6 ways executives can improve their presentation skills

Posted by jaques montegolifier on April 22nd, 2019

To pitch your services to your potential clients, spell out your business plan to potential business partners, or promote a business at an event, you need to master presentations skills. The success of the presentation depends a lot on the skills of the speaker. So, it is essential you place your best foot forward. It is the executives who are the spokesperson of the organization. For this purpose, some universities offer specialized courses in executive presentation training.

These courses are a part of the media training curriculum. What do the executives learn out of them? The following guide explains the process:

1)      Research the audience: Before preparing for the presentation, you should be aware of the audience. You should know their interests and tell how your company can be useful to them. Experts suggest you could send a list of questionnaires pertaining to the presentation to the audience who would be attending it. If there not enough time for research, you can make the presentation interactive.

2)      Structuring of presentation: The classic format that every presenter follows is what to say, tell them what you told them, and so on. You can start explaining the benefits of the vital message, its impact on the audience, and then present and review. The other format is as follows:

• Opening: It must have an emotional connection with the audience. The opening could contain a story, question, or a stat. Avoid giving an introduction of yourself
• Body: Try to frame your key message in three points. It is essential to keep the listeners engaged than to flood them with information
• Closing: It is the last opportunity to give the audience something that will stick in their mind. You could either go back to your opening slide, end on a cover slogan, or a call to action

Executive presentation training will provide you with the right format during coaching.

3)      Practice, practice, practice: Do not limit your practice to only one time. It is better to begin the rehearsals a month in advance. Talk to the mirror, walls, or request a family member to listen. You could also give a mock presentation in front of a group. The other ways to do so are videotaping, calming the nerves, and relax.

4)      Verbal delivery: You have to ask questions to the audience to keep them engaged. Speak to your demographic. Adjust the tonality. Avoid using speech patterns that you are unconfident of. Do not use fillers. Say, ‘I am confident you will enjoy this presentation.’

5)      Body language: You have to maintain a comfortable distance with the audience and hold the gaze. Appear confident and keep your hand movements limited.

6)      Powerpoint: There is a good and bad side to it. The good part includes –

• Relies heavily on messages
• Has limited wordings
• Entertains
• Enhances presentation. No summary

The wrong side of the presentation is:

• Contains smaller font
• Has 5-6 lines per slide
• Displays logo on every slide
• Printed and distributed as a handout

Media training, as well as presentation training, ensure to involve these aspects in their course to help executives leave an impact on their potential customers and audience.