10 Ways to Make Your Presentation Stand out from the Crowd

Imagine that after finishing speaking, you hear loud applause. You see the audience smiling and longing to ask questions.  The day after everyone at university or work knows about the topic you have presented and knows you as an excellent speaker. This dream is possible to be true. All you need is to follow several simple yet useful pieces of advice to succeed a presentation.

1. Pay attention to the key points. When you prepare your presentation, think about the main question – what are the key points that the audience will remember? You should underline these points and pay your audience’s attention to them. Announce the most important points in the beginning and tell about them in the conclusion. The core message should be brief and focused.
2. Show enthusiasm and interact with the audience. It is always difficult to relax and not to get nervous. Nonetheless, successful presenters often say that to be connected with people sitting in front of you is one of the most important things. Once you show your interest in the topic, you will gain the needed attention. Be honest; tell the audience your thoughts about the subject, and you will be listened to with interest.
3. Concentrate your attention on interests of the public. Build your presentation taking into consideration the audience’s interests; think what they would like to learn. Take into account possible questions they can ask you after the presentation and include the answer in your topic. Use simple and not too long sentences to make the audience understand you better.
4. Try to keep the eye contact and smile. It may seem easy to do, however, a lot of presenters do not follow this rule. Remember, that smiling and making the eye contact help the audience to stay in contact with you and your issue. You can feel less anxious when you realize that you give your presentation not to unknown people but to individuals who respond you. Before you start, check that the audience is able to see not only screen but you as well.
5. Find a strong opening sentence. What you need to know is that the first phrase in your presentation is decisive. You must spark the interest of your audience and keep it till the very end. Use words of famous people, give an example of statistic, start by giving some historical facts or just tell your own story which led you to choose the particular theme. The audience wants to hear something original and fascinating.
6. Tell stories and give live examples.  If you tell your personal story or a story from your own experience, the audience will respond you. Stories may help people remember your presentation and its details better. Provide the audience with examples, show images or graphs with statistics if necessary. That will also help to memorize your subject, especially for people with visual memory better developed.
7. Use 10-20-30 method for the slideshow presentation. The rule belongs to Guy Kawasaki – Apple employee responsible for marketing. He recommends the following rules:
   1. Do not show more than 10 slides;
   2. Speak maximum 20 minutes;
   3. Apply 30-point characters for the text.  When you put large characters on one slide, it will not be possible to write a lot of information on it. That will prevent the audience from reading all the time from slides instead of listening to your speech. In general, your slides should not contain more information than you give and they must be expressed commonly. If you want to provide the audience with more information, distribute files after you have finished.
8. Your voice is one of the most important keys for better presentation. Only a spoken word would not be efficient to deliver a speech. It operates only with one of five senses. This is the reason why you must use some visual support. Nonetheless, your spoken word will be better if you change the intonation, the quality of your voice, if you will use pauses properly, and speak with the right accentuation.
9. Use gestures too. As it is known, we use three-quarters of non-verbal communication while speaking. It means that your gestures are necessary and indispensable in delivering information to your audience. Make sure that your gestures correspond to the information you give, but do not exaggerate. Better not to cross your arms or hold your hands behind the back as well as in pockets. Just relax, be open, confident, and let your gestures be natural as if you speak to your friend. It will be great if you move around the stage; do not stay in one place.
10. Try to relax and enjoy the experience of your presentation. If you still worry a lot and afraid to forget something, just try to relax. Concentrate the attention on your breathing. Once you feel better, start your presentation. The audience will feel your courage and easiness. People will respond you and perceive better.

You have read about ten indispensable tips on how to create a professional presentation online. We wish you successful performance and loud applause!