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4 Tips for a Smooth Presentation

Audience in a lecture hall

Whether you’re short on time or simply in a creativity rut, sometimes it can be difficult to put together an inspiring presentation. At CLiKAPAD, we have years of experience in assisting clients working in all kinds of industries and have a few tips that never fail to shake things up a bit.

1 – Ditch your notes

Reading off of prompt cards is one of the biggest presentation sins. Next time you do a practice run of your presentation, do it without reading off of anything. Your brain will have to work a bit harder and you’ll naturally start using different language – both of which will stop you from sounding monotonous.

You might also find there are bits of your presentation that you’re less comfortable with, giving you an opportunity to fill-in knowledge gaps before you deliver the real thing. If you’re worried about nerves taking over, here are our top ideas for keeping your cool.

2 – Inject some humour

Even if the presentation is important, don’t assume that your delivery has to be deadly serious. There are only a few topics that won’t benefit from an occasional humorous lift. As long as it’s sensitive to your subject matter and audience, getting a laugh (or even just a smile) will make your listeners feel more comfortable and your presentation more memorable.

3 – Break up the routine

If you know that what you’re talking about is particularly complicated, long or serious, audience concentration is naturally going to drop. Getting them to move around, talk to one another or take part in an interactive challenge (something a CLiKAPAD ARS is incredibly useful for) will wake them up again.

You could also include picture or video-based slides, physical props or a second speaker to mix-up the routine. Here are some more ways in which you can refresh a tired presentation.

4 – Put your audience in the spotlight

Instead of a conventional Q&A session at the end of your presentation (which we know are laden with pitfalls), try asking your audience questions at the end of every section. Extract answers from individuals or treat the interlude as a pop-quiz where you can check that your listeners have been paying attention and absorbing the knowledge. This can highlight any areas where you need to recap what you’ve discussed or need to try a different way of explaining.

If you’re interested in how an ARS can be used to make your presentation, pitch or workshop as memorable and engaging as possible, give our team a call. We love hearing about the unique requirements of every client and helping them to devise creative ways in which to collect audience data and involve their participants as much as possible.