Q&A for How to Deliver Effective Presentations

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What are some effective presentation techniques?

Maureen Taylor
Public Speaking Expert
Maureen Taylor is the CEO and Founder of SNP Communications, a leadership communications company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been helping leaders, founders, and innovators in all sectors hone their messaging and delivery for almost 30 years, and has worked with leaders and teams at Google, Facebook, Airbnb, SAP, Salesforce, and Spotify.

Maureen Taylor

Public Speaking Expert

Expert Answer

Project your voice. You might even feel like you're screaming. However, volume makes you enunciate your words better and it brings out inflection. You can easily sound bored if you're quiet. Bring the volume up, and you'll bring up your inflection too.

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Question

At what point can I say, "Over to you"?

Community Answer

If you're presenting with another person, and you've finished one section of your topic, you can say, "Over to you."

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Question

How do I make an effective presentation?

Community Answer

Use a slide show, and if you can't do this, print out and give your audience handouts. Be sure to include pictures and graphs, or even a video, to maintain their attention!

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Question

Are there different methods of giving presentations?

Community Answer

You could try one of the following suggestions: Reading slides; making flow diagrams of everything, even literature review; pasting many pictures and animation; adding voice-overs and videos frequently; walking and using props intentionally, and so forth.

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Question

My classmate recently bailed out on a presentation and I have to prepare to do it myself at the last minute. How can I prepare for a presentation if I don't have a lot of time?

Community Answer

Just do your bit of the presentation. If they don't do it, they'll lose credit, not you. But if you feel you have to do their part too, offer an explanation for why it is incomplete so that people understand.

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How do I deliver an effective presentation if my presentation is supposed to be sad?

Community Answer

If the presentation is about sad events, then speak with a sad tone and act like (but don’t overact) the events weigh heavily on you. You could include pictures that represent the sadness, or have a essay prepared along with a visual slideshow.

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Question

Does movement matter during a presentation?

Otterly Badgerific

Top Answerer

Movement can matter. It can help to give your presentation more life but it needs to be smooth, relevant movement and confident gestures so as not to be distracting for the audience. Hand gestures, pointing, walking across the stage or platform, picking up an object, etc., can all work to make a point or engage more closely with the audience, as long as you ensure it's in alignment with the presentation being given. Small, repetitive movements such as touching your face, hair or picking at your skin, can be distracting and cause people to focus on the actions instead of your presentation, so take care to avoid such movements.

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Question

How do you keep a presentation on track with the subject and the time?

Community Answer

Practice the presentation beforehand a few times while using a timer to record the length. Then make changes if it's too long or short.

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