how does presentation media help improve communication

14 Practical Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills

• The Speaker Lab
• May 11, 2024

Table of Contents

Ever felt complete dread and fear at the thought of stepping up to deliver a presentation? If so, you’re not alone. The fear of public speaking is more common than you might think, but with the right presentation skills , it’s a hurdle that can be overcome.

In this article, we’ll help you master basic confidence-building techniques and conquer advanced communication strategies for engaging presentations. We’ll explore how body language and eye contact can make or break your connection with your audience; delve into preparation techniques like dealing with filler words and nervous habits; discuss tailoring content for different audiences; and much more.

Whether you’re prepping for job interviews or gearing up for big presentations, being prepared is key. With adequate practice and the proper attitude, you can crush your speech or presentation!

Mastering the Basics of Presentation Skills

Presentation skills are not just about speaking in front of a crowd. It’s also about effective communication, audience engagement, and clarity. Mastering these skills can be transformative for everyone, from students to corporate trainers.

Building Confidence in Presentations

Becoming confident when presenting is no small feat. But fear not. Even those who feel jittery at the mere thought of public speaking can become masters with practice and patience. Just remember: stage fright is common and overcoming it is part of the process towards becoming an effective presenter.

Taking deep breaths before you start helps calm nerves while visualizing success aids in building confidence. Also, know that nobody minds if you take a moment to gather your thoughts during your presentation—everybody minds more if they cannot understand what you’re saying because you’re rushing.

The Role of Practice in Enhancing Presentation Skills

In line with old wisdom, practice indeed makes perfect, especially when improving presentation skills. Consistent rehearsals allow us to fine-tune our delivery methods like maintaining eye contact or controlling body language effectively.

You’ll learn better control over filler words through repeated drills. Plus, the extra practice can help you troubleshoot any technical glitches beforehand, saving you the sudden panic during your actual presentations.

Remember that great presenters were once beginners too. Continuous effort will get you there sooner rather than later.

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Body Language and Eye Contact in Presentations

The effectiveness of your presentation can hinge on more than just the words you say. Just as important is your body language .

Impact of Posture on Presentations

Your posture speaks volumes before you utter a word. Standing tall exudes confidence while slouching could signal nervousness or lack of preparation.

If there’s one lesson to take away from our YouTube channel , it’s this: good presenters know their message but great ones feel it through every fiber (or muscle) of their being. The audience can sense that energy when they see open body language rather than crossed arms.

Maintaining Eye Contact During Your Presentation

Eyes are often called windows to the soul for a reason. They’re communication powerhouses. Making eye contact helps build trust with your audience members and keeps them engaged throughout your speech.

Avoid staring at note cards or visual aids too much as this might give an impression that you’re unprepared or uncertain about your chosen topic. Instead, aim to maintain eye contact between 50% of the time during presentations. This commonly accepted “50/70 rule” will help you exhibit adequate confidence to your audience.

If stage fright has gotten a hold on you, take deep breaths before you start speaking in order to stay calm. Make sure that fear doesn’t disrupt your ability to maintain eye-contact during presentations.

If body language and eye contact still feel like a lot to manage during your big presentation, remember our golden rule: nobody minds small mistakes. It’s how you handle questions or mishaps that truly makes a difference—so stay positive and enthusiastic.

Preparation Techniques for Successful Presentations

Presentation skills are like a craft that requires meticulous preparation and practice. Aspects like visual aids and time management contribute to the overall effectiveness of your delivery.

The first step towards delivering an impactful presentation is research and organization. The content should be well-researched, structured logically, and presented in simple language. This will make sure you deliver clear messages without any room for misinterpretation.

Dealing with Filler Words and Nervous Habits

Nervous habits such as excessive use of filler words can distract from your message. Luckily, there are plenty of strategies that can address these issues. For instance, try taking deep breaths before speaking or using note cards until fluency is achieved. In addition, practice regularly to work on eliminating these verbal stumbling blocks.

Avoiding Distractions During Presentations

In a digital age where distractions abound, maintaining focus during presentations has become an even more crucial part of the preparation process. This video by motivational speaker Brain Tracy provides insights on how one could achieve this level of focus required for effective presentations.

Maintaining Confidence Throughout Your Presentation

Confidence comes from thorough understanding of the chosen topic combined with regular practice sessions before the big day arrives. Make use of note cards or cue cards as needed but avoid reading from them verbatim.

Taking control over stage fright starts by arriving early at the venue so that you familiarize yourself with the surroundings, which generally calms nerves down considerably. So next time you feel nervous before a big presentation, remember—thorough preparation can make all the difference.

Engaging Your Audience During Presentations

Connecting with your audience during presentations is an art, and mastering it can take your presentation skills to the next level. Making the message conveyed reach an emotional level is essential, not just conveying facts.

Understanding Your Target Audience

The first step towards engaging your audience is understanding them. Tailor the content of your presentation to their needs and interests. Speak in their language—whether that be professional jargon or everyday slang—to establish rapport and ensure comprehension.

An effective presenter understands who they’re speaking to, what those individuals care about, and how best to communicate complex ideas understandably.

Making Complex Information Understandable

Dense data or complicated concepts can lose even the most interested listener if presented ineffectively. Breaking your key points down into manageable chunks helps maintain attention while promoting retention. Analogies are especially useful for this purpose as they make unfamiliar topics more relatable.

Audience Participation & Questions: A Two-Way Street

Incorporating opportunities for audience participation encourages engagement at another level. It allows listeners to become active participants rather than passive receivers of knowledge.

Consider techniques like live polls or interactive Q&A sessions where you invite questions from attendees mid-presentation instead of saving all queries until the end.

This gives you a chance not only engage but also address any misunderstandings right on spot.

• Treat each question asked as an opportunity—it’s evidence someone has been paying attention. Even challenging questions should be welcomed as they demonstrate an engaged, thoughtful audience.
• Encourage participation. It can be as simple as a show of hands or the use of interactive technologies for live polling during your presentation. This keeps your audience active and invested in the content.

Remember, your presentation isn’t just about putting on a show—it’s about meaningful interaction.

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Presentation Skills in Specific Contexts

Whether you’re nailing your next job interview, presenting an exciting marketing campaign, or delivering insightful educational content, the context matters. Let’s take a look.

The Art of Job Interviews

A successful job interview often hinges on effective communication and confidence. Here, the target audience is usually small but holds significant influence over your future prospects. Body language plays a crucial role; maintain eye contact to show sincerity and interest while open body language communicates approachability.

Bullet points summarizing key experiences are also helpful for quick recall under pressure. This allows you to present your chosen topic with clarity and positive enthusiasm without relying heavily on note or cue cards.

Pitching in Public Relations & Marketing

In public relations (PR) and marketing contexts, presentations need to capture attention quickly yet hold it long enough to deliver key messages effectively. Visual aids are valuable tools here—they help emphasize points while keeping the audience engaged.

Your aim should be highlighting presentation benefits that resonate with potential clients or partners, making them feel as though ignoring such opportunities would mean missing out big time.

Educational Presentations

An educational setting demands its own unique set of presentation skills where deep understanding trumps flashy visuals. You must make complex information understandable without oversimplifying essential details—the use of analogies can be beneficial here.

Keeping the audience’s attention is critical. Encourage questions and participation to foster a more interactive environment, enhancing learning outcomes for all audience members.

Tips for Becoming a Great Presenter

No single method is suitable for everyone when it comes to speaking in public. However, incorporating continuous improvement and practice into your routine can make you an exceptional presenter.

Tailor Your Presentation to Your Audience

Becoming an excellent speaker isn’t just about delivering information; it’s also about making a connection with the audience. So make sure that you’re taking setting, audience, and topic into consideration when crafting your presentation. What works for one audience may not work for another, so be sure to adapt your presentation styles according to the occasion in order to be truly effective.

The Power of Practice

The art of mastering public speaking skills requires practice —and lots of it . To become a great presenter, focus on improving communication skills through practice and feedback from peers or mentors. Try to seek feedback on every speech delivered and incorporate those pointers in your future presentations. Over time, this cycle of delivery-feedback-improvement significantly enhances your ability to connect with audiences and convey ideas effectively.

If you’re looking for examples of good speakers, our speech breakdowns on YouTube provide excellent examples of experienced presenters who masterfully utilize speaking techniques. Analyzing their strategies could give you great ideas for enhancing your own style.

Finding Your Style

A crucial part of captivating any audience lies in how you deliver the message rather than the message itself. Developing a unique presentation style lets you stand out as an engaging speaker who commands attention throughout their talk. Through — you guessed it — practice, you can develop a personal presentation style that resonates with listeners while showcasing your expertise on the chosen topic.

Your body language plays a pivotal role here: open gestures communicate confidence and enthusiasm towards your subject matter, two qualities essential for keeping audiences hooked. Similarly, using vocal variety adds dynamism to speeches by emphasizing points when needed or creating suspense during storytelling parts of your talk.

Cultivating Passion & Enthusiasm

Showcasing genuine passion for the subject helps keep listeners engaged throughout even lengthy presentations. Sharing stories related to the topic or expressing excitement about sharing knowledge tends to draw people in more than mere data recitation ever could.

Recognize that everybody is distinctive; don’t expect identical results from every speaker. The path to becoming a great presenter involves recognizing your strengths and working tirelessly on areas that need improvement.

FAQs on Presentation Skills

What are good presentation skills.

Good presentation skills include a clear message, confident delivery, engaging body language, audience understanding, and interaction. They also involve effective preparation and practice.

What are the 5 steps of presentation skills?

The five steps of presenting include: planning your content, preparing visual aids if needed, practicing the delivery aloud, performing it with confidence, and finally post-presentation reflection for improvements.

What are the 5 P’s of presentation skills?

The five P’s stand for Preparation (researching your topic), Practice (rehearsing your talk), Performance (delivering with confidence), Posture (standing tall), and Projection (using a strong voice).

What are your presentation skills?

Your personal set of abilities to deliver information effectively is what we call your presentation skill. It can encompass public speaking ability, clarity in speech or writing as well as visual communication talent.

Mastering presentation skills isn’t an overnight process, but practice and perseverance will put you well on your way to becoming an effective speaker.

You’ve learned that confidence plays a crucial role in effective presentations, so take deep breaths, make eye contact, and keep your body language open. As always, preparation is key. Tackle filler words head-on and get comfortable with visual aids for impactful storytelling.

Remember the importance of audience engagement — it’s all about understanding their needs and tailoring your content accordingly. This way, complex information turns into digestible insights.

Above all else: practice! After all, nothing beats experience when it comes to improving public speaking abilities.

• Last Updated: May 9, 2024

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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

• Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

• Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
• Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
• Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
• Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

• Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

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Powerful and Effective Presentation Skills: More in Demand Now Than Ever

When we talk with our L&D colleagues from around the globe, we often hear that presentation skills training is one of the top opportunities they’re looking to provide their learners. And this holds true whether their learners are individual contributors, people managers, or senior leaders. This is not surprising.

Effective communications skills are a powerful career activator, and most of us are called upon to communicate in some type of formal presentation mode at some point along the way.

For instance, you might be asked to brief management on market research results, walk your team through a new process, lay out the new budget, or explain a new product to a client or prospect. Or you may want to build support for a new idea, bring a new employee into the fold, or even just present your achievements to your manager during your performance review.

And now, with so many employees working from home or in hybrid mode, and business travel in decline, there’s a growing need to find new ways to make effective presentations when the audience may be fully virtual or a combination of in person and remote attendees.

Whether you’re making a standup presentation to a large live audience, or a sit-down one-on-one, whether you’re delivering your presentation face to face or virtually, solid presentation skills matter.

Even the most seasoned and accomplished presenters may need to fine-tune or update their skills. Expectations have changed over the last decade or so. Yesterday’s PowerPoint which primarily relied on bulleted points, broken up by the occasional clip-art image, won’t cut it with today’s audience.

The digital revolution has revolutionized the way people want to receive information. People expect presentations that are more visually interesting. They expect to see data, metrics that support assertions. And now, with so many previously in-person meetings occurring virtually, there’s an entirely new level of technical preparedness required.

The leadership development tools and the individual learning opportunities you’re providing should include presentation skills training that covers both the evergreen fundamentals and the up-to-date capabilities that can make or break a presentation.

So, just what should be included in solid presentation skills training? Here’s what I think.

The fundamentals will always apply When it comes to making a powerful and effective presentation, the fundamentals will always apply. You need to understand your objective. Is it strictly to convey information, so that your audience’s knowledge is increased? Is it to persuade your audience to take some action? Is it to convince people to support your idea? Once you understand what your objective is, you need to define your central message. There may be a lot of things you want to share with your audience during your presentation, but find – and stick with – the core, the most important point you want them to walk away with. And make sure that your message is clear and compelling.

You also need to tailor your presentation to your audience. Who are they and what might they be expecting? Say you’re giving a product pitch to a client. A technical team may be interested in a lot of nitty-gritty product detail. The business side will no doubt be more interested in what returns they can expect on their investment.

Another consideration is the setting: is this a formal presentation to a large audience with questions reserved for the end, or a presentation in a smaller setting where there’s the possibility for conversation throughout? Is your presentation virtual or in-person? To be delivered individually or as a group? What time of the day will you be speaking? Will there be others speaking before you and might that impact how your message will be received?

Once these fundamentals are established, you’re in building mode. What are the specific points you want to share that will help you best meet your objective and get across your core message? Now figure out how to convey those points in the clearest, most straightforward, and succinct way. This doesn’t mean that your presentation has to be a series of clipped bullet points. No one wants to sit through a presentation in which the presenter reads through what’s on the slide. You can get your points across using stories, fact, diagrams, videos, props, and other types of media.

Visual design matters While you don’t want to clutter up your presentation with too many visual elements that don’t serve your objective and can be distracting, using a variety of visual formats to convey your core message will make your presentation more memorable than slides filled with text. A couple of tips: avoid images that are cliched and overdone. Be careful not to mix up too many different types of images. If you’re using photos, stick with photos. If you’re using drawn images, keep the style consistent. When data are presented, stay consistent with colors and fonts from one type of chart to the next. Keep things clear and simple, using data to support key points without overwhelming your audience with too much information. And don’t assume that your audience is composed of statisticians (unless, of course, it is).

When presenting qualitative data, brief videos provide a way to engage your audience and create emotional connection and impact. Word clouds are another way to get qualitative data across.

Practice makes perfect You’ve pulled together a perfect presentation. But it likely won’t be perfect unless it’s well delivered. So don’t forget to practice your presentation ahead of time. Pro tip: record yourself as you practice out loud. This will force you to think through what you’re going to say for each element of your presentation. And watching your recording will help you identify your mistakes—such as fidgeting, using too many fillers (such as “umm,” or “like”), or speaking too fast.

A key element of your preparation should involve anticipating any technical difficulties. If you’ve embedded videos, make sure they work. If you’re presenting virtually, make sure that the lighting is good, and that your speaker and camera are working. Whether presenting in person or virtually, get there early enough to work out any technical glitches before your presentation is scheduled to begin. Few things are a bigger audience turn-off than sitting there watching the presenter struggle with the delivery mechanisms!

Finally, be kind to yourself. Despite thorough preparation and practice, sometimes, things go wrong, and you need to recover in the moment, adapt, and carry on. It’s unlikely that you’ll have caused any lasting damage and the important thing is to learn from your experience, so your next presentation is stronger.

How are you providing presentation skills training for your learners?

Manika Gandhi is Senior Learning Design Manager at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. Email her at [email protected] .

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21 Ways To Improve Your Presentation Skills

Published: April 07, 2023

You know the feeling of sitting through a boring presentation. A text distracts you. A noise outside pulls your gaze. Your dog begs for attention. By the time the presentation ends, you question why you needed to sit and listen in the first place.

Effective presentation skills can stop you from boring an audience to oblivion. Delivering strong presentations can help you stand out as a leader, showcase your expertise, and build confidence.

Table of contents:

• Presentation skills definition
• Importance of presentation skills
• How to improve presentation skills
• Effective presentation skills
• Presentation skills for executives

Presentation Skills Definition

Presentation skills include anything you need to create and deliver clear, effective presentations to an audience. This includes creating a compelling set of slides , ensuring the information flows, and keeping your audience engaged.

Speakers with strong presentation skills can perform the following tasks:

• Bring together different sources of information to form a compelling narrative
• Hook audiences with a strong beginning and end
• Ensure audiences engage with their content through questions or surveys
• Understand what their audience wants and needs from their presentation

Importance of Presentation Skills

At some point in your career, you will present something. You might pitch a startup to a group of investors or show your research findings to your manager at work. Those in leading or executive roles often deliver presentations on a weekly or monthly basis.

Improving your presentation skills betters different aspects of your working life, including the following:

Communication: Improving your presentation skills can make you a better communicator with your co-workers and friends.

Confidence: 75% of people fear public speaking. By working on your presentation skills, you can gain confidence when speaking in front of a crowd.

Creativity: You learn to understand how to use imagery and examples to engage an audience.

Management: Presentations involve pulling together information to form a succinct summary, helping you build project and time management skills.

How To Improve Presentation Skills

1. create an outline.

Before designing slides and writing a script, outline your presentation. Start with your introduction, segue into key points you want to make, and finish with a conclusion.

2. Practice, Practice, Practice

Almost 8 in 10 professionals practice their presentations for at least an hour. So, practice your presentation in the mirror or to a close friend.

3. Start With a Hook

When presenting, grab your audience with a hook. Consider starting with a surprising statistic or a thoughtful question before diving into the core information.

4. Stay Focused on Your Topic

You might want to cover everything under the sun, but information overload can overwhelm your audience. Instead, stay focused on what you want to cover. Aim for key points and avoid including unnecessary details.

5. Remember To Introduce Yourself

At the beginning of the presentation, introduce yourself. Kill any tension in the room by mentioning your name, your role, and any other helpful details. You could even mention a fun fact about yourself, putting the audience at ease.

6. Work on Your Body Language

55% of people look to nonverbal communication when judging a presentation. Straighten your back, minimize unnecessary gestures, and keep your voice confident and calm. Remember to work on these aspects when practicing.

7. Memorize Structure, Not Words

You might feel better knowing exactly what you want to say. But skip the script and stick to memorizing the key points of your presentation. For example, consider picking three to four phrases or insights you want to mention for each part of your presentation rather than line-by-line memorization.

8. Learn Your Audience

Before crafting a killer outline and slide deck, research your audience. Find out what they likely already know, such as industry jargon, and where they might need additional information. Remember: You're presenting for them, not you.

9. Reframe Your Anxiety as Excitement

A study conducted by Harvard Business School demonstrates that reframing your anxiety as excitement can improve performance. For example, by saying simple phrases out loud, such as “I’m excited,” you then adopt an opportunity-oriented mentality.

10. Get Comfortable With the Setting

If you plan to present in person, explore the room. Find where you’re going to stand and deliver your presentation. Practice looking into the seats. By decreasing the number of unknowns, you can clear your head and focus on the job.

11. Get Familiar With Technology

Presenting online has unique challenges, such as microphone problems and background noise. Before a Zoom presentation, ensure your microphone works, clean up your background, test your slides, and consider any background noise.

12. Think Positively

Optimistic workers enjoy faster promotions and happier lives. By reminding yourself of the positives — for example, your manager found your last presentation impressive — you can shake off nerves and find joy in the process.

13. Tell a Story

To engage your audience, weave storytelling into your presentation — more than 5 in 10 people believe stories hold their focus during a presentation. Consider ways to connect different parts of your slides into a compelling narrative.

14. Prepare for Questions

At the end of your presentation, your audience will likely have questions. Brainstorm different questions and potential answers so you’re prepared.

15. Maintain Eye Contact

Eye contact signals honesty. When possible, maintain eye contact with your audience. For in-person presentations, pay attention to each audience member. For online ones, stare at your camera lens as you deliver.

16. Condense Your Presentation

After you finish the first draft of your outline, think about ways to condense it. Short and sweet often keeps people interested instead of checking their phones.

17. Use Videos

Keep your audience’s attention by incorporating video clips when relevant. For example, videos can help demonstrate examples or explain difficult concepts.

18. Engage With Your Audience

Almost 8 in 10 professionals view presentations as boring. Turn the tide by engaging with your audience. Encourage audience participation by asking questions or conducting a live survey.

19. Present Slowly and Pause Frequently

When you get nervous, you talk faster. To combat this, remember to slow yourself down when practicing. Place deep pauses throughout your presentation, especially when transitioning between slides, as it gives you time to breathe and your audience time to absorb.

20. Start and End With a Summary

A summary at the start of a presentation can pique your audience’s interest. One at the end brings everything together, highlighting key points your audience should take with them.

21. Ask for Feedback

You will never deliver the perfect presentation, so ask for feedback. Talk to your managers about where you could improve. Consider surveying your audience for an unbiased look into your presentation skills.

Effective Presentation Skills

Effective presentation skills include communicating clearly, presenting with structure, and engaging with the audience.

As an example, say a content manager is presenting a quarterly review to their team. They start off with a summary. Their introduction mentions an unprecedented 233% growth in organic traffic — numbers their team has not seen in years. Immediately, the presenter grabs their team’s attention. Now, everyone wants to know how they achieved that in one quarter.

Alternatively, think of an entrepreneur delivering their pitch to a group of investors. They start with a question: How many of you struggle to stay awake at work? They then segue into an exciting product designed to improve the sleep quality of working professionals. Their presentation includes videos demonstrating the science behind sleep and surprising statistics about the demand for their product.

Both examples demonstrate effective presentation skills. They incorporate strong attention grabbers, summaries, and attempts to engage the audience.

Think back to strong presentations you viewed as an audience member. Ask yourself: What made them so memorable, and how can I incorporate those elements into my presentations?

Presentation Skills for Executives

Presentations take up a significant portion of an executive’s workload. Executives regularly showcase key company initiatives, team changes, quarterly and annual reviews, and more. Improving your presentation skills as a leader can help with different parts of your job, such as:

Trust: Delivering great, effective presentations can build trust between you and your team.

Confidence: Most people dread presentations — so a strong presenter projects the confidence needed by a leader.

Emotional intelligence: A great presentation taps into the audience’s perspectives, helping executives improve their emotional intelligence .

Expertise: Presentations help executives display their subject-matter expertise, making employees safe in their hands.

Delegation: At times, executives might need to pull information from different sources for a presentation — improving their ability to delegate as managers.

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Everything you need to know about multimedia presentations

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera May 25, 2023

Crafting a well-executed multimedia presentation can be the determining factor between success and failure when delivering presentations. The impact of a multimedia presentation is undeniable, but what exactly does it entail, and what are the essential considerations to keep in mind when creating one?

In this article, we’ll explore the key components involved in creating compelling multimedia presentations and delve into the strategies that can help you assemble these elements to craft the perfect presentation. We’ll discuss the importance of content structure, visual design, and engaging storytelling techniques that capture your audience’s attention and leave a lasting impact. Additionally, we’ll provide insights on leveraging Prezi’s features to enhance your multimedia presentations, making them more dynamic and interactive.

What is a multimedia presentation?

A multimedia presentation is a computer-based presentation that uses various forms of media to effectively communicate and engage an audience. In today’s fast-paced world, multimedia presentations have emerged as one of the most powerful and impactful means of communication. Complex ideas and information can be challenging to convey using only traditional tools. However, by harnessing the potential of visually engaging images, high-quality audio clips, and captivating video content, you can deliver a wealth of information that isn’t only clear, but also interesting, easy to understand, contextual, detailed, and engaging.

To facilitate the creation of multimedia presentations, Prezi offers a user-friendly and intuitive platform that empowers presenters to transform their ideas into attention-grabbing visual stories that move. One of the standout features of Prezi is its dynamic zooming capability. With this feature, presenters can seamlessly navigate between various levels of content, zooming in to emphasize critical details and zooming out to provide a comprehensive overview. This interactive zooming functionality not only adds visual interest to your presentation but also enables you to guide your audience’s focus and create a fluid and engaging storytelling experience. Furthermore, the presentation canvas allows for more creativity and freedom as you don’t need to be limited by the traditional slide-based presentation format. 

The psychology of multimedia

Multimedia presentations are not just about what you say but also how you make your audience feel and remember. Let’s discover how colors, visuals, and sounds can influence your audience’s perception and memory retention.

Color psychology

Colors evoke emotions and convey messages. For instance, red can signal urgency and passion, while blue suggests trust and calmness. Choose your color palette wisely to align with the emotions you want to portray to your audience.

Visual impact

Visuals are your secret weapon. The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Use attention-grabbing images and graphics that resonate with your message. For example, if you’re presenting about eco-friendly initiatives, images of lush forests and clear skies can speak volumes.

Soundscapes

Sound can set the mood and reinforce key points. Think about the background music in movies – it enhances the overall emotional impact of a scene. In your presentation, use background music or sound effects thoughtfully to complement your content.

Memory retention

Did you know that people tend to remember only about 10% of what they hear after three days? However, if you pair that information with relevant visuals, retention jumps to 65%. Craft your multimedia presentation with this in mind; use visuals to reinforce your message for better recall.

Incorporate these psychological cues effectively, and your multimedia presentation will not only capture attention but also leave a lasting imprint on your audience’s memory.

Which elements can be included in a multimedia presentation?

Multimedia presentations have come a long way from the relatively simplistic options of the past. Now a whole range of different elements can be used to ensure your stand-alone presentation wows your intended audience. Some of the examples of what you can add to your multimedia presentations include:

• Slides: Slides are the backbone of most multimedia presentations. They consist of visual elements like text, images, graphs, and charts. Slides help you organize information and guide your audience through your presentation. For example, in a business pitch, slides can showcase product images, market data, and key points.
• Videos: Videos add motion and life to your presentation. You can use them to demonstrate processes, showcase testimonials, or provide visual explanations. In an educational setting, a biology lecture might include videos of animal behaviors or experiments.
• Audio clips: Audio clips can range from background music to voiceovers. They enhance the auditory experience of your presentation. In a travel presentation, you might include the sounds of waves crashing on a beach to create a more immersive feel.
• Animations: Animations breathe life into static content. They can illustrate processes, emphasize key points, or add a touch of humor. In a marketing presentation, animations can show how a product evolves or highlight its unique features.
• Music: Music sets the mood and tone of your presentation. It can create excitement, relaxation, or suspense. In a fashion show presentation, music may compliment the models’ walk down the runway, enhancing the overall experience.
• Images: Images are powerful visual aids. They can create certain emotions, provide context, and simplify complex ideas. In a history lecture, images of historical events and figures help students visualize the past.
• Text: Text is one of the most crucial parts of your content. It provides information, explanations, and key points. In a scientific presentation, text can explain research findings or provide definitions of complex terms.
• Podcasts: Podcasts are audio presentations that offer in-depth discussions or storytelling. They are excellent for sharing interviews, discussions, or storytelling. In a business conference, you might use a podcast-style presentation to share insights from industry experts.
• Pop-ups: Pop-ups are interactive elements that can surprise and excite your audience. They can include clickable links, additional information, or even mini-quizzes. In an e-learning module, pop-ups can provide learners with instant feedback on their progress.

For any professional who wants to stand out from the crowd with multimedia presentations that truly dazzle and inspire, Prezi’s multimedia platform brings you everything you need.

Choosing the right multimedia for your presentation subject

When creating a multimedia presentation, it’s crucial to select the appropriate multimedia elements that align with your presentation subject. By choosing the right multimedia, you can effectively convey your message, enhance understanding, and captivate your audience. Consider the following factors when selecting multimedia for your presentation:

Content relevance: does it fit your message?

Evaluate the relevance of each multimedia element to your presentation subject. Determine how each element contributes to the overall message and supports your key points. Choose multimedia that directly relates to your topic and enhances the understanding and engagement of your audience.

Visual impact: how visually appealing is it?

Visual elements play a significant role in multimedia presentations. Assess the visual impact of different multimedia options such as images, videos, and animations. Opt for high-quality visuals that are visually appealing, clear, and reinforce your message. Balance aesthetics with substance to maintain a professional and engaging presentation.

Audio enhancement: does it complement your content?

Determine if your presentation would benefit from audio elements such as background music, sound effects, or voiceovers. Audio can evoke emotions, set the mood, and reinforce key points. However, use audio sparingly and ensure it complements your content rather than overpowering it.

Data visualization: can it simplify complex data?

If your presentation involves data or statistics, explore options for effective data visualization. Choose charts, graphs, or maps that you can find on Prezi and incorporate those into your presentation. These elements will help you present complex information in a clear and digestible format. Visualizing data will also help your audience grasp the main points quickly and facilitate better comprehension. 

Multimedia integration: do all elements work together?

Aim for a cohesive and seamless integration of multimedia elements into your presentation. Ensure that different multimedia components blend well together and create a unified visual and auditory experience. Avoid using too many diverse multimedia elements that may distract or overwhelm your audience.

Accessibility considerations: is it accessible to everyone?

Keep accessibility in mind when selecting multimedia elements. Ensure that any visual or audio content you include is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Provide captions or transcripts for videos and ensure that any audio content is accompanied by text summaries. Consider the needs of all your audience members to ensure an inclusive and engaging presentation.

Technical feasibility: will it work smoothly during your presentation?

Assess the technical feasibility of incorporating various multimedia elements into your presentation. Consider the equipment and software requirements for displaying and playing different multimedia formats. Test the compatibility and functionality of multimedia elements in the presentation environment to avoid any technical glitches during your actual presentation.

By carefully considering these factors, you can choose the right multimedia elements that enhance your presentation’s effectiveness and engage your audience. Remember, the key is to strike a balance between informative content, compelling visuals, and appropriate interactivity to create a memorable and impactful multimedia presentation. 

What makes an effective multimedia presentation?

An effective multimedia presentation is like a good book you can’t put down or a catchy new song you hear on the radio that you can’t stop humming to all day long – it has your audience instantly engaged and wanting more. 

Gone are the days when we were limited to presentations that only featured text and basic graphics. Nowadays, using a combination of audio, video, and images can help anyone effectively communicate their message to any audience.

Prezi enables users to create attention-grabbing presentations that move their audience. You can create your own presentation from scratch or start out with a template that you can find in Prezi’s template gallery.

8 things to consider when creating a multimedia presentation

Creating a multimedia presentation can be very straightforward. It just requires some basic planning and preparation and the correct tools to implement those plans. Follow these steps when enhancing a presentation with multimedia.

What is your message?

What exactly are you presenting, and what key messages do you wish to communicate to your audience? Take time to thoroughly think through these questions before constructing your multimedia presentation.

Who is your audience? 

You must understand who exactly your audience is. After all, there is likely a huge difference between what might work best with 20-something IT specialists or a group of senior management. Are you hoping to sell a product to potential investors? Delivering a quarterly report to your bosses? Or preparing a presentation for a job interview? Be very clear about who your audience is.

Preparation is vital, and with it comes research. You can’t wait to get started creating your new multimedia presentation. And the temptation is often to begin without first investigating fantastic examples of other people’s work for ideas or not taking advantage of Prezi’s awesome customizable presentations that are freely available to you, the user. Simply head over to Prezi’s Gallery and get inspired!

Create your content outline

What content do you wish to include in your presentation? Once you have decided, it’s time to create a content outline for your multimedia presentation. You can begin building the structure of your presentation by splitting your topic into separate ideas that run in a clear, logical sequence. If you want to learn more about how to create an effective presentation structure, watch the following video:

Decide which visualization mediums work best 

There are literally dozens of visualization mediums to choose from. The hard part sometimes is deciding which of these works best for you. Options include GIFs, short animation clips, audio clips, TED Talk video clips – the list goes on and on. The great news is that you can easily integrate all of these elements into your Prezi presentation. What’s more, Prezi has an extensive library of different multimedia elements like GIFs, stickers, images, icons, and more that you can pick and choose while creating your presentation.

Utilize templates

You might start entirely from scratch, building the presentation from the bottom up, which is great if you already have a clear idea in your mind. However, if you’re still trying to figure out what you want the end result to look like or want to spend less time on presentation design, explore the numerous tried and tested templates available on Prezi. You’ll discover various templates that are great for multimedia presentations.

It’s time to add your multimedia 

Don’t overdo the types of multimedia content you use in your presentation. Why? Because using too many different kinds can feel overwhelming and a little too ‘show offish’. Focus on 2-4 types of content that will work best with your target audience. Try to hit that balance between simplicity and style. If you are using video or animation, use it occasionally.

If you need to present online, take advantage of Prezi Video’s option to share your content next to you on-screen during your presentation. This will engage your audience and keep them hooked throughout your multimedia presentation even online.

Review and analyze your work

Your multimedia presentation is ready. Or is it? Invest some time reviewing your presentation. Is it clearly structured and cohesive? Do the multimedia elements you have added achieve what you wanted them to achieve? Be honest with yourself and trust your intuition. If something doesn’t feel right with your presentation, don’t be afraid to make changes! 

Best practices for delivering a multimedia presentation

Delivering a multimedia presentation requires careful planning and execution to effectively engage and captivate your audience. Follow these best practices to ensure that you leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Know your material

Familiarize yourself with the content of your presentation to make sure you can confidently deliver it without relying too heavily on notes. Thoroughly understand the key points, supporting evidence, and transitions between different sections. This will enable you to maintain a natural flow and deliver a confident presentation. Also, consider using Presenter Notes . They serve as a reminder of important talking points and additional information during your presentation. Only visible to you, the presenter, the notes remain hidden from the audience. This allows you to effectively communicate your points without any interruptions.

Practice timing

Time your presentation to ensure it fits within the allocated time frame. Practice transitions between different multimedia elements, such as slides, videos, and interactive features, to maintain a smooth flow. Keep in mind that pacing is crucial, so allocate sufficient time for each part of your presentation while maintaining an engaging pace.

Use visual aids strategically

Visual aids are a powerful tool for conveying information and enhancing understanding. However, it’s essential to use them strategically to support and highlight your message, rather than distract from it. Use visuals sparingly and ensure they’re clear, visually appealing, and easy to understand. Avoid cluttered slides and prioritize concise and impactful visuals that reinforce your key points. If you want to learn more about good presentation design practices when it comes to adding visual content, watch the following video on the topic: 

Speak clearly and confidently

Effective communication is key to delivering a memorable presentation. Project your voice to ensure everyone in the audience can hear you clearly. Maintain eye contact with your audience to establish a connection and demonstrate confidence. Speak with clarity and conviction, emphasizing key points and using appropriate pauses for emphasis. A confident and engaging delivery will help your audience connect with your message.

Incorporate storytelling techniques

Storytelling is a powerful way to engage and captivate your audience. Incorporate storytelling techniques to create a narrative structure for your presentation. Begin with a compelling introduction that sets the stage and grabs attention. Use storytelling elements such as anecdotes, examples, and personal experiences to illustrate your points and make the content relatable and memorable. A well-crafted story can evoke emotions and leave a lasting impact on your audience.

Practice with technology

Familiarize yourself with the multimedia tools and technology you will be using during the presentation. In particular, get to know the endless features and capabilities of Prezi, the powerful multimedia presentation tool. Take the time to explore its features and understand how it can enhance your presentation. Familiarize yourself with the different templates, transitions, and interactive elements available. By mastering Prezi, you’ll be able to create attention-grabbing presentations that move.

Adapt to the audience

Tailor your presentation to resonate with your specific audience. Consider their demographics, interests, and background when delivering your content. Use language that is accessible and appropriate for your audience, avoiding jargon or technical terms that may be unfamiliar. Incorporate relevant examples and references that relate to their experiences. By adapting your presentation to their needs and preferences, you can create a stronger connection and enhance their overall engagement.

Engage the audience

Use interactive features to involve your audience and make the presentation more engaging. Incorporate audience polling, where participants can vote or provide feedback on specific questions or topics. Additionally, include dedicated Q&A sessions to encourage active participation and address any queries or concerns. Engaging the audience in this way promotes interaction and makes your presentation more dynamic. 

Ask for feedback

You can practice your presentation in front of people to get honest feedback. This way you can make any changes or work on specific areas that may need tweaking before the real thing. After your real presentation, you may even want to seek feedback from your audience to gather insights on what worked well and areas for improvement.

Remember, a well-delivered multimedia presentation is a combination of interesting content, effective visuals, and confident delivery. By following these best practices, you can create an engaging experience for everyone in the room.

How to engage your audience with interactive multimedia presentations

In addition to the essential components and best practices we’ve discussed, incorporating interactive elements can take your multimedia presentations to the next level. By engaging your audience in an interactive experience, you can captivate their attention and create a memorable presentation. Let’s explore some strategies for incorporating interactivity into your multimedia presentations:

Interactive charts

Instead of static images, use interactive charts to convey data and complex information. Allow your audience to explore different data points, toggle between visualizations, and interact with the content. This hands-on approach enhances understanding and engagement.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) 

If applicable, consider incorporating VR or AR elements into your multimedia presentations. These technologies provide immersive experiences that can transport your audience to different environments or allow them to interact with virtual objects. VR and AR can be particularly effective in fields such as architecture, education, and product demonstrations.

Gamification

Introduce gamification elements to make your presentation more interactive and enjoyable. Create quizzes, challenges, or interactive scenarios that require audience participation. Offer rewards or incentives for active engagement, such as badges or prizes.

Collaborative activities

Foster collaboration among your audience by including interactive activities. For example, you can divide your audience into small groups or pairs and provide specific tasks or discussions related to your presentation topic. Encourage participants to share their insights or findings with the larger group afterward.

Live demonstrations

If possible, incorporate live demonstrations of software, tools, or processes directly into your presentation. Showcasing practical examples in real-time can enhance understanding and engage the audience through active participation.

Remember, interactivity should align with your presentation goals and content. Incorporate interactive elements strategically to support your message and keep your audience engaged throughout the presentation. Prezi offers various interactive features and templates to help you create dynamic and immersive multimedia presentations.

By embracing interactivity, you can transform your multimedia presentations into memorable experiences that leave a lasting impact on your audience.

Common concerns with multimedia presentations

People often share some common concerns when diving into multimedia presentations. Here are a few of those concerns and simple solutions to tackle them:

Technical glitches

• Worry: Fear of technical issues derailing your presentation.
• Solution: Always have a backup plan in case technology decides to be temperamental. Test your setup beforehand to avoid unexpected surprises.

Media overload

• Worry: The fear of overwhelming your audience with too much media.
• Solution: Strike a balance by using multimedia elements strategically. Less can often be more when it comes to engaging your audience effectively.

The evolution of multimedia tools

The world of multimedia presentation tools has seen quite a transformation over the years, making the process more user-friendly and accessible than ever before. Platforms like Prezi are at the forefront of this evolution, continuously updating and improving the presentation creation process. With intuitive interfaces and a wide range of creative options at your fingertips, multimedia tools have truly democratized the art of multimedia presentations. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a newcomer to the presentation scene, the evolution of multimedia tools has made it easier than ever to craft the perfect presentation.

Multimedia presentation examples 

Your audience will immediately lose interest if all you offer them is a traditional slide deck. Instead, take advantage of Prezi’s Gallery and get inspired by dynamic, interactive, and engaging presentations that include various multimedia elements.

Below are a few examples of attention-grabbing and creative multimedia presentations that you can get inspired by or even reuse as templates for your own presentation topic.

Summer Plans presentation

The summer plans presentation inspires and captivates. The template is perfect for delivering a story, sharing an experience, or presenting a plan. It features multiple media elements, such as animations, images, and data visualizations. 

Why Leaders Need to Get Out of Their Own Way presentation

This presentation grabs our attention with its visually appealing design and strategic use of visuals. The simple yet engaging layout divides the presentation into four parts, creating a well-defined structure that is easy to follow. You can reuse this presentation as a template for delivering a topic that you need to unpack in a certain order. 

Corporate Social Responsibility presentation

This multimedia presentation engages and captivates with animations, images, icons, and more. As a template, it’s perfect for creating and delivering informative presentations, where you need to dive into the details of certain topics.

Earth Day presentation

The Earth Day presentation is a great example of how one can create a timeline presentation with Prezi. It includes various media elements that make this multimedia presentation highly engaging and informative.

Future-proofing your presentations

To make sure your multimedia presentations stay useful and up-to-date in the long run, here are some straightforward tips:

Pick the right formats

• Use common file types like PDF, MP4, and JPEG since they’re likely to stay usable in the future.

Keep things fresh

• Don’t let your content get old. Update it regularly with new information and visuals to keep it interesting and relevant.

Fit different screens

• Make your multimedia presentations so they can work on big screens and small devices like phones or tablets.

Try new tech

• Keep an eye on new technologies like virtual reality and interactive features. They can make your presentations more exciting and modern.

Listen to your audience

• Pay attention to what your audience likes and dislikes. Their feedback can help you improve your multimedia presentations and keep them interesting.

With these easy steps, you can make sure your multimedia presentations will still be great in the future!

Create attention-grabbing multimedia presentations with Prezi

In conclusion, crafting a well-executed multimedia presentation is crucial for achieving success in delivering presentations. This article has explored the key components involved in creating compelling multimedia presentations and provided insights on how to assemble these elements effectively. By considering the importance of content structure, visual design, and engaging storytelling techniques, presenters can capture their audience’s attention and leave a lasting impact. Furthermore, leveraging Prezi’s features can enhance multimedia presentations, making them more dynamic and interactive. By incorporating these strategies and utilizing the right tools, presenters can elevate their presentations to a new level and increase their chances of achieving their desired outcomes. Ultimately, mastering the art of multimedia presentations opens up opportunities for effective communication and successful presentations in various professional and academic settings.

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Role of Communication in Presentation and Speech

What is a presentation in communication? Presentation in communication is the act of presenting a message or topic to an audience. It involves speaking, using visual aids, and engaging with the audience to convey a specific message. 

Being concise, using visual aids, speaking confidently, and engaging with the audience are all important aspects of delivering a successful presentation. Additionally, one should be prepared, practice extensively beforehand, and handle questions with ease.  

The Most Effective Communication Skills to Present Like a Pro

Do you want to present like a pro? The key to success is effective communication. It’s an essential skill for both personal and professional success. Fortunately, presentation skills in business communication can be developed and improved with practice. What is a presentation in communication? In this post, we will explore the 8 most effective communication skills to help you present like a pro. 

From understanding your audience to expressing yourself confidently, you’ll learn everything you need to know to make your presentations successful. Read on to discover how to become a masterful presenter.

Know your audience

Before you present, it is important to take the time to know your audience. Understand who they are and what their interests are. Knowing your audience will help you customize your presentation to appeal to them. 

Ask yourself questions like: Who are they? What is their level of knowledge on the topic? Are they primarily interested in the practical application of the topic or more theoretical aspects?

Answering these questions will help you tailor your presentation skills in business communication to make it more interesting and effective. When you have a good understanding of your audience, you can better  choose the communication techniques that are best for engaging them.

Make a connection

It is essential to make a connection with your audience when giving a presentation. Take time to get to know them and ask them questions to determine their needs and interests. Try to use examples and stories that will resonate with them and show that you understand their concerns. 

Use humour if appropriate and focus on engaging the audience as much as possible. When speaking, focus on being personable and making eye contact with people in the room. Show that you are passionate about what you are presenting and be sure to smile. 

Be sure to actively listen to feedback so that you can modify your presentation accordingly. If you make an effort to connect with your audience, you will be able to make your presentation more memorable and effective.

Tell a story

Stories can be powerful tools to help get your point across during a presentation. Not only do stories engage your audience, but they also help to personalize the topic and make it more interesting and memorable. Stories can be used to illustrate your points and give real-life examples of what you are talking about. 

When sharing a story, be sure to provide enough detail and keep it focused on the topic of your presentation. Focus on the key elements of the story and how it ties in with your message. 

Use the story as an example or analogy to help the audience better understand the information you are trying to present. Finally, be sure to use storytelling techniques like vivid descriptions, suspense, and a moral to bring the story to life and make a lasting impression on your audience.

Use strong words

Strong words can be a powerful tool for delivering an effective presentation. Not only do strong words help to capture your audience's attention, but they also convey your message with clarity and confidence. 

When preparing your  presentation skills in business communication , think about the kind of words you want to use. Use words that are relevant and make an impact on your audience. Avoid using too much jargon and complex language; this can be off-putting for some listeners. Instead, try to choose words that are interesting and engaging. Also, be sure to vary your word choice to keep your audience interested.

Moreover, don’t be afraid to emphasize certain words. This can help add weight to your point and create a sense of drama or urgency. Paying attention to your volume and pitch when you say certain words can also help create a more compelling presentation. 

Using strong words is an important way to communicate effectively in a presentation. It can help you engage your audience and make your message more memorable.

Use body language

Body language is a powerful tool for communication and can add emphasis to your presentation. Pay attention to how you stand, how you hold your arms and even the direction of your gaze. Positive body language conveys confidence and enthusiasm. 

Keep your arms open and away from your body. Speak with gestures and move around the room when appropriate. Eye contact is essential – make sure to look at the audience when you’re speaking and establish a connection with them. 

Don't be afraid to smile and pause for a few seconds while talking. Your body language should be congruent with what you are saying. Doing so will show that you are comfortable and competent in delivering your message.

Be aware of your voice

Your voice is a key factor in communicating effectively. It can be used to emphasize points and make your presentation memorable. When you're presenting, be conscious of the volume, tone, and pacing of your voice. 

Speak loud enough so that everyone can hear you, but not too loudly. Your tone should be confident and conversational. Speak clearly and pronounce each word correctly. Also, vary your speed and pitch to emphasize important points and keep your audience engaged. 

Taking pauses in the right places can help people better understand what you're saying. Lastly, don't rush through your presentation, and make sure to take your time. By being aware of how you use your voice, you can make a lasting impression on your audience.

Use visual aids

Using visuals in your presentation is a great way to engage your audience. Visual aids help break up the monotony of talking and can be used to explain complex concepts simply and concisely. 

There are various types of visual methods of effective communication ppt you can use, such as photographs, infographics, diagrams, slides, and videos. Make sure to choose visuals that are relevant to your presentation and that can be seen by everyone. 

When using visual aids, keep in mind that they should complement what you are saying, not overpower it. 

Be sure to practice with the visual aids before presenting so that you can be sure of their impact. By using visual aids in your presentation, you will be able to add depth and clarity to your message.

Practice, practice, practice!

The most important part of delivering an  effective communication skills , presentation is practice. It is the key to building your confidence and ensuring that you make the best possible impression on your audience. 

Start by writing out your presentation and practicing it alone, then practice in front of family and friends until you are comfortable with your delivery. 

Rehearse your presentation several times to familiarize yourself with it and to ensure that you don’t leave anything out. Familiarizing yourself with the material will help you present it confidently and make you appear more competent and professional. 

Practicing your methods of effective communication ppt will also help you identify any areas where you can improve, allowing you to make necessary changes and ensure that you are delivering the best presentation possible.

Presentation skills for engaged business communication

What is a presentation in communication? Successful business communication involves more than just knowing the right words to say. To truly engage your audience, you need to know how to effectively deliver your message. Presentation skills are an essential part of effective communication in the business world. 

In this post, we will explore 8 communication skills presentations that will help you engage your audience and ensure your message is delivered clearly and effectively. Whether you are presenting to a room full of colleagues or a single client, having strong presentation skills can make all the difference. Read on to learn more about the 8 presentation skills for engaged business communication.

1) The Art of Storytelling

Storytelling is an invaluable tool for making an impact with your business presentations. Telling stories helps to draw your audience in and create a connection with them while making complex concepts easier to understand. 

Through stories, you can capture their attention and share your message in a way that will stay with them long after the presentation has ended. When using methods of effective communication ppt stories, be sure to select relevant stories that illustrate the main points of your presentation, and keep them brief so you don't lose your audience's focus.

2) Be Concise

When presenting to an audience, it is important to be succinct. This means conveying your message in the most efficient manner possible. 

Avoid going off-topic and include only relevant information. Speak clearly, using language that everyone in the room can understand. Don't rely on jargon or slang to communicate your ideas. 

Focus on the main points and keep your presentation as concise as possible. Let your slides do some of the talking, too. Get to the point quickly and finish promptly. Being concise will help you keep your audience's attention and ensure they walk away with your key messages.

3) Use Visual Aids

Visual aids can be an effective way to engage with your audience and illustrate your points. Choose visuals that are easy to understand and keep the text to a minimum. Utilizing charts, graphs, or images can make complex ideas easier to digest. 

Use visual aids to bring life to your presentation, help break up the information, and maintain the audience’s attention. Make sure to practice using them so they are not distracting from your key message.

4) Speak with Confidence

When giving a presentation, it's important to speak with confidence. This doesn't mean you need to be overly loud or assertive; it simply means that you need to be sure of yourself and your topic. Projecting your voice and speaking clearly will help ensure that your message is communicated effectively. 

Additionally, use body language that indicates you are confident in what you are saying, like keeping eye contact with your audience and maintaining an open, upright posture. With practice, you'll find speaking confidently comes naturally.

5) Engage with Your Audience

When delivering a presentation, engaging your audience is essential for successful communication. Ask questions, make eye contact, and allow for interaction. Incorporating interactive activities like polls or brainstorming can help keep the audience engaged. 

Encourage feedback and discussion by using inclusive language like "we" and "us". Invite questions and address them thoughtfully, considering the interests and needs of your audience. Finally, create a dialogue with your audience, and don't be afraid to get creative!

6) Be Prepared

In business communication, it is vital to be prepared. Preparation includes researching your topic thoroughly and having an outline of what you would like to say. Make sure to have a few key points to emphasize and practice presenting them. 

Be organized and be able to defend any claims that you make. Finally, plan to ensure that you can accommodate any interruptions or questions. Having the right materials at hand will give you the confidence you need to engage your audience.

7) Practice, Practice, Practice

When it comes to mastering presentation skills in business communication, practice is essential. Not only should you practice out loud until you are confident in your delivery, but also practice different scenarios and answers to potential questions. 

Visualize yourself delivering the presentation and anticipate any challenges that could arise. Practicing will help you feel more prepared and confident during the actual presentation. With enough practice, you'll become a master of delivering engaging presentations that leave a lasting impact.

8) Handle Questions with Ease

An important part of any presentation is the Q&A session. Be prepared to answer questions from your audience effectively and confidently. Answer questions completely and honestly, and be sure to explain complex concepts. 

If you don’t know the answer to a question, take the time to research it and provide an informed response. By being prepared and providing honest answers, your audience will appreciate your transparency and respect your knowledge.

Communication is an essential tool for any presentation or speech. It helps to develop trust, gives you the ability to delegate tasks, encourages others to share their ideas, and allows you to have difficult conversations. By practicing effective  communication skills in presentation , you can improve your writing skills and get promoted in the process. Communication is a crucial skill that can be used to great effect in presentations and speeches.

Useful Resources:    What is an effective presentation |  What is written communication |  Types of communication formal and informal

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.css-1qrtm5m{display:block;margin-bottom:8px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5714285714285714;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.35px;letter-spacing:-0.35px;font-weight:300;color:#606F7B;}@media (min-width:600px){.css-1qrtm5m{font-size:16px;line-height:1.625;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.5px;letter-spacing:-0.5px;}} Best Practices The #1 rule for improving your presentation slides

by Tom Rielly • May 12, 2020

When giving presentations, either on a video conference call or in person, your slides, videos and graphics (or lack of them) can be an important element in helping you tell your story or express your idea. This is the first of a series of blog posts that will give you tips and tricks on how to perfect your visual presentations.

Your job as a presenter is to build your idea -- step-by-step -- in the minds of your audience members. One tool to do that is presentation graphics, such as slides and videos.

Why graphics for your presentation?

A common mistake is using slides or videos as a crutch, even if they don’t actually add anything to your presentation. Not all presentations need graphics. Lots of presentations work wonderfully with just one person standing on a stage telling a story, as demonstrated by many TED Talks.

You should only use slides if they serve a purpose: conveying scientific information, art, and things that are hard to explain without pictures. Once you have decided on using slides, you will have a number of decisions to make. We’ll help you with the basics of making a presentation that is, above all, clear and easy to understand. The most important thing to remember here is: less is more.

Less is so much more

You want to aim for the fewest number of slides, the fewest number of photos, the fewest words per slide, the least cluttered slides and the most white space on your slides. This is the most violated slide rule, but it is the secret to success. Take a look at these examples.

As you can see in the above example, you don’t need fancy backgrounds or extra words to convey a simple concept. If you take “Everything you need to know about Turtles”, and delete “everything you need to know about” leaving just “turtles”, the slide has become much easier for your audience to read, and tells the story with economy.

The above example demonstrates that a single image that fills the entire screen is far more powerful than a slide cluttered with images. A slide with too many images may be detrimental to your presentation. The audience will spend more mental energy trying to sort through the clutter than listening to your presentation. If you need multiple images, then put each one on its own slide. Make each image high-resolution and have it fill the entire screen. If the photos are not the same dimensions as the screen, put them on a black background. Don’t use other colors, especially white.

Your slides will be much more effective if you use the fewest words, characters, and pictures needed to tell your story. Long paragraphs make the audience strain to read them, which means they are not paying attention to you. Your audience may even get stressed if you move on to your next slide before they’ve finished reading your paragraph. The best way to make sure the attention stays on you is to limit word count to no more than 10 words per slide. As presentation expert Nancy Duarte says “any slide with more than 10 words is a document.” If you really do need a longer explanation of something, handouts or follow-up emails are the way to go.

Following a “less is more” approach is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your presentation visuals and the impact of your presentation overall. Make sure your visuals add to your presentation rather than distract from it and get your message across.

Ready to learn more about how to make your presentation even better? Get TED Masterclass and develop your ideas into TED-style talks.

© 2024 TED Conferences, LLC. All rights reserved. Please note that the TED Talks Usage policy does not apply to this content and is not subject to our creative commons license.

How To Use Visual Communication and Why It Matters

By integrating visual content, such as short videos and static images in your communications rather than text alone you can save time and improve performance in a significant way. 

Specifically, TechSmith has proven that a business can save up to $1,200 in productivity per year for every employee who consumes content as part of their job just by integrating visual content.  

Are you ready to integrate visuals into your communications? If so, keep reading. In this article, you will learn:

• Exactly what visual communication is
• Why visual communication is important
• What some examples of visual communication are
• How to use visual communication in the workplace

Start creating images and videos today!

From grabbing a screenshot to recording a video message, Snagit helps your team speed up everyday communication tasks.

What is visual communication? 

Visual communication is the practice of using visual elements to get a message across, inspire change, or evoke an emotion. 

Visual Communication exists in two parts; communication design and graphic design: 

• Communication design refers to crafting a message that educates, motivates, and engages the viewer. 
• Graphic design uses design principles to communicate that message in a way that is clear and eye-catching to the intended audience. 

What visual communication is really about at its core is selecting the elements that will create the most meaning for your audience. These elements usually include text, icons, shapes, imagery , and data visualizations. 

Some strategies that are common in visual communication are:

• Showing the impact of your work by using data visualization
• Outlining processes and flows by using shapes and lines 
• Creating more memorable information through the use of symbols and icons
• Telling stories through visuals and data 
• Harnessing color to illustrate importance and attract attention

Why is visual communication important? 

The chances of your workforce being made up of people from one generation with one personality type and one learning style are pretty slim. 

The modern workplace landscape sees us working cross-generationally and cross-culturally, with individuals from all walks of life who have different learning styles, and different backgrounds. 

This reality makes for a very interesting group of colleagues and carries the benefit of multiple distinct perspectives. Of course, it also presents some significant challenges that employers and managers need to address in order to communicate effectively and keep the full workforce as engaged as possible.  

An individual’s reception to and retention of information provided can vary greatly depending on where they land on each of the spectrums listed above but also on how the information is provided. 

Integrating visual communication as part of your routine norms is important because it helps to bridge the gaps that traditional word-focused communication leaves.      

Becoming a good visual communicator can help improve:

• Communication effectiveness 
• Information retention

Communication Effectiveness

Information overload is a very real thing in society in general, and at work specifically. 

Between phone notifications, coworkers popping by with questions and new details to share, and the temptation to scroll social media, there are a lot of distractions to compete with! 

No matter how well thought out or important your message is, if your coworker opens the email and sees a long wall of text, assume they’re not going to read it. 

The good news is that by becoming an excellent visual communicator, you can make sure critical information doesn’t get lost, preventing misunderstandings and keeping projects on track.

The amount of resistance to communication often correlates with the amount and quality of information being communicated. 

Incorporating high-quality images and videos in your communication rather than relying solely on text to share your message can decrease the amount of time required to absorb the content, maximizing the potential for viewers to actually 1. Open  2. Take it in and 3. Reply to your communication, rendering it much more effective than an unopened text-only email.

Information Retention

The competition for your team’s attention is fierce and if you win it, another challenge awaits – breaking through the noise and actually having your information retained.  

There are two main benefits to visual communication where memory is concerned. 

The first benefit of visual communication relates to retention.  When a reader takes in information in a visual format, there is a greater likelihood that they will create a long term memory associated with it. 

Becoming a great visual communicator will mean that your team can easily return to the recollection of the material they saw from you, recognize its value, and be inclined to seek out more of it.  

The second benefit of strong visual communication is that it supports reading comprehension and memory at the time the material is being consumed. 

Visuals highlight the main points you are trying to communicate in an efficient and interesting way, helpingelps the viewer connect those main points with contexts that are relevant in their own lives, thereby strengthening their memory’s connection to the information.   

The part of the brain that processes visual information (the visual cortex) is much larger than the part of the brain responsible for reading words (the broca). By providing your information in a visual presentation, you make it much easier on your team to process the information effectively.

What are examples of visual communication? 

There a tons of good graphics and visual design elements that you can add to your communication stack. Here are a few of the most common:

• Screenshots
• Screen recordings
• Infographics
• Data visualizations
• Slide decks
• Social media posts

Visuals keep things fresh and exciting, don’t be afraid to incorporate more than one of the examples discussed above. 

Creating images isn’t exclusive to those with formal graphic design training or with access to expensive, high-end tools. Simple screenshots are a great example of an easy way to create your own image while conveying a message in a meaningful way.

If you are not sure how to get started using visuals to help you communicate better, Snagit is a great tool that can help you transform simple screenshots into helpful images, videos, and animated GIFs.

How to use visual communication in the workplace?

Being able to communicate your message clearly is important no matter where you work. And incorporating visuals in your emails or presentations can change the way your team communicates.

According to a survey by TechSmith , 98% of respondents who use video, a form of visual communication, at work say it improves the effectiveness of their message.

Here are seven ways you can use visuals to communicate more effectively at work.

1. Onboard new employees

It can be time consuming to schedule face-to-face training sessions every time a new employee joins your organization. It’s also overwhelming to be a new employee with so much to learn right from the start.

Make onboarding easier by creating narrated screencasts that show how to use your organization’s standard programs. New hires will be able to re-watch them when they need a refresher, and you’ll save time by avoiding in-person training sessions.

2. Capture inspiration

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So when you see a concept you like, take a screenshot of it! 

Saving good ideas with screenshots lets you build up a library of inspiration to use the next time you’re stuck for ideas. Similar to mood boards or swipe files, you’ll have images of examples or ideas you liked or didn’t like.

Snagit is a great tool to use to create screenshots, simple videos and screencasts, and animated GIFs.

3. Skip writing pages of notes

Have you ever had the problem of trying to scribble down pages of notes, only to realize you missed parts of what was said. One way to help alleviate this problem is to record the conversation (with permission, of course). 

Recording a conversation will ensure you don’t miss any details. You can also share the recording so that those who might have been absent can still get all of the relevant information. 

Handwritten notes can be influenced by the perspective of the note-taker, so it would be ideal to always have a recording handy.

4. Give clear feedback

Giving and receiving feedback on content or projects can be challenging. You often have to wait (or chase) stakeholders for feedback on projects. And sometimes when they provide their suggestions, it’s paragraphs of text which you’re left to interpret yourself. 

Using visuals to show your exact feedback can reduce the time spent sending emails back and forth and helps everyone get on the same page. This can make the approval process go much faster.

6. Report progress

Line graphs and pie charts are effective visuals, but without context, they might not be able to stand alone in an email or message.

One of my favorite visual communication strategies is to record a video rather than simply communicating with graphics. It’s a simple level-up to how you present information to your team.

By hitting record and narrating your graphs or slide presentations, you can help your audience better understand results, data, and the impact they may have on your business. This can be particularly helpful when reporting data to coworkers in different departments who may need a little more explanation or context in order to understand what the numbers mean. 

Adding graphic elements to reports can also help achieve clarity and engagement, instead of text alone.

7. Write better emails

Email is a necessary part of work and a crucial communication tool. But what if you could cut down the amount of text and still convey your point in a way that will grab people’s attention? 

Adding screenshots to your emails can help you create a more visual message. They are more engaging to view than blocks of text, and you can draw your reader to your main point with marked-up screenshots.

Improving Your Internal Communications

A guide to how visual content can help create a more collaborative and productive work environment.

Danielle Ezell

Danielle Ezell is a Marketing Content Strategist at TechSmith, where she writes about effective workplace communication, offering tips and strategies for using images and videos to collaborate more effectively in hybrid and remote environments.

• How to Make a Screencast in 5 Easy Steps
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• Information Overload is Real: Here's How to Manage It

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Blog Graphic Design 15 Effective Visual Presentation Tips To Wow Your Audience

15 Effective Visual Presentation Tips To Wow Your Audience

Written by: Krystle Wong Sep 28, 2023

So, you’re gearing up for that big presentation and you want it to be more than just another snooze-fest with slides. You want it to be engaging, memorable and downright impressive. 

Well, you’ve come to the right place — I’ve got some slick tips on how to create a visual presentation that’ll take your presentation game up a notch. 

Packed with presentation templates that are easily customizable, keep reading this blog post to learn the secret sauce behind crafting presentations that captivate, inform and remain etched in the memory of your audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a visual presentation & why is it important?

15 effective tips to make your visual presentations more engaging, 6 major types of visual presentation you should know , what are some common mistakes to avoid in visual presentations, visual presentation faqs, 5 steps to create a visual presentation with venngage.

A visual presentation is a communication method that utilizes visual elements such as images, graphics, charts, slides and other visual aids to convey information, ideas or messages to an audience. 

Visual presentations aim to enhance comprehension engagement and the overall impact of the message through the strategic use of visuals. People remember what they see, making your point last longer in their heads. 

Without further ado, let’s jump right into some great visual presentation examples that would do a great job in keeping your audience interested and getting your point across.

In today’s fast-paced world, where information is constantly bombarding our senses, creating engaging visual presentations has never been more crucial. To help you design a presentation that’ll leave a lasting impression, I’ve compiled these examples of visual presentations that will elevate your game.

1. Use the rule of thirds for layout

Ever heard of the rule of thirds? It’s a presentation layout trick that can instantly up your slide game. Imagine dividing your slide into a 3×3 grid and then placing your text and visuals at the intersection points or along the lines. This simple tweak creates a balanced and seriously pleasing layout that’ll draw everyone’s eyes.

2. Get creative with visual metaphors

Got a complex idea to explain? Skip the jargon and use visual metaphors. Throw in images that symbolize your point – for example, using a road map to show your journey towards a goal or using metaphors to represent answer choices or progress indicators in an interactive quiz or poll.

3. Visualize your data with charts and graphs

The right data visualization tools not only make content more appealing but also aid comprehension and retention. Choosing the right visual presentation for your data is all about finding a good match. 

For ordinal data, where things have a clear order, consider using ordered bar charts or dot plots. When it comes to nominal data, where categories are on an equal footing, stick with the classics like bar charts, pie charts or simple frequency tables. And for interval-ratio data, where there’s a meaningful order, go for histograms, line graphs, scatterplots or box plots to help your data shine.

In an increasingly visual world, effective visual communication is a valuable skill for conveying messages. Here’s a guide on how to use visual communication to engage your audience while avoiding information overload.

4. Employ the power of contrast

Want your important stuff to pop? That’s where contrast comes in. Mix things up with contrasting colors, fonts or shapes. It’s like highlighting your key points with a neon marker – an instant attention grabber.

5. Tell a visual story

Structure your slides like a storybook and create a visual narrative by arranging your slides in a way that tells a story. Each slide should flow into the next, creating a visual narrative that keeps your audience hooked till the very end.

Icons and images are essential for adding visual appeal and clarity to your presentation. Venngage provides a vast library of icons and images, allowing you to choose visuals that resonate with your audience and complement your message. 

6. Show the “before and after” magic

Want to drive home the impact of your message or solution? Whip out the “before and after” technique. Show the current state (before) and the desired state (after) in a visual way. It’s like showing a makeover transformation, but for your ideas.

7. Add fun with visual quizzes and polls

To break the monotony and see if your audience is still with you, throw in some quick quizzes or polls. It’s like a mini-game break in your presentation — your audience gets involved and it makes your presentation way more dynamic and memorable.

8. End with a powerful visual punch

Your presentation closing should be a showstopper. Think a stunning clip art that wraps up your message with a visual bow, a killer quote that lingers in minds or a call to action that gets hearts racing.

9. Engage with storytelling through data

Use storytelling magic to bring your data to life. Don’t just throw numbers at your audience—explain what they mean, why they matter and add a bit of human touch. Turn those stats into relatable tales and watch your audience’s eyes light up with understanding.

10. Use visuals wisely

Your visuals are the secret sauce of a great presentation. Cherry-pick high-quality images, graphics, charts and videos that not only look good but also align with your message’s vibe. Each visual should have a purpose – they’re not just there for decoration. 

11. Utilize visual hierarchy

Employ design principles like contrast, alignment and proximity to make your key info stand out. Play around with fonts, colors and placement to make sure your audience can’t miss the important stuff.

12. Engage with multimedia

Static slides are so last year. Give your presentation some sizzle by tossing in multimedia elements. Think short video clips, animations, or a touch of sound when it makes sense, including an animated logo . But remember, these are sidekicks, not the main act, so use them smartly.

13. Interact with your audience

Turn your presentation into a two-way street. Start your presentation by encouraging your audience to join in with thought-provoking questions, quick polls or using interactive tools. Get them chatting and watch your presentation come alive.

When it comes to delivering a group presentation, it’s important to have everyone on the team on the same page. Venngage’s real-time collaboration tools enable you and your team to work together seamlessly, regardless of geographical locations. Collaborators can provide input, make edits and offer suggestions in real time. 

14. Incorporate stories and examples

Weave in relatable stories, personal anecdotes or real-life examples to illustrate your points. It’s like adding a dash of spice to your content – it becomes more memorable and relatable.

15. Nail that delivery

Don’t just stand there and recite facts like a robot — be a confident and engaging presenter. Lock eyes with your audience, mix up your tone and pace and use some gestures to drive your points home. Practice and brush up your presentation skills until you’ve got it down pat for a persuasive presentation that flows like a pro.

Venngage offers a wide selection of professionally designed presentation templates, each tailored for different purposes and styles. By choosing a template that aligns with your content and goals, you can create a visually cohesive and polished presentation that captivates your audience.

Looking for more presentation ideas ? Why not try using a presentation software that will take your presentations to the next level with a combination of user-friendly interfaces, stunning visuals, collaboration features and innovative functionalities that will take your presentations to the next level. 

Visual presentations come in various formats, each uniquely suited to convey information and engage audiences effectively. Here are six major types of visual presentations that you should be familiar with:

1. Slideshows or PowerPoint presentations

Slideshows are one of the most common forms of visual presentations. They typically consist of a series of slides containing text, images, charts, graphs and other visual elements. Slideshows are used for various purposes, including business presentations, educational lectures and conference talks.

2. Infographics

Infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge. They combine text, images and graphics to convey complex concepts or data in a concise and visually appealing manner. Infographics are often used in marketing, reporting and educational materials.

Don’t worry, they are also super easy to create thanks to Venngage’s fully customizable infographics templates that are professionally designed to bring your information to life. Be sure to try it out for your next visual presentation!

3. Video presentation

Videos are your dynamic storytellers. Whether it’s pre-recorded or happening in real-time, videos are the showstoppers. You can have interviews, demos, animations or even your own mini-documentary. Video presentations are highly engaging and can be shared in both in-person and virtual presentations .

4. Charts and graphs

Charts and graphs are visual representations of data that make it easier to understand and analyze numerical information. Common types include bar charts, line graphs, pie charts and scatterplots. They are commonly used in scientific research, business reports and academic presentations.

Effective data visualizations are crucial for simplifying complex information and Venngage has got you covered. Venngage’s tools enable you to create engaging charts, graphs,and infographics that enhance audience understanding and retention, leaving a lasting impression in your presentation.

5. Interactive presentations

Interactive presentations involve audience participation and engagement. These can include interactive polls, quizzes, games and multimedia elements that allow the audience to actively participate in the presentation. Interactive presentations are often used in workshops, training sessions and webinars.

Venngage’s interactive presentation tools enable you to create immersive experiences that leave a lasting impact and enhance audience retention. By incorporating features like clickable elements, quizzes and embedded multimedia, you can captivate your audience’s attention and encourage active participation.

6. Poster presentations

Poster presentations are the stars of the academic and research scene. They consist of a large poster that includes text, images and graphics to communicate research findings or project details and are usually used at conferences and exhibitions. For more poster ideas, browse through Venngage’s gallery of poster templates to inspire your next presentation.

Different visual presentations aside, different presentation methods also serve a unique purpose, tailored to specific objectives and audiences. Find out which type of presentation works best for the message you are sending across to better capture attention, maintain interest and leave a lasting impression. 

To make a good presentation , it’s crucial to be aware of common mistakes and how to avoid them. Without further ado, let’s explore some of these pitfalls along with valuable insights on how to sidestep them.

Overloading slides with text

Text heavy slides can be like trying to swallow a whole sandwich in one bite – overwhelming and unappetizing. Instead, opt for concise sentences and bullet points to keep your slides simple. Visuals can help convey your message in a more engaging way.

Using low-quality visuals

Grainy images and pixelated charts are the equivalent of a scratchy vinyl record at a DJ party. High-resolution visuals are your ticket to professionalism. Ensure that the images, charts and graphics you use are clear, relevant and sharp.

Choosing the right visuals for presentations is important. To find great visuals for your visual presentation, Browse Venngage’s extensive library of high-quality stock photos. These images can help you convey your message effectively, evoke emotions and create a visually pleasing narrative. 

Ignoring design consistency

Imagine a book with every chapter in a different font and color – it’s a visual mess. Consistency in fonts, colors and formatting throughout your presentation is key to a polished and professional look.

Reading directly from slides

Reading your slides word-for-word is like inviting your audience to a one-person audiobook session. Slides should complement your speech, not replace it. Use them as visual aids, offering key points and visuals to support your narrative.

Lack of visual hierarchy

Neglecting visual hierarchy is like trying to find Waldo in a crowd of clones. Use size, color and positioning to emphasize what’s most important. Guide your audience’s attention to key points so they don’t miss the forest for the trees.

Ignoring accessibility

Accessibility isn’t an option these days; it’s a must. Forgetting alt text for images, color contrast and closed captions for videos can exclude individuals with disabilities from understanding your presentation. 

Relying too heavily on animation

While animations can add pizzazz and draw attention, overdoing it can overshadow your message. Use animations sparingly and with purpose to enhance, not detract from your content.

Using jargon and complex language

Keep it simple. Use plain language and explain terms when needed. You want your message to resonate, not leave people scratching their heads.

Not testing interactive elements

Interactive elements can be the life of your whole presentation, but not testing them beforehand is like jumping into a pool without checking if there’s water. Ensure that all interactive features, from live polls to multimedia content, work seamlessly. A smooth experience keeps your audience engaged and avoids those awkward technical hiccups.

Presenting complex data and information in a clear and visually appealing way has never been easier with Venngage. Build professional-looking designs with our free visual chart slide templates for your next presentation.

What software or tools can I use to create visual presentations?

You can use various software and tools to create visual presentations, including Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Prezi and Venngage, among others.

What is the difference between a visual presentation and a written report?

The main difference between a visual presentation and a written report is the medium of communication. Visual presentations rely on visuals, such as slides, charts and images to convey information quickly, while written reports use text to provide detailed information in a linear format.

How do I effectively communicate data through visual presentations?

To effectively communicate data through visual presentations, simplify complex data into easily digestible charts and graphs, use clear labels and titles and ensure that your visuals support the key messages you want to convey.

Are there any accessibility considerations for visual presentations?

Accessibility considerations for visual presentations include providing alt text for images, ensuring good color contrast, using readable fonts and providing transcripts or captions for multimedia content to make the presentation inclusive.

Most design tools today make accessibility hard but Venngage’s Accessibility Design Tool comes with accessibility features baked in, including accessible-friendly and inclusive icons.

How do I choose the right visuals for my presentation?

Choose visuals that align with your content and message. Use charts for data, images for illustrating concepts, icons for emphasis and color to evoke emotions or convey themes.

What is the role of storytelling in visual presentations?

Storytelling plays a crucial role in visual presentations by providing a narrative structure that engages the audience, helps them relate to the content and makes the information more memorable.

How can I adapt my visual presentations for online or virtual audiences?

To adapt visual presentations for online or virtual audiences, focus on concise content, use engaging visuals, ensure clear audio, encourage audience interaction through chat or polls and rehearse for a smooth online delivery.

What is the role of data visualization in visual presentations?

Data visualization in visual presentations simplifies complex data by using charts, graphs and diagrams, making it easier for the audience to understand and interpret information.

How do I choose the right color scheme and fonts for my visual presentation?

Choose a color scheme that aligns with your content and brand and select fonts that are readable and appropriate for the message you want to convey.

How can I measure the effectiveness of my visual presentation?

Measure the effectiveness of your visual presentation by collecting feedback from the audience, tracking engagement metrics (e.g., click-through rates for online presentations) and evaluating whether the presentation achieved its intended objectives.

Ultimately, creating a memorable visual presentation isn’t just about throwing together pretty slides. It’s about mastering the art of making your message stick, captivating your audience and leaving a mark.

Lucky for you, Venngage simplifies the process of creating great presentations, empowering you to concentrate on delivering a compelling message. Follow the 5 simple steps below to make your entire presentation visually appealing and impactful:

1. Sign up and log In: Log in to your Venngage account or sign up for free and gain access to Venngage’s templates and design tools.

2. Choose a template: Browse through Venngage’s presentation template library and select one that best suits your presentation’s purpose and style. Venngage offers a variety of pre-designed templates for different types of visual presentations, including infographics, reports, posters and more.

3. Edit and customize your template: Replace the placeholder text, image and graphics with your own content and customize the colors, fonts and visual elements to align with your presentation’s theme or your organization’s branding.

4. Add visual elements: Venngage offers a wide range of visual elements, such as icons, illustrations, charts, graphs and images, that you can easily add to your presentation with the user-friendly drag-and-drop editor.

5. Save and export your presentation: Export your presentation in a format that suits your needs and then share it with your audience via email, social media or by embedding it on your website or blog .

So, as you gear up for your next presentation, whether it’s for business, education or pure creative expression, don’t forget to keep these visual presentation ideas in your back pocket.

Feel free to experiment and fine-tune your approach and let your passion and expertise shine through in your presentation. With practice, you’ll not only build presentations but also leave a lasting impact on your audience – one slide at a time.

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18 effective strategies to improve your communication skills

Communication skills are some of the most utilized and the most sought after in the workplace. They’re essential for leaders and individual contributors to hone. Looking at our largely remot and hybrid work environments, great communication skills make the difference between connected, agile teams, and teams who fail to collaborate, stay aligned, and achieve common goals. 

The good news is that improving communication skills is easier than you might imagine. Here are some basic principles worth following in order to communicate better.

5 types of communication to develop

You and members of your team may have been working remotely for some time now. Whether you are in an office daily, at home managing from afar, or in a hybrid workplace between the two, you’ve likely leveraged more than one communication type.

For businesses to thrive long-term, it is important to develop communication skills that span each type. Here are the five most common communication types to focus on improving.

• Oral communication: Thoughts are shared through speech. Examples include presentations, one-on-one meetings, and virtual calls.
• Written communication: Thoughts and ideas are shared via the written word. This can be with emails, hand-written notes, or signage.
• Non-verbal communication : Information is shared without the use of written or spoken words. Examples include facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, and gestures.
• Active listening: Unlike the examples above, active listening is about receiving information. When someone is listening actively, they might ask questions to understand the information better, but refrain from focusing on their response so much that they fail to hear the speaker.
• Contextual communication: Information i s s hared with mutual, potentially un s poken, under s t anding s of variou s factor s s uch a s interper s onal relation s hip s and the environment.

What is effective communication?

The most effective communicators clearly inform others and actively listen to them at the same time. They can accept input – both verbal and non-verbal – while also expressing their thoughts and opinions in an inclusive way.

Regardless of the communication style , effective communication involves a connection with others. It is a dance with a partner that moves, at times, in ways we did not predict. This means the most powerful skill you can leverage is being in sync with your audience. It involves understanding and speaking to its needs, and then responding to real-time feedback. It means having the conversation that your audience wants to have.

But achieving all of that can take some practice.

Below are some effective communication strategies to help you listen and communicate better.

How to improve communication skills

The best messages are often simple.

There’s no value in delivering any kind of communication, whether written, verbal, formal, or casual, if the message doesn’t come across clearly.

Communicating concisely — while maintaining interest and including everything your team needs to know — is a high-level communication skill.

Here are some ways to communicate better.

1. Keep your audience in mind

Your audience will naturally be more interested and engaged when you tailor your communications to their interests. Piquing their interest by speaking directly to what matters to them will naturally engage their desire to understand and interact with the information.

2. Don’t use 10 words when one will do

Even the most engaged and committed audience will eventually get bored. Keeping your message simple and concise will make it easier to understand and retain. Remember, you already know what you’re going to say, but they’re hearing it for the first time. Keep it simple.

3. Consider the best method to deliver your message

If the information you’re conveying isn’t urgent, consider sending an email or a memo. This is especially important when communicating expectations . Written communication will give your audience more time to review it, think it over, and follow up with questions. It will also give them a handy record to refer back to.

4. Get them involved

If you’ve ever worked as an instructor, manager, trainer, or coach, you’ll know that there are few better ways to learn new information than to teach it. Ask them for their input or to take a role in explaining new concepts and policies to their colleagues.  

5. Leverage face-to-face communication when possible

Communicating face-to-face adds multiple layers of information to an exchange, whether between two people or two hundred. Often, there’s a synergy created with in-person communication that’s difficult to replicate elsewhere. Here are some tips to make the most of face time with your team:

6. Make eye contact

If you’re wondering whether or not your message is getting across, few metrics provide as much feedback as eye contact . You can easily tell if the person you’re speaking to is understanding you, is distracted, worried, or confused — much of which is lost in digital communication.

7. Ask for feedback 

Not sure they got it? Ask! A powerful technique is to ask people to repeat back their version of what you just said. Often, this can improve retention, immediate understanding, and minimize misunderstandings later on. You can also ask them to reach out to you with helpful ways that you can improve your delivery in presentations and other forms of communication.

8. Read non-verbal cues

There are various types of nonverbal-cues . Yawns, fidgeting, and looking around the room are usually clear signs that your audience is thinking about something other than what you’re trying to convey. If you notice this, don’t take it personally. Try asking them to share what’s on their mind, recap previous points they may have missed, or adjourn for a later time.

9. Minimize distractions

If you’re chatting with someone (or a group) face-to-face, keep distractions at bay by leaving unnecessary electronic devices out of the space. Keep the attendance limited to just those who need to be there, and avoid scheduling at a time when people are likely to focus on something else (like just before the end of the day or right before lunch).

How to improve online communication:

Online communication is rapidly replacing office spaces as the primary location of doing business. Especially if you’re used to working with in-person teams, it may be challenging to adjust to having meetings, conversations, and even people that collaborate with you or report to you digitally . Since online communication presents a unique way to interact, here are some things to keep in mind: 

1. Stick to a time limit

Online meetings can be even more difficult to focus on, since they incorporate the distractions of a nearly-unlimited number of settings. Keep the meetings short and to the point, and be especially vigilant about minimizing (potentially) marathon Q&A sessions. If needed, follow up through asynchronous communication methods to protect everyone's time.

2. Be mindful of the other person

Generally, the person presenting is the only one who can give the meeting their full attention. Especially when working from home, assume that participants have multiple demands for their attention and structure the content accordingly.

3. Recap important details

A lot of nonverbal and interpersonal cues can be lost over a digital connection. Ensure understanding by recapping the key points. You can either do a quick review in an online meeting or a brief summary at the end of a lengthy email.

4. Don’t forget to respond

Be sure to respond to each communication with a quick acknowledgment, even if it’s an informal one. Although you may have received the message, it’s likely that the person on the other end will have no way of knowing unless you let them know. A couple words or even a “like” will usually do the trick.

5 extra tips to sharpen your communication skills

In general, if you’re looking to strengthen your communication skills , the following tips will help you succeed no matter the situation you find yourself in (or the audience you find yourself with):

• Be approachable. If your teammates feel intimidated or worried that you may not respond well, they’re less likely to come to you with information.
• Be patient. Not everyone communicates the same way. Taking the time to be sure you’ve understood the other person and communicated clearly can pay dividends.
• Be self-aware. It’s okay if you’re still developing your communication skills, nervous, or having a bad day. It takes time — and practice — to become a skilled communicator.
• Check for understanding. Don’t be afraid to invite feedback or ask questions to ensure that everyone’s on the same page.
• Switch out the messenger. Allow other team members or leaders to develop their communication skills by empowering them to lead discussions and meetings.

How to be a better active listener

There is much talk about the beauty of active listening , but many people aren’t sure how it translates into actual behaviors. One of the main challenges to active listening is the preoccupation with a response. Many people are busy formulating a perfect answer, which leaves no bandwidth to engage with the input. To get out of this habit, which is not really in service of the speaker, consider the following steps.

Rethink how to add value

You may think that adding value to an exchange is mostly about what you say. But that is not always how others perceive it. Most of us value responses that help us think through our own ideas, that clarify our assumptions or point out possible blind spots. We often don’t need a listener to be brilliant or impress us with their own data. Instead, we may value most how they helped us sharpen our thoughts.

Paraphrase without judgment

If you find yourself preoccupied with responding, try changing the focus of your response. Instead of aiming to add your own thoughts, task yourself with giving a summary that withholds your opinion or judgment. As you listen, make it your goal to give a concise summary, perhaps clarifying the speaker’s initial language.

Bonus points for repeating sticky language that the speaker recognizes as their own (“so you were frustrated with the project because the deadline was an uncomfortable high ?”)

Ask questions that help speakers think

The next step from paraphrasing is to ask questions that move the needle. Much like the way a coach listens, these questions push speakers to go deeper into their own thinking, to clarify their expression or consider possible concerns. You can play devil’s advocate by pointing out inconsistencies or language that seems unclear. All of these are true gifts to a speaker and help you stay focused on listening.

Interrupt politely

Active listening isn’t mindless indulgence, and not all interruption is rude. Sometimes speakers get lost in the weeds, providing depths of detail you don’t need. Interruption can help them stay relevant – and be rewarded with more engagement.

Most speakers don’t mind being cut off by a question that lets them keep talking. Much harder, especially for introverts, is to interrupt someone in a meeting and end their floor time. Be sure to:

• Validate the speaker (“Thank you for bringing that up.”)
• Use a warm and polite tone. Get feedback from others on how you sound and come across.
• Refer to shared interest (“I’d just like to make sure we get to hear from everyone about the project.”)

Tips to keep audiences engaged when you speak

Be relevant.

As we are flooded with information, many audiences will not be impressed by data. In fact, the desire to cover all bases or anticipate all possible questions is a common reason for wordiness.

To keep listeners engaged, especially in virtual meetings, you should carefully curate content for relevance. Ask yourself: How does this information affect my audience? How may it help them with their work? Is this level of detail helpful to understand my main message?

If you have no clear answers to these questions, consider cutting the content.

A hallmark of executive presence, concision is the ability to express your ideas in as few words as possible. Listeners appreciate this, as it shows your preparation and respect for your listeners’ time. In addition, concision signals confidence: the confidence to do less, to say something once, and trust that it lands.

Especially in virtual meetings, where the feedback loop can be flat, many speakers struggle with being concise. They may repeat themselves “just to make sure” or use more examples to make a point clear. But this kind of “more” can often be less, as audiences disengage, having gotten the point the first time.

Concision is a leap of faith. The faith in your own preparation and that your delivery is clear. In virtual meetings with cameras turned off, it becomes harder to keep this faith. For your own self-care as a speaker, you may want to ask your audience to be fully present and turn cameras on — and then reward them with your confident delivery.

Leave spaces for the audience to fill

One way to slow yourself down and check in with audiences is to pause after making a point. Not just a second to catch your breath, but an actual space for silence. Both virtual and in-person, it leaves an opening for your listeners to fill, providing you with real-time feedback as to what they need next. How granular do they want you to get? Do they actually have the questions you were going to answer? Or are they taking your ideas in a whole new direction?

We often feel wary about silence, as if it means that something is wrong. But things happen in silence, and you may be surprised what your listeners offer when given the chance to jump in. However they fill the space, you may get valuable hints as to how to sync and proceed. And that is when communication becomes dancing.

Treat pushback as openings, not obstacles

You may believe that by making a compelling case, you should be rewarded with instant buy-in. Which of course, almost never happens. As your proposals are challenged you get frustrated, perhaps even defensive, as you try to explain why you are right. Soon lines are drawn and both sides double down, and you find yourself stuck in a rut.

To avoid such a shutdown of your ideas, you may want to rethink how you experience pushback. Most new ideas aren’t embraced the way they are initially proposed, and your audience may not need you to have ready-made answers to all their questions. Try to view your pitch as an opening volley, and the pushback as guidance to have the talk that you need to have. Instead of reflexive defense, ask follow-questions to validate and explore the concern.

Final thoughts on effective communication strategies

As a leader and manager, you have tremendous power to set the tone for how your team communicates. While it can be easy to fall into bad communication habits, especially when transitioning to an increasingly digital interface, a shift in the way one individual communicates can open the doors for a radical shift throughout an entire workplace. Building effective communication skills takes time, but the effects are worth the effort at every level of your organization.

Enhance your communication skills

Discover tailored coaching to master effective communication for professional growth.

Nicolas Gattig

Better Up Fellow Coach

Feedback in communication: 5 areas to become a better communicator

Foster strong communication skills to enjoy professional success, upward communication: what is it 5 examples, improve your interpersonal communication skills with these 6 tips, member story: developing communication skills and owning the spotlight, the 5 business communication skills worth perfecting, communication is key in the workplace. here's how to improve, we need to talk (about communication styles in the workplace), what is nonverbal communication 10 different types (with examples), similar articles, reading the room gives you an edge — no matter who you're talking to, active listening: what is it & techniques to become an active listener, effective communication in relationships: 10 tips to improve it, 11 communication skills every leader should have, your guide to what storytelling is and how to be a good storyteller, empathic listening: what it is and how to use it, 6 presentation skills and how to improve them, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Summer Boarding Courses

The Importance of Presentation Skills (and how to ace your presentation!)

What are the importance of presentation skills? The short answer: having good presentation skills in life is really important! Knowing how to improve communication skills, whether you are in the classroom or the workplace, is something you will be thankful for when you have to share your ideas with an audience! Read on to find out how we can help.

Presentation Skills in every course

Here at Summer Boarding Courses, our academic summer school programme incorporates presentation skills into all of our courses! Have a fear of public speaking? Need to know how to make a presentation? With our public speaking tips and effective communication skills, you’ll be a pro in no time!

Our  Time to Shine projects  help you develop your English and prepare for future study. Welcoming our students into Time to Shine has been a big success and we can’t wait to hear your presentation too.

What is public speaking?

Public speaking is communicating information to an audience. Public speaking can happen in a classroom, in the workplace and public places. Public speaking does involve speaking aloud, but it is also about using your critical thinking, listening and non-verbal communications skills to get your message across too.

The importance of presentation skills

Effective communication skills are a valuable life skill, which will help you in your further education and in your future careers. Here are our top reasons why public speaking courses can do nothing but good to help you on your journey to success. Here’s the importance of presentation skills:

Your English speaking skills will excel

Presentations are a fantastic way to contribute to your English language learning experience. They enable you to practice all language areas (such as vocabulary, phonology and grammar) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening). But most of all, they build your confidence in public speaking. You can do it!

You will gain self confidence to have your say

Unsurprisingly, public speaking classes may make you feel nervous! Statistic Brain found a whopping  74% of people feel nervous  speaking in front of others.

Speaking in front of a class, in a language which is not your first native level, can be difficult. Yet, do not fret; we are here to give you the practice and support you need. You can try our public speaking classes out in a safe and encouraging environment during our  Time to Shine .

Learn how to present with us

You will learn to communicate better in all areas of life.

Presentation skills are an impressive and powerful tool that will take you so much further than just speaking in the classroom. With our communication skills training, you’ll become a good presenter all round, structuring and expressing your ideas clearly.

Knowing how to make a good presentation will help you in job interviews, to make new friends, to sell a product and make business deals successfully.

Your body language, hand gestures and eye contact will improve too. This helps captivate your audience. Your ability to plan and prepare materials, to convince your audience of what you have to say, will excel too!

You will be less stressed

If you have effective presentation skills, this means you are good at communicating. By speaking clearly, and getting your ideas and message across to people well, there will be less miscommunication in your life. This means less stress and happier relationships!

Your time management will improve

With only a certain amount of time to give your presentation, you will learn how to communicate your message quickly, clearly and successfully in a limited amount of time. A good presentation is easy to understand, memorable and not so long that your audience loses interest.

How to prepare for a presentation

Give the audience what they want.

Good presentation skills involve asking yourself; ‘What do my audience want to know? What will they find interesting about my topic?’ Brainstorm ideas and write them down to create a really interesting presentation.

Focus on your key message

Keep your presentation simple by focusing on 3 important points you want to communicate. Keep your message focused and stick to what you want to say. If you have information which isn’t relevant to your message, do not include it!

How to make a presentation fantastic

How can you keep your audience interested in your public speaking topics? To see how to make an effective presentation exciting and engaging, read on for our top tips for a good presentation.

Start strong

How you start your presentation is critical! An audience is going to decide if they are going to listen to you by how you begin. To engage the audience immediately, tell an interesting story, show an intriguing picture or do something entertaining. By using one of these public speaking techniques, your audience will be hooked.

Create variety

One way to master the art of public speaking is to create variety in your presentation. It will keep your audience interested! Use video. Use eye catching images. Involve your audience as much as possible! Ask them questions to keep them alert. Not talking all of the time, and using different ways to communicate your idea definitely helps.

Speak clearly

Good public speakers make a presentation even better by speaking clearly. You want your audience to hear what you are saying, so make sure you speak at a good volume. If the student at the back of the room can hear you, then your volume is great!

We understand this can be difficult when you are nervous. Try to look forward to project your voice, make eye contact with the audience and following our techniques above if you’re feeling nervous!

Emphasise words you want your audience to hear. Add suspense and intrigue by speaking more softly. Use body language as well as your voice volume to increase excitement!

Practice makes perfect here. Joining us at Summer Boarding Courses will show you how to improve your interpersonal communication skills and decrease your public speaking anxiety. Find out more about practicing your presentation skills with us during our  Time to Shine projects.

Try your best to be confident

If our calming techniques do not work, it is still possible that people cannot see just how nervous you actually are! Even if you do not feel confident, acting confident helps.

Speak at a good pace

Speaking at a pace where the audience can understand you is so important when you deliver a presentation. Keeping an optimal pace provides time for the listeners to understand the content, take notes, and ask questions.

A good presenter should learn not to speak too quickly, because they need to give time for the audience to understand what is being said. At the same time, the pace should not be so slow that the presenter runs out of time to complete the presentation (and the audience becomes bored!).

Have a Plan B

If your presentation is on a computer or hard drive, make sure you have a backup! Having your notes in paper format and some images which do not rely on technology will help you if worst comes to worst!

How can you improve your presentation skills?

With our tips and advice, we hope you are feeling more confident when it comes to how to give a good presentation. Presentation skills are really important and we encourage you to  join us  during the Summer to take your English to the next level!

If you’d like to improve your public speaking skills and learn more about how to do a presentation at Summer Boarding Courses,  get in touch today  and we’ll help find the right summer school course for you!

10 Tips for a Persuasive Presentation

Powerful presentation is persuasion. here's how to elevate your impact..

Posted May 11, 2024 | Reviewed by Ray Parker

• Presentations aim to effect change. It's essential to be clear about what change you want to see.
• Powerful presenters embrace and extend empathy to seek first to understand their audience.
• Substance and style both matter to create an audience-informed communication experience.
• Persuasive presentations are relevant, reasoned, real, and resonant.

How many of us realize that giving a presentation or making a speech is all about persuasion , influence, and emotional intelligence ? Impactful presenters understand the power of empathy to understand and engage their audience, the efficiency and kindness of having a clear objective and message, and the importance of substance and style—all as a way to connect in a way that engages and inspires.

Much has been written on the power and behavioral science of persuasion, not least by expert Robert Cialdini. His bestselling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion explains seven research-based universal principles of influence .

From my experience as a leadership coach working with thousands of people worldwide, I have compiled a list of ten essentials to elevate our presentation.

1. Maintain an "other" focus. What do you know about your audience and how can you find out more? Ask yourself what kind of a speaker will appeal to your audience, what arguments are likely to resonate with them, and what feelings you want to inspire so the audience will positively respond to your ask.

If your audience is predominantly data-driven, you may want to use more evidence-based arguments. If the audience is mixed, a combination of data, authority, and storytelling may be more appropriate. Extend Daniel Goleman’s three types of empathy to gather intelligence , understand your audience, and tailor your intervention to connect more profoundly.

2. Determine a specific objective. Presentations aim to effect change in some way. What change do you want to see in your audience?

For instance, gaining their approval for a certain investment, soliciting their buy-in for a change, or creating a sense of enthusiasm for an idea or initiative. The purpose of a presentation is to bring about change so make sure you are clear on what kind of change you want to bring about.

3. Design a grabber. Our attention spans have shrunk as we have more and more competing demands on our attention . If you want to get someone’s attention, you need to grab it at the outset and try and hold on.

You can do this in several different ways. Throw out a question that demands a response from the audience. Give a surprising fact or statistic, or quote from a well-known figure. Tell a story or an anecdote. A good grabber captures the attention of everyone there and makes them focus on what you have to say.

4. Crystalize your message and construct your arguments. Your message is the heart of your speech. Craft a brief phrase that clearly defines your proposal in 10-12 words—for example, “This post is about crafting presentations that inspire and engage others to elevate their presentations.”

Make it memorable by choosing inspiring words, symbols, catchy expressions, something that will remain in the audience's mind. As Brené Brown says: “Clear is kind,” and a clear message provides a path to develop your ideas.

When you have a clear and concise message, it helps you formulate your arguments. Think of developing your arguments using the rule of three —three compelling arguments to convince but not overwhelm your audience.

5. Prepare a call to action. Remember, we want to change our audience in some way, so we need to make our ask clearly and concretely. Consider your call to action in terms of what you want your audience to think/feel/do:

• Think: “I want you to think about how you can improve your presentations.”
• Feel: “I want you to feel enthusiastic and motivated so that you can elevate your power to persuade.”
• Do: “I want you to try out some of these tips and tools for yourself.”

6. Craft a memorable closing. Close the speech in an elegant and memorable way. We need people to remember what we've told them, so prepare it well.

This is not the time to improvise. Try to connect your closing to your opening grabber, which makes the presentation more memorable. Good preparation means preparing everything to the very end—finish well.

7. Plan your delivery. A dynamic speaker draws listeners in by using vocal variety (tone, intonation, speed, volume, pace, pauses, silence) and body language (posture, gestures, expression, and movement) to highlight important points and hold the audience’s attention. Be intentional: How will you use your voice and your body to emphasize a thought or idea? Think about it: If you increased the time you spent on style or delivery by 20 percent, what would it mean for the impact you make?

8. Think about how you will engage your audience. You want the audience to feel considered throughout. Include pauses so they can process what’s being said; connect with individuals throughout the room and make deliberate eye contact while speaking, especially when delivering key points. Read and respond to the audience by changing how you deliver as you go based on the audience’s nonverbal communication .

9. Rehearse and practice. Practice is one of the most crucial elements of presenting—and probably the most neglected one. If this is new to you, start by reading your presentation in front of a mirror to get comfortable speaking your presentation.

Next, video yourself and watch out for nervous or distracting habits to eliminate them and identify any areas where you can improve your delivery. If you are feeling brave, practice in front of an audience and ask for feedback.

10. Prepare your success rituals and mantra. Public speaking and/or stage fright can feel debilitating for some. Have your calm-down ritual prepared and ready to go before you start your presentation. This might be a certain gesture, a power pose, breathwork, or a mantra.

Try this tip: Identify three adjectives to describe how you would like to show up during this presentation. This sets an intention and helps focus our cognitive and emotional resources on success.

Powerful presenters embrace and extend empathy to seek first to understand their audience. They use this intelligence to carefully make choices about substance and style to create an audience-informed communication experience that feels relevant, reasoned, real, and resonant and creates a pathway for change.

Palena Neale, Ph.D. , is a women’s leadership coach, lecturer, and founder of unabridged, a boutique leadership development practice.

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At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

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Communication and presentation skills

“Communication goes part and parcel with team working and also relates to the growing importance of the customer. All businesses have customers, whether internal or external, and being able to [communicate with] people is considered to be of vital importance in any job, especially a graduate job.”

-Carl Gilleard, Former Chief Executive, Association of Graduate Recruiters

What do recruiters want?

Recruiters ask for good communication skills can in a variety of ways. The following examples are all taken from genuine job advertisements:

• "Articulate graduates wanted…"
• "We’re looking for someone who can relate to a wide range of people…"
• "You must have clear written English…"
• "You must be able to present complex ideas in an easy to understand manner…"

As you can see from the above, there are different ways of describing communication with colleagues and customers, but generally effective communication can be broken down into three main elements:

• Listening skills  – communication is not just about getting your ideas across, it is also about actively listening to other people’s thoughts and taking them on board. People are more likely to listen to you if you've shown them the same courtesy.
• Presentation skills  – To communicate effectively in the workplace, you need to be able to present your information clearly. Presentation skills doesn’t just mean knowing how to put a good set of powerpoint slides together, it means engaging and connecting with an audience to get your message across.
• Tailoring information to suit the audience  – As well as being able to decide what information is important and how to present it, a good communicator is able to tailor that information to suit their audience. You wouldn't use the same language in an informal meeting with close colleagues as you would to present the same information to a group of external clients, for example.

Gaining communication skills

Below are some examples of how you may already have gained communication skills at the University of Bradford. There may also be some useful suggestions here if you are looking to develop your skills further:

Written  

• through academic work
• blogs - write regular articles on a subject you are passionate about 
• administration experience through part-time work
• through customer-facing job roles
• university presentations
• volunteering in the community
• student radio (RAMAIR)
• being a career ambassador / course rep / student mentor (PAL scheme)
• running for student union / student society positions

How do you prove to a recruiter that you have these skills?

It is not good enough to simply say “I have excellent communication skills” - you have to prove that you have by giving examples of when you have communicated effectively.

One way to make sure you structure your example properly is to use the STAR technique.

• S - Define the Situation
• T - Identify the Task
• A - Describe your Action
• R - Explain the Result

Below is an example of how a question on communication has been answered using the STAR technique:

Define the SITUATION:

When I started university, I joined the Bradford University Theatre Club (BUTC). I really enjoyed it and acted in several productions, as well as learning about directing and the technical side.

Identify the TASK:

In my third year I decided I wanted to stand for the role of Treasurer. There were three of us standing and we each had to do a campaign and then give a speech before one of us would be voted in.

Describe the ACTION you took:

To get the club’s opinion on the sort of things that they thought we should spend our money on - recruitment events, marketing, better equipment etc - I spoke to the other members of the club and sent a short questionnaire round. I then used the feedback I received to formulate my campaign and speech. I made posters communicating my position, and wrote a five minute speech explaining why I wanted the position and what I thought I could bring to the club.

Explain the RESULT:

This preparation and my interactions with the other club members meant that I was in a strong position to represent their interests, and I was voted in with 65% of the ballot.

Describing your experience

Have a go at writing some statements like this which reflect your own experiences from your work, your study and your personal interests. These can then be used in completing competency based application forms, included in a skills CV, or used during interviews. You can add or remove detail as appropriate, depending on the circumstances.

See the related key words, right, to help you develop your statements.

Related key words / skills

• Customer service
• Influencing
• Interpersonal skills
• Negotiation

Improving your skills 

You may have gained communication skills whilst at university, but if you are looking to sharpen up your skills, for a job interview for example, please see the below for more resources and how we can help you.

Written communication

Whether you're sending an email, writing a letter, putting an application together or compiling a report, having a good level of written communication is really important in portraying a positive, professional image.

Because emails are such a fast and easy way of contacting people, it is tempting to see them as an informal way of communicating. However, when using email to send your CV to employers or similar, it is important to use the same professional tone throughout your email, covering letter and CV.

We have loads of information on our website regarding  CVs ,  application forms  and  covering letters , with examples of layouts for you to have a look at.

How can I improve my written communication skills?

Remind yourself of potential mistakes with  this list of commonly misspelled ( not mispelled! ) words .

If you are a current student at the University of Bradford, you can use the University's  Academic Skills Advice service to speak to an adviser about your written communication skills or attend one of their workshops.

Verbal (oral) communication

How you interact with people and present information to them is essential in almost every job role from sales to education to management. What specific verbal communication skills do you have, and how will you evidence these?

• Influencing and negotiation:  have you ever tried to change someone's mind about something? If so, what did you do, and more importantly how did you do it? Being able to influence and negotiate effectively are essential in many roles. When evidencing this, try not to use an example which is too complicated. Focus on something simple as this will be much more effective e.g. changing a friends mind about which film to see at the cinema.
• Presentations:  delivering an effective presentation relies heavily on your ability to interact with the audience. Think back to the presentations you have made as part of your degree or other work experience. How did they go? What made them successful? If you are nervous about delivering presentations, think about someone you know who is good at them. What makes them effective? Why is it interesting?

How do I improve my verbal communication skills?

Career and Employability Services run a series of employability workshops each term, including sessions on effective interview skills, communication skills and group work. 

Participating in group work during your degree and getting involved in social activities such as  student societies , sports teams or a musical group can increase your confidence when speaking to others.

Body language

Your body language can be very important in how you are judged by others, as people can make assumptions (both conscious and subconscious) about others from the way they stand and sit, how they use their arms when they talk and the amount of eye contact they use.

Although this won't always be the case (and it's good practice for recruiters to avoid such preconceptions), having an awareness of positive body language can potentially help you perform better in interviews, presentations and other occasions where you need to make a good first impression.

Making a good first impression

• A firm handshake is really important  - if you're not confident about this, you could practice shaking hands with your friends.
• Maintain appropriate eye contact  - this conveys that you are listening, and that you are interested in what you are being told. It also adds a impression of honesty to your answers.
• Don't slouch, and keep both feet on the floor . Keep your hands relaxed and don't fiddle with a pen or your hair.
• Don't gesticulate  too  much , as this might make you come across as a bit aggressive and can detract attention from what you are saying.

How can I improve my body language?

• We offer  mock interviews  to help you practice in a formal interview scenario with feedback from the careers consultant afterwards.  Reserve your appointment now .
• Build My Career  has an  Interview Simulator  which can film your answers to enable you to see how you come across when answering questions.

Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

How Has Social Media Affected Communication: Facts that Surprise!

Updated: February 28, 2024

Published: April 4, 2020

It’s no surprise that the widespread use of social media for communicating ideas, personal and professional stories and experiences has had a profound effect on the overall way people communicate today. Just how has social media affected communication, you ask? In more ways than you may think! But not all are bad — just look at our list of social media effects on communication.

What is Social Media?

Social media can be described as the collection of online platforms that involve sharing and collaborating with an online community by posting, commenting, and interacting with one another. The most commonly used social media platforms today are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.

Photo by  Tracy Le Blanc  from  Pexels

Social media effects on communication.

Around 3 billion people use social media today, which means that 40% of the world uses social media for communication. It’s no surprise that this widespread use has social media effects on communication.

11% of adults reported preferring staying home on Facebook than going out on the weekend. Communication is affected in ways such as personal expression, our expectations of others, and the way companies communicate with customers.

Exposure to Messaging

Information overload.

Many people tend to binge on social media, spending hours and hours scrolling though sites. Ultimately, this may lead to a constant craving of more internet and more social media consumption. The more people get, the more they want — and it’s hard to stop the cycle.

Photo by  Kaboompics .com  from  Pexels

Young people read news.

Social media has made reading the news cool again. According to Wibbitz, 23% of young users get news from social media , and a whopping 61% get political news from Facebook . On social media, people share interesting news they read, and they can follow various news sources’ pages.

Getting the Full Picture

Stories — a part of Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook — mean that people get the full picture of an event, activity, or occurrence in someone’s life. We no longer just get a snapshot of a home-cooked meal, we might see the entire process from start to finish.

This has changed the way people think about what to post — there is much less thought put into a post when it is a story that will be erased after 24 hours.

Boredom in Conversation

Here’s a sad social media effect on communication. We are becoming bored when we have real, in-person conversations. People have such a need for social media consumption and that instant, colorful feedback only social media can give, they will often become bored during real conversations, resorting to their phones. This can lead to a decrease in the quality and number of meaningful conversations.

Reactions to Non-Verbal, Emotional, and Social Cues

In-person reactions to non-verbal, emotional, or social cues are changing in that people don’t need to respond to these types of communication when they are online. This leads to less experience and awareness of others’ needs based on these types of cues that can only be received from in-person communication.

Self Expression

Sense of urgency.

No one has to wait for longer than a few hours for a response, and people have come to expect that timeline for conversations. There is so much of a sense of urgency that people are often anxious if they haven’t heard back from a family member, friend, or partner in a number of hours.

Photo by  Cristian Dina  from  Pexels

Need to share.

Social media has created a feeling among users that they must share whatever they are doing — from restaurant orders, to concerts, to the books they are reading. This can be a social media positive effect because people are getting more exposure to things they might not otherwise, such as new reads. But it can also be a negative effect as it can urge people to become dependent on posting anything occurring in their own lives and painting those occurrences as rosier than they truly are.

Photo by  Vinicius Wiesehofer  from  Pexels

How we value ourselves.

When people see others having a wonderful life, as represented on social media, they tend to have a negative self-image, and start to devalue their own ways of life. In addition, there is a feeling of needing to paint an inaccurately positive and ‘fun’ version of one’s own life which leads to feelings of negativity about one’s ‘real’ life.

Inside Perspective of Afar

One of the positive effects of social media is the ability to get an intimate view of other cultures and places. With social media, especially on Instagram, users are able to see what others are doing around the world. People are exposed to travel ideas, new cultures, and ways of life unlike before.

Broadcasting Live

Broadcasting live started as a fun, innocent idea to share life’s moments, but it’s transformed to become a large part of political movements, sharing some dark aspects of today’s society. The option to post live videos has created an important platform for serious issues that need to be spoken about.

Personalized Digital Messages

Both Instagram and Snapchat have popularized the highly personalized message. People can now completely change their own faces with selfie filters, or draw pictures to send to friends, and more. Creativity soars, which is a great thing, but people can start to spend too much time personalizing picture messages.

Communication Style

1. summarized writing.

Starting with the limited character text messaging of the 2000s, and nowadays with the 140-character tweet, messages have been getting shorter and more concise. Other areas of communication have adapted for summarized writing as well, such as in shortened work memos, shortened academic communication between students and professors, and shortened messages in advertising.

2. Abbreviations

The abbreviated style of communicating that became popular when text messaging started in the 00’s has continued into online conversations. It has also made its way into traditionally non-abbreviated forms of communication such as spoken language, email communication, and even academic forms of writing. This has caused concern among some academics, citing studies that show a causation between “textese” and negative effects on literacy skills such as writing skills and reading accuracy. Other studies show that using “textese” has no effect on spelling ability, or correct grammar use. For a full review of related studies, see this meta-analysis .

3. Unfiltered Interactions

Social media and internet interactions offer a veil between the person sending and the person receiving the message. These interactions are no longer face to face, and this can lead to some unfiltered conversations as people feel they can say anything with no repercussions.

4. GIFs and Emojis

5. Viral Messages

That quick and easy “share” button on so many social media platforms has led to the phenomenon of “going viral.” Messages, videos, and other content can be easily shared between platforms with millions of people in a matter of days.

In Business

1. building a community.

By utilizing social media, brands are able to create an entire community based on their products or services. The use of a particular brand can be integral to being a part of a certain lifestyle, and social media perpetuates that idea. By being involved with the right communities, or making your own community out of a brand (such as Disney), companies are creating the most loyal of customers.

2. Brands Are Speaking Directly to Audiences

Companies no longer need to go through media such as TV stations, magazines, or newspapers to reach consumers. Brands now have direct access to customers by way of social media — they can now find out exactly the needs of the customer much faster and respond accordingly.

3. Social Media is Changing Traditional Media

Traditional media was such that a brand would just post an article and it would reach audiences. With social media and the way information reaches consumers today makes it so that it’s important who is posting or writing about a product. Influencers, bloggers, and Youtube celebrities can all have a much bigger impact on getting a product successful in the market.

4. Brands Can Have a More Personal Connection with the Media

With social media, brands have a more personal and long-term connection with journalists. Instead of a one-time phone call or email for a story or new product information, brands can create relationships with journalists and get them interested in sharing their stories.

5. There’s an Opportunity to Coordinate with PR Efforts

Brands can create some important PR campaigns through social media. Through social media, companies have an easier time finding influencers to work with, other brands to collaborate with, and news sources to feed stories to.

Stay in Touch

At University of the People , we love to create online relationships with our students and supporters through social media. We are active on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter — follow us to keep up to date with what we’re up to!

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