I am doing a webinar for the first time in a long while this week, which got me thinking about best practices for creating a better presentation. Generally, creating a deck is easy for me and I joke that I dream in PowerPoint. (This isn’t far from the truth, to be honest.)

I am a comfortable presenter, but in order to do my best for the attendees, I need to make sure I don’t get over confident and put in the work.

Before I started my current business, I was a pursuit consultant in the Sales, Marketing & Business Development group at Deloitte. I coordinated proposal responses and coached teams on presentations to prospective clients.

While I was an experienced sales rep and marketer when I took the job, I have to say that working in that group definitely honed my skills. Here are some of the key things I learned that will help you do your best on your next presentation, whether to your employees, executive team, or investors.

1. Create clean slides with only the most important points

If you find that you are jamming a slide full of content and reformatting it, create a new slide. Endeavor to keep each slide to one main point with only supporting information about that point.

2. Use large fonts 

Nothing puts an audience to sleep faster than packed slides with small fonts they can’t read. Or slides with embedded Excel spreadsheets they can’t read. I recommend using a handout for spreadsheet data so people can actually understand it.

If you are going to be projecting your presentation, imagine the person in the back of the room and how they would experience it. 

3. Start and finish strong

I did many musical performances when I was younger. My mother drilled into me that the way I started and the way I finished needed to be rock solid, and that the audience might not notice a few wrong notes in the middle. This has proven to be excellent advice.

4. Tell them what they will get

Everybody is tuned into their favorite radio station WIIFM – or What’s In It For Me. You are asking your audience for their valuable time. Make sure they know why they are there and what they will get out of your talk. 

How will it benefit them? Why should they care? The clearer you are in getting these points across at the beginning, the more attention you will receive throughout your presentation.

5. Slow down 

Speak a little slower and more deliberately than you normally do. When you are nervous, you may naturally start to talk faster, so concentrating on slowing your speech cadence can compensate for that.

Also, fast-talking is a warning sign for most of us. We tend to think of the fast-talking salesman as a person who is trying to get something past us. Don’t be that person.

6. End early

Seriously, if you have said everything you needed to say, thank people for their time and let them get back to work. They will love you for it.

On my webinar, I will use any extra time to answer specific questions and spot-coach attendees.

7. Practice!

As my friend Carol Roth says frequently, “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

I am extremely comfortable presenting and am quick on my feet, but I make sure I don’t self-sabotage by blocking out specific times to practice on my calendar before a big talk.

Photo by ThisisEngineering on Unsplash