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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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How to make a great presentation

Stressed about an upcoming presentation? These talks are full of helpful tips on how to get up in front of an audience and make a lasting impression.

The secret structure of great talks

The beauty of data visualization

TED's secret to great public speaking

How to speak so that people want to listen

How great leaders inspire action

Blog > How to structure a good PowerPoint Presentation

How to structure a good PowerPoint Presentation

08.09.21   •  #powerpoint #tips.

When creating presentations, it is particularly important that they are well organized and have a consistent structure.

A logical structure helps the audience to follow you and to remember the core information as best as possible. It is also important for the presenter, as a good presentation structure helps to keep calm, to stay on the topic and to avoid awkward pauses.

But what does such a structure actually look like? Here we show you how to best organize your presentation and what a good structure looks like.

Plan your presentation

Before you start creating your presentation, you should always brainstorm. Think about the topic and write all your ideas down. Then think about the message you want to communicate, what your goal is and what you want your audience to remember at the end.

Think about who your audience is so that you can address them in the best possible way. One possibility is to start your presentation with a few polls to get to know your audience better. Based on the results, you can then adapt your presentation a little. Use the poll function of SlideLizard and have all the answers at a glance. SlideLizard makes it possible to integrate the polls directly into your PowerPoint presentation which helps you to avoid annoying switching between presentation and interaction tool. You can keep an eye on the results while the votes come in and then decide whether you want to share them or not.

• an informative
• an entertaining
• an inspiring
• or a persuasive presentation?

Typical Presentation Structure

The basic structure of a presentation is actually always the same and should consist of:

Introduction

Make sure that the structure of your presentation is not too complicated. The simpler it is, the better the audience can follow.

Personal Introduction

It is best to start your presentation by briefly introducing yourself which helps to build a connection with your audience right away.

Introduce the topic

Then introduce the topic, state the purpose of the presentation and provide a brief outline of the main points you will be addressing.

Mention the length

In the introduction, mention the approximate length of the talk and then also make sure you stick to it.

The introduction should be no longer than two slides and provide a good overview of the topic.

Icebreaker Polls

According to studies, people in the audience only have an average attention span of 10 minutes, which is why it is important to increase their attention right at the beginning and to arouse the audience's interest. You could make a good start with a few icebreaker polls for example. They lighten the mood right at the beginning and you can secure your audience's attention from the start.

For example, you could use SlideLizard to have all the answers at a glance and share them with your audience. In addition, the audience can try out how the polls work and already know how it works if you include more polls in the main part.

Get to know your audience

As mentioned earlier, it is always useful to think about who your audience actually is. Ask them questions at the beginning about how well they already know the topic of your presentation. Use SlideLizard for this so that you have a clear overview about the answers. You can use both single- and multiple-choice questions or also open questions and display their results as a WordCloud in your presentation, for example.

Include a quote

To make the beginning (or the end) of your presentation more exciting, it is always a good idea to include a quote. We have selected some powerful quotes for PowerPoint presentations for you.

Present your topic

The main part of a presentation should explain the topic well, state facts, justify them and give examples. Keep all the promises you made earlier in the introduction.

Length and Structure

The main part should make up about 70% of the presentation and also include a clear structure. Explain your ideas in detail and build them up logically. It should be organized chronologically, by priority or by topic. There should be a smooth transition between the individual issues. However, it is also important to use phrases that make it clear that a new topic is starting. We have listed some useful phrases for presentations here.

Visualize data and statistics and show pictures to underline facts. If you are still looking for good images, we have selected 5 sources of free images for you here.

Focus on the essentials

Focus on what is most important and summarize a bit. You don't have to say everything about a topic because your audience won’t remember everything either. Avoid complicated sentence structure, because if the audience does not understand something, they will not be able to read it again.

Make your presentation interactive

Make your presentation interactive to keep the attention of your audience. Use SlideLizard to include polls in your presentation, where your audience can vote directly from their smartphone and discuss the answers as soon as you received all votes. Here you can also find more tips for increasing audience engagement.

Repeat the main points

The conclusion should contain a summary of the most important key points. Repeat the main points you have made, summarize what the audience should have learned and explain how the new information can help in the future.

Include a Q&A part

Include a Q&A part at the end to make sure you don't leave any questions open. It's a good idea to use tools like SlideLizard for it. Your audience can ask anonymous questions and if there is not enough time, you can give them the answers afterwards. You can read more about the right way to do a question slide in PowerPoint here.

Get Feedback

It is also important to get feedback on your presentation at the end to keep improving. With SlideLizard you can ask your audience for anonymous feedback through star ratings, number ratings or open texts directly after your presentation. You can then export the responses and analyse them later in Excel.

Presentation style

Depending on the type of presentation you give, the structure will always be slightly different. We have selected a few different presentation styles and their structure for you.

Short Presentation

If you are one of many presenters on the day, you will only have a very limited time to present your idea and to convince your audience. It is very important to stand out with your presentation.

So you need to summarize your ideas as briefly as possible and probably should not need more than 3-5 slides.

Problem Solving Presentation

Start your presentation by explaining a problem and giving a short overview of it.

Then go into the problem a little more, providing both intellectual and emotional arguments for the seriousness of the problem. You should spend about the first 25% of your presentation on the problem.

After that, you should spend about 50% of your presentation proposing a solution and explaining it in detail.

In the last 25%, describe what benefits this solution will bring to your audience and ask them to take a simple but relevant action that relates to the problem being discussed.

Tell a Story

A great way to build an emotional connection with the audience is to structure a presentation like a story.

In the introduction, introduce a character who has to deal with a conflict. In the main part, tell how he tries to solve his problem but fails again and again. In the end, he manages to find a solution and wins.

Stories have the power to win customers, align colleagues and motivate employees. They’re the most compelling platform we have for managing imaginations. - Nancy Duarte / HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations

Make a demonstration

Use the demonstration structure to show how a product works. First talk about a need or a problem that has to be solved.

Then explain how the product will help solve the problem and try to convince your audience of the need for your product.

Spend the end clarifying where and when the product can be purchased.

Chronological structure

When you have something historical to tell, it is always good to use a chronological structure. You always have to ask yourself what happens next.

To make it more interesting and exciting, it is a good idea to start by telling the end of something and after that you explain how you got there. This way you make the audience curious and you can gain their attention faster.

Nancy Duarte TED Talk

Nancy Duarte is a speaker and presentation design expert. She gives speeches all over the world, trying to improve the power of public presentations.

In her famous TED Talk "The Secret Structure of Great Talks" she dissects famous speeches such as Steve Jobs' iPhone launch speech and Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. In doing so, she found out that each presentation is made up of 4 parts:

• What could be
• A moment to remember
• Promise of “New Bliss”

Related articles

About the author.

Helena Reitinger

Helena supports the SlideLizard team in marketing and design. She loves to express her creativity in texts and graphics.

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The big SlideLizard presentation glossary

Slide transitions.

Slide transitions are visual effects which appear in PowerPoint when one slide moves to the next. There are many different transitions, like for example fade and dissolve.

Solution Presentation

A solution has already been found during a solution presentation. The only thing that remains is to find a solution on how to realize the decision.

Learning on Demand

Learning on Demand means that the content is available extactly when it's needed by the learner

Virtual Reality

With Virtual Reality people can practice situations and important processes in a virtual room by putting on special digital glasses. They can influence what happens themselves.

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How to Prepare for a Presentation, with Examples

February 15, 2021 - Dom Barnard

This guide covers everything you need to know to prepare for your presentation. including what you need to think about beforehand, during and after the presentation.

1. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse (always aloud)

Once you have your presentation worked out, you will need to practice it, but even though you might think it’s the best way to have a flawless presentation, don’t memorise what you’re going to say.

That might sound like incredibly bad advice, but here’s why:

• If you memorise your speech, you’ll get stuck in thinking you can only deliver your ideas in that way, and that stifles your creativity, and the chance for new thoughts and ways to put things that come up as you speak.

Not only that, but every  audience is different . Sometimes they laugh out loud, sometimes they sit and smile, and you never know which type of audience you’ll have until you’re live.

Practice Presentation Skills

Improve your public speaking and presentation skills by practicing them in realistic environments, with automated feedback on performance. Learn More

If you’re going off a memorised presentation, it’s much more difficult to break away from that to go with the flow on the day, and respond naturally to your audience.

• If you forget your speech in the middle of it, you will be thrown, and you’ll have more chance of complete brain freeze, which really will knock your confidence.
• Memorising your presentation gives you a false sense of security, which could leave you high and dry if something goes wrong. If you’ve only got your memorised speech, for example, what will you do if your PowerPoint freezes or your props break, and you can’t do what you were going to do?

Rehearse in front of colleagues, friends, a mirror, in virtual reality – always aloud. Make sure you spend plenty of time practising your presentation, it will make you feel much more relaxed if you know your material.

Courses where you can rehearse with interactive exercises:

• Essential Public Speaking
• How to Present over Video

Video showing how you can prepare for your presentation using virtual reality.  Learn more about virtual reality training .

2. Memorise your opening line

Do, however, memorise your opening line. If you know how you’re going to begin, you’ll get a strong start and that will build your confidence.

Many speakers and stage actors find that the minute they’ve actually delivered their first line, the nerves are gone and they’re well into their stride.

3. Practise your speech from written notes

Writing your presentation out in your own handwriting will help you clarify your ideas and may well bring you new ones.

• How to Write a Speech to Engage your Audience

4. Practise presentation flow

As well as practising for the ideas and what you want to say, practise how you want your presentation to flow. Think of it almost as a symphony, with high points, slow movements and crescendos. If it’s important, think about how you want your audience to feel, what emotions you want them to have, and when.

5. The power of silence

Don’t be afraid to pause and use the power of silence. A good pause can have a huge emotional impact. It allows people to really absorb what you are saying and react, and it’s vital to pause if you’re using humour so that the next part of your presentation doesn’t get lost underneath people’s laughter.

For more on the ‘Power of the Pause’, watch this short from video Brian Tracy:  The Power of the Pause

• 10 Effective Ways to use Pauses in your Speech

6. Have a backup

There’s nothing worse than the projector dying or finding that your laptop won’t communicate with the projector for some reason. If you know you have a backup, even if it’s only a pre-prepared flip chart, you’ll feel better, and you’ll be more confident.

7. Arrive early

Following on from that, arrive at least half an hour early so you aren’t feeling rushed, and so you have time to check your equipment and get your notes laid out ready to go. That gives you time to breathe and relax before you go on, knowing everything is as set as it can be.

8. Use physical props for a demo

Use physical props, if possible, for a demo. This can make you stand out and be more memorable among all the other speakers who only use PowerPoint, and it can add greatly to the impact of your presentation.

Video showing an example of using physical props during a live demo.

9. Structure your presentation

First, find out how much time you have to present, is it 10 minutes, 15, an hour? Prepare enough material for this time and have a couple of extra slides as backup – we tend to speak much quicker when nervous so you might find you finish your presentation too early. At some large conference events, timings may change on the day, be aware of this have a shorter version of your presentation in mind (i.e. know which slides to skip over).

• How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples
• Examples of Corporate Presentation Structures

10. Prepare for questions

Have a few backup slides for questions you think will arise from your presentation. It is sometime a tactic to explain a section briefly in your speech, so that you get a question about it afterwards. If you don’t understand the question, ask for it to be rephrased.

If there are no questions, it is not an indication how good or bad your presentation was. You many have explain your material extremely well, or simply that people are tired at the end of the day and want to go home.

• Guide for Handling Questions after a Presentation

11. Prepare for where you are presenting

If you can, go to the room you are speaking in before the actual event. It gives you an idea of furniture layout, podium height, location, room size, audience size and lighting. You can then visualise the room while practising and avoid the shock of suddenly being faced with a huge room when you expected a tiny one.

Ask the organiser if you need any particular props, for example a table to help with your live demo.

Additional planning to think about before your presentation:

1. Purpose  – what outcome are we trying to achieve? How can results be measured? What will success look like?

2. Topic  – Novelty? Complexity? Technical?

3. People  – Who should attend? What do they already know? How are they going to help?

4. Timing  – When will it happen and how long will the presentation take?

5. Location  – Where will the presentation be held? Do you have access to the correct facilities for the presentation?

6. Papers  – Who is keeping minutes? Do you need to send out an agenda before the presentation? Background information required?

7. Visual aids  – Is a  projector required ? Boards?

8. Style  – Structure or unstructured, discussion style? How assertive should you be? How should the meeting items be organised?

12. Choose the signals to give to your audience

Before the presentation, think about these 5 topics:

• Eye contact
• Facial gestures
• Body language

Decide how you will use each of these to reinforce your message. Use the table below for help.

Additional courses to help you prepare for your presentation:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

Example from Steve Jobs

Think about these 10 techniques while you are preparing your presentation..

• Planning in Analog.  Tell a story, create stunning visuals and videos to complement video, use demonstrations and other speakers, keep the audience engaged.
• Creating a Twitter-Friendly Description  Single description sentence, condensed his message into 140 characters.
• Introduce the Enemy  Story needs villains or a problem to be solved. Jobs highlighted IBM and useless mobile phones (during iPhone release) as his villains.
• Focusing on Benefits  Keep reinforcing the benefits of your product, create top 10 lists, understand this is what customers care about.
• Sticking to Rule of Three  Classic Literary technique, things are best remembered and reinforced in threes. Read this article on  Literary Techniques  for more detail.
• Sell Dreams, Not Products  Create a vision people believe in, create a vision which will make people’s lives better
• Create Visual Slides  Use as few words as possible and use colourful graphics on the slide to highlight points.
• Make Numbers Meaningful  Compare large numbers to things people understand.
• Use Plain English  Use easy to say and easy to remember words, keep it simple.
• Large Reveals  Due to Apple secrecy, Jobs was able to deliver unexpected products to the world at his product launches.

• PRESENTATION SKILLS

Preparing for a Presentation

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Preparation is the single most important part of making a successful presentation. It is an absolutely crucial foundation, and you should dedicate as much time to it as possible, avoiding short-cuts. Good preparation will ensure that you have thought carefully about the messages that you want (or need) to communicate in your presentation and it will also help boost your confidence.

There are a number of aspects that you need to consider when preparing a presentation. They include the aim of the presentation, the subject matter, the audience, the venue or place, the time of day, and the length of the talk. All these will affect what you say and how you say it, as well as the visual aids that you use to get your point across.

The Objective

Whenever you are asked to give a presentation or speak to a group of people, you need to start by asking the purpose of the presentation.

In other words, what is the presentation expected to achieve, and what outcome(s) do the organisers and the audience expect?

These outcomes will shape your presentation, because it must be designed to achieve the objective and deliver the desired outcomes.

For example, you might be asked to give a talk to a gardening club. You might be told that the purpose of the talk is to fill a regular meeting slot, and that the members of the club have expressed a desire to learn more about pruning. You therefore know that your talk needs to be entertaining, fairly light, but knowledgeable, and that your audience wants to learn something new.

As you prepare your presentation, make sure you keep asking yourself:

“How is saying this going to help to achieve the objective and outcomes?”

The Subject

The subject of your presentation or talk about comes from the objective. They are linked, but they are not necessarily exactly the same thing.

For example:

The subject may be given to you by the organisation that has invited you (such as talking about pruning to the gardening club).

You may be knowledgeable in a particular field (perhaps you have an interest in local history).

The subject may be entirely your choice within certain limitations (you might, for example, be asked to give a presentation at an interview on a project which you feel has particularly developed your skills).

The Audience

Before preparing material for a presentation, it is worth considering your prospective audience.

Tailoring your talk to the audience is important and the following points should be considered:

The size of the group or audience expected.

The age range - a talk aimed at retired people will be quite different from one aimed at teenagers.

Gender - will the audience be predominantly male or female?

Is it a captive audience or will they be there out of interest?

Will you be speaking in their work or leisure time?

Do they know something about your subject already or will it be totally new to them?  Is the subject part of their work?

Are you there to inform, teach, stimulate, or provoke?

Can you use humour and, if so, what would be considered appropriate? If you are in any doubt about this, it is probably best to avoid anything even remotely risqué.

It is important to have as much advance information as possible about the place where you are going to speak.

It can be helpful to arrange to see the venue before the event. It does much to quell fear if you can visualise the place while you are preparing your talk. However, even if you cannot visit, you will probably find it helpful to know:

The size of the room;

The seating arrangements (for example, theatre-style, with rows of seats; or round-table);

The availability of equipment, e.g., microphone, laptop and projector, flip chart;

The availability of power points and if an extension lead is required for any equipment you intend to use;

If the room has curtains or blinds. This is relevant if you intend to use visual aids, and so that you can ensure the correct ambiance for your presentation;

The position of the light switches.  Check if you need someone to help if you are using audio/visual equipment and need to turn off the lights;

The likelihood of outside distractions, e.g., noise from another room; and

The availability of parking facilities so you do not have a long walk carrying any equipment you might need to take.

If this information is not available ahead of time, it will help to get there a bit early, to give you time to set up.

There will often be no flexibility in the time of day that a presentation is made. However, it does affect what you can do, and how you might organise your presentation, because of the likely state of your audience (see box).

How time of day can affect your audience

The morning is the best time to speak because people are generally at their most alert. However, as it gets towards lunch time, people begin to feel hungry and lose concentration. This is particularly true if the event has not included a coffee break.

After lunch, people often feel sleepy and lethargic. If you are given a slot immediately after lunch, it is a good idea to get your audience involved. A discussion or getting your audience moving about will work a lot better than simply presenting a lot of slides. A flip chart may also be a more useful tool than a laptop and projector, especially if it means you can open blinds and use natural light.

Towards the end of the afternoon, people again tend to lose concentration as they start to worry about getting home, the traffic or collecting children from school.

Evening or Weekend:

Outside regular office hours, people are more likely to be present because they want to be rather than because they have to be there.  There is a better chance of audience attention in the evening. However, if the presentation goes on for too long, people may have to leave before you have finished. People will also be less tolerant of a poor presentation because you are in their time, not their employer’s.

Length of Talk

Always find out how long you have to talk and check if this includes or excludes time for questions.

Find out if there are other speakers and, if so, where you are placed in the running order.  Never elect to go last.  Beware of over-running, as this could be disastrous if there are other speakers following you.

It is important to remember that people find it difficult to maintain concentration for long periods of time. This is a good reason for making a presentation succinct, well-structured and interesting. Aim for 45 minutes as a maximum single-session presentation, and preferably leave at least 10 or 15 minutes for questions. Nobody minds finishing a session early.

Providing Information in Advance

Always check what information you will need to provide in advance.

Organisers of big events and conferences often like to have all the PowerPoint presentations several days ahead of the event. This gives them time to load all the presentations, and make sure that they are properly branded for the event.

Some events also need speakers’ biographies ahead of time, to put in conference literature. When you are asked to give the presentation, make sure you ask what is needed by when—and then supply it.

You will not be popular if you turn up on the day and announce that you have completely rewritten your presentation on the train. It is entirely possible that the organisers may even not be able to accommodate that, for example if the audio-visual is being supplied by a separate company or by the venue.

And finally…

Being asked to give a presentation is an honour, not a chore.

You are representing your organisation or yourself, if you are self-employed. You are also not there by right, but by invitation. It is therefore important that you put in the time and effort to ensure that you deliver what your audience wants. That way, you may just be invited back another time.

Continue to: Organising the Presentation Material

See also: Can Presentation Science Improve Your Presentation? Preparing for Oral Presentations Managing the Presentation Event Coping with Presentation Nerves

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• What’s the Purpose of a Presentation? What You Need to Know
• Presentation Tips You Should Know
• Use These Effective Presentation Tips and Succeed

What's the purpose of a presentation? You might well think that there's a simple answer. But, of course there isn't. That's because the purpose of your presentation depends on you, the presenter. That's right. What is it that you want to achieve with your audience? And, of course, that's the starting point for some serious work.

What's The Purpose Of A Presentation?

Because your job is to achieve results with your audience. That's results set against your own objectives.

So, what do you want to achieve? To help, you can phrase another question, along the lines of…" what do you want your audience to understand after your presentation ?

You want your audience to…

• Understand something,
• Know something,
• Believe something, or
• Do something

You plan to achieve a result with your audience, all because of your presentation. And that result is a change in their understanding . Or a change in their knowledge or beliefs . Or, perhaps your audience will choose to do something, all because of your presentation.

So, that's the purpose of a presentation. It's your purpose…your objective for your own presentation. So, it's not important whether it's a PowerPoint or a Keynote presentation. Your purpose is what really matters.

What's Your Purpose?

And, if you don't have a rationale for your presentation?

Then you need one. Because without purpose your presentation won't work. Your purpose for your presentation drives everything:

• Your points
• Your examples
• And, your evidence with which you illustrate your points

And, as your presentation is the best way to forge a communication with your audience, then now is the time to get cracking with a purpose for your presentation.

All the best public speakers have an answer to the question, " why give a speech ?" And so should all of us.

You can always discover more presentation tips with our regular series of podcast and video tips. And, when you are ready for more intensive learning, then you can always join us on a presentation course or ask us to organise a coaching session. Please don't hesitate to get in touch when the time is right.

Contact Details

Please don't hesitate to get in touch for presentation course advice.

Phone number

01344 859823

Email Address

[email protected]

"In the dim background of our mind, we know what we ought to be doing but somehow we cannot start."

William James

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Article • 10 min read

How to Deliver Great Presentations

Presenting like a pro.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Key takeaways:

• Connect with and understand your audience . Who is attending and why? What are their needs and expectaions?
• Prepare your content . How to start and finish strong. Tips to keep your audience engaged.
• Deliver confidently . Get comfortable with your visual aids. How to use body language effectively.
• Control the environment . Practice, practice, practice! Handling equipment failures. Have a back up plan.

Ever been to a really bad presentation? You know, the kind where the speaker stands behind the podium, uses slides that mirror what he is saying directly, and includes lots of data tables to validate his position.

But. "What's so bad about that?" you ask. "Isn't that how most presentations are given?" Yes. That is how most presentations are delivered, but that doesn't mean that's the most effective way to deliver them. This kind of presentation risks boring your audience to the point where they start wishing for a fire alarm to go off so they can escape. And once you lose someone, it is next to impossible to bring her attention back.

If the information you are presenting is important enough for you to deliver orally, then it demands an appropriate amount of planning and preparation so that the information you present is memorable – for the right reasons. Give a bad presentation and you'll be remembered all right: it just won't be the type of impression you want to leave in anyone's mind.

When someone presents well, it sends the message that the person is capable, confident, intelligent, and competent. These people get noticed and that type of attention bodes well for your career. Even if you don't make formal presentations in your current position, think about the future and keep in mind that you do have to present your ideas and opinions on a daily basis. The same basic principles of effective delivery apply.

Four Principles of Great Presentations

• Connect With and Understand Your Audience.
• Prepare Your Content.
• Deliver Confidently.
• Control the Environment.

1. Connect With and Understand Your Audience

To deliver a great presentation you have to consider the following audience characteristics:

• Profile – Who are they? What is the common element that brings them together?
• Needs – Why are they attending the presentation? What do they need to know after you've finished?
• Wants – What do they want from the presentation? Do they want to increase knowledge, learn something or be entertained? How can you connect their interests with your message?
• Expectations – What do they expect in terms of content and length?
• Current Knowledge – How much explanation do you need to provide? What assumptions can you make?

When you know your audience, you can prepare content that appeals to them specifically. If you pass over this first crucial step you risk delivering a presentation that is content rich and relevance poor.

2. Prepare Your Content

Now that you know who you are presenting to and why they are there, you can determine what to present. Here are some tips for content preparation:

• Don't try to cover everything. As Voltaire said, "The secret of being a bore is to tell all." Great presentations stimulate thoughts, questions, and discussion. Develop your content so that it covers the main points but leaves room for the audience to apply the information to their own circumstances.
• Start off well with a great hook – you only have a few minutes right at the start to fully engage the audience. Don't use this time to present background information. Get your audience charged up and eager to listen. Make the relevance immediately obvious.
• Also, start by telling your audience where you are heading. Don't make them wait for your conclusion, tell them up front what your premise or purpose is. This helps your audience stay focused. They may or may not agree with you at the start, but they will be able to quickly spot all of your supporting arguments.
• Your presentation should have five to seven take-away points. This follows the chunking principle , which you can learn more about here .
• Tell a story, make comparisons, and use lots of examples. Be sure to mix up the type of content to stimulate audience interest.
• Present your ideas logically using supporting evidence as necessary.
• Provide only as much background information as needed.
• Outline actions or next steps that are required.
• Develop a strong close, including a summary. Bring your conclusions back around to audience need and the hook you created. Consider ending with a question designed to stimulate further discussion.

For a similar but a subtly different approach, see our article on the Rhetorical Triangle .

3. Deliver Confidently

There are two main aspects of your delivery: your visual aids and your style. We'll look at them separately.

Unless your presentation is very short, you will need some sort of visual aid to keep the attention of your audience. There is a fine line, though, between drawing attention to your points, and distracting the audience from what you are saying. Here are some key factors to consider when designing slides:

• Keep slides simple and easy to understand.
• When explaining, start with the overall concept and then move to the details.
• The information on the slide should add value to your presentation or summarize it – it is not meant to be your presentation.
• Ensure that any charts, graphs or tables you include are very simple and easy to read. Use them sparingly.
• Use images (clip art and photos) sparingly and make sure the image means something and isn't just there to fill up space.
• Use pleasant color schemes, high contrast, simple fonts, and bold and italic to add meaning to words.
• Don't use fly-ins, fade-ins or outs or other animations unless absolutely necessary to really emphasize a point. How many times have you been put into a hypnotic state watching words or lines fly into a presentation?

Delivery Style

The way you deliver the content is often what makes or breaks a presentation. Here are some pointers to remember:

• Use gestures for meaning, not for comfort. Try not to talk with your hands or move about carelessly. Everything you do should have purpose i.e. gesture to the visual aid to draw the audience's attention.
• Pause for effect after main points or after you present a visual aid.
• Step out from behind the podium and connect with your audience – make sure you have a remote control device to change slides or cue other types of visuals.
• Talk loudly enough for people at the back to hear, or use a microphone.
• Make eye contact and hold it for three to five seconds. Any less and it looks like you are merely scanning the crowd.
• Be passionate – show your audience that you care about what you are saying.
• Consider putting up a blank or low-content screen between slides – this puts the attention where it should be: on you!
• Change your pace and style from time to time.
• Be natural – don't try to be a comedian if you're not.
• Finish early rather than late.

When you present with confidence and authority, your audience will pay attention and react to you as someone who is worth listening to. Fake it if you need to, by turning your nervousness into creative and enthusiastic energy.

4. Control the Environment

You won't ever eliminate all sources of problems, but through diligent planning and preparation, you can mitigate your risks.

• Practice, practice, practice: The ultimate goal is to deliver your presentation note-free. Short of that, you want to be sure you are comfortable with the material and that nothing comes as a surprise. Consider practicing in front of a video camera and reviewing your delivery. Don't take short-cuts here because it shows! The point is for the presentation to look effortless – when you struggle, the audience focuses on you, and not on what you are saying.
• Keep the lights on: when you darken the room, the screen stands out, not you. And it also encourages sleep, which you want to avoid at all costs!
• Always have back-ups and a backup plan. What if you forget your material? What will you do if the CD won't load? What if the equipment doesn't arrive on time? Plan for as many contingencies as possible.
• Dress appropriately for the situation – find out in advance what the dress code will be.
• Have a policy for answering questions – let your audience know when they can ask questions so you aren't inappropriately interrupted.
• Finish on time, every time. Last impressions are just as important as first ones.

Presenting is not a natural activity and to do it well requires careful thought and lots of practice.

You can choose to be average, or even below average, by simply emulating what most other presenters do. Or, you can take your presentations to the next level and leave your audiences with a powerful message that they remember, while keeping them interested and connected from start to finish.

To do this you need to pay strict attention to your audience analysis, content preparation, delivery style, and the external environment. When you control these for optimum audience relevance, interest, and engagement you are ready to deliver a great presentation.

The final element you must add is lots and lots of practice. Make your next presentation great by planning and preparing well in advance and making it look like it does come naturally to you.

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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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Home Blog Business Writing an Impactful Purpose Statement: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing an Impactful Purpose Statement: A Step-by-Step Guide

The purpose of a business is the foundation on which its success is built. A clear and meaningful purpose statement can differentiate between achieving your goals and falling short. It sets the direction for decision-making, guides strategy, and focuses on all aspects of your business operations. 

Crafting an inspiring and effective purpose statement requires careful consideration and thoughtfulness. To help you create one that will have maximum impact, we have put together this step-by-step guide on how to write a purpose statement for your business. We’ll cover how to define what matters most to you, develop key messages based on those values, and craft a powerful message that resonates with customers, stakeholders, employees, and beyond. So let’s get started!

Table of Contents

What is a Purpose Statement

Why is a purpose statement important, defining your values, identifying your unique value proposition, writing out the main points of your purpose statement, creating an emotional connection with your target audience, how to structure a purpose statement, purpose statement examples.

A purpose statement is a concise and meaningful declaration of why a company exists, with a clear alignment with the company’s goals, mission , and vision statements . Following Simon Sinek’s book , a purpose statement answers the “Why” behind a company, which helps to inspire all members of an organization towards a common goal. This should be the primary objective of leadership.

You can also come across a purpose statement under the name of a “position statement,” as a purpose statement reinforces how a product, service, or company answers a consumer’s need while at the same time establishing itself in the market.

A purpose statement is crucial for any marketing plan . It serves as an anchor point for employees and helps to unify the company’s efforts by creating clarity around what matters most. It should drive decision-making at every level and guide strategy development.

A purpose statement is critical for an organization to have to define its vision and align the collective efforts of employees toward achieving that vision . It provides clear guidance for decision-making at all levels and helps focus resources for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. A purpose statement should be designed to inspire, motivate, and engage all stakeholders in the organization, including customers, suppliers, investors, and employees.

The role of Purpose Statements in Strategy

Having a purpose statement gives an organization a solid framework to build upon when developing strategies and tactics to reach its goals. It serves as a roadmap for setting up projects, organizing activities, measuring progress, and providing feedback to refine operations or adjust its course if necessary. This allows organizations to quickly identify opportunities or potential issues that may arise along the way so they can take corrective action.

Inspiring Current and Prospect Employees

A compelling purpose statement can draw in promising professionals driven by a unified mission rather than just financial compensation. It has been proven that employees who seek fulfillment beyond money tend to stay with an organization longer, resulting in higher retention rates and helping to build a company’s culture . Additionally, having a meaningful purpose statement can give organizations an edge during competition with other firms, making them stand out from their peers. 

Transparency for Customers

Most importantly, a well-crafted purpose statement will clarify why an organization exists and what it stands for beyond making money which speaks volumes about its values and commitment to making positive contributions to society. This type of transparency can go a long way in building trust from customers and shareholders, as it shows that they are invested in something greater than financial success. Better said, getting in touch with an organization’s purpose statement is the first step to building social capital .

What Should a Purpose Statement Include

Values represent the heart and soul of an organization and should be clearly articulated to ensure that employees, customers, and stakeholders understand what the company stands for. 

When defining values, it’s essential to think beyond surface-level qualities such as customer service or collaboration – instead, focus on deeper principles that guide decisions and serve as the foundation for all operations. To begin, companies need to consider their core beliefs and philosophies, including ideas related to social responsibility, sustainability, innovation, integrity, respect for diversity, etc. Once these have been identified, they can then be distilled into specific statements that capture their essence.

Organizations must also address if the values are applicable across their different departments. This shall draw clarity at each level on decision-making, initiatives, and strategy decisions. 

A company’s Unique Value Proposition in a purpose statement presentation is essential for distinguishing it from other competitors in the marketplace. A solid and compelling proposition should be clear, concise, relevant, and tailored to the target audience’s needs. This statement should reflect a company’s core values and prove why they are distinctive and better than its competitors.

Start by understanding the target audience, its requirements, and the needs and desires to fulfill. Once this step is completed, companies should define how their organization attends those fill gaps in the market, distinguishing themselves from competitors by highlighting what makes them stand out. 

Another important point is to set clear the competitive advantage. A list of perks could include exclusive benefits, better quality products or services, a customizable service, lower prices for the same quality, etc. Cutting-edge technologies should take special mention in a purpose statement presentation, as it helps to elevate the quality proposition a company offers among other players in the industry. Management can back up this information in the form of customer testimonials, data statements, or any other valuable proof that presents key points in an easy-to-access format.

Crafting a Purpose Statement Presentation

At the moment of designing your company’s purpose statement presentation, write down an outline of the key elements to mention or include:

1. Target audience and their needs.

2. How the product or service solves customer pain points or fills gaps in the market. 

3. Any competitive advantages that set them apart from others.

4. Quality of products or services offered.

5. Customer service offering.

6. Claims backed up with evidence, such as customer testimonials and reviews.

7. Visuals such as videos or infographics to draw attention to key points.

While it is true that tools such as storytelling help us connect at an emotional level with the target audience, the first level of emotional connection must be in company. A good practice for this objective is to run surveys across your employees, potential customers, and stakeholders, knowing different views of what builds a successful consumer experience. 

Having contrasting insights and not just counting on customer-based input is an excellent exercise to evaluate how self-critical an organization is, how its employees and stakeholders help build a story that contributes to society, and why the company serves the needs of its consumers. Craft a narrative that conveys that message in an understandable format, with keyphrases that generate an emotional retention element.

Now it is time to create the presentation itself. How do we create a compelling purpose statement presentation to drive engagement and common ground among stakeholders? Follow the list below to define the slides to include.

1. Introduction: Provide an overview of the purpose statement and why it is important. Take some extra time if you consider several options on how to start a presentation . Your presentation style has to be in accordance with the branding so the introduction is the first impression the audience shall get.

2. Target Audience & Their Needs : Describe the target audience and list their needs.

3. Unique Value Proposition: Explain how the company’s offering meets customer needs more effectively than competitors do, and highlight any competitive advantages that set them apart from others in the industry. 

4. Customer Value: Highlight qualities that help craft an exceptional customer experience. This information can be extracted from the survey’s analysis. 

5. Testimonials: Include customer reviews to show social proof of why a company’s offering is superior to others on the market.

6. Visual Aids: Add visuals such as videos or infographics to draw attention to key points while making statements more engaging for viewers. This is an excellent opportunity to test the reception of video ads explaining the purpose statement in front of an audience. 

7. Summary & Conclusion: Summarize key takeaways and provide evidence for claims made throughout the presentation.

Before concluding this article, we want to list some examples of companies whose purpose statements successfully express the intention and reason for existence. 

AT&T: “Inspire human progress through the power of communication and entertainment.”

Cognizant: “We engineer modern businesses to improve everyday life.”

GE (General Electric): “We rise to the challenge of building a world that works.”

As we have seen, crafting a purpose statement is vital for any organization that desires to stand out in the market. Doing so allows potential customers to have an accurate understanding of why they should choose your product or service over others on the market while also empowering organizations on their journey to success.

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Business Presentations, Presentation Approaches Filed under Business

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Developing trainers, presenters and facilitators to make a difference

Present With Purpose

Before you present: Clarifying the purpose helps you avoid a data-dump. You will design your presentation with a focused viewpoint and avoid excess content. Because you are designing more efficiently, you save tons of time and energy.

As you present: By stating your presentation’s purpose in the first few minutes, you shape your audience’s expectations. You also make an overt commitment to achieving that purpose. This adds to your credibility as a speaker.

Here are a couple of examples:

• “The purpose of my presentation is to inform you of the new changes in our contract.”
• “My purpose today is to introduce the preliminary findings of our report.”
• “Today I will show you the 5 benefits of our new venture.”

Why Don’t More Presenters Do This?

I have three big guesses as to why more presenters don’t develop and use a clear, concise purpose statement.

1. The lure of PowerPoint. Even though using PowerPoint to organize a presentation almost guarantees a data dump-style presentation, many presenters have grown up thinking this is the only way.

I have nothing against using PowerPoint as a tool once you have clarified the presentation purpose. In fact, I suggest putting your purpose statement on the very first PowerPoint slide!

2. The belief that the audience already knows what you are going to say. Your audience may know the fuzzy parameters of your speech. It’s your job to shape their expectations toward what you want to say.

3. Ignorance. Many presenters simply have never considered the importance of using a presentation purpose statement to guide their process.

Where to Start

The best way to develop your purpose statement is to start with this bare-bones template:

“The purpose of my presentation is to:

(2) audience (you can say “you” here)

(3) topic.”

Examples #1 and #2 above follow this template. Example #3 throws in a little “what’s in it for you” statement. All are effective.

My Challenge to You

Try it out! Create a purpose statement for your very next presentation. If you already have a presentation that lacks a purpose statement, develop one NOW and use it the next time you present.

You will find yourself and your audience more focused on the message. Let me know how it goes!

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Tags: Communication , Fear , Kite , Language , Lecturing , Podium , PowerPoint , Presentation , Presentation Skills , Presenting , Public Speaking , Public speaking mistakes , Seminar

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Blog Beginner Guides 8 Types of Presentations You Should Know [+Examples & Tips]

8 Types of Presentations You Should Know [+Examples & Tips]

Written by: Krystle Wong Aug 11, 2023

From persuasive pitches that influence opinions to instructional demonstrations that teach skills, the different types of presentations serve a unique purpose, tailored to specific objectives and audiences.

Presentations that are tailored to its objectives and audiences are more engaging and memorable. They capture attention, maintain interest and leave a lasting impression. 

Don’t worry if you’re no designer —  Whether you need data-driven visuals, persuasive graphics or engaging design elements, Venngage can empower you to craft presentations that stand out and effectively convey your message.

Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface, extensive presentation template library and customizable design options make it a valuable tool for creating slides that align with your specific goals and target audience. 

Click to jump ahead:

8 Different types of presentations every presenter must know

How do i choose the right type of presentation for my topic or audience, types of presentation faq, 5 steps to create a presentation with venngage .

When it comes to presentations, versatility is the name of the game. Having a variety of presentation styles up your sleeve can make a world of difference in keeping your audience engaged. Here are 8 essential presentation types that every presenter should be well-acquainted with:

1. Informative presentation

Ever sat through a presentation that left you feeling enlightened? That’s the power of an informative presentation. 

This presentation style is all about sharing knowledge and shedding light on a particular topic. Whether you’re diving into the depths of quantum physics or explaining the intricacies of the latest social media trends, informative presentations aim to increase the audience’s understanding.

When delivering an informative presentation, simplify complex topics with clear visuals and relatable examples. Organize your content logically, starting with the basics and gradually delving deeper and always remember to keep jargon to a minimum and encourage questions for clarity.

Academic presentations and research presentations are great examples of informative presentations. An effective academic presentation involves having clear structure, credible evidence, engaging delivery and supporting visuals. Provide context to emphasize the topic’s significance, practice to perfect timing, and be ready to address anticipated questions. 

2. Persuasive presentation

If you’ve ever been swayed by a passionate speaker armed with compelling arguments, you’ve experienced a persuasive presentation . 

This type of presentation is like a verbal tug-of-war, aiming to convince the audience to see things from a specific perspective. Expect to encounter solid evidence, logical reasoning and a dash of emotional appeal.

With persuasive presentations, it’s important to know your audience inside out and tailor your message to their interests and concerns. Craft a compelling narrative with a strong opening, a solid argument and a memorable closing. Additionally, use visuals strategically to enhance your points.

Examples of persuasive presentations include presentations for environmental conservations, policy change, social issues and more. Here are some engaging presentation templates you can use to get started with: 

3. Demonstration or how-to presentation

A Demonstration or How-To Presentation is a type of presentation where the speaker showcases a process, technique, or procedure step by step, providing the audience with clear instructions on how to replicate the demonstrated action. 

A demonstrative presentation is particularly useful when teaching practical skills or showing how something is done in a hands-on manner.

These presentations are commonly used in various settings, including educational workshops, training sessions, cooking classes, DIY tutorials, technology demonstrations and more. Designing creative slides for your how-to presentations can heighten engagement and foster better information retention. 

Speakers can also consider breaking down the process into manageable steps, using visual aids, props and sometimes even live demonstrations to illustrate each step. The key is to provide clear and concise instructions, engage the audience with interactive elements and address any questions that may arise during the presentation.

4. Training or instructional presentation

Training presentations are geared towards imparting practical skills, procedures or concepts — think of this as the more focused cousin of the demonstration presentation. 

Whether you’re teaching a group of new employees the ins and outs of a software or enlightening budding chefs on the art of soufflé-making, training presentations are all about turning novices into experts.

To maximize the impact of your training or instructional presentation, break down complex concepts into digestible segments. Consider using real-life examples to illustrate each point and create a connection. 

You can also create an interactive presentation by incorporating elements like quizzes or group activities to reinforce understanding.

5. Sales presentation

Sales presentations are one of the many types of business presentations and the bread and butter of businesses looking to woo potential clients or customers. With a sprinkle of charm and a dash of persuasion, these presentations showcase products, services or ideas with one end goal in mind: sealing the deal.

A successful sales presentation often has key characteristics such as a clear value proposition, strong storytelling, confidence and a compelling call to action. Hence, when presenting to your clients or stakeholders, focus on benefits rather than just features. 

Anticipate and address potential objections before they arise and use storytelling to showcase how your offering solves a specific problem for your audience. Utilizing visual aids is also a great way to make your points stand out and stay memorable.

A sales presentation can be used to promote service offerings, product launches or even consultancy proposals that outline the expertise and industry experience of a business. Here are some template examples you can use for your next sales presentation:

6. Pitch presentation

Pitch presentations are your ticket to garnering the interest and support of potential investors, partners or stakeholders. Think of your pitch deck as your chance to paint a vivid picture of your business idea or proposal and secure the resources you need to bring it to life. 

Business presentations aside, individuals can also create a portfolio presentation to showcase their skills, experience and achievements to potential clients, employers or investors. 

Craft a concise and compelling narrative. Clearly define the problem your idea solves and how it stands out in the market. Anticipate questions and practice your answers. Project confidence and passion for your idea.

7. Motivational or inspirational presentation

Feeling the need for a morale boost? That’s where motivational presentations step in. These talks are designed to uplift and inspire, often featuring personal anecdotes, heartwarming stories and a generous serving of encouragement.

Form a connection with your audience by sharing personal stories that resonate with your message. Use a storytelling style with relatable anecdotes and powerful metaphors to create an emotional connection. Keep the energy high and wrap up your inspirational presentations with a clear call to action.

Inspirational talks and leadership presentations aside, a motivational or inspirational presentation can also be a simple presentation aimed at boosting confidence, a motivational speech focused on embracing change and more.

8. Status or progress report presentation

Projects and businesses are like living organisms, constantly evolving and changing. Status or progress report presentations keep everyone in the loop by providing updates on achievements, challenges and future plans. It’s like a GPS for your team, ensuring everyone stays on track.

Be transparent about achievements, challenges and future plans. Utilize infographics, charts and diagrams to present your data visually and simplify information. By visually representing data, it becomes easier to identify trends, make predictions and strategize based on evidence.

Now that you’ve learned about the different types of presentation methods and how to use them, you’re on the right track to creating a good presentation that can boost your confidence and enhance your presentation skills . 

Selecting the most suitable presentation style is akin to choosing the right outfit for an occasion – it greatly influences how your message is perceived. Here’s a more detailed guide to help you make that crucial decision:

1. Define your objectives

Begin by clarifying your presentation’s goals. Are you aiming to educate, persuade, motivate, train or perhaps sell a concept? Your objectives will guide you to the most suitable presentation type. 

For instance, if you’re aiming to inform, an informative presentation would be a natural fit. On the other hand, a persuasive presentation suits the goal of swaying opinions.

2. Know your audience

Regardless if you’re giving an in-person or a virtual presentation — delve into the characteristics of your audience. Consider factors like their expertise level, familiarity with the topic, interests and expectations. 

If your audience consists of professionals in your field, a more technical presentation might be suitable. However, if your audience is diverse and includes newcomers, an approachable and engaging style might work better.

3. Analyze your content

Reflect on the content you intend to present. Is it data-heavy, rich in personal stories or focused on practical skills? Different presentation styles serve different content types. 

For data-driven content, an informative or instructional presentation might work best. For emotional stories, a motivational presentation could be a compelling choice.

4. Consider time constraints

Evaluate the time you have at your disposal. If your presentation needs to be concise due to time limitations, opt for a presentation style that allows you to convey your key points effectively within the available timeframe. A pitch presentation, for example, often requires delivering impactful information within a short span.

5. Leverage visuals

Visual aids are powerful tools in presentations. Consider whether your content would benefit from visual representation. If your PowerPoint presentations involve step-by-step instructions or demonstrations, a how-to presentation with clear visuals would be advantageous. Conversely, if your content is more conceptual, a motivational presentation could rely more on spoken words.

6. Align with the setting

Take the presentation environment into account. Are you presenting in a formal business setting, a casual workshop or a conference? Your setting can influence the level of formality and interactivity in your presentation. For instance, a demonstration presentation might be ideal for a hands-on workshop, while a persuasive presentation is great for conferences.

7. Gauge audience interaction

Determine the level of audience engagement you want. Interactive presentations work well for training sessions, workshops and small group settings, while informative or persuasive presentations might be more one-sided.

8. Flexibility

Stay open to adjusting your presentation style on the fly. Sometimes, unexpected factors might require a change of presentation style. Be prepared to adjust on the spot if audience engagement or reactions indicate that a different approach would be more effective.

Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and the best type of presentation may vary depending on the specific situation and your unique communication goals. By carefully considering these factors, you can choose the most effective presentation type to successfully engage and communicate with your audience.

To save time, use a presentation software or check out these presentation design and presentation background guides to create a presentation that stands out.    

What are some effective ways to begin and end a presentation?

Capture your audience’s attention from the start of your presentation by using a surprising statistic, a compelling story or a thought-provoking question related to your topic. 

To conclude your presentation , summarize your main points, reinforce your key message and leave a lasting impression with a powerful call to action or a memorable quote that resonates with your presentation’s theme.

How can I make my presentation more engaging and interactive?

To create an engaging and interactive presentation for your audience, incorporate visual elements such as images, graphs and videos to illustrate your points visually. Share relatable anecdotes or real-life examples to create a connection with your audience. 

You can also integrate interactive elements like live polls, open-ended questions or small group discussions to encourage participation and keep your audience actively engaged throughout your presentation.

Which types of presentations require special markings

Some presentation types require special markings such as how sales presentations require persuasive techniques like emphasizing benefits, addressing objections and using compelling visuals to showcase products or services. 

Demonstrations and how-to presentations on the other hand require clear markings for each step, ensuring the audience can follow along seamlessly. 

That aside, pitch presentations require highlighting unique selling points, market potential and the competitive edge of your idea, making it stand out to potential investors or partners.

Need some inspiration on how to make a presentation that will captivate an audience? Here are 120+ presentation ideas to help you get started. 

Creating a stunning and impactful presentation with Venngage is a breeze. Whether you’re crafting a business pitch, a training presentation or any other type of presentation, follow these five steps to create a professional presentation that stands out:

• Sign up and log in to Venngage to access the editor.
• Choose a presentation template that matches your topic or style.
• Customize content, colors, fonts, and background to personalize your presentation.
• Add images, icons, and charts to enhancevisual style and clarity.
• Save, export, and share your presentation as PDF or PNG files, or use Venngage’s Presentation Mode for online showcasing.

In the realm of presentations, understanding the different types of presentation formats is like having a versatile set of tools that empower you to craft compelling narratives for every occasion.

Remember, the key to a successful presentation lies not only in the content you deliver but also in the way you connect with your audience. Whether you’re informing, persuading or entertaining, tailoring your approach to the specific type of presentation you’re delivering can make all the difference.

Presentations are a powerful tool, and with practice and dedication (and a little help from Venngage), you’ll find yourself becoming a presentation pro in no time. Now, let’s get started and customize your next presentation!

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What is the Purpose of Your Presentation?

October 11, 2017 by Muhammad Noer

Imagine you are preparing for something. You prepare your suitcase, fold and pack your clothes into your suitcase. Most of the clothes you prepare are shirts. After you finish packing, you are ready to go ahead. Unfortunately you are going to the beach for vacation. And finally you cannot wear your clothes in that beach.

That is what you will feel if you prepare a presentation, while you are not knowing the purpose of the presentation. Without knowing the purpose of the presentation you are going to perform, you won’t do the presentation well and properly. Your presentation will be a waste of time for both of you and the audience eventually. You cannot give the proper information and the audience cannot get all the points.

The main purpose of a presentation is to inform. Your presentation must be well prepared in order to be able to give information to the audience properly. There are two kinds of giving information.

1. Giving information to those who don’t know about the topic yet (to inform)

2. Persuade people to use something they already know (to persuade)

Each Type has its own Trick!

The purpose to inform is different to persuade in a presentation.

Informative presentation is usually done in front of the audiences who don’t know yet about the topic or are not familiar with the topic. Here you must give facts and data so that in the end of your presentation the audiences got new information. For this type of presentation, the preparation you have to do is make an understandable material.

However, the persuasive presentation is a little bit more complicated. Here you will face the audiences who already know and are familiar to the topic you are going to present but they are not interested to it yet. This type of presentation requires your best communication skill. In the end of your presentation, the audiences are expected to change their minds. Those who are not interested to the topic are now interested in that, or at least they are willing to try to use that.

Everything Begin with the Material

The success of your presentation depends on your ability as a presenter. You are may be not a star, but if you have a good communication skill, you will be a star after you deliver your presentation. The audiences will thank you for they have got useful information to bring home.

In fact, a presentation is a communication. A success communication is when the communicator could deliver the message properly to the communicant. At the end, the communicator and the communicant have the same understanding and knowledge about something.

So, communication in delivering presentation will need 3 things:

1. Message bearer (communicator)

3. Message receiver (communicant)

Those three things is interrelated to each other. If the communicator could give the message through the right media, the message will be accepted and understood by the communicant.

The material for your presentation must be strong and understandable. By understanding easily to the presentation you deliver, the audiences will be interested to your presentation.

Prepare Your Material at Your Best

Before you arrange the materials, collect all the things you will deliver in your presentation first. You must deliver things that are relevant to the purpose of the presentation of course. If its purpose is to inform, you must give new information and things that are not familiar to the audiences. If its purpose is to persuade, you must deliver the benefits and advantages of the thing you deliver.

Write down all things you will deliver. Write down all things that come up to your consciousness, that relevant to your presentation. After that, evaluate them. Re-read your writings, and if you find things less important, remove them.

If you have the fixed material for your presentation, classify each idea. Classification will help you to deliver the material easily to the audiences. After that, make the media for your presentation. The very common media used for presentation is slide show.

Make a simple but attractive slide show for your presentation. A slide full with writings and pictures will bore the audiences. In opposite, a simple slide will grow curiosity so that the audiences will pay attention to your presentation.

After presentation media is made, you also must prepare yourself. You must deliver the presentation properly. Public communication skill is highly required to be a good presenter. Not all people are gifted to do the public speaking, but everyone can deliver a good presentation, with one condition: practice, practice and practice.

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About Muhammad Noer

Muhammad Noer is a Human Resources Professional who has passion in sharing how to create and deliver a great presentation.

Best Presentation is aiming to give you practical tips on how to create a great presentation. We believe everyone can learn how to create a better presentation, deliver a great speech and show amazing visual slides.

We created wide-ranging presentations template products from Inspiring Slides to Powerful Business Presentation. Click below for the products:

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• Effective Presentation Skills Tutorial
• Preparing for the Presentation

Preparing the Presentation

Before developing a presentation on a given topic, know the requirements, purpose and audience of the presentation and then prepare an outline of the presentation.

Know the Requirements

Knowing the requirements of a presentation involves finding the answers for several relevant questions:

How much time will you have to deliver the presentation?

This dictates how much you have to prepare and how detailed it should be. The number of slides necessary for a 5-minute class presentation may differ considerably from what is necessary for a 30-minute project presentation.

Who and how many will be in the audience?

This impacts the formality of the presentation and its context, as well as the attire you may have to wear.

A thesis or dissertation presentation for a committee of faculty, or a project presentation for client at a company, may have a small audience and require formality in your delivery and attire (as appropriate for your discipline).

The context could involve evaluation of your presentation for a course grade or obtaining a project for your company.

Knowing the audience is also important for accommodating people with different abilities.

Where will you deliver the presentation?

This impacts the design of presentation materials, your delivery (whether you need a microphone or not) and the possibility to interact with the audience.

A small conference room (as opposed to a large classroom or an auditorium) may require developing different type of presentation materials.

A small conference room or classroom may allow you to interact easily with the audience, while a large auditorium where you deliver the presentation from the stage may not allow you that flexibility.

What type of technologies will be available to deliver the presentation?

This impacts the selection of technologies to match what will be available at the presentation location.

The delivery technologies can include presentation software and data projector, document camera, flip charts, microphone, web browsers, etc.

If you design your presentation using an online presentation tool, and plan to deliver the presentation using the same, it is critical to make sure that online presentation tool will be available at the delivery location, or you can bring your own.

Will you deliver the presentation alone or as part of a panel or a team?

This impacts what you prepare and how you will have to deliver it.

If you have to deliver the presentation by yourself, you will have considerable flexibility on how you can design and deliver your presentation.

If you have to present as part of a panel or a team, then you may have to coordinate with other presenters, to align your portion appropriately with theirs and not duplicate material.

Do you have to prepare handouts of your presentation to distribute to the audience?

This impacts the design of your presentation materials and the cost of making copies of the presentation.

Some presentation materials may come across well on a large screen but not on paper.

Distributing copies of your presentation will require you to know in advance how many copies to make, and any to make in large fonts for those with visual impairments.

What alternatives do you have if there are unexpected changes at the last minute to any of the previous items?

This helps you to develop Plan B solutions in case there are unexpected changes.

Planning simple alternatives to handle unavailability of particular delivery technologies in the presentation location or change in presentation duration can reduce stress and help you deliver your presentation effectively.

Saving presentation materials in different formats and media will help to adapt to any unexpected changes at the last minute.

Know the Purpose

Learn about the purpose of your presentation from your course instructor or the organizer of your presentation.

The purpose of a presentation can be (and are not limited) to:

• Inform   an audience, as in a formal thesis or project presentation
• Persuade   an audience, as in selling a proposal for service to a client or convincing an interviewer
• Entertain   an audience, as in presenting at a reception
• Speak   on a special occasion, such as honoring a colleague
• Educate   an audience, as in teaching or training a group of people

Informative Presentation

This video clip is an example of the presenter informing the audience .

Persuasive Presentation

This video clip is an example of a presenter attempting to persuade the audience .

Entertaining Presentation

This video clip is an example of the presenter attempting to entertain .

Honoring Presentation

This video clip is an example of the presenter speaking to the audience on a special occasion .

Knowing the purpose of the presentation will help you design, develop, and deliver the presentation for the intended purpose.

For example, a brief technical presentation for informing an audience may not leave time for very many interactions with the audience, including questions and answers (Q&A) at the end.

However, a technical presentation as part of a thesis or dissertation defense will involve considerable Q&A by the faculty committee and the audience.

Presenting for the purpose of educating or training an audience may require considerable interaction and Q&A during the presentations.

Presenting for the purpose of entertaining an audience may not be very formal, whereas honoring someone may be formal, and both may not involve Q&A at the end.

Knowing the purpose of the presentation can also help in arranging the room layout and audience seating (if that flexibility is available), so you can interact easily with the audience appropriately.

Know the Audience

It is important to know your audience demographics before you prepare your presentation. Knowing who they are (faculty, students, etc.), their familiarity with the topic, and their role (gain information, evaluate your learning, etc.) in attending your presentation, will help you organize your thoughts appropriately.

Presentation Level Appropriate

This video clip is an example of a presentation that is appropriate for a non-expert audience .

Presentation Level Inappropriate

This video clip is an example of a presentation that is too technical for a non-expert audience .

Presenting a topic to a specific audience requires careful preparation so the presentation will make sense to them and fulfill their needs. Some audience demographics include age, gender, faculty or students and educational background. Presenting to a group of your peers will require you to present the topic with authority, but on their level of understanding and with the ability to motivate them to ask questions. Presenting to a faculty audience will also require you to present the topic with authority, but you may need to prepare for more substantial questions and remarks.

Prepare an Outline

Once you know the requirements and the purpose of the presentation, the next step is to prepare an outline. Preparing an outline will give you a roadmap or a sense of direction for developing the presentation for the required purpose.

Before you develop an outline, ask yourself what you would want your audience to know in the time you have to present it. The outline should consist of the major headings or topics of your presentation.

The outline should have a beginning, middle and an end so that the audience can follow your ideas logically from the beginning to the end. You can then elaborate each major topic or heading into appropriate points.

The type of outline and the list of headings or topics may depend on the nature of the discipline and the purpose of a presentation.

For example, the outline of a technical presentation for informing an audience can consist of headings such as:

• Problem statement
• Objectives and scope
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Experimentation
• Conclusions

Similarly, the outline of XYZ corporation's (your employer) proposal presentation to a client ABC Co. for obtaining a project can consist of headings such as:

• Welcome and introductions
• Needs and trends
• XYZ corporation
• XYZ’s products and services
• Major clients of XYZ
• How XYZ can serve the needs of ABC
• Possible opportunities
• Contact information
• Questions and answers

An example of an outline for a non-technical presentation in the humanities or other disciplines could include the following:

• Purpose, thesis, preview
• First (second, third) point(s), supporting evidence of thesis
• Possible objections analyzed and or refuted
• Source of information
• Transition to conclusion
• Restate thesis
• Statement of possible actions, next steps
• Memory and attention-reinforcing strategies (quote, anecdote, etc.)
• Discussion of limitations, missing elements
• Closing or summary statement

Depending on the allotted duration of your presentation, you can then plan on how much time to spend on each topic, and develop the presentation materials accordingly.

The outline will depend on the content of your presentation and the outline need not dictate how the presentation will be delivered.

One can develop an outline or a framework for a presentation but organize the content in a non-sequential manner for delivery. This is especially suited for when the outline is in the form of a pictorial framework where each part can be presented non-sequentially.

Once you have developed the outline of your presentation, the next step is to organize the content.

  Previous

Next  

• Organizing the Presentation
• Designing Effective Presentation Materials
• Rehearsing the Presentation
• Delivering the Presentation
• Handling Questions and Answers
• Presentation Skills Quiz
• Presentation Preparation Checklist
• Common Reasons for Ineffective Presentations

Ishpeming senior center to host exclusive scam awareness presentation

ISHPEMING, Mich. (WLUC) - An exclusive scam and fraud awareness presentation will be held on Wednesday.

The Ishpeming Multi-Purpose Senior Center will be the only U.P. site showing the Zoom presentation. Attendees have the opportunity to learn about fraud warning signs from Michigan’s Assistant Attorney General. Kristen Stinedurf is expected to address phishing and AI scams.

The center is partnering with the Tri-County Office on Aging to recognize scams through calls, text, mail and email. Their goal is to minimize the risk of being scammed. The center’s Executive Director Ashley Roberts said the presentation is good for people new to technology.

“We have a lot of people coming in new to Medicare,” Roberts said. “They’re inundated with phone calls on a daily basis. So, knowing what is real, what is a scam so that they can be comfortable with knowing that their information is safe.”

Roberts also encouraged caregivers to attend. The center can hold up to 50 attendees for the presentation. There will be refreshments and goodies.

The presentation is free to attend and starts at 2 p.m.

Ishpeming senior center to host exclusive scam awareness presentation

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How to Find Your Purpose to Ignite Your Power

She says finding your purpose is like unlocking your superhero within! Judy Wilkins-Smith, author of the newly released, "The Hidden Power in Your DNA", shared how we can unlock our full potential. For more information, visit Judy's website.

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Scam Prevention Presentation Planned in Ishpeming

The Ishpeming Multi-Purpose Senior Center is hosting an event to educate seniors and caregivers on how to prevent and protect themselves against scammers and fraud.

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What is Memorial Day? The true meaning of why we celebrate the federal holiday

For many Americans, Memorial Day is more than a long weekend and an unofficial start to the summer season. The real meaning of the holiday is meant to honor all U.S. soldiers who have died serving their country.

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day's history goes back to the Civil War. It was was declared a national holiday by Congress in 1971, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Although Veterans Day in November also honors military service members, Memorial Day differs by honoring all military members who have died while serving in U.S. forces in any current or previous wars.

The late-May holiday has also evolved into an opportunity for Americans to head to the beach or lake , travel to see friends and family , or even catch a Memorial Day parade .

Here's what to know about the history and the reason behind why we observe Memorial Day.

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When is Memorial Day?

One of 11 federal holidays recognized in the U.S., Memorial Day is always observed on the last Monday of May. This year, the holiday falls on Monday, May 27.

Why do we celebrate Memorial Day?  

The origins of the holiday can be traced back to local observances for soldiers with neglected gravesites during the Civil War.

The first observance of what would become Memorial Day, some historians think, took place in Charleston, South Carolina at the site of a horse racing track that Confederates had turned into a prison holding Union prisoners. Blacks in the city organized a burial of deceased Union prisoners and built a fence around the site, Yale historian David Blight wrote in  The New York Times  in 2011.

Then on May 1, 1865, they held an event there including a parade – Blacks who fought in the Civil War participated – spiritual readings and songs, and picnicking. A commemorative marker was erected there in 2010.

One of the first Decoration Days was held in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 25, 1866 by women who decorated graves of Confederate soldiers who perished in the battle at Shiloh with flowers. On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, the tradition of placing flowers on veterans’ graves was continued by the establishment of Decoration Day by an organization of Union veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic. 

General Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first large observance, a crowd of about 5,000 people, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 30, 1873.

This tradition continues to thrive in cemeteries of all sizes across the country. 

Until World War I, Civil War soldiers were solely honored on this holiday. Now, all Americans who’ve served are observed. 

At least 25 places in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Some states that claim ownership of the origins include Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, according to Veterans Affairs.

Despite conflicting claims, the U.S. Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, as the “birthplace” of Memorial Day on May 30, 1966, after Governor Nelson Rockefeller's declaration that same year. The New York community formally honored local veterans May 5, 1866 by closing businesses and lowering flags at half-staff. 

Why is Memorial Day in May? 

The day that we celebrate Memorial Day is believed to be influenced by Illinois U.S. Representative John A. Logan, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in November 1858, and served as an officer during the Mexican War.

It is said that Logan, a staunch defender of the Union, believed Memorial Day should occur when flowers are in full bloom across the country, according to the  National Museum of the U.S. Army.

Congress passed an act making May 30 a holiday in the District of Columbia in 1888,  according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

In 2000, the National Moment of Remembrance Act – which created the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance and encourages all to pause at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence – was signed into law by Congress and the President.

What is the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?

Memorial Day and Veterans Day both honor the sacrifices made by U.S. veterans, but the holidays serve different purposes.

Veterans Day, originally called “Armistice Day,” is a younger holiday established in 1926 as a way to commemorate all those who had served in the U.S. armed forces during World War I.

Memorial Day honors all those who have died.