Presentation Skills

Connect with the crowd on a gut level. The audience has to feel that what you’re saying is important, actionable, and true.  

 Start with a hook. Capture your audience's attention immediately with a statistic, anecdote, controversial question or quotation that relates to the topic and message. 
 Consider how your audience can engage and interact with the concepts in your presentation. Discussion questions, brainstorms, small group topics, simulations, case studies, or demonstrations are just a few ways to involve your audience. 
 Visuals help tell the story, but make sure they're simple and creative. Visuals should be relevant to the content since they help to tie the words together and create a lasting impression on viewers. 
 Use text sparingly on slides; they are not your speaking notes. Don't make your audience multitask. It's difficult to both read and listen at the same time, font size should be large enough to be read at the back of the room. Consider high-contrast colours that will look good on the screen. 
Use Humor; add some jokes and humorous comments throughout your presentation. Like storytelling, it connects with the audience on a deeper level, and getting them to laugh helps to earn their attention back if you were losing it. On top of that, you help cut any tension in the room. 

ClipArt Library. (n.d.) Mini figure lego city [Image]. http://clipart-library.com/clipart/powerpoint-presentation-cliparts_6.htm  

Elliers, C. (2021, November 17). Presentation skills: Examples and tips to improve yours. Zety. https://zety.com/blog/presentation-skills 

University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Presentation skills: Presenting material to your audience is a key skill that you will use throughout your career. https://students.ubc.ca/career/career-resources/presentation-skills