The Power Presenter’s Handbook: Commanding A Room In 6 Steps
Written by @Anastasia Valti
Working with enterprises across the globe on all sorts of projects - ranging from the development of a new consumer engagement model, to restructuring after a large M&A, to reinventing processes through digitisation - we’ve seen that in business one thing remains constant almost 100% of the time: at one point or another, a stakeholder will have to get up in front of other people and present.
Be it to educate, inspire, convince, or sell your work, being able to speak to critical audiences with impact can be a make or break milestone both for the professional and, often, for a business as a whole. That’s quite some pressure, and hence why most people don’t look forward to delivering a speech or presentation. In fact, public speaking goes against our natural instincts.
So what’s the answer to getting up there and making that powerpoint actually mean something?
PREPARATION.
We often assume some people are just ‘naturals’, but in reality none of the best speakers you’ve seen owe their effortless delivery to talent alone. Steve Jobs would walk around his house for days rehearsing his words over and over before a presentation. Barack Obama’s hand gestures or even volume were thought through way in advance.
Below, we’ll cover the 6 foundational rules for delivering a powerful presentation:
Memorise as much as possible
Time Yourself
Record Yourself
Be Deliberate About Your Body Language & Presence
Make Your Content Digestible
Be Ahead of Your Q&A
Short on time? You can download a quick cheat sheet summarising our top tips here.
For a more in-depth read, follow along as we break down each of these pillars in detail below.
💭 Memorize as much as possible
The point is not to stress over every little word, but to know your content thoroughly and ‘own it’ so that on the day of your presentation you can focus on engaging with your audience rather than what your next line is.
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse over a period of time.
Spaced repetition is key to long-term memorization. Use different times of the day to practice, as this can help strengthen memory retention.
Break down the speech into smaller, manageable "chunks."
This makes it easier to remember parts sequentially. Focus on memorizing one chunk at a time before moving to the next.
Use mnemonic devices
Tools like acronyms, rhymes, or associations can help you remember key points or data. For example, creating an acronym from the first letter of each main point can provide an easy recall cue.
Use visual aids or cue cards
With key points or phrases as memory triggers in case you get stuck. Do not write the entire speech on these cards, just the main ideas or difficult-to-remember parts.
⏰ Time Yourself
Otherwise it’s almost impossible to make sure you have time to deliver your whole presentation at a good pace, stress free, and with ample time for Q&A.
Break up your presentation into sections.
Make a note of how much time it takes you to get through each section so you get a better understanding of which parts you need to condense.
Focus a couple of your rehearsals on timing alone
Don’t put everything on your plate at once. Once you’ve hit your timing goals for all of your sections, practice again with a focus on your other targets (delivery, body language etc).
📹 Record Yourself
Watching yourself on recording can be cringe but it’s a gamechanger for high-stakes presentations. It gives you the opportunity to see yourself exactly as your audience will - only you’re likely a much harsher critic of yourself, which is great for giving yourself notes on how to perfect your delivery 😊
Don’t record yourself the first time round
As you’re likely still scrambling your words. Do it when you’re at a point where you feel you’re pretty much there with knowing your script, so you can get a realistic view of what you will look like on the day.
Observe yourself holistically
Is your pace easy to understand? Are you making nervous gestures like touching your hair or fixing your tie? Are you making enough eye contact with your audience? Apply your own feedback to your next rehearsal and record again to compare.
Rewatch your recording(s) in-between rehearsals.
Mixing reading with listening to your words lets your memory process the information in different ways, therefore helping you retain it better.
👤 Be Deliberate About Your Body Language & Presence
Use purposeful movements to emphasize points
For example, hand gestures. Avoid overdoing gestures or keeping hands in pockets, which can detract from the message.
Make eye contact with various audience members.
holding for a few seconds with each to create a sense of connection. Avoid staring at a single point or constantly looking down at notes.
Remember to SMILE.
Obviously not all the time, but when you discuss a positive outcome or potential, it’s a good opportunity to become more personable and draw the audience to you.
Stand upright with shoulders back and down.
This helps you exude confidence and authority. Avoid slouching or leaning on podiums, which can appear unprofessional or unengaged.
Use the space available to you.
Step forward to emphasize a point or step back to signify reflection or a broader perspective.
Move towards the audience
When asking rhetorical questions or inviting participation. Avoid pacing as it can be distracting.
📣 Make Your Content Digestible
Your audience can already read what’s on your slides. So the point of you talking through them is to make them more than just information.
Find opportunities to insert personal anecdotes
For example stories or experiences that relate to the topic. This humanises you in the eyes of the audience, but also illustrates that you stand behind your words, making it easier to convince the audience too.
Contextualise data
Data can be quite intimidating to the eye. When presenting them, try to weave a story that connects the data to the strategic objectives, making it more relatable and impactful through a compelling narrative.
Consider using ‘strategic pauses’
You already know the importance of pacing yourself so you’re understood by everyone. But consider also using ‘strategic pauses’ (longer pauses than usual) after key points, to stress their importance and give your audience time to reflect on them.
Embrace bloopers with humor
Be prepared that often, something in your setup might go wrong - someone’s phone goes off, the monitor gets stuck etc.. Instead of ‘freezing’ and making it awkward, turn this into an opportunity for an ice-breaker, relax and use casual humor to embrace it. Making your audience laugh is the most effective path to getting them on your side.
🔔 Be Ahead of Your Q&A
The best way to look good when answering questions is…you guessed it, preparing your answers too.
Predict questions
Consider the audience's background and perspective to predict their inquiries and concerns.
Prepare answers in writing
Note down clear answers and go over them before your presentation. Even if the questions you get are not 100% what you anticipated, you will still have strong ‘ready to go’ thoughts you can bring into your answers that you feel confident in.
Incorporate the 'PREP' method
Point, Reason, Example, Point. Start with your main point, explain the reason, give an example, and restate the point. This structure ensures clarity and conciseness in responses. See an example here
Anticipate there may be questions you don’t have answers to
Stay honest and commit to follow up with more information later - it’s ok to not know everything, but you must retain your look of confidence at all times.
Close strong
When closing your Q&A, summarise the key points or takeaways, thank the audience for their questions and reiterate the main message of the presentation for a strong closing that shows you’re in command of your session.
Remember, what makes a presentation powerful is enabling your audience to ‘see’ you. The more in command you are of your speech or presentation, the more confidence you’ll have, letting your personality come through. Ultimately, it is connecting with your listeners - on a human level - that will make your message land and be remembered.
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