.

Cultural and Diversity Awareness

Presenting to diverse audiences requires sensitivity to cultural differences and varying levels of familiarity with the topic.

In this section, we gathered some tips on how to improve presentation skills that can certainly make an impact if applied to your presentation skills. We believe these skills can be cultivated to transform into habits for your work routine.

Tip #1: Build a narrative

One memorable way to guarantee presentation success is by writing a story of all the points you desire to cover. This statement is based on the logic behind storytelling and its power to connect with people .

Don’t waste time memorizing slides or reading your presentation to the audience. It feels unnatural, and any question that diverts from the topic in discussion certainly puts you in jeopardy or, worse, exposes you as a fraud in the eyes of the audience. And before you ask, it is really evident when a presenter has a memorized speech. 

Build and rehearse the presentation as if telling a story to a group of interested people. Lower the language barrier by avoiding complex terms that maybe even you aren’t fully aware of their meaning. Consider the ramifications of that story, what it could lead to, and which are the opportunities to explore. Then, visualize yourself giving the presentation in a natural way.

Applying this technique makes the presentation feel like second nature to you. It broadens the spectrum in which you can show expertise over a topic or even build the basis for new interesting points of view about the project.

Tip #2: Don’t talk for more than 3 minutes per slide

It is a common practice of presenters to bombard the audience with facts and information whilst retaining the same slide on the screen. Why can this happen? It could be because the presenter condensed the talk into very few slides and preferred to talk. The reality is that your spectators won’t retain the information you are giving unless you give visual cues to help that process. 

Opt to prepare more slides and pace your speech to match the topics shown on each slide. Don’t spend more than 3 minutes per slide unless you have to introduce a complex piece of data. Use visual cues to direct the spectators about what you talk about, and summarize the principal concepts discussed at the end of each section.

Tip #3: Practice meditation daily

Anxiety is the number one enemy of professional presenters. It slowly builds without you being aware of your doubts and can hinder your performance in multiple ways: making you feel paralyzed, fidgeting, making you forget language skills or concepts, affecting your health, etc.

Meditation is an ancient practice taken from Buddhist teachings that train your mind to be here in the present. We often see the concepts of meditation and mindfulness as synonyms, whereas you should be aware that meditation is a practice that sets the blocks to reach a state of mindfulness. For presenters, being in the here and now is essential to retain focus, but meditation techniques also teach us to control our breathing and be in touch with our body signals when stress builds up. 

The customary practice of meditation has an impact on imagination and creativity but also helps to build patience – a skill much needed for connecting with your audience in instructional presentations.

Having the proper set of presentation skills can be quite subjective. It goes beyond presentation tips and deepens into how flexible we can be in our ability to communicate ideas.

Different presentations and different audiences shape the outcome of our efforts. Therefore, having a basic understanding of how to connect, raise awareness, and empathize with people can be key ingredients for your career as a presenter. A word of advice: success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes dedication and patience to build communication skills . Don’t condition your work to believe you will be ready “someday”; it’s best to practice and experience failure as part of the learning process.

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Business Presentations, Presentation Approaches, Presentation Skills Filed under Education

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• Presentation Skills
• Skills & Tools

Presentation skills can be defined as a set of abilities that enable an individual to: interact with the audience; transmit the messages with clarity; engage the audience in the presentation; and interpret and understand the mindsets of the listeners. These skills refine the way you put forward your messages and enhance your persuasive powers.

The present era places great emphasis on good presentation skills. This is because they play an important role in convincing the clients and customers. Internally, management with good presentation skills is better able to communicate the mission and vision of the organization to the employees.

Importance of Presentation Skills

Interaction with others is a routine job of businesses in today’s world. The importance of good presentation skills is established on the basis of following points:

• They help an individual in enhancing his own growth opportunities. In addition, it also grooms the personality of the presenter and elevates his levels of confidence.
• In case of striking deals and gaining clients, it is essential for the business professionals to understand the audience. Good presentation skills enable an individual to mold his message according to the traits of the audience. This increases the probability of successful transmission of messages.
• Lastly, business professionals have to arrange seminars and give presentations almost every day. Having good presentation skills not only increases an individual’s chances of success, but also enable him to add greatly to the organization.

How to Improve Presentation Skills

Development of good presentation skills requires efforts and hard work. To improve your presentation skills, you must:

• Research the Audience before Presenting: This will enable you to better understand the traits of the audience. You can then develop messages that can be better understood by your target audience. For instance, in case of an analytical audience, you can add more facts and figures in your presentation.
• Structure your Presentation Effectively: The best way to do this is to start with telling the audience, in the introduction, what you are going to present. Follow this by presenting the idea, and finish off the presentation by repeating the main points.
• Do a lot of Practice: Rehearse but do not go for memorizing the presentation. Rehearsals reduce your anxiety and enable you to look confident on the presentation day. Make sure you practice out loud, as it enables you to identify and eliminate errors more efficiently. Do not memorize anything as it will make your presentation look mechanical. This can reduce the degree of audience engagement.
• Take a Workshop: Most medium and large businesses allow their employees to take employee development courses and workshops, as well-trained employees are essential to the success of any company. You can use that opportunity to take a workshop on professional presentation skills such as those offered by Langevin Learning Services , which are useful for all business professionals, from employees to business trainers and managers.

Job profiles that require this skill

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