The best presentations can attract a large audience and move them deeply. The best example of an effective presentation is a TED Talk. It is an influential video from an expert speaker that discusses education, business, science, technology, creativity, etc.
“If you think presentations cannot enchant people, then you have never seen a really good one.”
Guy Kawaski, an American marketing specialist, author, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist
Great presentations inspire audiences to take immediate action. To succeed in your career, you must know how to present well.
How do you give a powerful presentation?
There are five main areas that every effective presentation should include.
The presentation should persuade, and communicate through images to bring messages to life.
It should flow well, provide practical, real-world applications, and end with a solid call to action.
5 critical elements of effective presentations
Let’s examine these five critical elements closely. You can learn how to create a powerful presentation that persuades your audience to act.
1. Know your audience
The best presenters deeply understand their audience.
The best public speakers can anticipate how the audience will react to their messages. They don’t assume they know their audience well.
The best public speakers are curious about their audience’s challenges.
“Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it ‘to whom it may concern.’”
Ken Haemer, former presentation research manager at AT&T
To ensure your messages resonate with your audience, adapt your presentation to their interests, level of understanding, and beliefs.
When you take an audience-centered approach to your presentations, you’ll be more effective and persuasive.
Understand your audience’s age, gender, educational background, career, social and economic status, political opinions, hobbies, and interests.
2. Images
Powerful images should back up your words. The best presentations use captivating photos.
For example, instead of putting tons of words on a slide, use one image and talk to it.
“Naturally sticky ideas are stuffed full of concrete words and images.”
Chip Heath, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business
Remember the phrase: A picture paints a thousand words.
The best presentations ignite your audience’s imagination and appeal to their emotions. Make sure your presentation has images that complement your words perfectly.
Your pictures should pop and work well with your analogies and anecdotes.
“The brain doesn’t pay attention to boring things.”
John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist
3. Flow
Good public speakers clearly articulate what they will cover during the presentation.
They discuss their goals in their presentations, which have a flow like a table of contents in a book.
Good speakers are logical with the flow of their presentations.
The audience can easily follow them. They know it’s easy to get distracted or tune out, so they keep their presentation to three main points.
“No one can remember more than three points.”
Philip Crosby, an author, consultant, and philosopher
Please write down the three main ideas you want to communicate and develop between them.
How do they connect?
Bring your audience along with your presentation. Discuss the three steps and how they interconnect, so your presentation has a nice, natural flow. That’s how you develop an effective presentation.
4. Examples
Your presentation should have examples that your audience can relate to. Some speakers focus too much on entertainment during a presentation. They try to show the audience how smart and knowledgeable they are.
The best presentations impact how the audience lives today.
“People don’t remember what we think is important. They remember what they think is important.”
John Maxwell, an American author, speaker, and pastor
Provide practical examples. Make sure you show how your concepts relate to the real world.
Continually ask yourself: What does this mean?
Your audience should learn through examples to make sure it becomes relevant to their lives.
5. Call to action
What do you want your audience to take away from your presentation and do?
“If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation, your audience never will.”
Harvey Diamond, an author
Your call to action, or CTA for short, is intended to persuade people to do what you want them to do.
Your CTA should be clear and provide a strong reason to act. It must take away from your presentation and make something happen. It should be low-risk, persuasive, and have a sense of urgency.
The whole reason for a CTA is to convince your audience to do something.
Why did you invest a lot of time preparing and practicing your presentation?
Bringing it all together
The most effective presentations tell your audience more than the “what,” but answer the “so what?”
What should your audience do after they listen to your presentation?
“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.”
Lilly Walters, an author
A powerful presentation is persuasive, image-driven, flows well, has practical examples, and ends with a strong call to action.
A powerful presentation gets an audience’s attention, keeps them engaged, and makes an impact.
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