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If you’ve been tasked with hosting a business presentation, the ordeal consists of much, much more than a few nice-looking slides. Even if you know Microsoft PowerPoint inside out, there are so many components that go into pulling off a presentation that keeps the audience engaged throughout.
For starters, you’re going to need to have confidence in your abilities. If you’re centre stage and look a little sheepish, this isn’t going to instil trust in those who are watching. Before the proceedings kick off, here are some useful tips and ways to host a killer business presentation that can elevate your brand to new heights!
10 Ways to Host a Killer Business Presentation from Start to Finish
1. Know Your Material Inside Out
This is the most important tip of all – you need to know your material inside out! Go through what you’re going to say, then do it again… then do it again! You get the idea. Before you have an audience in front of you, it’s crucial that you run through the presentation from beginning to end. After all, attendees need to be completely sold on what you’re going to say.
For instance, if the plan is to bring a new client on board, they will be watching your every move and listening to every word. Therefore, make sure you’ve rehearsed fully so there are no awkward silences! The last thing you want is to mix up your words!
2. Set Clear Goals
What are you hoping to achieve with your business presentation? Are you launching a new product onto the market? Maybe you’ve got a client in the audience you want to win over? Whatever the purpose, it’s a good idea to set clear goals from the beginning. This will let the audience know what you’re trying to get across.
Setting clear goals and objectives will bring structure to the presentation too. As your goals are met, both you and the audience will feel a sense of achievement, especially when it comes to effective communication.
3. Involve the Audience
Speaking of the audience, make sure you involve them throughout your presentation. After all, if you want them to stay engaged and hooked on your every word, you’re going to need some participation on their behalf! One way to do this is simply by asking direct questions to audience members.
If you want to go up a gear with interactivity, why not host a live word cloud? These are used in scenarios like a presentation to engage the audience. Simply ask the audience for their feedback, and you can house it in a cloud format on the screen, which will bring it to life. Vevox knows the ins and outs of world cloud polls. Their features can be integrated with a number of platforms and software too. Learn what tools word cloud polls can integrate with on their website.
4. Have Enthusiasm
No audience wants to hear somebody drone on and on about a subject if there’s no passion involved. If you start your presentation with a monotone voice, it’s going to show and not set a great impression. You need to be enthusiastic about what you’re talking about, otherwise, people just aren’t going to listen.
Body language means everything when hosting a business presentation. For people to pay attention and listen to what you say, your demeanour needs to be positive, uplifting and enthusiastic. When you do this, you’ll be amazed at how many more people are drawn in and hang on to every single word that comes out of your mouth!
5. Arrive Well in Advance
The term ‘fashionably late’ definitely doesn’t apply when you’re hosting a business presentation. If you believe you can rock up 5 minutes before and wing it, think again! Make sure you allocate plenty of time beforehand to arrive, set up and prepare for what awaits. If you don’t, you run the risk of falling off track and not delivering your best performance.
If you’ve got a 9 am presentation, you don’t want to be stuck in rush hour traffic! Therefore, arrive earlier than you normally would. Being punctual is important for both your personal and professional endeavours.
6. Open Strong
The first sentence can make or break a business presentation, so think carefully about how to open proceedings. You’ll want the audience to have a smile on their face and be intrigued rather than a look of confusion! Why not kick things off with a statistic that shocks the audience? This will make them take notice and sit on the edge of their seats.
Shock value can go a long way and help you deliver an excellent business presentation. Perhaps you could begin with an attention-grabbing video? There are many options that you’re going to need to think about to help things start with a bang.
7. Maintain Eye Contact
We get it, hosting a presentation is scary business! Whether you’ve done it before or you’re a first-timer, it’s normal to have butterflies. However, once you take to the stage and your talk gets underway, it’s vital that you look into the eyes of your audience. Even if you feel you’ll be more confident looking over their heads, you need to fully engage with attendees throughout the presentation.
Maintaining eye contact is an excellent way to show your confidence and that you are passionate about your speech. It can be unnerving to look into the eyes of someone who looks disinterested, but doing so will show you believe in your message.
8. Add Humour
Business presentations are, of course, meant to be formal. But that’s not to say you can’t inject a little bit of humour here and there. In fact, incorporating a light-hearted joke can not only get a laugh but make people feel more at ease.
Sure, you may know the ins and outs of a product you’re trying to sell. However, if everything stays formal and important throughout the entire presentation, people can quickly get bored and switch off. Obviously, be careful about what kinds of jokes you put into the talk. The last thing you want is to say something that could offend!
9. Be Prepared for Tricky Questions
Once your presentation is done and dusted, the hard work doesn’t end there! Your audience may have a question or two about what you’ve said. Therefore, you will need to be on your A-game and prepare yourself for anything that comes your way.
For example, if you’re launching a product for the business, some audience members are naturally going to want to know a little more about it. Make a list of questions that you expect to hear, and you won’t be caught off guard.
10. Close On a High
You’re nearly at the finish line of your business presentation. Just like with your opening speech, the ending needs to be powerful. It’s time, to sum up everything you’ve said so the audience can leave the room with your words firmly ingrained in their brain!
Maybe you could end with a quotation? Or perhaps remind them about the goals you laid out at the start and quickly summarise the main points. However you go about it, just make sure your conclusion stands out.
We appreciate that hosting a business presentation can be a daunting affair. Whether you’re looking to secure new clients or bring more customers on board, you need to remain confident in what you say and make use of all the above. Doing so will help you pull off a business presentation that’s professional, gets your points across and stays in the mind of attendees.
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