10 Tips for Creating Effective Business Presentations

[This article was written by Becca J. Meyers.]

When it comes to making an effective business presentation, you want to make sure that your audience hangs on your every word. That sounds hard in a world where everyone is easily distracted. However, you can keep the audience in the palm of your hands with 10 simple presentation tips. Here are the proven ways that you can make an outstanding business presentation.

1. Set the Mood

First, you will want to set the mood to keep your audience comfortable yet engaged. Make sure there are no harsh lights or anything distracting in the room. If you have visual aids and boards, make sure that they’re placed where everyone can see them. However, the ultimate focus must be on the presenter.

2. Make a Big First Impact

You have to grab people in the first 30 seconds of the presentation. This can be done with an eye-opening fact or visual aid. This first impact should be relevant to the presentation. It’s a good idea to make this first impact lead to the rest of your presentation. For example, if your business is trying to save a client money, you can start by putting $10,000 in cash on the table and say, “This is how much money your company is losing every day. Here is how we can stop that.” Of course, you will want to then remove the money from sight so it won’t be a distraction.

3. Get Audience Participation

One proven trick in presentations is asking the audience questions and have them respond by raising their hands. Ideally, ask questions that people can respond to in the affirmative. This will condition them to think in a positive way, but don’t get too carried away with this. Using this method once or twice at the beginning of the meeting will be effective enough.

4. Give Examples

Business people are naturally inclined to be skeptical at anything they are told. Therefore, you will want to have examples to back up your claims. For instance, if you talk about saving your clients money, then have a case study ready demonstrating how your company successfully saved money for a similar company.

5. Have a Simple, Impactful Design

People are able to absorb visuals faster than spoken words. Therefore, you will want to invest in a business presentation design that is clean, simple, and professionally made. Be sure to use two or three colors, at most, in the overall look of your presentation. These design choices will make all of your slides, videos, and handouts pleasing to the eye.

6. Use Pictures, Sounds, and Moving Images

Be sure to use a mix of media in your presentation, especially if you plan on speaking for a long time. This will keep people engaged and allow you to “take a break” during your presentation. If your presentation is 60 minutes, try to have some sort of media play every 15 minutes. This can allow you to easily move from one part of the presentation to another.

7. Keep the Pace Going

You want to make sure that your presentation doesn’t drag. Rehearse your presentation over and over. Cut out the fat. Keep your presentation lean and you will have an audience hanging on to your every word.

8. Lead Up to One Big Idea or Solution

You want to have one overarching idea in your presentation. People will get confused if you try to communicate two things at one time. If your presentation is about saving your clients money, then focus on this idea and expand in as much detail as time allows. Everything in your presentation should lead back to the main point.

9. Offer an Engaging Handout

Everyone offers handouts in their business presentation. Make sure your handout summarizes the key points of information. Include the highlighted charts and visuals from your Powerpoint presentation. Also, make sure the design of the handout is clean and easy to read.

10. Close with a Call to Action

Finally, close with a call to action. That call to action could be to hire your company, buy your product, use your service, or approve your idea. It is critical that the call to action is framed as the solution to the client’s problem. Make the client feel that they can not achieve their goals without your solution.

Creating a top business presentation

You are literally 10 quick steps away from a great presentation. Remember to keep things moving, keep it simple, be impactful, and finish with a strong call to action. Follow these proven presentation tips and you’ll deliver presentations that get results.

Author Bio:

Becca is a java junkie from the West Coast. She enjoys dancing with her husband and has a knack for finding the next big indie boardgame. You can always find her sitting in her nook reading and helping people understand the principles of business presentation design.