Presentations hold an important role in today’s world. Whether it is in academia or the business community, presentations are often used to present and pitch important ideas. In a business context, presentations are integral to forming partnerships. While they can be presented online or offline, their overall look remains key. This is indicated by an article by Forbes which note that it only takes ten minutes to lose your audience completely. Trying to emit a company’s brand, confidence, and professionalism through a presentation can be challenging. This blog will act as a guideline for companies looking to ensure their presentation adheres to professional standards and remains compelling, engaging and persuasive to listeners.
Types of Presentations
There is no standard general business presentation. Quarterly reviews, sales presentations, follow-ups, pitch decks and other forms of presentations exist. In essence, almost anything can be converted into a presentation. Many use a presentation instead of sending a document for people to read because the former is more effective. Presentations are meant to have less text, using the many graphics and icons available to highlight vital statistics. In this sense, presentations can be broadly categorised as informative, persuasive and instructive.
Informative presentations are typically exclusively used when presenting to the internal staff. Hence, this category includes presentations on quarterly business reviews, business plans and team briefs. In a persuasive business presentation, the presenter expects some action to be followed. What this means is the presenter’s main job is not simply to inform the audience but also to persuade them to do something. This category includes presentations on sales, outreach efforts, pitch decks and business proposals. Lastly, instructive business presentations are regarded as supporting material. This is, for example, where presentations would be used as a form of guidance. Thus employee training, onboarding, and company policy presentations belong to this category. While some consider this as a form of informative presentation, the difference lies between the fact that an instructive presentation communicates what needs to be done or policies that need to be followed, whereas an informative presentation is for employees to understand the overall performance of the organisation.
What You Should Do in a Business Presentation:
- Know your audience – A presentation should be curated according to the audience. If it is for a client, for example, note that you will have to have a short section where they are first introduced to the company before moving on with the proposal.
- Start with a storyboard – Planning is an important aspect of making a presentation. This includes the phase of collecting statistics, facts and other important information. This also requires you to structure your presentation and narrow down what information you want to use.
- Be mindful of the way you use data – While numerical information is a great way to demonstrate facts, if you do not provide a context, too much data can be overwhelming. Due to this, always remember to tackle the what and the why (what are these statistics, and why are they important in this context?)
- Keep it Simple – Avoid making your presentation bulky with text. Do not also go over the top with complex diagrams either. Keep the presentation clean and clear, highlighting only the most important information on each slide. Use keywords which can be used to elaborate your point.
- The Shorter, the Better – A human’s attention span is approximately 20 minutes, whether online or offline. While this may differ depending on each person, as a rule of thumb, ensure only to take up only 20 minutes maximum. This is why you must constantly edit, proofread and reverse your slide content to ensure you stick to your most important points.
- Follow the 10/20/30 Rule – This refers to the number of slides, the presentation’s duration and the content’s size. Limit your slides to only ten, while any fonts used should always be below 30. This rule also extends to video presentations that strive to leave a lasting impact on the audience. Be also careful with background and text colours.
- Use Examples and Visuals – Not all topics discussed in a board room are interesting enough. Hence, providing practical examples that people can relate to is a great way to get your point across. Adding visuals also can engage and execute your points.
- Pace yourself – The time running is not an excuse to suddenly speed up your presentation. Remember you cannot change slides until you have allowed your audience reasonable time to read the content. For this, if you simply pace yourself properly, you would not have to worry about ever making such a mistake.
- Always wrap with a summary – Just because you are running out of time does not mean you should finish your presentation abruptly. It is always good to give a summary under a minute before opening for questions. Do not repeat long lines; instead, try to provide the underlying points of the entire presentation concisely.
What You Should Not Do in a Business Presentation:
- Avoid Using Jargon – While this will greatly differ in terms of the industry you are in, as a general rule, you should avoid using jargon. This is especially the case if you pitch a sale to your client, who may be from a different field. Thus, use simple words. You are trying to win over your client with the work and not with your words.
- Do not go overboard with slide effects – Presentation applications include slide transformations to keep slides more interesting. In a professional context, however, these should be avoided or minimally used in a professional context. While including it may help make the presentation more interesting, if you use too much, it will only become a distraction.
- Do not use opaque hues – Many tend to rely on design templates. While some templates are good, not all of them have adhered to important aspects of a presentation in terms of readability. In other words, a presentation theme could use opaque-coloured text. Make sure you customise the template so that it meets standards of professionalism.
- Do not use curvy fonts – The font used is an essential feature of a presentation that demonstrates your professionalism. Use fonts like Calibri, Open Sans and Times New Roman instead of illegible and cursive texts. You may change fonts within your slides, although you are advised to stick to a maximum of three.
- Do not place your text clustered – Text indentation is significant. Even if you have bullet points, congesting them would not be appealing. Hence, consider the spacing in between. Also, set an alignment to make it easy on the eyes, as aligned text tend to give a sense of clarity.
- Do not simply add stock images – While images are helpful to brighten up your presentation, consider why you are inserting them. For example, what is the vibe emitted by using that specific picture, for example? Customise your presentation to avoid posed pictures that convey the wrong message.
- Do not look at a random object while presenting – As a student, a lot of people talk about fixing their eyes on a random object to avoid getting anxious. As a professional, however, such tactics will not be regarded positively. You need to have eye contact with all people in the room in a random manner.
- Avoid too much movement – While using your hands is a good way to show enthusiasm and even to make your points, do not overdo it. You should not be moving your hands too much. Neither should you fold your arms, keep them back, or put them inside your pockets. Avoiding wearing too much ornamentation in your dress and appearance as well.
- Do Not Read Out From Slides – Never directly read from your slides. Remember that your presentation is a form of guideline that guides your order. It keeps you and your audience on track. Hence, make reference to your slides but elaborate, explaining why these points matter. If you think you may forget important points, consider having flashcards for your own reference instead.
The Role of Presentations Will Never Fade Away
Presentations are one of the many things that have continued to play a significant role in the 21st century. Presentations have evolved from requiring a user to generate designs on their own to now offering various design templates, providing everyone with an opportunity to have creative slides. Some also adopt video presentations as well. Despite these many changes, the point made above remains to be relevant. So next time you have to ace your business presentation, do keep in mind to follow through with the do’s and don’ts.
