Ditch the boring presentations and bewitch your audience with an unforgettable presentation that will have their eyes locked in on what you have to say!
I’m sure you’ve heard and know all about how presentations and visual aids greatly help teachers like you in the classroom.
But let me tell you how you can make striking presentations and how you can bring them to life to elevate your lessons to the next level.
Increasing audience engagement, information retention, and fruitful exchange between you and your audience are just some of the benefits you’ll reap when you learn how to create dazzling presentations— plus you’ll be able to present efficiently removing all the clutters as you head on straight to what matters.
I promise you that your next presentation is going to be the next you’ve ever done if you trust me on this one!
How do you bring a virtual presentation to life?
1. Start off with a bang!
Imagine this. It’s time for you to start your presentation, you get up in front of your audience, and you have all your presentations materials and even your cue cards ready. What’s the first thing you’re going to say?
Remember, first impressions last. That’s why it’s important to start your presentation with a bang and hook your audience right off the bat!
Now with that in mind, let me share with you five ways how you can do this.
The first technique that you can try is by starting off your presentation with a single or multiple gripping photos that correlate well with your topic at hand. This will hook your audience and will even start a mini brainstorming session to help release the tension between you and your audience.
Another great way to start off your presentation is by sharing a captivating story that also connects well to your topic. Of course, it should not be just some sort of story. Make sure that it will be a story that will engage your audience further with what you have to present to them.
The third technique that you can try is to start off your presentation is by adding a rhetorical or thought-provoking question that will get your audience’s attention in a snap. A mind-boggling question is always a good way to shake things up!
A short informational yet impactful video is also a must-try. A little bit of theatrics is also a good trick to try to hook your audience with what you have to tell about your presentation.
And last but not least, is a no-fail and go-to technique of mine is to start simple but sound smart. Just briefly sum up what you’re going to talk about and why it’s useful or relevant to your audience.
It might seem plain but being direct, specific, and precise with what you have to present at the starting line will catch the attention of your audience and you’ll know that you’re off to a great start.
Bonus tip: stating shocking statistics or headlines in line with your topic is also a good starter for a presentation.
2. Create an easy-to-follow structure
We all know that people of all ages, don’t have time and the interest to listen to very lengthy presentations. Even you yourself will feel bored during your presentation if it’s too long or dragging.
Keeping it short and simple is the best way to win your audience’s undivided attention when you’re presenting.
In this regard, instead of using paragraphs in your presentation use bullets forms where you will only use sentences with no more than 7 to 10 words per bullet. This will be very effective as well, especially in classes consisting of younger students.
Creating an easy-to-follow structure will make surer that your main points are not scrambled and are not tossed around all over the place.
Try to structure your presentation wherein each idea and each section are built up to create a sense of understanding one after the other making it for them to absorb your presentation.
Being direct to the point with the information that you want them to retain increases the chances for them to better understand and grasp what you want them to get from your presentation.
If you’re working with a younger set of audiences it’s also best to convey one idea per slide. This will help prevent information overload and by doing this you are also letting your students digest the on-screen messages in line with your talk.
3. Know your audience and be prepared
Did you know that in the first 5 seconds you appear in front of your audience they will assess how smart and charismatic you are? Yes, it’s true. In that small amount of time, your audience is already seeing how confident you are in the way you present what you are presenting.
If you’re a seasoned presenter, you already know well that a tough crowd is not an easy crowd. That’s why you have to be prepared ahead of time and you should know how to handle your audience as soon as you hit that stage.
Go through your presentation and know what the keywords are you want to know how you will make an impact and how you will make your presentation memorable.
Try and get a better idea of who your audience is and this will help you know what type of content it is that you need to serve them.
Certain age groups like high school students or your co-teachers have highly different levels of expectations and levels of understanding. That’s why need to make sure that your presentation is appropriate to your target audience.
Tailoring your content will allow you to make your presentation stand out and really make it memorable, which is of course your goal.
If you can also practice giving your presentation beforehand, it will be a big plus. It will help increase your self-awareness and confidence and it will also help you remove any mannerism that might be distracting to look at while you’re presenting.
4. Have a story to tell and be enthusiastic
Kids, adults, and almost everyone love to hear a good story. But how can you make a presentation sound like a story that they need to hear?
Well, the answer is it’s all about how you deliver it. The content of your presentation is indeed important but what’s more important is the manner in which you are relaying it to your audience.
The two most important thing that you need to combine with your presentation is positive emotion and energy. When you mix up these two with a greatly structured presentation you’ll have the best formula on how to give a great presentation.
Make sure to put emotion into your words, because certainly, no audience will be interested in someone who’s talking in a monotone like a robot, right?
Hearing positive energy in your voice gives an energy shift to your presentation that will help engage your audience with your presentation content as well.
Another thing that you can do to level up your presentation is to use your hands. Using your hands while you talk and present will help enunciate your points and also adds energy to your presentation.
And lastly, smile! And I mean, really smile because smiling genuinely subconsciously makes your audience enjoy the presentation that you are giving and they will also listen much better.
Just remember, if you don’t sound like your topic is interesting to yourself, your audience will be returning that energy as well. And that’s not the energy you want from them.
5. Repetition is key
Having an easy-to-follow presentation is one thing but repetition within the structure of the presentation is another great way to cement the main points of your presentation to your audience.
Having main keywords or main points repeated in your presentation from time to time will help the idea stick and retain and make your presentation more memorable and successful as well.
This can be done by breaking down your whole presentation into three well-known sections— introduction, body, and conclusion.
You should be able to compellingly introduce each section. To incorporate repetition into your presentation you can give your audience a hint of your main points in the introduction part.
And then you can start hitting them hard with the main points in the body of your presentation that you highlighted in the beginning. This is where you can start to elaborate and provide them with facts, quotes, statistics, or any evidence that can and will help you back up your main points.
And bringing you to the end is the conclusion. A part of your presentation where you just again highlight, reinforce, and add a few elements to really make your presentation gripping to your audience. This formula is simple but it works!
6. Have a consistent color theme
Just like how you would keep the content of your presentation consistent, it’s also best if you can keep the color theme of your presentation on the same wavelength as well.
You surely don’t want to confuse your contradicting backgrounds and colors, right? Ideally, you can use not more than 5 complementary colors to use for your presentation background. This will also help set the tone for the rest of your presentation.
By doing so, your presentation will look highly professional and pleasing to the eye as well. You can also spend more time focusing on the important things within your presentation rather than the distracting stuff that you and your audience should not pay attention to.
A great website that can help you create the perfect color palette for your presentation depending on your topic is coolors.co, this website automatically generates thousands of color schemes that you can use for your presentation.
7. More visuals and fewer words
If you were a part of an audience, listening to a presentation, which one would you prefer? A presentation with words all slammed up all over the place, or a presentation filled with impactful infographics and illustrations that conveys ideas better and easier?
I’m sure you would prefer the latter. Using visuals to convey your ideas is a much better strategy than putting them into words since 65-70% of people are visual learners. Icons are also a great idea to use in your presentation because they can add a little oomph to it!
8. Use fun fonts!
Say goodbye to the old boring, Arial, Times New Roman, and especially the dreaded Comic Sans MS.
It’s 2022! And in this time of the century, it’s all about the aesthetics! It’s high time for you to try out new, fun, and unconventional fonts that will take your presentation to the next level. Here are some fonts that I highly recommend for you to try on your next presentation.
9. Transitions!
I know there was a saying back then that transitions are unprofessional especially when it comes to presentations. But, times have changed my friend. Transitions, when used wisely can make your presentation even more striking!
When using transitions correctly it can help make your presentation flow better and look aesthetically pleasing as well. But don’t overdo it too much. Remember simplicity is beauty!
10. Have fun and unleash your creativity!
Last but not the least, is of course for you to have fun and not think about it too hard. Presenting should come naturally to you and be authentic as well for it to be effective. Because if not, you’ll end up just reading your cue cards, and your audience not be so interested in what you have to say and present.
And that brings us to the end,
So naturally, it all comes down to how you construct your presentation and how you will present it. It takes time to masterfully present something, especially to a large audience but we all know how the saying goes—practice makes perfect!
Hopefully, these ten tips will be able to help you create a bomb of a presentation that will have your audience remember you and your topic for days to come after you’ve presented it to them.
And again, I hope you liked these tips, and if you did, comment down below or share these with your friends or family who needs to read this.
Until our next one, cheers!
