presentation skills outcome

Ideas and insights from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning

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] .

Let’s talk

Change isn’t easy, but we can help. Together we’ll create informed and inspired leaders ready to shape the future of your business.

© 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.

• Privacy Policy
• Copyright Information
• Terms of Use
• About Harvard Business Publishing
• Higher Education
• Harvard Business Review
• Harvard Business School

We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies and revised Privacy Policy .

Cookie and Privacy Settings

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

Partner Center

Home Blog Education Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Getting the perfect presentation design is just a step toward a successful presentation. For the experienced user, building presentation skills is the answer to elevating the power of your message and showing expertise on any subject. Still, one can ask: is it the same set of skills, or are they dependable on the type of presentation?

In this article, we will introduce the different types of presentations accompanied by the skillset required to master them. The purpose, as always, is to retain the audience’s interest for a long-lasting and convincing message.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Presentation Skills

Persuasive presentations, instructional presentations, informative presentations, inspirational presentations, basic presentation skills, what are the main difficulties when giving a presentation, recommendations to improve your presentation skills, closing statement.

Effective communication is the answer to reaching business and academic goals. The scenarios in which we can be required to deliver a presentation are as diverse as one can imagine. Still, some core concepts apply to all presentations.

 We define presentation skills as a compendium of soft skills that directly affect your presentation performance and contribute to creating a great presentation. These are not qualities acquired by birth but skills you ought to train and master to delve into professional environments.

You may ask: is it really that evident when a presenter is not prepared? Here are some common signs people can experience during presentations:

• Evasive body language: Not making eye contact with the audience, arms closed tightly to the body, hands in pockets all the time.
• Lack of interest in the presenter’s voice: dull tone, not putting an effort to articulate the topics.
• Doubting when asked to answer a question
• Irksome mood

The list can go on about common presenter mistakes , and most certainly, it will affect the performance of any presented data if the lack of interest by the presenter is blatantly obvious.  Another element to consider is anxiety, and according to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, 73% of the population in the USA is affected by glossophobia , which is the fear of public speaking, judgment, or negative evaluation by other people.

Therefore, presentation skills training is essential for any business professional who wants to achieve effective communication . It will remove the anxiety from presentation performance and help users effectively deliver their message and connect with the audience.

Archetypes of presentations

Persuasive presentations aim to convince the audience – often in short periods – to acquire a product or service, adhere to a cause, or invest in a company. For business entrepreneurs or politicians, persuasive presentations are their tool for the trade.

Unless you aim to be perceived as an imposter, a proper persuasive presentation has the elements of facts, empathy, and logic, balanced under a well-crafted narrative. The central pillar of these presentations is to identify the single factor that gathered your audience: it could be a market need, a social cause, or a revolutionary concept for today’s society. It has to be something with enough power to gather critiques – both good and bad.

That single factor has to be backed up by facts. Research that builds your hypothesis on how to solve that problem. A deep understanding of the target audience’s needs , concerns, and social position regarding the solution your means can offer. When those elements are in place, building a pitch becomes an easy task. 

Graphics can help you introduce information in a compelling format, lowering the need for lengthy presentations. Good presentation skills for persuasive presentations go by the hand of filtering relevant data and creating the visual cues that resonate with what your audience demands.

One powerful example of a persuasive presentation is the technique known as the elevator pitch . You must introduce your idea or product convincingly to the audience in a timeframe between 30 seconds and less than 2 minutes. You have to expose:

• What do you do 
• What’s the problem to solve
• Why is your solution different from others 
• Why should the audience care about your expertise

For that very purpose, using engaging graphics with contrasting colors elevates the potential power of your message. It speaks professionalism, care for details, and out-of-the-box thinking. Knowing how to end a presentation is also critical, as your CTAs should be placed with care.

Therefore, let’s resume the requirements of persuasive presentations in terms of good presentation skills:

• Identifying problems and needs
• Elaborating “the hook” (the element that grabs the audience’s attention)
• Knowing how to “tie” your audience (introducing a piece of information related to the hook that causes an emotional impact)
• Broad knowledge of body language and hand gestures to quickly convey your message
• Being prepared to argue a defense of your point of view
• Handling rejection
• Having a proactive attitude to convert opportunities into new projects
• Using humor, surprise, or personal anecdotes as elements to sympathize with the audience
• Having confidence
• Be able to summarize facts and information in visually appealing ways

You can learn more about persuasive presentation techniques by clicking here .

In the case of instructional presentations, we ought to differentiate two distinctive types:

• Lecture Presentations : Presentations being held at universities or any other educative institution. Those presentations cover, topic by topic, and the contents of a syllabus and are created by the team of teachers in charge of the course.
• Training Presentations : These presentations take place during in-company training sessions and usually comprise a good amount of content that is resumed into easy-to-take solutions. They are aimed to coach employees over certain topics relevant to their work performance. The 70-20-10 Model is frequently used to address these training situations.

Lecture presentations appeal to the gradual introduction of complex concepts, following a structure set in the course’s syllabus. These presentations often have a similar aesthetic as a group of professors or researchers created to share their knowledge about a topic. Personal experience does tell that course presentations often rely on factual data, adequately documented, and on the theoretical side.

An example of a presentation that lies under this concept is a Syllabus Presentation, used by the teaching team to introduce the subject to new students, evaluation methods, concepts to be learned, and expectations to pass the course.

On the other hand, training presentations are slide decks designed to meet an organization’s specific needs in the formal education of their personnel. Commonly known as “continuous education,” plenty of companies invest resources in coaching their employees to achieve higher performance results. These presentations have the trademark of being concise since their idea is to introduce the concepts that shall be applied in practice sessions. 

Ideally, the training presentations are introduced with little text and easy-to-recognize visual cues. Since the idea is to summarize as much as possible, these are visually appealing for the audience. They must be dynamic enough to allow the presenter to convey the message.

Those key takeaways remind employees when they revisit their learning resources and allow them to ruminate on questions that fellow workers raise. 

To sum up this point, building presentation skills for instructional presentations requires:

• Ability to put complex concepts into simpler words
• Patience and a constant learning mindset
• Voice training to deliver lengthy speeches without being too dense
• Ability to summarize points and note the key takeaways
• Empathizing with the audience to understand their challenges in the learning process

The informative presentations take place in business situations, such as when to present project reports from different departments to the management. Another potential usage of these presentations is in SCRUM or other Agile methodologies, when a sprint is completed, to discuss the advance of the project with the Product Owner.

As they are presentations heavily dependent on data insights, it’s common to see the usage of infographics and charts to express usually dense data in simpler terms and easy to remember. 

Informative presentations don’t just fall into the business category. Ph.D. Dissertation and Thesis presentations are topics that belong to the informative presentations category as they condense countless research hours into manageable reports for the academic jury. 

Since these informational presentations can be perceived as lengthy and data-filled, it is important to learn the following professional presentation skills:

• Attention to detail
• Be able to explain complex information in simpler terms
• Creative thinking
• Powerful diction
• Working on pauses and transitions
• Pacing the presentation, so not too much information is divulged per slide

The leading inspirational platform, TEDx, comes to mind when talking about inspirational presentations. This presentation format has the peculiarity of maximizing the engagement with the audience to divulge a message, and due to that, it has specific requirements any presenter must meet.

This presentation format usually involves a speaker on a stage, either sitting or better standing, in which the presenter engages with the audience with a storytelling format about a life experience, a job done that provided a remarkable improvement for society, etc.

Empathizing with the audience is the key ingredient for these inspirational presentations. Still, creativity is what shapes the outcome of your performance as people are constantly looking for different experiences – not the same recipe rephrased with personal touches. The human factor is what matters here, way above data and research. What has your experience to offer to others? How can it motivate another human being to pursue a similar path or discover their true calling?

To achieve success in terms of communication skills presentation, these inspirational presentations have the following requirements:

• Focus on the audience (engage, consider their interests, and make them a part of your story)
• Putting ego aside
• Creative communication skills
• Storytelling skills
• Body language knowledge to apply the correct gestures to accompany your story
• Voice training
• Using powerful words

After discussing the different kinds of presentations we can come across at any stage of our lives, a group of presentation skills is standard in any type of presentation. See below what makes a good presentation and which skills you must count on to succeed as a presenter.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a crucial aspect of giving an effective presentation. Nothing says more about respect for your audience and the organization you represent than delivering the presentation on time . Arriving last minute puts pressure on the tech team behind audiovisuals, as they don’t have enough preparation to test microphones, stage lights, and projector settings, which can lead to a less powerful presentation Even when discussing presentations hosted in small rooms for a reduced audience, testing the equipment becomes essential for an effective presentation.

A solution for this is to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Ideally, one hour is a sweet spot since the AV crew has time to check the gear and requirements for your presentation. Another benefit of this, for example, in inspirational presentations, is measuring the previous presenter’s impact on the audience. This gives insights about how to resonate with the public, and their interest, and how to accommodate your presentation for maximum impact.

Body Language

Our bodies can make emotions transparent for others, even when we are unaware of such a fact. Proper training for body language skills reduces performance anxiety, giving the audience a sense of expertise about the presented topic. 

Give your presentation and the audience the respect they deserve by watching over these potential mistakes:

• Turning your back to the audience for extended periods : It’s okay to do so when introducing an important piece of information or explaining a graph, but it is considered rude to give your back to the audience constantly.
• Fidgeting : We are all nervous in the presence of strangers, even more, if we are the center of attention for that moment. Instead of playing with your hair or making weird hand gestures, take a deep breath to center yourself before the presentation and remember that everything you could do to prepare is already done. Trust your instincts and give your best.
• Intense eye contact : Have you watched a video where the presenter stared at the camera the entire time? That’s the feeling you transmit to spectators through intense eye contact. It’s a practice often used by politicians to persuade.
• Swearing : This is a no-brainer. Even when you see influencers swearing on camera or in podcasts or live presentations, it is considered an informal and lousy practice for business and academic situations. If you have a habit to break when it comes to this point, find the humor in these situations and replace your swear words with funny alternatives (if the presentation allows for it). 

Voice Tone plays a crucial role in delivering effective presentations and knowing how to give a good presentation. Your voice is a powerful tool for exposing your ideas and feelings . Your voice can articulate the message you are telling, briefing the audience if you feel excited about what you are sharing or, in contrast, if you feel the presentation is a burden you ought to complete.

Remember, passion is a primary ingredient in convincing people. Therefore, transmitting such passion with a vibrant voice may help gather potential business partners’ interest.  

But what if you feel sick prior to the presentation? If, by chance, your throat is sore minutes before setting foot on the stage, try this: when introducing yourself, mention that you are feeling a bit under the weather. This resonates with the audience to pay more attention to your efforts. In case you don’t feel comfortable about that, ask the organizers for a cup of tea, as it will settle your throat and relax your nerves.

Tech Skills

Believe it or not, people still feel challenged by technology these days. Maybe that’s the reason why presentation giants like Tony Robbins opt not to use PowerPoint presentations . The reality is that there are plenty of elements involved in a presentation that can go wrong from the tech side:

• A PDF not opening
• Saving your presentation in a too-recent PowerPoint version
• A computer not booting up
• Mac laptops and their never-ending compatibility nightmare
• Not knowing how to change between slides
• Not knowing how to use a laser pointer
• Internet not working
• Audio not working

We can come up with a pretty long list of potential tech pitfalls, and yet more than half of them fall in presenters not being knowledgeable about technology.

If computers aren’t your thing, let the organization know about this beforehand. There is always a crew member available to help presenters switch between slides or configure the presentation for streaming. This takes the pressure off your shoulders, allowing you to concentrate on the content to present. Remember, even Bill Gates can get a BSOD during a presentation .

Presentations, while valuable for conveying information and ideas, can be daunting for many individuals. Here are some common difficulties people encounter when giving presentations:

Public Speaking Anxiety

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, affects a significant portion of the population. This anxiety can lead to nervousness, trembling, and forgetfulness during a presentation.

Lack of Confidence

Many presenters struggle with self-doubt, fearing that they may not be knowledgeable or skilled enough to engage their audience effectively.

Content Organization

Organizing information in a coherent and engaging manner can be challenging. Presenters often grapple with how to structure their content to make it easily digestible for the audience. Artificial Intelligence can help us significantly reduce the content arrangement time when you work with tools like our AI Presentation Maker (made for presenters by experts in presentation design). 

Audience Engagement

Keeping the audience’s attention and interest throughout the presentation can be difficult. Distractions, disengaged attendees, or lack of interaction can pose challenges.

Technical Issues

Technology glitches, such as malfunctioning equipment, incompatible file formats, or poor internet connectivity, can disrupt presentations and increase stress.

Time Management

Striking the right balance between providing enough information and staying within time limits is a common challenge. Going over or under the allotted time can affect the effectiveness of the presentation.

Handling Questions and Challenges

Responding to unexpected questions, criticism, or challenges from the audience can be difficult, especially when presenters are unprepared or lack confidence in their subject matter.

Visual Aids and Technology

Creating and effectively using visual aids like slides or multimedia can be a struggle for some presenters. Technical competence is essential in this aspect.

Language and Articulation

Poor language skills or unclear articulation can hinder effective communication. Presenters may worry about stumbling over words or failing to convey their message clearly.

Maintaining appropriate and confident body language can be challenging. Avoiding nervous habits, maintaining eye contact, and using gestures effectively requires practice.

Overcoming Impersonal Delivery

In virtual presentations, maintaining a personal connection with the audience can be difficult. The absence of face-to-face interaction can make it challenging to engage and read the audience.

Cultural and Diversity Awareness

Presenting to diverse audiences requires sensitivity to cultural differences and varying levels of familiarity with the topic.

In this section, we gathered some tips on how to improve presentation skills that can certainly make an impact if applied to your presentation skills. We believe these skills can be cultivated to transform into habits for your work routine.

Tip #1: Build a narrative

One memorable way to guarantee presentation success is by writing a story of all the points you desire to cover. This statement is based on the logic behind storytelling and its power to connect with people .

Don’t waste time memorizing slides or reading your presentation to the audience. It feels unnatural, and any question that diverts from the topic in discussion certainly puts you in jeopardy or, worse, exposes you as a fraud in the eyes of the audience. And before you ask, it is really evident when a presenter has a memorized speech. 

Build and rehearse the presentation as if telling a story to a group of interested people. Lower the language barrier by avoiding complex terms that maybe even you aren’t fully aware of their meaning. Consider the ramifications of that story, what it could lead to, and which are the opportunities to explore. Then, visualize yourself giving the presentation in a natural way.

Applying this technique makes the presentation feel like second nature to you. It broadens the spectrum in which you can show expertise over a topic or even build the basis for new interesting points of view about the project.

Tip #2: Don’t talk for more than 3 minutes per slide

It is a common practice of presenters to bombard the audience with facts and information whilst retaining the same slide on the screen. Why can this happen? It could be because the presenter condensed the talk into very few slides and preferred to talk. The reality is that your spectators won’t retain the information you are giving unless you give visual cues to help that process. 

Opt to prepare more slides and pace your speech to match the topics shown on each slide. Don’t spend more than 3 minutes per slide unless you have to introduce a complex piece of data. Use visual cues to direct the spectators about what you talk about, and summarize the principal concepts discussed at the end of each section.

Tip #3: Practice meditation daily

Anxiety is the number one enemy of professional presenters. It slowly builds without you being aware of your doubts and can hinder your performance in multiple ways: making you feel paralyzed, fidgeting, making you forget language skills or concepts, affecting your health, etc.

Meditation is an ancient practice taken from Buddhist teachings that train your mind to be here in the present. We often see the concepts of meditation and mindfulness as synonyms, whereas you should be aware that meditation is a practice that sets the blocks to reach a state of mindfulness. For presenters, being in the here and now is essential to retain focus, but meditation techniques also teach us to control our breathing and be in touch with our body signals when stress builds up. 

The customary practice of meditation has an impact on imagination and creativity but also helps to build patience – a skill much needed for connecting with your audience in instructional presentations.

Having the proper set of presentation skills can be quite subjective. It goes beyond presentation tips and deepens into how flexible we can be in our ability to communicate ideas.

Different presentations and different audiences shape the outcome of our efforts. Therefore, having a basic understanding of how to connect, raise awareness, and empathize with people can be key ingredients for your career as a presenter. A word of advice: success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes dedication and patience to build communication skills . Don’t condition your work to believe you will be ready “someday”; it’s best to practice and experience failure as part of the learning process.

Like this article? Please share

Business Presentations, Presentation Approaches, Presentation Skills Filed under Education

Related Articles

Filed under Design • August 14th, 2024

Creating Custom Themes for PowerPoint and Google Slides

Do you want your slides to go beyond the average result from a template? If so, learn how to create custom themes for presentations with this guide.

Filed under Business • August 8th, 2024

How to Create Engaging and Persuasive Proposal Presentations

Secure your business deals and build your brand’s reputation by mastering the art of proposal presentations. Tips and recommended PPT templates included.

Filed under Business • July 24th, 2024

How to Create a Demo Presentation

Discover the secrets behind successful demo presentations and what they should contain with this article. Recommended PPT templates included.

Leave a Reply

• Onsite training

3,000,000+ delegates

15,000+ clients

1,000+ locations

• KnowledgePass
• Log a ticket

01344203999 Available 24/7

The Importance of Presentation Skills: That You Must Know About

Presentation Skills are essential for effectively conveying ideas and engaging an audience. This blog explores the Importance of Presentation Skills, highlighting how they boost confidence, enhance communication, and improve professional success. Master these skills to leave a lasting impression and achieve your goals.

Exclusive 40% OFF

Training Outcomes Within Your Budget!

We ensure quality, budget-alignment, and timely delivery by our expert instructors.

Share this Resource

• Effective Communication Skills
• Presenting with Impact Training
• Interpersonal Skills Training Course
• Effective Presentation Skills & Techniques
• Public Speaking Course

Table of Contents  

1) A Brief Introduction to Presentation Skills 

2) Importance of Presentation Skills in Personal Life 

3) Importance of Presentation Skills in Professional Life 

4) Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills 

5) Conclusion 

A Brief Introduction to Presentation Skills  

Presentation Skills can be defined as the ability to deliver information confidently and persuasively to engage and influence the audience. Be it in personal or professional settings; mastering Presentation Skills empowers individuals to convey their ideas with clarity, build confidence, and leave a lasting impression. From public speaking to business pitches, honing these skills can lead to greater success in diverse spheres of life.  You can also refer to various presentation skills interview questions and Answers  to build you confidence! 

Importance of Presentation Skills in Personal Life  

Effective Presentation Skills are not limited to professional settings alone; they play a significant role in personal life as well. Let us now explore  the Importance of Presentation Skills in one’s personal life:    

Expressing Ideas Clearly   

In day-to-day conversations with family, friends, or acquaintances, having good Presentation Skills enables you to articulate your thoughts and ideas clearly. Whether you're discussing plans for the weekend or sharing your opinions on a particular topic, being an effective communicator encourages better understanding and engagement. 

Enhancing Social Confidence  

Many individuals struggle with social anxiety or nervousness in social gatherings. Mastering Presentation Skills helps boost self-confidence, making it easier to navigate social situations with ease. The ability to present yourself confidently and engage others in conversation enhances your social life and opens doors to new relationships. 

Creating Memories on Special Occasions  

There are moments in life that call for public speaking, such as proposing a toast at a wedding, delivering a speech at a family gathering, or giving a presentation during special events. Having polished Presentation Skills enables you to leave a positive impression on the audience, making these occasions even more memorable. 

Handling Challenging Conversations  

Life often presents challenging situations that require delicate communication, such as expressing condolences or resolving conflicts. Strong Presentation Skills help you convey your feelings and thoughts sensitively, encouraging effective and empathetic communication during difficult times. 

Building Stronger Relationships  

Being a skilled presenter means being a good listener as well. Active listening is a fundamental aspect of effective Presentations, and when applied in personal relationships, it strengthens bonds and builds trust. Empathising with others and showing genuine interest in their stories and opinions enhances the quality of your relationships. 

Advocating for Personal Goals  

Whether you're pursuing personal projects or seeking support for a cause you're passionate about, the ability to present your ideas persuasively helps garner support and enthusiasm from others. This can be beneficial in achieving personal goals and making a positive impact on your community. 

Inspiring and Motivating Others  

In one’s personal life, Presentation Skills are not just about delivering formal speeches; they also involve inspiring and motivating others through your actions and words. Whether you're sharing your experiences, mentoring someone, or encouraging loved ones during tough times, your Presentation skills can be a source of inspiration for others. 

Exuding leadership traits  

Effective Presentation Skills go hand in hand with leadership qualities. Being able to communicate clearly and influence others' perspectives positions you as a leader within your family, social circles, or community. Leadership in personal life involves guiding and supporting others towards positive outcomes. 

Unlock your full potential as a presenter with our Presentation Skills Training Course. Join now!  

Importance of Presentation Skills in Professional Life  

Effective Presentation skills are a vital asset for career growth and success in professional life. Let us now explore the Importance of Presentation skills for students and workers:  

Impressing Employers and Clients  

During job interviews or business meetings, a well-delivered Presentation showcases your knowledge, confidence, and ability to communicate ideas effectively. It impresses employers, clients, and potential investors, leaving a positive and memorable impression that can tilt the scales in your favour. 

Advancing in Your Career  

In the corporate world, promotions and career advancements often involve presenting your achievements, ideas, and future plans to decision-makers. Strong Presentation Skills demonstrate your leadership potential and readiness for higher responsibilities, opening doors to new opportunities. 

Effective Team Collaboration  

As a professional, you often need to present projects, strategies, or updates to your team or colleagues. A compelling Presentation facilitates better understanding and association among team members, leading to more productive and successful projects. 

Persuasive Selling Techniques  

For sales and marketing professionals, Presentation skills are instrumental in persuading potential customers to choose your products or services. An engaging sales pitch can sway buying decisions, leading to increased revenue and business growth. 

Creating Impactful Proposals  

In the corporate world, proposals are crucial for securing new partnerships or business deals. A well-structured and compelling Presentation can make your proposal stand out and increase the chances of successful negotiations. 

Gaining and Retaining Clients  

Whether you are a freelancer, consultant, or business owner, Presentation Skills play a key role in winning and retaining clients. A captivating Presentation not only convinces clients of your capabilities but also builds trust and promotes long-term relationships. 

Enhancing Public Speaking Engagements  

Professional life often involves speaking at conferences, seminars, or industry events. Being a confident and engaging speaker allows you to deliver your message effectively, position yourself as an expert, and expand your professional network. 

Influencing Stakeholders and Decision-makers  

As you climb the corporate ladder, you may find yourself presenting to senior management or board members. Effective Presentations are essential for gaining support for your ideas, projects, or initiatives from key stakeholders. 

Handling Meetings and Discussions  

In meetings, being able to present your thoughts clearly and concisely contributes to productive discussions and efficient decision-making. It ensures that your ideas are understood and considered by colleagues and superiors. 

Professional Development  

Investing time in honing Presentation Skills is a form of professional development. As you become a more effective presenter, you become a more valuable asset to your organisation and industry. 

Building a Personal Brand  

A strong personal brand is vital for professional success. Impressive Presentations contribute to building a positive reputation and positioning yourself as a thought leader or industry expert. 

Career Transitions and Interviews  

When seeking new opportunities or transitioning to a different industry, Presentation Skills are essential for communicating your transferable skills and showcasing your adaptability to potential employers. 

Learn different statistical data with our Data Analysis Skills Course – Join today!

Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills 

Now that you know about the Importance of Presentation Skills in your personal and professional life, we will provide you with tips on how to  Improve Your Presentation Skills .

1) Know Your Audience: Understand the demographics and interests of your audience to tailor your Presentation accordingly. 

2) Practice Regularly: Rehearse your speech multiple times to refine content and delivery. 

3) Seek Feedback: Gather feedback from peers or mentors to identify areas for improvement. 

4) Manage Nervousness: Use relaxation techniques to overcome nervousness before presenting. 

5) Engage with Eye Contact: Maintain eye contact with the audience to establish a connection. 

6) Use Clear Visuals: Utilise impactful visuals to complement your spoken words. 

7) Emphasise Key Points: Highlight important information to enhance audience retention. 

8) Employ body language: Use confident and purposeful gestures to convey your message. 

9) Handle Q&A Confidently: Prepare for potential questions and answer them with clarity. 

10) Add Personal Stories: Include relevant anecdotes to make your Presentation more relatable. 

Learn different methods of delivering presentations with our Presenting with Impact Training – Join today!

Presentation Skills are a valuable asset, impacting both personal and professional realms of life. By mastering these skills, you can become a more effective communicator, a confident professional, and a persuasive influencer. Continuous improvement and adaptation to technological advancements will ensure you stay ahead in this competitive world. 

Learn about presentation styles with our Presentation Skills Training   – Join today! 

Frequently Asked Questions

Visual aids can make your presentation engaging and easier to understand. They help illustrate key points and keep the audience’s attention. Using visuals like charts, images, and videos can make your message clearer and more memorable.

Common mistakes include reading directly from slides, overloading slides with text, and not practising enough. To avoid them, practice thoroughly, use bullet points, and keep your slides simple.

The Knowledge Academy takes global learning to new heights, offering over 30,000 online courses across 490+ locations in 220 countries. This expansive reach ensures accessibility and convenience for learners worldwide.

Alongside our diverse Online Course Catalogue, encompassing 17 major categories, we go the extra mile by providing a plethora of free educational Online Resources like News updates, Blogs , videos, webinars, and interview questions. Tailoring learning experiences further, professionals can maximise value with customisable Course Bundles of TKA .  

The Knowledge Academy’s Knowledge Pass , a prepaid voucher, adds another layer of flexibility, allowing course bookings over a 12-month period. Join us on a journey where education knows no bounds.

The Knowledge Academy offers various Presentation Skills Courses , including Presentation Skills Training, Presenting with Impact Training, and Data Analysis Skills Course. These courses cater to different skill levels, providing comprehensive insights into Types of Communication .  

Our Business Skills Blogs cover a range of topics related to Presentation Skills, offering valuable resources, best practices, and industry insights. Whether you are a beginner or looking to advance your Presentation Skills, The Knowledge Academy's diverse courses and informative blogs have got you covered.  

Upcoming Business Skills Resources Batches & Dates

Fri 6th Sep 2024

Fri 4th Oct 2024

Fri 1st Nov 2024

Fri 6th Dec 2024

Fri 3rd Jan 2025

Fri 7th Mar 2025

Fri 2nd May 2025

Fri 4th Jul 2025

Fri 5th Sep 2025

Fri 7th Nov 2025

Get A Quote

WHO WILL BE FUNDING THE COURSE?

My employer

By submitting your details you agree to be contacted in order to respond to your enquiry

• Business Analysis
• Lean Six Sigma Certification

Share this course

Our biggest summer sale.

We cannot process your enquiry without contacting you, please tick to confirm your consent to us for contacting you about your enquiry.

By submitting your details you agree to be contacted in order to respond to your enquiry.

We may not have the course you’re looking for. If you enquire or give us a call on 01344203999 and speak to our training experts, we may still be able to help with your training requirements.

Or select from our popular topics

• ITIL® Certification
• Scrum Certification
• ISO 9001 Certification
• Change Management Certification
• Microsoft Azure Certification
• Microsoft Excel Courses
• Explore more courses

Press esc to close

Fill out your  contact details  below and our training experts will be in touch.

Fill out your   contact details   below

Thank you for your enquiry!

One of our training experts will be in touch shortly to go over your training requirements.

Back to Course Information

Fill out your contact details below so we can get in touch with you regarding your training requirements.

* WHO WILL BE FUNDING THE COURSE?

Preferred Contact Method

No preference

Back to course information

Fill out your  training details  below

Fill out your training details below so we have a better idea of what your training requirements are.

HOW MANY DELEGATES NEED TRAINING?

HOW DO YOU WANT THE COURSE DELIVERED?

Online Instructor-led

Online Self-paced

WHEN WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE THIS COURSE?

Next 2 - 4 months

WHAT IS YOUR REASON FOR ENQUIRING?

Looking for some information

Looking for a discount

I want to book but have questions

One of our training experts will be in touch shortly to go overy your training requirements.

Your privacy & cookies!

Like many websites we use cookies. We care about your data and experience, so to give you the best possible experience using our site, we store a very limited amount of your data. Continuing to use this site or clicking “Accept & close” means that you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more about our privacy policy and cookie policy cookie policy .

We use cookies that are essential for our site to work. Please visit our cookie policy for more information. To accept all cookies click 'Accept & close'.

Like what you're reading?

Unlock effective presentation skills (tips and best practices)

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera March 23, 2023

Presentation skills are a crucial aspect of communication in today’s world. Whether you’re delivering a pitch to potential investors, giving a lecture in front of a class, or trying to make a point at a meeting, your ability to effectively present your ideas can greatly impact your success. However, not everyone is a natural-born speaker. Many struggle with nerves and self-doubt when it comes to presenting in front of an audience. But don’t worry! Improving your presentation skills is possible with practice and dedication. In this blog post, we’ll provide you with practical tips that will help you become a confident and engaging speaker. From preparing your material to engaging with your audience, we’ll cover everything you need to know to take your presentation skills to the next level. So whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your existing presentation skills, read on for all the advice and inspiration you need to succeed.

Types of Presentations

Before we dive into specific presentation skills, it’s important to define the different types of presentations that may require different skills in how they’re presented. There are several types of presentations you can choose from, each with its own distinct format and style. Let’s take a look at some of the most common types of presentations:

Narrative presentations

In these types of presentations, the speaker focuses on telling a story that engages the audience and reinforces the main message. This type of presentation is perfect for engaging and entertaining an audience. It helps to keep the audience interested and focused and can be a great way to reinforce the main message. However, it can also be time-consuming to prepare a well-structured narrative.

Informative presentations

These types of presentations are designed to provide information on a specific topic. The speaker focuses on delivering accurate and relevant information to the audience in an organized and straightforward manner. This type of presentation is great for providing accurate and relevant information to the audience. The organized and straightforward delivery makes it easy for the audience to understand and retain the information. However, it can be difficult to keep the audience engaged and interested if the presentation is too dry or lacks excitement.

Persuasive presentations 

In persuasive presentations, the speaker aims to convince the audience to take a specific action or adopt a particular point of view. This type of presentation often includes arguments, statistics, and other persuasive techniques. However, if the arguments are weak or the persuasive techniques are ineffective, the presentation can fall flat and fail to achieve its intended outcome.

Demonstrative Presentations

These types of presentations focus on demonstrating a product or service to the audience. The speaker often includes visual aids, such as slides or videos, to help illustrate the key features and benefits of the product or service. However, it can be difficult to keep the audience engaged if the demonstration is too lengthy or repetitive.

Instructional Presentations

Instructional presentations are designed to teach the audience a specific skill or provide them with step-by-step instructions. The speaker often uses visual aids, such as diagrams or slides, to make the instructions clear and easy to follow. It’s perfect for teaching the audience how to perform a specific task. The use of visual aids, such as diagrams or slides, makes it easy for the audience to understand and follow the instructions. In this type of presentation, it’s important to present the instructions in a highly engaging way so the audience doesn’t lose interest.

Choosing the right type of presentation format can greatly impact the success of your presentation. Consider the audience, the message you want to convey, and the resources available to you, when deciding on the best presentation format for your needs. Once you’ve decided on a presentation format, you can move on to developing certain presentation skills that are most important for the specific case. 

Presentation delivery methods

The way you deliver your presentation is crucial. Therefore, we want to highlight this aspect before we dive into other effective presentation skills. A delivery method can make or break a presentation, regardless of the quality of the content. There are various methods of presentation delivery. The choice of method depends on the type of audience, the topic of the presentation, and the desired outcome. Discover 4 ways you can deliver a presentation and what kind of skills and approach they require. 

Traditional delivery

One of the most common presentation delivery methods is the traditional method of standing in front of an audience and delivering a speech. This method is suitable for formal presentations, such as keynote speeches, lectures, and corporate presentations. This method requires the speaker to have excellent public speaking skills, including voice modulation, body language, and eye contact. A traditional presentation delivery usually follows a classical presentation outline that has a clear beginning, middle, and end. 

Visually-focused presentation delivery

Another method of presentation delivery is the use of visual aids. This method involves using multimedia tools, such as images, videos, and infographics. Visual aids are effective because they can help the audience to better understand complex information, and they can also serve as a reference for the audience to refer to after the presentation. However, visuals should not be the sole focus of the presentation, as they can distract the audience from the message. 

If you want to create a visually-focused presentation, discover different Prezi presentation templates, and be sure to add images, videos, data visualizations, GIFs, stickers, and other visuals that you can find in Prezi’s content library and Prezi Design.  

If you want to learn more about the use of visuals in a presentation, and what are the best design practices, watch this video:

Interactive presentation delivery

Another way to deliver a presentation is by using interactive methods such as group discussions, role-plays, and simulations. This method is suitable for presentations that require the audience to actively participate in the presentation. Interactive presentations can be useful for training sessions, team-building exercises, and workshops. 

On Prezi, you can create highly interactive presentations where your audience can be active participants. Prezi’s non-linear format allows you to jump between topics instead of flipping through slides, so your presentation feels more like a conversation than a speech.

Storyteller delivery

The last method of presentation delivery is storytelling. It involves the use of anecdotes, personal experiences, and stories to deliver a message. Storytelling is a highly effective tool because it can help the audience to relate to the message on a personal level. 

Storytelling can also be used to make a presentation more engaging and entertaining. 

If you want to visually showcase a relation between two aspects and capture the transitional movement in a timeline, use motion, zoom, and spatial relationships in a Prezi presentation to showcase the nuances of your story world. 

Regardless of the presentation delivery method, make sure to follow the best presentation practices:

• Be well-prepared and knowledgeable about the topic. This can be achieved through research, practice, and rehearsal.
• Use clear and concise language that is easy for the audience to understand. You should avoid using jargon and technical terms, or you can take time to explain them to the audience. 
• Work on engaging the audience using eye contact, body language, and humor. This can help you establish a connection with the audience and make the presentation more engaging. 
• Be mindful of the time and ensure that the presentation is delivered within the allotted time frame.  
• Use effective visuals, if applicable, to support your message without overpowering it.

Effective presentation skills

There are numerous skills that you can develop to improve your presentations. In this article, we’ve summoned the following 8 presentation skills that are essential to any presenter that wants to make an impact with their message.

1. Effective communication

Effective communication skills are critical when it comes to presenting information to others. Presentations require a clear and concise message, and communication skills are key in delivering this message to your audience. Good communication skills allow you to connect with your audience, build rapport, and maintain engagement throughout the presentation. In addition, communication skills allow you to articulate your ideas and arguments clearly, and to respond to questions or challenges effectively. 

To improve this skill, practice speaking in front of a mirror or recording yourself to identify areas where you may need improvement. Also, consider using vocal techniques such as varying your tone and volume to keep your audience engaged.

2. Confident body language

Confident body language is an essential presentation skill as it communicates to the audience that the speaker is credible, knowledgeable, and in control. A confident posture, eye contact, and gestures can help you establish a strong presence and build rapport with the audience. It also helps you to convey your message more effectively. 

To practice confident body language, start by standing tall with shoulders back and head held high. Also, make eye contact with the audience and use natural hand gestures to emphasize key points. It’s also important to practice speaking clearly and with conviction, as this can further enhance the impact of confident body language during a presentation. 

If you’re interested in learning more about body language, read our article on 9 secrets to a confident body language . 

3. Audience engagement

Being able to engage your audience is a crucial presentation skill because it ensures that your message is well-received and understood. When you engage your audience, you capture their attention and maintain their interest throughout your presentation. This can make the difference between a successful presentation and one that falls flat. Holding the attention of your audience requires a combination of factors, such as having a clear message, being confident and comfortable in your delivery, using visual aids effectively, and connecting with your audience on a personal level. 

To improve this skill, you can practice rehearsing your presentation in front of friends or colleagues and seeking feedback. You can also try studying successful public speakers and their techniques and incorporating audience participation activities into your presentation to keep them engaged and interested. 

Additionally, you can engage your audience by opting for a motion-based presentation. It’ll enhance the impact of your content and ideas, making it more captivating for your audience to watch than a slide-based presentation. On Prezi, you can use motion, spatial relationships, and zooming effects to create highly impactful presentations. 

4. Time management

Time management is an essential presentation skill as it helps to ensure that you deliver your message effectively and efficiently within the allotted time. Poor time management can lead to an unprofessional and unprepared presentation, leaving the audience disinterested or confused.

To practice good time management, begin by planning and rehearsing your presentation in advance. It’s important to allocate sufficient time to each section and consider factors such as audience engagement and potential interruptions. You can also use time-tracking tools and practice pacing yourself during rehearsals to ensure you stay on schedule. By mastering time management, you can deliver a polished and engaging presentation, leaving a positive and lasting impression on your audience.

5. Content organization

Effective organization of presentation content is crucial for any presenter, as it determines the clarity and impact of the message. Organized content can help you convey your ideas in a logical and coherent manner, which aids in maintaining the audience’s attention and retention of information. 

To ensure that your presentation’s content is well-organized, it’s important to follow a few key steps. 

• Identify the main points you want to convey and arrange them in a logical order.
• Create a clear outline that includes an introduction, main body, and conclusion.
• Use transition words or phrases to smoothly connect each point to the next. 
• Ensure that your presentation has a consistent flow and that each point supports your overall message. 

By following these steps, you can effectively organize your presentation’s content and create a memorable and impactful experience for the viewers.

If you’re creating a sales presentation, be sure to read our step-by-step guide on crafting a winning sales presentation .

Also, discover how to best structure your presentation based on your presentation goal in this video:

6. Storytelling 

Storytelling is a powerful presentation skill that can captivate your audience’s attention and enhance the impact of your message. Stories allow us to connect with people on a deeper emotional level, and help us convey complex ideas in an easy-to-understand way. When we tell a story, we engage our audience, evoke their imagination, and inspire them to take action. 

To develop strong storytelling skills, you should practice telling stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end that convey a message or lesson. It’s also important to incorporate sensory details, such as sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste, to help the audience visualize the story. Also, make sure to focus on the tone of your delivery, including voice inflection, body language, and facial expressions, to effectively convey the emotions and dynamics of the story. Finally, use one of Prezi’s presentation templates like the one visualized below, or create your own story presentation on Prezi and visualize relations between topics, events, and characters using spatial relationships and visual hierarchy. 

By mastering the art of storytelling, you can deliver a powerful presentation that resonates with the audience and creates a lasting impression.

7. Adaptability

Adaptability is a crucial presentation skill – it allows you to adjust and respond to unexpected situations, changes, and challenges during the presentation. The key is to be properly prepared. This means researching your topic and practicing your presentation speech enough so that you’re prepared for any changes or questions that may arise. When you’re prepared, you’ll feel more present and be able to read the room and adjust to your audience’s needs and interests. Also, be flexible and open-minded to new information, feedback, and audience reactions. This skill will enable you to think on your feet and modify your content or delivery style accordingly. 

And lastly, you want to uphold the quality of your presentation no matter where you’re presenting, online or offline. If you need to adapt your presentation to an online experience, use Prezi Video and simply import your already-existing Prezi, Powerpoint, or Google slides, and deliver the same level of presence and quality as offline. With Prezi Video, you can showcase your slides next to you on-screen as you present, keeping that face-to-face interaction. 

Make sure to check out Prezi Video templates that you can find in Prezi’s template gallery .

8. Confidence

Last but definitely not least, one of the key presentation skills a great presenter possesses is confidence . Presenting with confidence can help you engage your audience and convince them of your authority and knowledge on the topic at hand. When you exude confidence, the audience is more likely to trust you and your message, leading to better communication and understanding. 

Developing confidence can be achieved through several methods. Practicing your speech multiple times, visualizing a successful presentation, and focusing on positive self-talk are all techniques that can help boost your confidence. Additionally, learning to control body language and voice tone can also have a positive effect on confidence levels during your time in the spotlight. 

By implementing these strategies, you can build your confidence and improve your presentation skills each time you’re speaking in front of an audience. 

Discover more about effective presentation skills in this video:

How to improve public speaking and presentation skills

While working on the effective presentation skills we listed above, you may feel nervous about public speaking in general. It’s no secret that public speaking can be a daunting task for many people. However, if you want to be a powerful, confident, and impactful presenter, you need to overcome your fear of anxiety of public speaking and improve the way you feel and appear when presenting. 

If you want to learn more about different techniques that can help you calm down before a presentation, here’s a helpful video for you to watch:

To help you become better at public speaking, we summoned 20 tips you can follow:

1. Practice, practice, practice

One of the most effective ways to become more comfortable with public speaking is to practice your speech as much as possible. When you practice, you can work out any kinks or rough spots that you may encounter when giving your speech in front of an audience. Additionally, practicing allows you to become more familiar with the material, making it easier to remember and deliver with confidence. While it may be tempting to simply read your speech from a script or cue cards, practicing your speech will allow you to internalize the material and deliver it with greater ease, flow, and naturalness. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that you take the time to practice your speech as much as possible before giving it in front of an audience, whether that be your friends, family, or colleagues.

2. Use presenter notes 

Preparing for a presentation can be a lengthy endeavor, particularly if you aim to memorize the entire script. Trying to remember every point can be challenging. Plus, the stress of public speaking can cause you to overlook crucial details. Jotting down your talking points can help you stay organized and avoid forgetting any essential information. However, relying solely on flashcards or paper notes may not be ideal. Constantly glancing at sticky notes or looking away from your audience can disrupt the flow of your presentation and disconnect you from your listeners. Instead, try using presenter notes on Prezi , where you can easily add notes to each slide. While presenting, you’ll be the only one that sees them, helping you deliver an impressive presentation with maximum confidence. 

3. Know your audience

When delivering a speech, it’s important to analyze and understand the audience you’ll be speaking to. By doing so, you can tailor your speech to their interests and needs. This means that you should take into account factors such as their age range, educational background, and cultural or professional affiliations. Additionally, it’s important to research the topic you’ll be discussing thoroughly and provide examples that are relevant to your audience. By doing this, you can ensure that your message will resonate with your listeners and leave a lasting impact.

4. Start with a strong opening

To really captivate your audience, it’s important to start with a strong opening that grabs their attention and sets the tone for the rest of your speech. One approach could be to start with a thought-provoking question or a powerful anecdote that relates to your topic. Alternatively, you could begin with a surprising fact or statistic that shocks and intrigues your listeners. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s attention-grabbing and relevant to the message you want to convey. Remember, the opening of your speech is your chance to make a lasting impression, so make it count!

Discover other ways to start your presentation speech and watch this video for more tips on starting a virtual presentation: 

5. Use humor

Using humor can be a great way to start off a presentation. It can help to reduce the tension in the room and make your audience feel more at ease. For example, you could start off with a joke or a funny story that relates to your topic. Alternatively, you could use a humorous image or meme to grab your audience’s attention. Just be sure not to overdo it – too many jokes can detract from your message and make you seem unprofessional. Remember that the ultimate goal of your presentation is to communicate information and ideas effectively, so use humor wisely.

6. Incorporate stories

Using stories in your speech can be an incredibly powerful tool. Personal stories, in particular, can help illustrate your points and make your message more memorable. By sharing a personal experience, you can connect with your audience on a deeper level and create an emotional bond. This can help them better understand your message and remember it long after your speech is over.

One way to incorporate personal stories into your speech is to draw from your own life experiences. Think about a time when you faced a challenge or overcame an obstacle, and how that experience taught you something valuable. Share that story with your audience and explain how the lessons you learned can be applied to their lives as well.

You can also use stories to illustrate more abstract concepts. For example, if you’re giving a talk about the importance of perseverance, you could share a story about someone who faced numerous setbacks but refused to give up. By sharing that story, you can make the concept of perseverance more concrete and relatable to your audience.

7. Use pauses

Using pauses is a great way to enhance your communication skills. In fact, when you take breaks in your speech, can help you gather your thoughts and think more clearly. Pausing also allows you to emphasize key points you want to make in your speech. Additionally, by using pauses strategically, you give your audience time to process the information you’re sharing with them, which can help ensure that they understand and retain it better. All in all, incorporating pauses into your speaking style can be incredibly effective in making your message more impactful and memorable.

8. Speak clearly and loudly

When delivering a speech or presentation, it’s important to speak in a manner that is clear and easy to understand. However, it’s equally important to ensure that your voice is projected loudly enough for your audience to hear you. Speaking too softly can make it difficult for people in the back of the room or in larger spaces to hear what you’re saying, which can lead to confusion and a lack of engagement. To avoid this, try to practice projecting your voice and enunciating your words clearly before you give your speech. You can also use tools like microphones or audio amplifiers to help ensure that your message is heard loud and clear by everyone in the room.

9. Take deep breaths

Taking deep breaths is a great way to help you relax and calm your nerves, but there are other things you can do too. For example, you might want to try some light yoga or stretching exercises to loosen up your muscles and release tension. Also, you could take a warm bath or shower to soothe your body and mind. Another option is to listen to some calming music or read a book that you enjoy. By taking the time to find what works best for you, you can develop a personalized relaxation routine that you can turn to whenever you need it.

10. Use repetition

Repetition is a powerful tool that can help you drive the point home in your speech. By repeating key points, you can reinforce your message and increase your chances of being remembered. In addition, repetition can help you emphasize important ideas and create a sense of rhythm in your speech. It can also be used to build suspense and create a sense of anticipation in your listeners. With these benefits in mind, it’s clear that repetition is an essential aspect of effective public speaking.

11. Use active verbs

One way to improve the effectiveness of your speech is to use active verbs. Active verbs help to create a more engaging and dynamic presentation, as they convey a sense of action and energy. By using active verbs, you can help to capture your audience’s attention and hold their interest throughout your speech.

In addition to using active verbs, it’s also important to consider the pace and rhythm of your speech. Varying the speed and tone of your delivery can help to keep your audience engaged and prevent them from becoming bored or disinterested.

Another way to enhance the impact of your speech is to use vivid language and descriptive imagery. By painting a vivid picture with your words, you can help to create a more memorable and impactful presentation. For example, instead of simply saying “the sky was blue,” you could describe it as “a brilliant shade of deep blues, like the ocean on a clear summer day.”

By focusing on these key elements of effective speechwriting, you can help to create a more engaging and impactful presentation that will leave a lasting impression on your audience.

12. Ask rhetorical questions

Rhetorical questions are a powerful tool that can help make your speech more engaging and interactive. They can be used to stimulate critical thinking, provoke curiosity, and encourage the audience to reflect on the topic at hand. By asking a thought-provoking question, you can capture the audience’s attention and encourage them to think about the subject matter in a new and different way. Furthermore, rhetorical questions can be used to create a sense of anticipation and excitement, as the audience eagerly anticipates the answer to the question you have posed. 

13. Use metaphors and similes

Metaphors and similes are powerful tools that can help individuals better understand complex concepts. They are like a flashlight that illuminates the dark corners of the mind, providing clarity and insight. By comparing two seemingly different things, metaphors and similes can create a bridge between the familiar and the unfamiliar, allowing individuals to grasp difficult ideas with ease. In our fast-paced world, where information overload is a common issue, the use of metaphors and similes can help cut through the noise and deliver a clear message. So, the next time you encounter a challenging concept, remember to use these techniques to shed light on the subject matter.

14. Prepare handouts

When giving a speech, it’s important to remember that your audience needs to be able to follow along with what you’re saying. One way to help them do this is by using handouts. Handouts can be a great way to enhance your presentation because they allow you to provide additional information that may not be covered in your speech. For example, you can use handouts to provide graphs, charts, or other visuals that illustrate your points. Additionally, handouts can be a useful tool for your audience to take notes and refer back to later. By providing handouts, you can ensure that your audience is engaged and able to fully understand the information you’re presenting.

15. Incorporate props

Using props during your speech is a great way to enhance your delivery and keep your audience engaged. By incorporating visual aids such as props, you can help to illustrate your points and add depth to your content. Additionally, props can be used to make abstract concepts more concrete and easier for your audience to understand. For example, if you’re delivering a speech on the importance of recycling, you could bring in a visual prop such as a bin of recyclable materials to help drive home your message. Overall, the use of props can help take your speech to the next level while making it more memorable and impactful for your audience.

16. Practice in front of a mirror

Another useful tip for improving your presentation skills is to practice in front of a mirror. Not only can this help you perfect your body language and delivery, but it can also give you a better sense of how you come across to others. Additionally, practicing in front of a mirror can help you identify any nervous habits or tics that you may have, allowing you to work on eliminating them before your actual presentation. Overall, incorporating mirror practice into your preparation routine can be a simple yet effective way to boost your confidence and improve your presentation skills.

17. Join a public speaking group

Joining a public speaking group is a great way to improve your public speaking skills. Not only will you have the opportunity to practice speaking in front of others, but you’ll also receive valuable feedback that can help you improve. Additionally, by joining a group, you’ll have the chance to meet and network with other like-minded individuals who share a passion for public speaking. This can lead to new opportunities and connections that can benefit you both personally and professionally. Finally, being part of a public speaking group can also provide a sense of community and support, as you work together with others to achieve your goals and improve your skills.

18. Record yourself 

Another way to enhance your public speaking skills is to record yourself. By doing this, you can identify areas where you need to improve and refine your delivery. When you listen to yourself speak, you can pay attention to your pitch, pacing, and tone. You can also identify filler words or phrases, such as “um” or “like,” that you might use unconsciously. Additionally, recording yourself can help you become more comfortable with the sound of your voice. This can be especially helpful if you’re not used to hearing yourself speak for extended periods of time. Overall, recording yourself is a simple yet effective way to become a more confident and polished public speaker.

19. Learn to handle interruptions

One of the most common challenges that speakers face is handling interruptions. These interruptions can come in many different forms, such as unexpected questions, technical difficulties, or distractions in the environment. It’s important to learn how to handle these interruptions gracefully, as they can often derail a speech and throw off the speaker’s focus and confidence.

One key strategy for handling interruptions is to remain calm and composed. It’s natural to feel frustrated or flustered when faced with an interruption, but it’s important to take a deep breath and stay focused. Remember that interruptions are a normal part of public speaking, and they don’t have to ruin your presentation. If you need a moment to collect your thoughts, don’t be afraid to pause and take a few seconds to regroup.

By learning to handle interruptions with grace and composure, you can become a more effective and confident speaker. With practice and preparation, you can manage interruptions and keep your presentation on track, even in challenging situations.

20. End on a strong note

When giving a speech, it’s important to not only focus on what you say during the body of your presentation, but also on the way in which you conclude. A strong presentation should summarize the main points of your speech and leave a lasting impression on your audience. This can be achieved by reiterating your main points in a memorable way, making a call to action, or leaving your audience with a thought-provoking question. By doing so, you’ll ensure that your message resonates with your audience long after your speech has ended.

Another useful technique is to anticipate potential interruptions and plan how to address them in advance. For example, if you’re giving a presentation with a Q&A session at the end, be prepared for questions that might challenge your ideas or require additional information. It can be helpful to practice your responses to common questions ahead of time so that you feel more confident and prepared.

Discover other memorable ways how to end a presentation.

Effective presentation skills are key. While not everyone may be a natural-born speaker, with practice and dedication, anyone can improve their abilities to become a confident and engaging presenter. Whether you’re pitching to investors, delivering a lecture, or presenting in a meeting, being able to effectively present your ideas can greatly impact your success.

Remember, becoming a great presenter is a journey that requires patience, perseverance, and constant improvement. Don’t be afraid to seek feedback from others, practice regularly, and try out new techniques. With time, you’ll become more comfortable and confident in your abilities to deliver engaging and impactful presentations.

In conclusion, improving your presentation skills is a worthwhile investment that can pay dividends in both your personal and professional life. So take the time to hone your abilities, put in the effort, and embrace the opportunities that come your way. With the tips and techniques we’ve provided in this blog post, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a confident presenter.

Give your team the tools they need to engage

Like what you’re reading join the mailing list..

• Prezi for Teams
• Top Presentations

How it works

Transform your enterprise with the scalable mindsets, skills, & behavior change that drive performance.

Explore how BetterUp connects to your core business systems.

We pair AI with the latest in human-centered coaching to drive powerful, lasting learning and behavior change.

Build leaders that accelerate team performance and engagement.

Unlock performance potential at scale with AI-powered curated growth journeys.

Build resilience, well-being and agility to drive performance across your entire enterprise.

Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders.

Unlock business impact from the top with executive coaching.

Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.

Accelerate the performance and potential of your agencies and employees.

See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce.

Discover how BetterUp measurably impacts key business outcomes for organizations like yours.

Daring Leadership Institute: a groundbreaking partnership that amplifies Brené Brown's empirically based, courage-building curriculum with BetterUp’s human transformation platform.

• What is coaching?

Learn how 1:1 coaching works, who its for, and if it's right for you.

Accelerate your personal and professional growth with the expert guidance of a BetterUp Coach.

Types of Coaching

Navigate career transitions, accelerate your professional growth, and achieve your career goals with expert coaching.

Enhance your communication skills for better personal and professional relationships, with tailored coaching that focuses on your needs.

Find balance, resilience, and well-being in all areas of your life with holistic coaching designed to empower you.

Discover your perfect match : Take our 5-minute assessment and let us pair you with one of our top Coaches tailored just for you.

Research, expert insights, and resources to develop courageous leaders within your organization.

Best practices, research, and tools to fuel individual and business growth.

View on-demand BetterUp events and learn about upcoming live discussions.

The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace.

• BetterUp Briefing

The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today.

Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more.

Founded in 2022 to deepen the understanding of the intersection of well-being, purpose, and performance

We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.

Join us and create impactful change.

Read the buzz about BetterUp.

Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce.

For Business

For Individuals

6 presentation skills and how to improve them

Jump to section

What are presentation skills?

The importance of presentation skills, 6 presentation skills examples, how to improve presentation skills.

Tips for dealing with presentation anxiety

Learn how to captivate an audience with ease

Capturing an audience’s attention takes practice. 

Over time, great presenters learn how to organize their speeches and captivate an audience from start to finish. They spark curiosity, know how to read a room , and understand what their audience needs to walk away feeling like they learned something valuable.

Regardless of your profession, you most likely use presentation skills on a monthly or even weekly basis. Maybe you lead brainstorming sessions or host client calls. 

Developing effective presentation skills makes it easier to contribute ideas with confidence and show others you’re someone to trust. Although speaking in front of a crowd sometimes brings nerves and anxiety , it also sparks new opportunities.

Presentation skills are the qualities and abilities you need to communicate ideas effectively and deliver a compelling speech. They influence how you structure a presentation and how an audience receives it. Understanding body language , creating impactful visual aids, and projecting your voice all fall under this umbrella.

A great presentation depends on more than what you say. It’s about how you say it. Storytelling , stage presence, and voice projection all shape how well you express your ideas and connect with the audience. These skills do take practice, but they’re worth developing — especially if public speaking makes you nervous. 

Engaging a crowd isn’t easy. You may feel anxious to step in front of an audience and have all eyes and ears on you.

But feeling that anxiety doesn’t mean your ideas aren’t worth sharing. Whether you’re giving an inspiring speech or delivering a monthly recap at work, your audience is there to listen to you. Harness that nervous energy and turn it into progress.

Strong presentation skills make it easier to convey your thoughts to audiences of all sizes. They can help you tell a compelling story, convince people of a pitch , or teach a group something entirely new to them. And when it comes to the workplace, the strength of your presentation skills could play a part in getting a promotion or contributing to a new initiative.

To fully understand the impact these skills have on creating a successful presentation, it’s helpful to look at each one individually. Here are six valuable skills you can develop:

1. Active listening

Active listening is an excellent communication skill for any professional to hone. When you have strong active listening skills, you can listen to others effectively and observe their nonverbal cues . This helps you assess whether or not your audience members are engaged in and understand what you’re sharing. 

Great public speakers use active listening to assess the audience’s reactions and adjust their speech if they find it lacks impact. Signs like slouching, negative facial expressions, and roaming eye contact are all signs to watch out for when giving a presentation.

2. Body language

If you’re researching presentation skills, chances are you’ve already watched a few notable speeches like TED Talks or industry seminars. And one thing you probably noticed is that speakers can capture attention with their body language. 

A mixture of eye contact, hand gestures , and purposeful pacing makes a presentation more interesting and engaging. If you stand in one spot and don’t move your body, the audience might zone out.

3. Stage presence

A great stage presence looks different for everyone. A comedian might aim for more movement and excitement, and a conference speaker might focus their energy on the content of their speech. Although neither is better than the other, both understand their strengths and their audience’s needs. 

Developing a stage presence involves finding your own unique communication style . Lean into your strengths, whether that’s adding an injection of humor or asking questions to make it interactive . To give a great presentation, you might even incorporate relevant props or presentation slides.

4. Storytelling

According to Forbes, audiences typically pay attention for about 10 minutes before tuning out . But you can lengthen their attention span by offering a presentation that interests them for longer. Include a narrative they’ll want to listen to, and tell a story as you go along. 

Shaping your content to follow a clear narrative can spark your audience’s curiosity and entice them to pay careful attention. You can use anecdotes from your personal or professional life that take your audience along through relevant moments. If you’re pitching a product, you can start with a problem and lead your audience through the stages of how your product provides a solution.

5. Voice projection

Although this skill may be obvious, you need your audience to hear what you’re saying. This can be challenging if you’re naturally soft-spoken and struggle to project your voice.

Remember to straighten your posture and take deep breaths before speaking, which will help you speak louder and fill the room. If you’re talking into a microphone or participating in a virtual meeting, you can use your regular conversational voice, but you still want to sound confident and self-assured with a strong tone.

If you’re unsure whether everyone can hear you, you can always ask the audience at the beginning of your speech and wait for confirmation. That way, they won’t have to potentially interrupt you later.

Ensuring everyone can hear you also includes your speed and annunciation. It’s easy to speak quickly when nervous, but try to slow down and pronounce every word. Mumbling can make your presentation difficult to understand and pay attention to.

6. Verbal communication 

Although verbal communication involves your projection and tone, it also covers the language and pacing you use to get your point across. This includes where you choose to place pauses in your speech or the tone you use to emphasize important ideas.

If you’re giving a presentation on collaboration in the workplace , you might start your speech by saying, “There’s something every workplace needs to succeed: teamwork.” By placing emphasis on the word “ teamwork ,” you give your audience a hint on what ideas will follow.

To further connect with your audience through diction, pay careful attention to who you’re speaking to. The way you talk to your colleagues might be different from how you speak to a group of superiors, even if you’re discussing the same subject. You might use more humor and a conversational tone for the former and more serious, formal diction for the latter.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to presenting. Maybe you’re confident in your use of body language, but your voice projection needs work. Maybe you’re a great storyteller in small group settings, but need to work on your stage presence in front of larger crowds. 

The first step to improving presentation skills is pinpointing your gaps and determining which qualities to build upon first. Here are four tips for enhancing your presentation skills:

1. Build self-confidence

Confident people know how to speak with authority and share their ideas. Although feeling good about your presentation skills is easier said than done, building confidence is key to helping your audience believe in what you’re saying. Try practicing positive self-talk and continuously researching your topic's ins and outs.

If you don’t feel confident on the inside, fake it until you make it. Stand up straight, project your voice, and try your best to appear engaged and excited. Chances are, the audience doesn’t know you’re unsure of your skills — and they don’t need to.

Another tip is to lean into your slideshow, if you’re using one. Create something colorful and interesting so the audience’s eyes fall there instead of on you. And when you feel proud of your slideshow, you’ll be more eager to share it with others, bringing more energy to your presentation.

2. Watch other presentations

Developing the soft skills necessary for a good presentation can be challenging without seeing them in action. Watch as many as possible to become more familiar with public speaking skills and what makes a great presentation. You could attend events with keynote speakers or view past speeches on similar topics online.

Take a close look at how those presenters use verbal communication and body language to engage their audiences. Grab a notebook and jot down what you enjoyed and your main takeaways. Try to recall the techniques they used to emphasize their main points, whether they used pauses effectively, had interesting visual aids, or told a fascinating story.

3. Get in front of a crowd

You don’t need a large auditorium to practice public speaking. There are dozens of other ways to feel confident and develop good presentation skills.

If you’re a natural comedian, consider joining a small stand-up comedy club. If you’re an avid writer, participate in a public poetry reading. Even music and acting can help you feel more comfortable in front of a crowd.

If you’d rather keep it professional, you can still work on your presentation skills in the office. Challenge yourself to participate at least once in every team meeting, or plan and present a project to become more comfortable vocalizing your ideas. You could also speak to your manager about opportunities that flex your public speaking abilities.

4. Overcome fear

Many people experience feelings of fear before presenting in front of an audience, whether those feelings appear as a few butterflies or more severe anxiety. Try grounding yourself to shift your focus to the present moment. If you’re stuck dwelling on previous experiences that didn’t go well, use those mistakes as learning experiences and focus on what you can improve to do better in the future.

Tips for dealing with presentation anxiety 

It’s normal to feel nervous when sharing your ideas. In fact, according to a report from the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, public speaking anxiety is prevalent in 15–30% of the general population .

Even though having a fear of public speaking is common, it doesn’t make it easier. You might feel overwhelmed, become stiff, and forget what you were going to say. But although the moment might scare you, there are ways to overcome the fear and put mind over matter.

Use these tactics to reduce your stress when you have to make a presentation:

1. Practice breathing techniques

If you experience anxiety often, you’re probably familiar with breathing techniques for stress relief . Incorporating these exercises into your daily routine can help you stop worrying and regulate anxious feelings. 

Before a big presentation, take a moment alone to practice breathing techniques, ground yourself, and reduce tension. It’s also a good idea to take breaths throughout the presentation to speak slower and calm yourself down .

2. Get organized

The more organized you are, the more prepared you’ll feel. Carefully outline all of the critical information you want to use in your presentation, including your main talking points and visual aids, so you don’t forget anything. Use bullet points and visuals on each slide to remind you of what you want to talk about, and create handheld notes to help you stay on track.

3. Embrace moments of silence

It’s okay to lose your train of thought. It happens to even the most experienced public speakers once in a while. If your mind goes blank, don’t panic. Take a moment to breathe, gather your thoughts, and refer to your notes to see where you left off. You can drink some water or make a quick joke to ease the silence or regain your footing. And it’s okay to say, “Give me a moment while I find my notes.” Chances are, people understand the position you’re in.

4. Practice makes progress

Before presenting, rehearse in front of friends and family members you trust. This gives you the chance to work out any weak spots in your speech and become comfortable communicating out loud. If you want to go the extra mile, ask your makeshift audience to ask a surprise question. This tests your on-the-spot thinking and will prove that you can keep cool when things come up.

Whether you’re new to public speaking or are a seasoned presenter, you’re bound to make a few slip-ups. It happens to everyone. The most important thing is that you try your best, brush things off, and work on improving your skills to do better in your next presentation.

Although your job may require a different level of public speaking than your favorite TED Talk , developing presentation skills is handy in any profession. You can use presentation skills in a wide range of tasks in the workplace, whether you’re sharing your ideas with colleagues, expressing concerns to higher-ups, or pitching strategies to potential clients.

Remember to use active listening to read the room and engage your audience with an interesting narrative. Don’t forget to step outside your comfort zone once in a while and put your skills to practice in front of a crowd. After facing your fears, you’ll feel confident enough to put presentation skills on your resume.

If you’re trying to build your skills and become a better employee overall, try a communications coach with BetterUp. 

Understand Yourself Better:

Big 5 Personality Test

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

The significance of written communication in the workplace

The 11 tips that will improve your public speaking skills, the importance of good speech: 5 tips to be more articulate, learn types of gestures and their meanings to improve your communication, what’s my earning potential determining the right salary, why it's good to have a bff at work and how to find one, member story: developing communication skills and owning the spotlight, why we need to reframe potential into readiness, love them or hate them, meetings promote social learning and growth, how to write a speech that your audience remembers, 8 tips to improve your public speaking skills, impression management: developing your self-presentation skills, 30 presentation feedback examples, your guide to what storytelling is and how to be a good storyteller, how to give a good presentation that captivates any audience, 8 clever hooks for presentations (with tips), how to make a presentation interactive and exciting, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

3100 E 5th Street, Suite 350 Austin, TX 78702

• Platform Overview
• Integrations
• Powered by AI
• BetterUp Lead™
• BetterUp Manage™
• BetterUp Care®
• Sales Performance
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Case Studies
• Why BetterUp?
• About Coaching
• Find your Coach
• Career Coaching
• Communication Coaching
• Personal Coaching
• News and Press
• Leadership Team
• Become a BetterUp Coach
• BetterUp Labs
• Center for Purpose & Performance
• Leadership Training
• Business Coaching
• Contact Support
• Contact Sales
• Privacy Policy
• Acceptable Use Policy
• Trust & Security
• Cookie Preferences

• Presentations
• Most Recent
• Infographics
• Data Visualizations
• Forms and Surveys
• Video & Animation
• Case Studies
• Design for Business
• Digital Marketing
• Design Inspiration
• Visual Thinking
• Product Updates
• Visme Webinars
• Artificial Intelligence

11 Tips for Improving Your Presentation Skills (& Free Training)

Written by: Heleana Tiburca

Are you looking for ways to completely level up your presentation skills? We’ve rounded up a list of the 10 best tips to help you deliver and create an effective presentation .

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the tips you’ll find inside:

• Create an audience journey roadmap
• Use proper and confident body language
• Meet your audience before presenting to better connect with them
• Focus on your presentation design to engage your audience

... and a whole lot more!

So, if you want to take your presentation skills to the next level, then this list will show you exactly how to do so.

Let’s get into it.

Table of Contents

Tip #1: define the purpose of your presentation., tip #2: create an audience journey map., tip #3: keep your slides short and sweet., tip #4: focus on your presentation design., tip #5: visualize boring numbers and data., tip #6: practice in front of a live audience., tip #7: meet your audience before presenting., tip #8: channel nervous energy into enthusiastic energy., tip #9: use proper and confident body language., tip #10: allow your personality to shine through., tip #11: take courses to improve your presentation skills., free presentation skills training.

Behind every successful presentation, there was carefully crafted planning that went into it beforehand. To ensure that you’ll have a powerful presentation, you need to consider your message.

The very first step to any good presentation is to define its purpose. This goes on in the very beginning during the planning process where you consider your message.

Your presentation’s end goal can be any of the following:

• To entertain
• To persuade

Your presentation’s end goal might even be a combination of the four purposes above. Consider the fact that you may need to inform buyers of your product and what problem it solves for them, but you also need to persuade them into buying it.

This is where engaging storytelling and proper visual aids will come into play to help you achieve your goal, and will either make or break your presentation.

Once you pinpoint the purpose of your presentation, you can then begin to work on the subject matter and your audience journey map.

An audience journey map is a visual representation of all the steps you need to take your audience members through, from first to last and everything in between, to achieve the goal of your presentation.

There are a few steps to creating your audience journey map.

First, you need to start your explanation at a low point — the current state of an issue. Maybe there’s a problem that you are able to solve. Describe the current situation before you lay out the undertaking ahead.

Once you lay out the problem, you can then start showing your audience the process of solving this problem. To not overwhelm your crowd, give them an actionable roadmap to follow.

With great verbal communication skills, you can tell them how you plan to take the first step.

This is many times the hardest part of the presentation, but once you have the foundation for your first step, you can easily lay out the next stepping stones and take them to your end goal with ease.

Creating an audience journey map will be a major success factor in a compelling presentation and needs to be done before writing and creating your slides.

Having a clear audience journey map will also help ensure you take your audience on a smooth journey with all your main points in line and achieve your end goal with no bumps in the road.

When giving a presentation, make sure that you keep it short, sweet and as informationally-condensed as possible. All of your slides should be easy to digest and understandable at a glance.

Let's take a look at an example. The slide below is part of Visme's simple presentation theme , which is designed to have maximum impact with minimal text.

You can customize this slide and others like it in Visme's presentation software . Or, you can apply the same concept of minimalism to any other presentation tool, such as PowerPoint.

To make sure that you stay on topic and won’t overwhelm your crowd with too much information, you need to have a plan. When you have a solid plan to go by, you won’t go off track and begin rambling about things unrelated to your presentation.

Another practical way you can stay on topic and not overwhelm your audience with too much information is to have your main points written in bold somewhere on your slides.

Here's another example of a Visme slide template that does that well:

As you can see above, you don’t need to write out all the information surrounding the main points, as this will cause your audience too much confusion.

An experienced presenter will be able to quickly glance over at their own presentation slides, see the main points and continue on with their presentation, engaging their audience without going off course.

This, of course, comes with a lot of rehearsing out loud, which we will cover more in tip number six .

Another great way to keep your presentation short is to set a specific time for asking questions.

By reserving a few minutes during your presentation for your audience to ask questions, you can present your main points and achieve your goals, without going into too much detail.

Your audience can then ask for clarity on anything that interests them and you can answer their questions in however much detail you need.

Picture this: you’re gathered around the conference table with all your colleagues early Monday morning and your manager pulls up a lifeless, colorless, text-filled Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

You’re trying your best to pay attention and understand what he’s trying to convey, but staring deep into your coffee cup seems much more interesting at this point.

Sound familiar?

This is why it’s so crucial to understand how your presentation design will affect the outcome.

By having a messy and overloaded presentation, you’ll lose your audience almost immediately. On the flip side, if it’s so mundane and boring, you will also lose their attention.

One design presentation tip that we suggest you implement is to make sure you don’t overcrowd your slides with too much text.

This is a risky thing to do because the moment you flip to the next slide, your audience’s attention goes from what you’re saying, to your slide.

They’ll begin to read everything presented on the slide and completely tune you out. This is why a minimal text approach with a maximum of 2-3 different yet complementary fonts on your slides will be ideal, like in the example below.

You can use visual aids like images, animated graphic design elements, videos and more to convey the same message that boring text would.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea to design a presentation from scratch, and that’s why it can be incredibly helpful to use a tool that offers presentation templates to help you get started.

Visme has hundreds of handcrafted presentation templates for public speakers to use for any occasion. Each presentation template is fully customizable and you’ll be able to add your branded content to your slides to make it your own.

Presenting your data can be an incredibly tricky and difficult task.

Instead of adding a bunch of tables and numbers to your slides, try switching things up by using charts, graphs and other data visualization types .

When creating a chart for your presentation, you need to be mindful of several things.

First, you need to choose the right chart to begin with. Not every type of graph is suitable for all data sets. The chart you choose will depend on the nature of your data and your unique purpose of using that chart.

Here's an infographic to help you understand what type of chart to use depending on your unique needs and nature of data.

Image Source

For example, if you're drawing a comparison between two or more items, a bar graph might be suitable. But if you're breaking down composition, a pie chart might be a better idea.

Also, make sure that you can fit all of your information into a chart without overcrowding the visual and also have your audience understand that information at a glance, like in the example below.

Other data visualization tips to keep in mind include choosing a pleasant, cohesive color scheme, sticking to max 2-3 fonts, incorporating a legend, and keeping your data as simple as possible.

Learn more about data visualization best practices to help you create engaging charts for your presentations and reports.

If you're using Visme, you can also import your data directly from Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, Survey Monkey, Google Analytics and more.

Practice, practice and practice again.

Some would argue that writing up and designing a presentation from scratch is the easiest part. Delivering the presentation in a way that it engages your audience — that's the tricky part.

When it comes to public speaking, it’s only natural that one would get a little nervous and stumble upon their words.

That’s why practicing your public speaking skills in front of others will be vital to how well you present and connect with your crowd during your actual presentation.

It’s one thing to practice in front of the mirror, but it’s something completely different when people are waiting for you to deliver information that will improve their business or life.

So gather up some friends, family members or even your pets, and present your presentation from start to finish as many times as you need.

By presenting your slides out loud, you might even catch some mistakes in your presentation or find you need to add in some missing information.

By shaking your attendee’s hand before a meeting, you’ll begin to make connections and become more approachable and likable by your audience.

Meeting your audience will help break the ice and make them more likely to listen to what you have to say. They will also feel more comfortable asking you questions later, which will increase the value they get out of your presentation.

Plus, you’ll also feel more relaxed speaking to your audience if you've met them already. When you can put a name to a face, you’ll automatically feel a sense of comfort when you make eye contact with them while presenting.

Even the most famous movie stars and popular public speakers will still get nervous before a public presentation.

It’s human nature to get butterflies and perspire a bit before having tons of eyes on you, critiquing every word you have to say.

So, if you’re feeling nervous before a presentation, instead of emotionally shutting down, take that nervous energy and transform it into enthusiastic energy.

Before getting up on stage, listen to your favorite hype music, maybe have a coffee (if it won’t make you jittery) or get a pep talk from a friend.

By being confident and using your enthusiasm to your advantage, you’ll have your crowd on the edge of their seats, completely engaged, following every word you say.

Enthusiastic presentations will much better received by listeners, rather than monotone informational presentations. So, as important as your presentation design is, the way you present it will determine a big part of the outcome.

According to Allan Pease , an Honorary Professor of Psychology at ULIM International University, you can convince almost anyone to do anything for you if you use proper body language.

He has an entire Ted Talk dedicated to the subject, which you can watch below.

The proper use of hand gestures, a power stance, a confident smile and an authoritative yet kind voice are all techniques that you can leverage to get your crowd listening to and agreeing with what you’re saying.

According to Allan Pease, when using hand gestures, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using open palm gestures. This makes you look like a great leader that is right there with the team, ready to lead and take charge.

By using open palm gestures, people will automatically be inclined to listen to you.

The moment you turn your hand over and start using your pointer finger, you will lose your audience. They won’t accept any information from you and they will believe you have an authoritative and hostile attitude.

Body language is everything, so make sure to use open hand gestures, smile, take a deep breath and believe that you’re not nervous, even if you are.

As soon as you believe that you’re not nervous, your brain and body will follow suit and you’ll feel more confident on stage with your presentation, which will make your audience trust you more.

We’re convinced that with the right tone of voice and allowing your personality to shine through, you can take any boring presentation, and turn it into an entertaining and engaging one for your audience.

While it is good to meet your audience where they are, it’s never good to fake your personality for the sake of a presentation.

Everyone can tell when someone isn’t genuine, and if you’re trying to suppress your personality, you’re only hurting yourself and your presentation by doing so, as what you’re saying can then begin to sound disingenuous.

So, don’t be afraid to use your personality to your advantage. Let a joke out and entertain your audience. By making your audience laugh, you’ll have them more in tune with what you’re saying.

Chances are if you’re giving a business presentation, many of your peers will be there and they'd want you to let your personality show. So, be yourself and use that to your advantage!

Finally, our best tip that we can offer you in all areas of life is to never stop learning.

The only way to improve is to continue learning and practicing. That’s why we recommend you take presentation courses that will help improve your communication skills and presentation skills.

You can brush up on your presentation, communication and public speaking tips by taking online courses on Udemy or Coursera . Look for specific courses on storytelling, body language and more to focus on your problem areas.

Or, if you're looking for a free course that packs all the good stuff at zero cost, our team at Visme has put together an incredible presentation course that will help you smash your next presentation!

When it comes to creating and giving presentations, many times it seems like it’s just something that’s expected of us to do, without receiving any type of proper training or qualifications.

Here at Visme, we want to see everyone succeed.

That’s why we combined our years of knowledge and experience to create a free course to give everyone the tools and confidence they need in order to create effective and successful presentations.

There are dozens of benefits and skills you’ll gain in these training sessions. You'll learn how to:

• Effectively brainstorm and create audience personas and audience journey maps
• Use visual communication to inform, engage, inspire and persuade your audience
• Design your presentation as a professional designer would in minutes
• Use colors, fonts, pictures and videos to increase the impact of your speech
• Present your data through compelling charts and graphs that tell a story

You’ll also receive a Visme Versity certificate of completion once you complete the online course — you can add this to your LinkedIn profile to set yourself up for success.

If any of these benefits sound like something you want to add to your tool belt, then you can take our free presentation skills course for professional development right now.

This course is broken down into easily digestible sections, yet it’s jam-packed full of readily applicable information. The best part is you can take the course and complete it at your own pace.

There are engaging educational videos for you to watch and learn from, informational content for you to read and at the end of each session, there is a quiz for you to take to assess your progress.

By the end of this course, you’ll have an abundance of skills that will help you succeed in all types of presentations.

Sign up today and learn how to become a great presenter in no time!

Level Up Your Presentation Skills

You’ve now learned 11 amazing tips on how to improve your presentation skills, but there’s still so much more to uncover and learn in the realm of presentations skills.

If you want to overcome your fear of public speaking, improve on your business presentations, become a better communicator and transform good presentations into great presentations, then this free presentation course by Visme is for you.

Want to create stunning presentations of your own? Sign up for our presentation software and start using hundreds of pre-made slides, animated effects, free graphics, charts and more.

Create beautiful presentations faster with Visme.

Trusted by leading brands

Recommended content for you:

Create Stunning Content!

Design visual brand experiences for your business whether you are a seasoned designer or a total novice.

About the Author

I’m Heleana and I’m a content creator here at Visme. My passion is to help people find the information they’re looking for in the most fun and enjoyable way possible. Let’s make information beautiful.

Inc. Best in Business Early-Rate Deadline Friday, August 16! Apply Today!

• Newsletters
• Best Industries
• Business Plans
• Home-Based Business
• The UPS Store
• Customer Service
• Black in Business
• Your Next Move
• Female Founders
• Best Workplaces
• Company Culture
• Public Speaking
• HR/Benefits
• Productivity
• All the Hats
• Digital Transformation
• Artificial Intelligence
• Bringing Innovation to Market
• Cloud Computing
• Social Media
• Data Detectives
• Exit Interview
• Bootstrapping
• Crowdfunding
• Venture Capital
• Business Models
• Personal Finance
• Founder-Friendly Investors
• Upcoming Events
• Inc. 5000 Vision Conference
• Become a Sponsor
• Cox Business
• Verizon Business
• Branded Content
• Apply Inc. 5000 US

Inc. Premium

How to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Your presentation skills are just as important as the information you are presenting. this guide will help you prepare for a presentation and polish your speaking skills for a successful pitch..

The opportunity to pitch your services to a potential client, spell out your business plan to a potential business partner, or promote your business at an event may require that you give a presentation. Whether or not your presentation achieves its desired outcome can be affected by your skills as a speaker, so it's important to step in front of your audience with your best foot forward. The following guide explains how to prepare, deliver, and answer questions about a stellar presentation. How to Improve Your Presentation Skills: Preparation

1) Research your audience. Knowing the needs of your audience can help you tailor your presentation to target their interests and explain how your company can be of use in their specific situation. If you're going to be giving a presentation at an event, Santa Barbara, California-based public speaking coach Lisa Braithwaite suggests sending a questionnaire to a handful of people who will be in the audience before you start writing. Mike Aguilera, a communication expert who has given more than 1,000 presentations on effective communication, says that if he doesn't have time to do research beforehand, he will talk to the audience at his presentation or will even ask them what they're interested in during his speech.

2) Structuring your presentation. 'The classic format is to tell them what you're going to say, present, and then tell them what you told them,' says Aguilera. 'What I advise is to start off with the benefits of what you're going to say, the benefits to the audience, and then present and review.' Braithwaite says that most presentations can benefit from using this simple structure:     •    Opening - Your opening should be something that makes an emotional connection with the audience.  It can be a story, a question, or a shocking static. It should not be an introduction of yourself or five minutes of thank-yous. David Parnell, the founder of an attorney placement firm who recently finished an 850-page book on the psychology of effective communication, suggests that any stories you use should represent your audience's position in life and should use characters that are analogous to your audience.     •    Body - Try to stick to your three most important points. It's more important to engage the audience than to tell them everything you know. You will need to leave some information out, but it is likely that what you don't cover in the presentation will come up when you take questions. Keep your outcome in mind. You don't have to write out your presentation word for word (or worse, memorize it) if you just remember to keep going back to your main points and working toward your desired outcome. Be prepared to present both sides of an issue. You'll appear more credible if you acknowledge your competitors or any opposing arguments. After you've explained the other side, you can spell out exactly why your company is better or your argument is stronger.     •    Closing - The closing of your presentation is the last opportunity you have to give your audience something that will stick in their minds. You can go back to your opening or end on a clever slogan or a call to action. Parnell suggests that when making a business proposal, you end on a positive forecast. 'Your forecast will provide fodder that can serve to validate any subconsciously generated optimism,' he says. 3) P ractice, practice, practice...but don't memorize. 'It's different for everybody, but I will say one thing: If you practice your speech only once, you're going to stink,' Braithwaite says. She recommends starting to rehearse your presentation about a month in advance. You can talk into a mirror, talk to a wall, or ask a family member to listen. Some people volunteer to speak at church or join their local toastmaster club for practice speaking in public. Do whatever works for you, but make sure it includes practicing out loud so that you can get a sense of timing.     •    Rehearsing does not mean memorization - Memorizing your speech can make you sound mechanical and over-rehearsed. 'Really the only people who are good at memorizing things are actors,' Braithwaite says. 'if you're going to do it well, you actually have to act it out and play a character, and most speakers aren't very good at that.' Even if you are good at acting, Parnell suggests that you don't memorize your speech to perfection. 'When an individual is too polished, it makes them relatively inaccessible in the mind of the audience,' he says. 'The audience is human at the end of the day, and this person doesn't seem to be like them.  It really retards the rapport building process.'     •    Videotape yourself - You can't know how you come off to people until you see it. Recording yourself is the best way to target the areas where you can improve.     •    Calm your nerves - Aguilera suggests changing the word 'presentation' to 'conversation' when thinking about your big day. Feel better yet? If not, you can also quell panic by conditioning yourself to be in presentation-mode.  Aguilera imagines that he is going to stand up and give a presentation when he's at restaurants, in meetings, or, one time, even at an outdoor amphitheater. 'I walked all the way to the front of the stage as if I were looking for someone,' he says. 'Then I stood there and looked at the audience and said to myself, 'this is what it would feel like to present to 25,000 people.''     •    Stop working on it - 'You really need time to start getting into relaxation mode,' Braithwaite says. 'You can't be in your hyper rewriting, restructuring mode right up to your presentation.' Take a couple of days to relax before your speech.

Dig Deeper: Polishing and Rehearsing for a Perfect Presentation

How to Improve Your   Presentation Skills: Delivery

1) Verbal Delivery     •    Be Brief - A 2005 study by the Helsinki institute found that the average adult was able to focus on a loading web page for only four to eight seconds before looking somewhere else. Attention spans are short; don't dwell on a specific subject too long.     •    Ask questions to keep the audience engaged - This can be something as simple as pausing to ask if your audience understands everything you've presented thus far.     •    Speak to your demographic - Match the semantics of your audience as closely as possible. Speak their language. 'If you're selling a skateboard, for instance, your semantics are going to be a lot different than if you're working with a litigation attorney,' Parnell says.     •    Work on your tone - Evolutionary psychology suggests that people of both sexes respond better to deep male voices and high female voices, Parnell says.  It takes practice to change the tone of your voice, but it can be done.     •    Avoid speaking softly or other speech patterns that make you seem unconfident - For example, avoid ending sentences in an escalating tone that suggests every sentence you speak is a question.     •    You should, Umm, avoid, Uh, fill words - Aguilera offers one strategy for kicking a fill-word habit: Say the offending word and concentrate on it.'Then tell yourself, 'this is a fill word, I'm avoiding this,'' he says. 'When you say this, it creates that pattern of changing it so that you'll catch yourself when you start saying it.'     •     Don't use words like don't - Don't think about elephants. Ok, now what are you thinking about? Aguilera says that is why it's important to avoid phrases like 'don't worry.' Tell your audience what they should do instead. Similarly, don't say 'I hope you will enjoy this presentation.' Say, 'I am confident that you will enjoy this presentation.'

2) Body Language     •    Stand at a comfortable distance - Parnell suggests remaining within 2.5 - 7 feet of your audience. This presupposes (at a subconscious level) a personal to social relationship.     •    Eye contact - Don't surf the audience with your eyes.  Rather, make eye contact with one person at a time.     •    Appear confident:           a)    Shoulders back           b)    Arms at your sides or held in front of your body when making gestures           c)    Hands open or only slightly closed           d)    Smile slightly or keep your face neutral.           e)    Take long strides           f)     Make every movement purposeful and decided           g)    Treat props (like your resume or a handout) as though they are of value.  Don't let a paper in your hand flap back and forth carelessly. 3) Powerpoint     •    A Good Powerpoint...           a)    Relies heavily on images.           b)    Has only one or two sentences per slide.           c)    Entertains.           d)    Enhances your presentation, but doesn't summarize it.     •    A Bad Powerpoint...           a)    Contains font smaller than 32pt.           b)    Has more than five or six lines of text per slide.           c)    Displays a logo on every slide (your audience won't forget who you are).           d)    Is printed and distributed as a handout. Dig Deeper: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Presenters How to Improve Your Presentation Skills : Questions Being prepared to answer questions plays a major role in appearing credible to your audience. Parnell says that immediately before their meetings, he asks his clients to write down questions that may come up regarding their presentations. This primes their brains for answering them. It's also important to anticipate any challenges to your presentation that might arise during Q&A time and to prepare responses. Braithwaite recommends taking questions before the end of your presentation. You'll have to let the audience know that you plan to continue after questions so that they don't start packing up their things, but this approach allows you to close your presentation on your own note. 'The audience will leave with your final message in their minds instead of some random question that someone asked that maybe was off-topic,' she says.

Also, keep in mind that you don't need to answer every question. If you don't know the answer or don't want to answer a question, a graceful exit line is, 'I don't have that information right now, but I would be happy to get it to you as soon as I can.' Did Deeper: Free Speech Resources on the Web Resources Lisa Braithwaite's blog about effective communication:  http://www.coachlisab.blogspot.com/ David Parnell's blog about the psychology of communication:  http://www.davidjparnell.com/ Inc. Magazine's Guide to Communication Skills: https://www.inc.com/guides/growth/23032.html Find a local public speaking club through toastmasters International: http://www.toastmasters.org/

A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta

Privacy Policy

• PRESENTATION SKILLS

Top Tips for Effective Presentations

Search SkillsYouNeed:

Presentation Skills:

• A - Z List of Presentation Skills
• General Presentation Skills
• What is a Presentation?
• Preparing for a Presentation
• Organising the Material
• Writing Your Presentation
• Deciding the Presentation Method
• Managing your Presentation Notes
• Working with Visual Aids
• Presenting Data
• Managing the Event
• Coping with Presentation Nerves
• Dealing with Questions
• How to Build Presentations Like a Consultant
• 7 Qualities of Good Speakers That Can Help You Be More Successful
• Self-Presentation in Presentations
• Specific Presentation Events
• Remote Meetings and Presentations
• Giving a Speech
• Presentations in Interviews
• Presenting to Large Groups and Conferences
• Giving Lectures and Seminars
• Managing a Press Conference
• Attending Public Consultation Meetings
• Managing a Public Consultation Meeting
• Crisis Communications
• Elsewhere on Skills You Need:
• Communication Skills
• Facilitation Skills
• Teams, Groups and Meetings
• Effective Speaking
• Question Types

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and start improving your life in just 5 minutes a day.

You'll get our 5 free 'One Minute Life Skills' and our weekly newsletter.

We'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time.

How can you make a good presentation even more effective?

This page draws on published advice from expert presenters around the world, which will help to take your presentations from merely ‘good’ to ‘great’.

By bringing together advice from a wide range of people, the aim is to cover a whole range of areas.

Whether you are an experienced presenter, or just starting out, there should be ideas here to help you to improve.

1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience

It’s hard to be relaxed and be yourself when you’re nervous.

But time and again, the great presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience, and the best way to do that is to let your passion for the subject shine through.

Be honest with the audience about what is important to you and why it matters.

Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.

2. Focus on your Audience’s Needs

Your presentation needs to be built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation.

As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not what you can tell them.

While you’re giving the presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that.

You need to make it easy for your audience to understand and respond.

3. Keep it Simple: Concentrate on your Core Message

When planning your presentation, you should always keep in mind the question:

What is the key message (or three key points) for my audience to take away?

You should be able to communicate that key message very briefly.

Some experts recommend a 30-second ‘elevator summary’, others that you can write it on the back of a business card, or say it in no more than 15 words.

Whichever rule you choose, the important thing is to keep your core message focused and brief.

And if what you are planning to say doesn’t contribute to that core message, don’t say it.

4. Smile and Make Eye Contact with your Audience

This sounds very easy, but a surprisingly large number of presenters fail to do it.

If you smile and make eye contact, you are building rapport , which helps the audience to connect with you and your subject. It also helps you to feel less nervous, because you are talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people.

To help you with this, make sure that you don’t turn down all the lights so that only the slide screen is visible. Your audience needs to see you as well as your slides.

5. Start Strongly

The beginning of your presentation is crucial. You need to grab your audience’s attention and hold it.

They will give you a few minutes’ grace in which to entertain them, before they start to switch off if you’re dull. So don’t waste that on explaining who you are. Start by entertaining them.

Try a story (see tip 7 below), or an attention-grabbing (but useful) image on a slide.

6. Remember the 10-20-30 Rule for Slideshows

This is a tip from Guy Kawasaki of Apple. He suggests that slideshows should:

• Contain no more than 10 slides;
• Last no more than 20 minutes; and
• Use a font size of no less than 30 point.

This last is particularly important as it stops you trying to put too much information on any one slide. This whole approach avoids the dreaded ‘Death by PowerPoint’.

As a general rule, slides should be the sideshow to you, the presenter. A good set of slides should be no use without the presenter, and they should definitely contain less, rather than more, information, expressed simply.

If you need to provide more information, create a bespoke handout and give it out after your presentation.

7. Tell Stories

Human beings are programmed to respond to stories.

Stories help us to pay attention, and also to remember things. If you can use stories in your presentation, your audience is more likely to engage and to remember your points afterwards. It is a good idea to start with a story, but there is a wider point too: you need your presentation to act like a story.

Think about what story you are trying to tell your audience, and create your presentation to tell it.

Finding The Story Behind Your Presentation

To effectively tell a story, focus on using at least one of the two most basic storytelling mechanics in your presentation:

Focusing On Characters – People have stories; things, data, and objects do not. So ask yourself “who” is directly involved in your topic that you can use as the focal point of your story.

For example, instead of talking about cars (your company’s products), you could focus on specific characters like:

• The drivers the car is intended for – people looking for speed and adventure
• The engineers who went out of their way to design the most cost-effective car imaginable

A Changing Dynamic – A story needs something to change along the way. So ask yourself “What is not as it should be?” and answer with what you are going to do about it (or what you did about it).

For example…

• Did hazardous road conditions inspire you to build a rugged, all-terrain jeep that any family could afford?
• Did a complicated and confusing food labelling system lead you to establish a colour-coded nutritional index so that anybody could easily understand it?

To see 15 more actionable storytelling tips, see Nuts & Bolts Speed Training’s post on Storytelling Tips .

8. Use your Voice Effectively

The spoken word is actually a pretty inefficient means of communication, because it uses only one of your audience’s five senses. That’s why presenters tend to use visual aids, too. But you can help to make the spoken word better by using your voice effectively.

Varying the speed at which you talk, and emphasising changes in pitch and tone all help to make your voice more interesting and hold your audience’s attention.

For more about this, see our page on Effective Speaking .

9. Use your Body Too

It has been estimated that more than three quarters of communication is non-verbal.

That means that as well as your tone of voice, your body language is crucial to getting your message across. Make sure that you are giving the right messages: body language to avoid includes crossed arms, hands held behind your back or in your pockets, and pacing the stage.

Make your gestures open and confident, and move naturally around the stage, and among the audience too, if possible.

10. Relax, Breathe and Enjoy

If you find presenting difficult, it can be hard to be calm and relaxed about doing it.

One option is to start by concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down, and make sure that you’re breathing fully. Make sure that you continue to pause for breath occasionally during your presentation too.

For more ideas, see our page on Coping with Presentation Nerves .

If you can bring yourself to relax, you will almost certainly present better. If you can actually start to enjoy yourself, your audience will respond to that, and engage better. Your presentations will improve exponentially, and so will your confidence. It’s well worth a try.

Improve your Presentation Skills

Follow our guide to boost your presentation skills learning about preparation, delivery, questions and all other aspects of giving effective presentations.

Start with: What is a Presentation?

Continue to: How to Give a Speech Self Presentation

See also: Five Ways You Can Do Visual Marketing on a Budget Can Presentation Science Improve Your Presentation? Typography – It’s All About the Message in Your Slides

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager
• Infographics
• Daily Infographics
• Popular Templates
• Accessibility
• Graphic Design
• Graphs and Charts
• Data Visualization
• Human Resources
• Beginner Guides

Blog Beginner Guides 9 Tips for Improving Your Presentation Skills For Your Next Meeting

9 Tips for Improving Your Presentation Skills For Your Next Meeting

Written by: Hannah Tow Feb 03, 2020

Presenting to an audience is one thing, but presenting ideas in a persuasive manner to the key stakeholders of your business is a whole other ball game.

The fact of the matter is that successfully presenting to a room full of people is a skill that’s mastered by very few. It takes practice, practice, and even more practice to start feeling comfortable with everyone’s eyes focused on you so you can effectively get your point across. 

The reality of presenting is that you can’t escape it. Especially as you start to move up in your career. If you’re yearning to improve, this article will walk you through the top nine tips to use to enhance your presentation skills for your next big meeting as well as throughout your life. Let’s get started.

9 top tips for improving your presentation skills:

• Practice speaking in front of others
• Use less text and more visuals in your presentation
• Leverage your personality
• Welcome questions and comments during
• Be passionate and engaging
• Maintain eye contact with your audience
• Obsess over your listeners
• Focus on confident body language
• Keep it as short as possible

Constantly practicing, refining and improving upon your presentation skills will not only make you a more confident individual, but you will find that you rise quicker to success in your career. However, having great presentation skills does not just affect your work-life. Great presentation skills are truly life skills that you should integrate into more areas than just the conference room.

1. Practice speaking in front of others 

Practice always makes perfect. 

It doesn’t matter how well you know what you’re talking about, the moment you have to persuade, engage, or teach in front of an audience, you will probably stumble a bit. This is a natural reaction that affects pretty much everyone when all eyes are pointed in one direction and the anxiety sets in. 

It’s important to remember that the overwhelming feeling of stress you probably feel is the result of your unfamiliarity with the situation, not from your lack of preparedness. The more comfortable you are with taking the stage and having everyone’s attention on you, the less nervous you’ll get. 

The greater confidence you have in your presentation skills will allow you to focus on what actually matters–which is the material that you’re presenting. 

The best way to implement this practice is by starting off small. Prepare a presentation to give to your friends, family, or closest co-workers. This sounds easy, but you will learn that it’s not necessarily who is listening to you that causes nerves, but it’s the fact that all of the attention is on you. 

You’ll become more comfortable with the attention when you begin practicing in front of others more often, which will allow you to effectively present your ideas next time it’s your turn to speak in the conference room.

RELATED: Learn the top ten public speaking tips to better prepare you for your practice sessions. 

2. Use less text and more visuals in your presentation

We’ve all been there before: sitting at the conference table trying our very best to stay interested and engaged with the presentation before us. The presentation lacks color, images, and all sense of creativity while containing an over-abundance of text and long-form paragraphs. 

These types of presentations are horrible for two reasons: 

The first reason being that the minute you have words on the screen, your audience will direct their attention away from you to begin reading and completely tune you out. 

The second reason is if your presentation skills are poor, not only will your presentation be dull to listen to, but it will be unbelievably boring to look at as well. You’ll quickly find out how easy it is to lose most of the room’s attention when you create a lackluster presentation. 

If you feel lost attempting to design your slides into an exciting work of art, try using creative presentation templates . PowerPoint templates make it simple to produce something beautiful, and they can also make you feel like an accomplished designer after seeing the outcome, such as this business presentation example . 

In addition to nicely designed slides, you should always try to use infographics and charts to help you better summarize the complex information you’re relaying to your audience. It will be much easier for your listeners to understand what you’re explaining when they have something to visualize it with. Plus, there are plenty of resources out there to help you craft these visuals.

Learn how to make an infographic in five easy steps or produce an impressive graph .

If you feel worried that your presentation doesn’t hold enough content, you must remember the main reason for visual aids: 

They are to enhance what you’re speaking about, not lead it! 

If you’ve done enough practicing, you should feel confident in your presentation skills to thoroughly explain your main ideas and you won’t need to rely on the screen anyhow.

TIP: If you’re looking for even more ways to engage your audience with your visuals, check out 120+ presentation ideas that are sure to wow and delight! 

3. Leverage your personality

As cliche as it sounds, you should always be true to who you are, especially if when you’re presenting. 

It’s incredibly easy to tell if someone is faking it for the sake of their audience, so you should never pretend to act in a way that you don’t typically do. Not only will you feel unnatural and uncomfortable doing it, but you can also risk embarrassment when you try to tell a forced joke and no one laughs or your new-found trait of sarcasm doesn’t sit well with your boss. 

It should bring you comfort knowing that most everyone in your meeting knows who you are. Use this to your advantage and start the presentation by playing up your best personality traits. Use your humor if you’re known to crack jokes or throw in your typical mannerisms.

These little additions will make your presentation feel much more relaxed for everyone involved. In addition to your own unique quirks, you should also bring a level of personability to your meeting.

Be empathetic, smile more, and look around the room.  Doing so will improve your presentation skills, make you more likable, and allow your audience to be more receptive to you. 

In many cases, you may be presenting virtually, rather than in person. You can still allow your personality to shine through and energize your virtual presentation. Lisa Schneider, Chief Growth Officer at Merriam-Webster, wrote for Venngage on how to adapt an in-person presentation into a virtual presentation . Check it out.

4. Welcome questions and comments during your presentation

Be flexible throughout your presentation. Answer questions and respond to any comments your audience may have either through hand raising or an audience response tool . Don’t worry if it veers you off your script. Chances are if one person has a question or comment, the others in the room are thinking it too. 

Use this as an opportunity to prove how well you understand the material you’re presenting–your audience will take notice.

Also, take some time out at the start or your presentation to ask your audience some icebreaker questions and slowly transition into the more important stuff. 

Taking this minute to talk through anything that your audience is thinking of is a good thing because it means they are engaged with you and really paying attention to the words coming out of your mouth. Doing so will also relax the format of your presentation, allowing you to feel more confident and relaxed as well.

5. Be passionate and engaging 

When creating your presentation, craft it in such a way that makes your audience curious and makes them have questions for you. A persuasive presentation is the best way to get the positive reactions you are looking for, so be as passionate as you can be about your subject matter to seal the deal. 

Remember that questions and comments during your presentation are a good thing, especially if you’re the one prompting them! 

The more excited you are to present your ideas and show off your expertise, the more excited and engaged your audience will be. Own your subject matter and know what you’re talking about, it’s one of the most important presentation skills to have.

6. Maintain eye contact with your audience

This is a very obvious tip that will go a long way with your audience. 

When the people you’re speaking to feel like you’re taking notice of them, they are much more likely to take notice of you and pay better attention to everything that you’re saying. 

It’s important to remember that losing eye contact and looking everywhere but at the people that you’re presenting to is a common nervous behavior. Pay extra close attention to whether or not you’re guilty of that, and work to ensure you have your eyes on at least one person.

7. Obsess over your listeners 

Be receptive to your listeners. You can’t forget that what you’re presenting is for the audience, and it has nothing to do about you! 

Focus on the value you can provide to the people in the room. The more serving you are to them, the greater chance you have at driving your point home and nailing your presentation. 

It’s also important not to forget about those listening to you remotely over video conferencing . Make sure they know you’re aware of them and engage them as well! 

8. Focus on confident body language 

Smiling, hand gestures, eye contact, and a powerful stance all exude confidence. 

If you don’t have strong body language and are showing physical signs of nervousness (ie. tapping, bouncing, shaking, darting eyes, and more) your audience will have a hard time focusing on the material you’re presenting and hone in on the fact that you’re nervous and probably don’t know what you’re talking about as much as you say you do.

No matter how nervous you are, take a deep breath and pretend otherwise. You might actually start to believe it!

9. Keep it as short as possible

Every single person’s time is valuable ( especially at work), so don’t waste precious meeting time. If you can say everything you need to in half of the time that is allotted, you should do so. 

Ensure that you’re only sharing the most important information. All of the extra fluff will bore your audience and you will lose their attention very quickly.

It’s a great idea to wrap up your presentation with key takeaways and action items. Doing so will ensure that no matter how quickly your meeting ended, your team understands their next steps. You can send out a quick, summarizing slide deck or an easy to read one-pager for their reference later. These visuals will make sure all of your bases are covered and that everyone is on the same page upon leaving the meeting.

A good presentation makes all the difference. Check out the top qualities of awesome presentations and learn all about how to make a good presentation to help you nail that captivating delivery.

Never stop refining your presentation skills 

Possessing great presentation skills doesn’t come naturally to most people–it’s something that’s learned and practiced over time. As with most things in life, you must continuously work on refining your skills to get better and better. 

Use these nine proven presentation tips that we covered in this article to improve your presentation skills and ace different presentation styles . By doing so, you will find that presenting at your key meetings becomes easier and easier and you’ll begin to nail it every single time.

More presentation guides:

How to Make a Persuasive Presentation

120+ Best Presentation Ideas, Design Tips & Examples

33 Presentation Templates and Design Tips to Hold Your Audience’s Attention

Presentation Design Guide: How to Summarize Information for Presentations

Discover popular designs

Infographic maker

Brochure maker

White paper online

Newsletter creator

Flyer maker

Timeline maker

Letterhead maker

Mind map maker

Ebook maker

• What is Strategy?
• Business Models
• Developing a Strategy
• Strategic Planning
• Competitive Advantage
• Growth Strategy
• Market Strategy
• Customer Strategy
• Geographic Strategy
• Product Strategy
• Service Strategy
• Pricing Strategy
• Distribution Strategy
• Sales Strategy
• Marketing Strategy
• Digital Marketing Strategy
• Organizational Strategy
• HR Strategy – Organizational Design
• HR Strategy – Employee Journey & Culture
• Process Strategy
• Procurement Strategy
• Cost and Capital Strategy
• Business Value
• Market Analysis
• Problem Solving Skills
• Strategic Options
• Business Analytics
• Strategic Decision Making
• Process Improvement
• Project Planning
• Team Leadership
• Personal Development
• Leadership Maturity Model
• Leadership Team Strategy
• The Leadership Team
• Leadership Mindset
• Communication & Collaboration
• Problem Solving
• Decision Making
• People Leadership
• Strategic Execution
• Executive Coaching
• Strategy Coaching
• Business Transformation
• Strategy Workshops
• Leadership Strategy Survey
• Leadership Training
• Who’s Joe?

PRESENTATION SKILLS

While presentations can be scary, with the proper training and coaching, they can become a strength of yours for years to come. I support many clients with presentation skills, including storyboarding, slide development, and delivery. With my clients, I utilize many McKinsey methodologies along with my 25+ years of experience developing and delivering presentations for boards, executive teams, organizations, investors, speaking engagements, the public, and many other audiences. My clients appreciate the fact that they not only get an impactful and clear presentation but also that they build their presentation development and delivery capabilities and skills through our collaboration. As you progress in your career, the ability to create persuasive presentations and effectively present your arguments becomes a significant differentiator. I can support you with storyboarding, slide development, and presentation delivery. Set up some time below or keep reading below about how we can collaborate on each element of presentation skills.

PRESENTATION SKILL #1 - STORYBOARDING

Presentation storyboarding is the critical blueprint and architecture of your presentation. With a well-structured, clear, and compelling story, getting to the decisions and outcomes you want will be easier. We will collaborate to tap into my 25+ years of experience in creating winning presentation storylines.

We will formulate the high-level storyboard, which includes the agenda, argumentation, messaging, necessary analysis , fact base, and overall presentation structure. Ultimately, you'll have a clear vision of the steps needed to create a winning presentation.

During this process, you'll also learn many skills, including  McKinsey problem solving , storyboarding, the  Minto Pyramid Principle , Stratechi.com frameworks, argumentation, and potentially  hypothesis and analysis trees . These are skills that will make you a better leader throughout your career.

Presentation Skill #2 - Slide Development

Learning how to develop great slides is best done together with an expert. The better you get a slide development, the more persuasive you become. Furthermore, great slides and messaging elevate your confidence and presentation delivery.

We will work together to create individual slides in real time to start understanding McKinsey's best practices for slide creation. Then, we will divvy up the rest of the slides to practice and improve your slide development skill set. The review sessions are always insightful and impactful as we iterate individual slides.

During this process, you'll also learn many skills, including McKinsey methodologies, slide design, and creation best practices,  prioritization  and  synthesis , formatting  best practices ,  chart building  and  analysis , and we'll leverage some of the hundreds of  Stratechi.com presentation templates  to save time.

Presentation Skill #3 - Presentation Delivery

The last skill we can work on is presentation delivery, a critical skill for the rest of your career. The better you are at delivery and all the prework that goes into an effective presentation, the better your chances of getting the desired outcomes.

We assess your strengths and weaknesses through mock presentations and discuss strategies to address your delivery gaps. We continue to practice, potentially reviewing your presentation recordings to drive improvement. While this often makes people nervous, it effectively creates step-function improvements in your delivery. You'll also learn other tips and tricks and prework you can utilize to be a more effective presenter.

In presentation delivery training, you'll learn many skills you can lean on during the rest of your career, including McKinsey presentation best practices, presence , speaking & delivery training, argumentation scripting,  active listening ,  syndication , and  question and answer best practices .

Getting Started

While that big presentation can seem daunting, we'll work together to develop and deliver a clear, compelling, and impactful presentation. Set up some time above to get started. If you aren't satisfied with our first session, I'll refund your money. I appreciate your consideration and hope we work together on improving your presentation skills! Set up some time above and will get started immediately.

Also, check out a ton of free and starter templates I've created to get you started.

Evaluating Business Presentations: A Six Point Presenter Skills Assessment Checklist

Posted by Belinda Huckle  |  On April 18, 2024  |  In Presentation Training, Tips & Advice

In this Article...quick links

1. Ability to analyse an audience effectively and tailor the message accordingly

2. ability to develop a clear, well-structured presentation/pitch that is compelling and persuasive, 3. ability to connect with and maintain the engagement of the audience, 4. ability to prepare effective slides that support and strengthen the clarity of the message, 5. ability to appear confident, natural and in control, 6. ability to summarise and close a presentation to achieve the required/desired outcome, effective presentation skills are essential to growth, and follow us on social media for some more great presentation tips:, don’t forget to download our presenter skills assessment form.

For many business people, speaking in front of clients, customers, their bosses or even their own large team is not a skill that comes naturally. So it’s likely that within your organisation, and indeed within your own team, you’ll find varying levels of presenting ability. Without an objective way to assess the presenter skills needed to make a good presentation, convincing someone that presentation coaching could enhance their job performance (benefiting your business), boost their promotion prospects (benefiting their career) and significantly increase their self confidence (benefiting their broader life choices) becomes more challenging.

So, how do you evaluate the presenting skills of your people to find out, objectively, where the skill gaps lie? Well, you work out your presentation skills evaluation criteria and then measure/assess your people against them. 

To help you, in this article we’re sharing the six crucial questions we believe you need to ask to not only make a professional assessment of your people’s presenting skills, but to showcase what makes a great presentation. We use them in our six-point Presenter Skills Assessment checklist ( which we’re giving away as a free download at the end of this blog post ). The answers to these questions will allow you to identify the presenter skills strengths and weaknesses (i.e. skills development opportunities) of anyone in your team or organisation, from the Managing Director down. You can then put presenter skills training or coaching in place so that everyone who needs it can learn the skills to deliver business presentations face-to-face, or online with confidence, impact and purpose.

Read on to discover what makes a great presentation and how to evaluate a presenter using our six-point Presenter Skills Assessment criteria so you can make a professional judgement of your people’s presenting skills.

If you ask most people what makes a great presentation, they will likely comment on tangible things like structure, content, delivery and slides. While these are all critical aspects of a great presentation, a more fundamental and crucial part is often overlooked – understanding your audience .  So, when you watch people in your organisation or team present, look for clues to see whether they really understand their audience and the particular situation they are currently in, such as:

• Is their content tight, tailored and relevant, or just generic?
• Is the information pitched at the right level?
• Is there a clear ‘What’s In It For Them’?
• Are they using language and terminology that reflects how their audience talk?
• Have they addressed all of the pain points adequately?
• Is the audience focused and engaged, or do they seem distracted?

For your people, getting to know their audience, and more importantly, understanding them, should always be the first step in pulling together a presentation. Comprehending the challenges, existing knowledge and level of detail the audience expects lays the foundation of a winning presentation. From there, the content can be structured to get the presenter’s message across in the most persuasive way, and the delivery tuned to best engage those listening.

Flow and structure are both important elements in a presentation as both impact the effectiveness of the message and are essential components in understanding what makes a good presentation and what makes a good speech. When analysing this aspect of your people’s presentations look for a clear, easy to follow agenda, and related narrative, which is logical and persuasive.

Things to look for include:

• Did the presentation ‘tell a story’ with a clear purpose at the start, defined chapters throughout and a strong close?
• Were transitions smooth between the ‘chapters’ of the presentation?
• Were visual aids, handouts or audience involvement techniques used where needed?
• Were the challenges, solutions and potential risks of any argument defined clearly for the audience?
• Were the benefits and potential ROI quantified/explained thoroughly?
• Did the presentation end with a clear destination/call to action or the next steps?

For the message to stick and the audience to walk away with relevant information they are willing to act on, the presentation should flow seamlessly through each part, building momentum and interest along the way. If not, the information can lose impact and the presentation its direction. Then the audience may not feel equipped, inspired or compelled to implement the takeaways.

Connecting with your audience and keeping them engaged throughout can really be the difference between giving a great presentation and one that falls flat. This is no easy feat but is certainly a skill that can be learned. To do it well, your team need a good understanding of the audience (as mentioned above) to ensure the content is on target. Ask yourself, did they cover what’s relevant and leave out what isn’t? 

Delivery is important here too. This includes being able to build a natural rapport with the audience, speaking in a confident, conversational tone, and using expressive vocals, body language and gestures to bring the message to life. On top of this, the slides need to be clear, engaging and add interest to the narrative. Which leads us to point 4…

It’s not uncommon for slides to be used first and foremost as visual prompts for the speaker. While they can be used for this purpose, the first priority of a slide (or any visual aid) should always be to support and strengthen the clarity of the message. For example, in the case of complex topics, slides should be used to visualise data , reinforcing and amplifying your message. This ensures that your slides are used to aid understanding, rather than merely prompting the speaker.

The main problem we see with people’s slides is that they are bloated with information, hard to read, distracting or unclear in their meaning. 

The best slides are visually impactful, with graphics, graphs or images instead of lines and lines of text or bullet points. The last thing you want is your audience to be focused on deciphering the multiple lines of text. Instead your slides should be clear in their message and add reinforcement to the argument or story that is being shared. How true is this of your people’s slides?

Most people find speaking in front of an audience (both small and large) at least a little confronting. However, for some, the nerves and anxiety they feel can distract from their presentation and the impact of their message. If members of your team lack confidence, both in their ideas and in themselves, it will create awkwardness and undermine their credibility and authority. This can crush a presenter and their reputation. 

This is something that you will very easily pick up on, but the good news is that it is definitely an area that can be improved through training and practice. Giving your team the tools and training they need to become more confident and influential presenters can deliver amazing results, which is really rewarding for both the individual and the organisation.

No matter how well a presentation goes, the closing statement can still make or break it. It’s a good idea to include a recap on the main points as well as a clear call to action which outlines what is required to achieve the desired outcome.

In assessing your people’s ability to do this, you can ask the following questions:

• Did they summarise the key points clearly and concisely?
• Were the next steps outlined in a way that seems achievable?
• What was the feeling in the room at the close? Were people inspired, motivated, convinced? Or were they flat, disinterested, not persuaded? 

Closing a presentation with a well-rounded overview and achievable action plan should leave the audience with a sense that they have gained something out of the presentation and have all that they need to take the next steps to overcome their problem or make something happen.

It’s widely accepted that effective communication is a critical skill in business today. On top of this, if you can develop a team of confident presenters, you and they will experience countless opportunities for growth and success.

Once you’ve identified where the skill gaps lie, you can provide targeted training to address it. Whether it’s feeling confident presenting to your leadership team or answering unfielded questions , understanding their strengths and weaknesses in presenting will only boost their presenting skills. This then creates an ideal environment for collaboration and innovation, as each individual is confident to share their ideas. They can also clearly and persuasively share the key messaging of the business on a wider scale – and they and the business will experience dramatic results.

Tailored Training to Fill Your Presentation Skill Gaps

If you’re looking to build the presentation skills of your team through personalised training or coaching that is tailored to your business, we can help. For nearly 20 years we have been Australia’s Business Presentation Skills Experts , training & coaching thousands of people in an A-Z of global blue-chip organisations. All our programs incorporate personalised feedback, advice and guidance to take business presenters further. To find out more, click on one of the buttons below:

• Work Email Address * Please enter your email address and then click ‘download’ below

Written By Belinda Huckle

Co-Founder & Managing Director

Belinda is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of SecondNature International. With a determination to drive a paradigm shift in the delivery of presentation skills training both In-Person and Online, she is a strong advocate of a more personal and sustainable presentation skills training methodology.

Belinda believes that people don’t have to change who they are to be the presenter they want to be. So she developed a coaching approach that harnesses people’s unique personality to build their own authentic presentation style and personal brand.

She has helped to transform the presentation skills of people around the world in an A-Z of organisations including Amazon, BBC, Brother, BT, CocaCola, DHL, EE, ESRI, IpsosMORI, Heineken, MARS Inc., Moody’s, Moonpig, Nationwide, Pfizer, Publicis Groupe, Roche, Savills, Triumph and Walmart – to name just a few.

A total commitment to quality, service, your people and you.

• Presentation Skills
• Skills & Tools

Presentation skills can be defined as a set of abilities that enable an individual to: interact with the audience; transmit the messages with clarity; engage the audience in the presentation; and interpret and understand the mindsets of the listeners. These skills refine the way you put forward your messages and enhance your persuasive powers.

The present era places great emphasis on good presentation skills. This is because they play an important role in convincing the clients and customers. Internally, management with good presentation skills is better able to communicate the mission and vision of the organization to the employees.

Importance of Presentation Skills

Interaction with others is a routine job of businesses in today’s world. The importance of good presentation skills is established on the basis of following points:

• They help an individual in enhancing his own growth opportunities. In addition, it also grooms the personality of the presenter and elevates his levels of confidence.
• In case of striking deals and gaining clients, it is essential for the business professionals to understand the audience. Good presentation skills enable an individual to mold his message according to the traits of the audience. This increases the probability of successful transmission of messages.
• Lastly, business professionals have to arrange seminars and give presentations almost every day. Having good presentation skills not only increases an individual’s chances of success, but also enable him to add greatly to the organization.

How to Improve Presentation Skills

Development of good presentation skills requires efforts and hard work. To improve your presentation skills, you must:

• Research the Audience before Presenting: This will enable you to better understand the traits of the audience. You can then develop messages that can be better understood by your target audience. For instance, in case of an analytical audience, you can add more facts and figures in your presentation.
• Structure your Presentation Effectively: The best way to do this is to start with telling the audience, in the introduction, what you are going to present. Follow this by presenting the idea, and finish off the presentation by repeating the main points.
• Do a lot of Practice: Rehearse but do not go for memorizing the presentation. Rehearsals reduce your anxiety and enable you to look confident on the presentation day. Make sure you practice out loud, as it enables you to identify and eliminate errors more efficiently. Do not memorize anything as it will make your presentation look mechanical. This can reduce the degree of audience engagement.
• Take a Workshop: Most medium and large businesses allow their employees to take employee development courses and workshops, as well-trained employees are essential to the success of any company. You can use that opportunity to take a workshop on professional presentation skills such as those offered by Langevin Learning Services , which are useful for all business professionals, from employees to business trainers and managers.

Job profiles that require this skill

Not yet a member? Sign Up

join cleverism

Find your dream job. Get on promotion fasstrack and increase tour lifetime salary.

Post your jobs & get access to millions of ambitious, well-educated talents that are going the extra mile.

First name*

Company name*

Company Website*

E-mail (work)*

Login or Register

Password reset instructions will be sent to your E-mail.

• General Presentation Skills
• Executive Presentation Skills
• Technical Presentation Skills
• Presenting to Executives Skills
• New Manager Communication Skills
• Leadership Communication Skills
• Customer Service Excellence
• Emotional Intelligence in Customer Service
• Public Sector Customer Service
• Front Desk Service Training
• Health Care Customer Service
• Automotive Customer Service
• Law Firm Customer Service Workshop
• Library Customer Service
• Effective Communication in a Matrixed Environment
• Dealing with Difficult People
• How to Write Effective Emails
• Inclusion & Workplace Diversity
• IT Communication
• Meeting Facilitation
• Personal Brand Communication
• Persuasive Communication
• Resiliency and Change Management
• Time Management Training
• Virtual Communication
• Training from the Back of the Room
• Training from the Back of the Room Virtual Edition
• Results Coach
• Public Speaking Coach
• Virtual Presentation Coach
• Member Login

Presentation Skills Workshops

Effective presentation skills workshop, are they snoring in the back row.

Contact Laurie now at (248) 761-7510 for Presentation Skills Training.

This course is ideal for anyone who needs to make both formal or informal presentations.

Learning Outcomes

• Develop ways to control nervousness when presenting
• Recognize the components of dynamic vocal quality
• Demonstrate how to use body language and gesture for impact
• Analyze how to engage an audience
• Create a dynamic presentation
• Summarize how to effectively use visuals

We will customize this program or coaching session to address your wants and needs.

Take a presentation skills assessment today

Ready to discover your presentation strengths and uncover areas for improvement? Dive into our interactive Presentation Skills Assessment and take the first step towards mastering the art of captivating presentations.

Why Take Our Assessment?

• Gain valuable insights into your current presentation skills.
• Identify specific areas where you excel and where you can grow.

Click here to take the assessment now

Our Presentation Skills Workshop goes beyond the usual rhetoric. By enrolling in our program, you'll unlock numerous advantages, such as:

Increased Visibility: Enhance your professional profile by showcasing top-notch presentation skills that set you apart in your field.

Career Advancement: Open doors to new career opportunities as you become a sought-after speaker and influencer in your industry.

Higher Engagement: Become a master storyteller, capturing your audience's attention and leaving them eager for more.

Boosted Confidence: Overcome fear and self-doubt, allowing your true potential to shine in every aspect of your life.

Networking Powerhouse: Make lasting connections with influential professionals drawn to your exceptional presentation abilities.

Presentation Skills Topics

Relaxation. It is often stated that people's greatest fear is presenting. Participants will learn how to use the following tools: Breathing, positive self talk, isometric exercises, preparation and power poses in order to overcome that fear. Outcome: You will have easy to remember and use tools and techniques to feel confident and relaxed while presenting.

Body Language. We are always communicating whether we intend to or not. Learning how the audience perceives your body language is an important step in communicating effectively. We look at body posture, facial expressions, gestures, and eye contact. Outcome: You will learn how to use body language and gestures to create the impression of credibility.

Vocal Techniques. Your voice is an important part of your presentation. The proper use of tone, range, articulation, power, pace and pausing has a huge impact on how you are perceived. Outcome: You will learn how to use body language and gestures to create the impression of credibility.

Delivering with Visual Aids. Too often PowerPoint is an eyesight test rather than a visual aid. Research in brain science has taught us effective ways to deliver your message visually for the greatest impact. Whether you use PowerPoint, Flipcharts or white boards , there are simple to learn techniques that work. Outcome: You will learn how to create clear, concise and compelling graphics that really get your point across in the most effective way.

Creating a Dynamic Presentation. Understanding who is in your audience will help you craft a presentation that allows you to meet your objective. In this section we look at audience analysis, concept mapping and having a clear objective. Outcome: You will learn methods for organizing your thoughts and ideas into a compelling presentation.

Storytelling for Business. No matter what kind of presentation you give, having a clear and compelling story will help make your ideas stick. Outcome: You will learn techniques to create stories that move people to action.

Audiences Attention. Unfortunately, rarely do you start a presentation with 100% of your audience's attention. They are often consumed with their own issues. Using compelling impact statements will ensure that you have their full attention. Outcome: You will learn how to grab and keep your audiences attention from the start.

Presentation to Different Groups. Presentations are not one size fits all. Your technique needs to change depending on whether you are presenting to a large audience, seated at a table for a meeting or sales call, or presenting virtually using Skype, Webex, Telepresence, or the phone. Outcome: You will learn how to adjust your style and material to meet the needs of your unique situation.

Handling Questions. Answering your audience's questions can be quite stressful. Learn the best ways to answer questions that you know the answer to; that you know the answer to but need time to answer; questions you don't know the answer to and questions that are off-topic. Also, understand what is the best time for questions. Outcome: You will learn how to answer questions in an effective manner.

Dealing with Difficult Audiences. Audience members can be difficult in a variety of ways. They can range from the participant who is glued to their cell phone, to the side talkers, de-railers and hecklers, to name a few. Outcome: You will learn how to handle even the most difficult participants.

Contact Laurie now at (248) 761-7510 for Presentation Skills Training.

" I was coached by the amazing Laurie on public speaking as I had a TV interview coming up and she trained me on my verbal and non-verbal communication skills Laurie took the time to better understand my current position and the story behind it, and then we dived into best practices She is a great listener who always ready to help based on your pace and needs And the best part: everything she says is always constructive!"

—NOUR FAKHOURY, MENA Tech Ecosystem

Sign Up for a Free Presentation Skills Newsletter…

… and get this Free Technical Presentation Skills White Paper!

• First Name* *
• Last Name *

More From Forbes

Why leaders must prioritize data skills in 2024.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Allison Arzeno is CEO of Assurance IQ , which offers personalized guidance that makes finding and using insurance easier.

As companies rush to bring AI to their workforce and deliver ROI on data investments, there’s one glaring problem: Many business executives don’t have the data skills needed for the next frontier. Building a data-driven workforce is nearly impossible if it doesn’t come from the top.

C-suite leaders already need to have a broad skill set ranging from financial acumen to communications skills and sales experience. But in 2024, I think a foundational understanding of data will become as central to C-suite roles as the ability to read a P&L statement.

While non-technical leaders don’t necessarily need a Ph.D. in statistics or a deep understanding of AI algorithms, they will need to have a strong grasp of their organization’s data to thrive for the next 10 years. Already, more MBA programs are placing an emphasis on AI, data analytics, data science and advanced statistics. I believe the next generation of the C-suite will be data-driven, and here are three reasons why.

Data literacy can lead to better questions, discussions and business outcomes.

When presented with polished slides filled with charts and graphs, most executives will have pointed questions. However, an understanding of an organization’s data can make those questions more valuable. For example, if you understand the source, quality and completeness of data that feeds into metrics, you can better assess how much you should trust them. You can also quickly assess the scope of further analysis you want to see and avoid sending your data science team down a time-consuming rabbit hole unnecessarily.

When you understand experimentation, you’re likely also more willing to take a risk and try a new idea, knowing that you’ll ultimately gain data to inform your next move. Better yet, you can analyze and interpret data yourself instead of waiting for teams to deliver those polished slides that have to be reviewed by multiple levels of management. You can move faster and with confidence.

In a data-driven culture, decision-making is objective.

In a 2002 survey, nearly half of leaders said they rely more on instinct than facts when making decisions. While this has slightly improved, a more recent survey published in 2023 found that 29% of people say they rely solely on gut feelings when making decisions. Unfortunately, those “gut instincts” can be highly subjective. Would you make a decision based on survey data from a sample size of one? I didn’t think so. But trusting your gut when data is available is doing just that.

As a leader, when you go with your gut or make seemingly random decisions based on instinct, you’re sending an unfortunate message. You’re telling your team that your whims and interests are more important than making evidence-based, objective decisions.

Over time, the people who report to you will mold the information presented to you to meet your whims. I’ve seen managers prioritize pulling data that validates ideas from leadership or massaging how KPIs are measured to demonstrate the success of an executive’s pet project. This is a terrible use of your data talent’s time and skills. And even more importantly, it reduces the impact you and your team could be having on your business.

In a truly data-driven culture, executives’ gut instincts' are validated before they are executed. Even better, people bring data to the table before they even propose an idea . This levels the playing field and empowers voices from all different levels and departments to participate in decision-making.

I've found employees are more likely to speak up in meetings with leadership when they can lean on data versus experience. Instead of saying, “In my last job, we tried X,” they can say, “I did a quick analysis that suggests we should explore Y.” With decisions and discussions anchored by data, ego and politics lose steam. You can be truly collaborative.

The data-driven leader’s secret weapon is knowing where and when to apply AI.

A company’s ethical and responsible use of AI will become paramount to its reputation with consumers, regulators and employees. So, it’s critical that the entire executive leadership team participate in the discussion of when and how AI is deployed.

One of the most challenging aspects of this is AI explainability. Sometimes, AI is wrong, or you don’t know how it came to a certain conclusion. This is where a leader’s knowledge must go beyond how to run a simple analysis to actually understand the who, what, when, where and how of their data. Leaders need to know how they are collecting data, have a sense of its quality and understand how it’s being used.

For traditionally non-technical business leaders, this means you can no longer delegate data infrastructure to the IT department or chief data officer. You need to think of these departments as strategic partners, not service functions.

Perhaps most critically, data-driven business leaders will likely have a sharper perspective on where AI should be deployed in the workforce. Today, too many businesses are attempting to make AI good at jobs humans excel at while still asking humans to do jobs AI could do better and faster.

For example, in the insurance industry, the hype around AI led to a rush to invest in chatbots to manage customer questions. However, the complex nature of insurance presents a challenge for AI-powered chatbots. While they can help with some parts of the process, they can’t empathize with customers or interpret the nuanced emotional reasons they seek coverage. Plus, at the end of the day, many people still want to talk with a live person before making important financial decisions. Understandably, they can’t trust protecting their health, family and most treasured possessions to an algorithm.

I think a better approach—and the approach my company uses—is equipping insurance agents with AI behind the scenes . AI can sort through product options and quickly compare attributes against a customer’s needs. An insurance agent can help the consumer navigate the tradeoffs between plans with empathy and inspire confidence in their decision. I've found this approach makes agents more efficient without taking humans out of the equation and leaving customers frustrated and confused.

When you understand your data and your business operations, you’ll have unique insight into where AI can make a difference—and where it continues to need a human’s helping hand.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Watch Reimagine Education and learn what's new with responsible AI in education >

• Learning Accelerators
• Published Aug 15, 2024

New study shows improved reading scores by using Reading Progress

• Content type
• Customer stories
• Education trends
• Education decision makers
• Microsoft 365

Early literacy is the cornerstone of academic success. Researchers at the University of Chicago and other institutions highlight a crucial shift: Up to the end of third grade, most students are “learning to read” while from fourth grade on, they’re “reading to learn.” With this in mind, the drive to improve literacy has prompted districts to begin academic interventions with students when they are younger, identifying and addressing literacy gaps earlier to help students succeed. By focusing on early literacy, districts can set the foundation for long-term success and close achievement gaps.

Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) is the third largest school district in the state of California, US, serving approximately 71,000 students. In August 2023, FUSD launched a literary initiative to help get students reading on grade level by the end of first grade.

To support this initiative, FUSD adopted innovative literacy tools like Reading Progress, a Learning Accelerator from Microsoft. Reading Progress is a powerful reading fluency tool that tracks a student’s reading skills, helping them to focus on specific areas of improvement, while quickly providing actionable insights for educators.

Integrated seamlessly into Microsoft Teams for Education, Reading Progress simplifies the process of creating, reviewing, and analyzing reading assignments. It offers educators and reading specialists valuable data visualizations for both class and individual performance and growth. New enhancements including AI passage generation and AI comprehension questions generation help educators to save time while personalizing learning experiences for students’ needs.

Measuring impact on student achievement

To gain a clearer picture of Reading Progress in the classroom, Microsoft partnered with LearnPlatform to evaluate the impact of the tool on FUSD K-6 students’ reading achievement. Read the full Reading Progress in Fresno Unified School District (2023-24) study .

The results were promising. The study found a positive correlation between consistent Reading Progress usage and improved reading outcomes for kindergarten through sixth-grade students. In fact, students who regularly engaged with Reading Progress demonstrated two key improvements: higher reading accuracy and faster reading speeds.

Reading Progress makes my job easier. I used to do fluency individually with the students and it took so much valuable class time. With Reading Progress, they can push themselves to read independently. Idia Elegbede-Abode, Teacher, Aynesworth Elementary, Fresno, California, US

Study methodology

To ensure the findings about Reading Progress were reliable, researchers utilized an approach that meets the rigorous evidence standards for Level II (Moderate Evidence) under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) . The research employed a quasi-experimental design, a common approach in educational research. This approach compared students who used Reading Progress to those who did not. To enhance the study’s rigor, propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups of students, helping to mitigate potential biases.

The study focused on:

• 1,404 kindergarten through 6th grade students
• 702 who used Reading Progress
• 702 who did not

Researchers collected and analyzed data on:

• Reading Progress usage
• i-Ready reading assessments scores
• Student demographics

The analysis showed that Reading Progress had a positive impact on student reading achievement. This was particularly noticeable for two cases: when students increased usage, and for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Let’s dig deeper into the results.

Higher gains

Students using Reading Progress consistently showed significantly higher gains in iReady reading scores for both K-2 and grades 3-6 students compared to non-users.

The average i-Ready score among Reading Progress users was 454: significantly higher than the average non-user score of 448.

To put this in perspective, if a student at the 50 th percentile had used Reading Progress, they would be expected to perform at the 54 th percentile. While this may seem like a modest gain, it represents meaningful progress in reading achievement.

A reading equalizer

Reading Progress was shown to benefit English language learners and students who qualified for free/reduced lunch.

The average full year i-Ready score among English learners who used Reading Progress was 440, significantly higher than the average non-user score of 429.

This difference is significant. An English learner at the 50 th percentile using Reading Progress would be expected to perform at the 59 th percentile: a jump equivalent to roughly one full grade level.

For Reading Progress users who qualified for free/reduced price lunch, their score was 451 as opposed to the average non-user score of 444. This translates to a possible 50 th percentile to 55 th percentile jump, indicating that Reading Progress can be a valuable tool in supporting diverse learner populations.

According to elementary school teacher Idia Elegbede-Abode, “Reading Progress makes my job easier. I used to do fluency individually with the students and it took so much valuable class time. With Reading Progress, they can push themselves to read independently. At the end of the day, I look and see where they are, and it helps me to better group the students. Reading Progress has also improved my students’ motivation. And since I assign it as homework, the parents have even been getting involved! In Fourth Grade, you’re not learning how to read, you’re reading to learn. With Reading Progress taking care of fluency, we can use precious class time to focus on comprehension.”

Consistency is key

Students who used Reading Progress more frequently demonstrated higher reading accuracy and faster reading speeds.

Seventy-eight percent of K-2 Reading Progress users submitted between two and five assignments per month that were, on average, 38% accurate. Those who submitted more assignments, however, had a 10% higher average accuracy percentage across their assignments.

For me, the benefits of Reading Progress are that I can have alone time with every kid without having to have alone time with every kid! I can see my students on the screen, I can hear their voices, and I know exactly how they’re reading. Errin Topolovec, Teacher, Ayer Elementary, Fresno, California, US

Meanwhile, 83% of grade 3-6 Reading Progress users submitted 20 or fewer assignments, with those submitting more assignments scoring six points higher on their full year i-Ready Reading assessment.

These findings suggest that increased engagement with Reading Progress correlates with improved reading performance, highlighting the potential benefits of consistent use.

Errin Topolovec, another elementary school teacher said, “For me, the benefits of Reading Progress are that I can have alone time with every kid without having to have alone time with every kid! I can see my students on the screen, I can hear their voices, and I know exactly how they’re reading. Reading Progress also really helps to drive my instruction. I can look at it and I start taking notes, then pick a targeted group, pull them over, and hit what they really need to learn to become exceptional readers. For my students, they’ve become much better readers because they are far more aware of their own reading.”

How to get started with Reading Progress

Discover student-centered solutions 

Reading Progress is a valuable tool for improving literacy rates across grade levels. This study confirms that consistent use of Reading Progress maximized student benefits and enabled educators to leverage data to inform instruction and provide differentiated support to students. It even shows potential in reducing achievement gaps.

Integrating Reading Progress into a literacy curriculum is simple. Here’s how to get started:

• Create assignments: Educators can easily create an assignment within Microsoft Teams for Education using Reading Progress.
• Student engagement: Students complete the assignment by reading a passage, while recording their voice, and optionally, their video.  
• Fluency analysis: Reading Progress then analyzes student reading fluency, checking for pronunciation, inserted words, omitted words, and repeated words.
• Data-driven instruction: Educators then receive data that includes an accuracy percentage and the identified words so that they can tailor instruction accordingly.

Create assignments in Microsoft Teams

Enhance learning with built-in AI tools 

Educators can easily create a practice assignment with Reading Progress through Assignments in Microsoft Teams for Education. You can use your own Word or PDF file from your computer, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, Class Notebook or select a passage from the embedded ReadWorks library or use the new passage generator tool.

Personalize passages and assessments with AI-enabled features

Two AI-powered features have been added to Reading Progress, passage and comprehension question generation.

• Passage generation allows educators to create custom passages tailored to the specific needs and reading levels of their students.
• Comprehension questions generation analyzes a specific reading passage and creates true or false, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-blank questions. You can then customize, add, or delete these questions

Strengthen reading fluency

The standalone Reading Coach Preview app, another Learning Accelerator, complements Reading Progress by providing personalized and engaging reading fluency practice: even at home. It keeps learners motivated by allowing them to create unique AI-generated stories with customizable characters and settings from a curated collection. Reading Coach is available for free as a web app and a Windows app to use in the classroom or at home with a Microsoft account.

Enhance accuracy and track growth in assignments

Reviewing your students’ practice assignments in Reading Progress is straightforward. Easily jump to specific words in the video or audio recording and listen to individual students’ pronunciations.

Reading Progress data is available through the Education Insights dashboard , revealing crucial trends and patterns. Education Insights shows individual, class, or schoolwide student data to help inform targeted initiatives, personalize interventions, and identify areas for improvement in students. This comprehensive data analysis supports administrators in making informed decisions to enhance student outcomes.

Learn more about how Reading Progress can boost literacy in the classroom with these powerful resources.

• Get started today with the Reading Progress Quick Guide and Reading Coach Quick Guide PDFs.
• Download 5 things to know about Microsoft Reading Progress and Reading Coach .
• Check out Building reading foundational skills: A guide to Reading Progress and Reading Coach in Teams for educators .
• Read how Milton Area School District (US) uses Reading Progress in Microsoft Teams to track students’ reading skills and focus on areas for improvement.
• Learn how The Stour Academy Trust uses Reading Progress and Reading Coach to support students with reading difficulties.
• Take the free training Support reading fluency practice with Reading Progress on Microsoft Learn.

Related Posts

• Tips and guides
• Jun 29, 2023

Building reading foundational skills: A guide to Reading Progress and Reading Coach in Teams for educators  

• Sep 19, 2023

How one school uses Reading Progress to improve student outcomes  

Explore new AI features in Learning Accelerators  

Ai in education brings opportunity to life.

Watch Reimagine Education

Connect with us on social

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay up to date with monthly newsletters from Microsoft Education.  

School stories

Get inspired by stories from Microsoft Education customers.

Microsoft Learn Educator Center

Expand possibilities with educator training and professional development resources.

Contact sales

Connect with a Microsoft Education sales specialist to explore solutions for your school.

Discover a collection of resources to support a variety of educational topics.

Japan grappled an astonishing eight golds in wrestling at the 2024 Paris Olympics — and 11 total medals — out of the 18 events and weight classes contested this past fortnight. It was the country's best performance at a single Olympics, surpassing its five golds from Tokyo 1964 and Tokyo 2020, and the highest wrestling gold haul of any NOC since the Soviet Union at Seoul 1988. 

In France, Team USA earned two wrestling golds — one less than Tokyo — while its total medal total dropped from nine to seven. Paris 2024 marked the first time the U.S. left a Games without a men's freestyle gold in 56 years, dating back to Mexico City 1968. 

But the pair of American golds, won by 20-year-old Amit Elor in 68kg and 30-year-old Sarah Hildebrandt in 50kg, represent perhaps the country's most compelling Olympic wrestling storyline: The U.S. women's wrestling team continues to fire on all cylinders.

FULL REPLAYS: WRESTLING RESULTS: WRESTLING

Japan earns eight of the 18 contested golds

In the overall medal count, Japan placed third at these Games with 20 gold medals overall. A whopping eight of those came from wrestling.

To put that into perspective: Japanese athletes topped 44.44% of all contested wrestling events in Paris.

From Blades to Hildebrandt, Team USA's women shine

There were 18 wrestling events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Of those, 12 involved men competing against other men. Yet half of Japan's wrestling golds resulted from women topping the podium. 

The United States reached four wrestling finals at these Games: women's 50kg, 68kg, 76kg, and men's 57kg.

California's Amir Elot won 68kg gold, the first contested final against Kyrgyzstan's Meerim Zhumanazarova , on Aug. 6. The following evening, Indiana's Sarah Hildebrandt defeated Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman to make the U.S. 2-for-2.

No two American women had won wrestling gold at a single Olympics before Paris. 

Twenty-year-old Kennedy Blades of Illinois had the opportunity to extend that record to three golds — but lost a tight gold medal match, 3-1, for silver. 

The fourth American woman to earn a wrestling medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics was none other than Helen Maroulis , who became the first-ever American to win a gold medal in women's freestyle wrestling at the Olympics at the Rio 2016 Games. She earned bronze in Paris competing in the 57kg weight class.

U.S. men leave Paris without freestyle or Greco-Roman gold

On the flip side of the coin, U.S. men failed to win an Olympic freestyle wrestling for the first time in more than half a century.

The closest to a gold run: Pennsylvania's 25-year-old Spencer Lee , who — like Blades — fell to a powerhouse Japanese wrestler, 28-year-old Rei Higuchi . 

Legendary Lopez wins fifth gold, leaves shoes on the mat

Cuba's Mijain Lopez won his first Olympic gold in men's super heavyweight wrestling at Beijing 2008. 

Mijain won the event at each Games since: London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024. 

He's the only athlete to win five-straight golds in a single individual event. 

After securing his latest Olympic medal, Mijain removed his shoes and left them on the Parisian mat, signifying retirement. They'll be impossible shoes to fill.

Note: Some components of NBCOlympics.com may not be optimized for users browsing with Internet Explorer 11, 10 or older browsers or systems.

Parent-Child Emotion Dynamics in Families Presenting for Behavioral Parent Training: Is There a Link With Child Behavior, Parenting, and Treatment Outcome?

Add to collection, downloadable content.

• Other Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universitaet Marburg
• Other Affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University
• Other Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Georgia
• Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
• Other Affiliation: Department of Psychological Science, University of Vermont
• OBJECTIVE: Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the standard of care for early onset behavior disorders (BDs), however, not all families benefit. Emotion regulation (ER) is one potential mechanism underlying BPT outcomes, yet there are challenges in capturing intra- and interpersonal aspects of emotion regulation within parent-child interactions that are central to BPT. This study examined how vocally encoded emotional arousal unfolds during parent-child interactions and how parents and children influence each other's arousal (Aim 1), the links between these emotion dynamics, child behavior, and parenting at baseline (Aim 2), and BPT outcome (Aim 3). METHOD: Families of children with BDs (N = 45) completed two interaction tasks and measures of parenting and child behavior. Parent-child dynamics of vocal fundamental frequency (f‚€) were modeled using actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) and coupled linear oscillators (CLOs). RESULTS: When considering relative levels of f‚€ from one talk turn to the next (APIMs), parents and children showed intrapersonal regulation and synchronizing reactivity to each other's f‚€. When considering the shape of oscillations (CLOs), parents and children showed intrapersonal regulation but no reactivity. Intrapersonal regulation of f‚€ during the interaction was slowed for parents with more maladaptive parenting and children with more behavior problems at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary characterization of f0 in families presenting for BPT provides insights into the emotion dynamics potentially underlying parenting behavior and child behavior.
• https://doi.org/10.17615/s32p-6430
• https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000878
• In Copyright
• Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
• Directorate for STEM Education
• European Commission
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• National Institute of Mental Health
• American Psychological Association (APA)

This work has no parents.

Select type of work

Master's papers.

Deposit your masters paper, project or other capstone work. Theses will be sent to the CDR automatically via ProQuest and do not need to be deposited.

Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters

Deposit a peer-reviewed article or book chapter. If you would like to deposit a poster, presentation, conference paper or white paper, use the “Scholarly Works” deposit form.

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deposit your senior honors thesis.

Scholarly Journal, Newsletter or Book

Deposit a complete issue of a scholarly journal, newsletter or book. If you would like to deposit an article or book chapter, use the “Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters” deposit option.

Deposit your dataset. Datasets may be associated with an article or deposited separately.

Deposit your 3D objects, audio, images or video.

Poster, Presentation, Protocol or Paper

Deposit scholarly works such as posters, presentations, research protocols, conference papers or white papers. If you would like to deposit a peer-reviewed article or book chapter, use the “Scholarly Articles and Book Chapters” deposit option.

• Open access
• Published: 08 August 2024

Medical students’ experience and learning outcomes of overseas community involvement project: a qualitative study

• Gayathri Devi Nadarajan 1 , 2 ,
• Kumaran Rasappan 3 ,
• Jonathan Shen You Ng 4 ,
• Melvin Lim Junchen 4 &
• Sungwon Yoon 5  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  854 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

159 Accesses

Metrics details

Medical students in Singapore engage in short term medical missions, locally known as Overseas Community Involvement Projects (OCIPs). Little is known about the learning outcomes of an OCIP and how this complements their medical education back home. Understanding this can help the medical educators structure the OCIP to optimise its learning value.

This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences and learning outcomes of the medical students who participated in the OCIP.

This was a qualitative study involving Singaporean students from one medical school travelling to Nepal. Data was collected from reflective journals, overall group reflections and two focus group discussions. The data was thematically analysed using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical (ACGME) core competencies for medical professionals.

The data could be classified under various themes within the six domains of the ACGME framework. The study revealed themes of: humanism, socioeconomic and cultural determinants of health under the domain of patient care, application of medical knowledge, investigating and evaluating the needs of a population and feedback to drive improvement under the domain of practice-based learning and improvement, use of non-verbal cues and communicating across language barriers under the domain of interpersonal and communication skills, healthcare systems and delivery, resourcefulness and adaptability, health equity and accessibility under the domain of systems-based practice, ethics, role-modelling, teamwork and leadership skills, interprofessional skills and resilience under the domain of professionalism. Understanding the students’ motivations, utilising reflections, and following the patients’ journey facilitated attainment of these outcomes.

Conclusions

This OCIP experience translated to learning outcomes aligned with the ACGME framework. There is great potential for the experiential learning from a well-structured OCIP to help with personal and professional development and global health education.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

Globalisation provides opportunities and challenges to medical education. There is an increasing interest in overseas service trips and global health education where medical students engage in Overseas Community Involvement Project (OCIP). These trips involve medical students, usually from high income regions, travelling to a lower resource setting. The trips, ranging from 1 week to 3 weeks in duration, are student-led, supervised by a physician mentor who may not necessarily accompany them. Such trips were more common prior to the COVID-19 pandemic related travel restrictions. Currently, it is picking up pace once again as the world is steadily recovering from the pandemic.

As this overseas service activity begins to resume, it is time to re-think how it can be approached. These trips raise ethical issues such as sustainability of student involvement or a lack of follow-up of patients after a diagnosis of a chronic illness during the trip [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. In addition, when students volunteer, significant resources are dedicated to this activity including time, money and even utilisation of the receiving countries’ scarce resources. Safety of all involved is also an issue as there are no regulations about personal protective equipment or operating protocols should the students encounter an infectious disease outbreak. Hence, it is now more important than ever to be clear on the risks and benefits of such trips.

If the risks and benefits are well taken into consideration when planning an OCIP, these trips may have the potential to benefit the community in low-income settings through collaborative partnerships [ 5 , 6 ]. For the students, the OCIP may serve as an educational tool or pedagogy in medical education. The experience can be very rich and may stimulate learning of important but often neglected topics within medical education which are also challenging to teach such as health systems and socioeconomic and cultural determinants of health [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. The OCIP also provides students with early exposure to community health [ 10 ] and may potentially be a valuable source of experiential learning.

While a few studies [ 11 , 12 , 13 ] described the benefits and issues around volunteerisms in global health, very little medical education research has been conducted to demonstrate the possible learning outcomes of an OCIP. Specifically, there is a gap in understanding how the OCIP experience relates to medical education competencies. Furthermore, the literature on the experience of Asian medical students volunteering in overseas community projects is sparse. As global health issues are increasingly incorporated into medical education with growing interest in OCIP, it is important to understand what Asian medical students learn and how this complements their medical education back home. This in turn can help the medical educators structure the OCIP to optimise its learning value. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences and learning outcomes of the medical students who participated in the OCIP.

Study design

A qualitative study design was chosen as the study requires an in-depth understanding of students’ experiences.

Setting and participants

This study was based in one medical school in Singapore, a metropolitan city state. Each of the three medical schools in Singapore have multiple OCIPs which are student-led with physician oversight. Such OCIPs have been in existence in each of these schools since their setup and is voluntary. It is currently not part of the medical curriculum but is available for anyone to join in medical school. The term OCIP is used rather than short term experiences in global health (STEGH) because the objective of such trips is to provide service to an underserved community rather than a ‘global health experience’. The OCIP group usually revisits the same location to ensure continuity of care. The OCIP activities typically include screening camps, health education or training to equip the community with a certain set of skills. Project Aasha is an annual OCIP where participants spend two weeks in the rural, mountainous region of Nepal. Landlocked between India and China in Asia, Nepal has a population of about 30 million, spread across the valley of Kathmandu (its capital) and unique terrains comprising of the world’s highest mountains and terai (lowland region). Though healthcare is heavily subsidised for the poor, the challenging terrains affects accessibility, and the poor health literacy and volatile politics makes implementation of policies difficult. Hence, universal health coverage and equitable health provision is still a struggle. The trip was based in Bung village in the Himalaya mountains in North-eastern Nepal at an elevation of 1800 m and Biratnagar city, a terai in Eastern Nepal. The health service consisted of first aid training and women’s health education for school students, health screening and cataract surgery for the villagers. This trip rooted from the local community leaders approaching the physician mentor of Project Aasha. They were concerned of the general poor state of health of the villagers- where many of them do not continue with follow up care for their chronic conditions, there was poor health literacy and there was a major concern about injuries and the lack of first aid knowledge as the nearest hospital was a day’s walk away. Following contact with the community leader, and prior to this trip, Project Aasha members did a separate trip for a needs analysis (by performing a door-to-door survey) and also proceeded to apply for permits to allow the team to practice in the village of Bung.

The OCIP team consisted of a physiotherapy group (four students and a mentor) an ultrasonographer, five doctors (from specialties of Ophthalmology, Emergency Medicine, Orthopaedics and Surgery), fourteen medical students and two Nepalese student translators. Pre-trip, the students were involved in researching about the community they would be visiting in Nepal, preparing the logistics for the team’s stay, trip itinerary, medical equipment, medications and training materials for the community. There was also a sharing session in which the teams that had previously went to Nepal shared their experiences. Once in Nepal, the team reached their destination by jeep on partially built gravel roads and trekking through the mountainous terrain. The team took the same route that the villagers would take to reach secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities. This gave them the opportunity to meet the various stakeholders in the clinics and hospitals, with the aim of understanding the local health system. The mentors accompanying the students utilised reflections [ 14 ] to consolidate students’ daily experiences. Reflective learning, where a deliberate attempt is made to share and reflect on one’s experiences from the day [ 15 ] is key to Project Aasha as it helps shape the experiences into learning moments. Participants for this study were 14 medical students who took part in the trip.

Data collection

At the start, the students were asked to share verbally within the group and in a reflective log on their motivations to participate in the OCIP. On each of the four service days, they were also asked to fill a personal daily reflective log. The end of each service day consisted of a daily debrief, where operational issues of the day will be discussed followed by a group reflective session, where the supervising seniors (doctors and physiotherapists in this trip) also shared their reflections. The reflective log asked all the students to pen down their experience and learning points for the day while the group reflective session asked some of them to share their experiences from the day. This was recorded and transcribed verbatim. At the end of the trip, two focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted on-site where the students were asked to share their overall experience from the trip and what they have learnt. They were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Hence, the data collection comprised three different sources- reflective journals, overall group reflections and the two FGDs.

Data analysis

The transcribed data and written materials were thematically analysed by two coders (GN, MN). GN and MN are both medical doctors with public health training. Disagreements were resolved by a third coder (SY) who is an academic faculty member with expertise in global health and health services research through iterative meetings. Following the initial thematic analysis, compiled themes and sub-themes were subsequently mapped onto the ‘Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical (ACGME) core competencies for medical professionals’ since it is a commonly used framework to measure the competencies of the medical doctors in Singapore. Themes and sub-themes that did not fall within the ACGME categories but emerged from data were also compiled. Therefore, our analysis involved both inductive and deductive approaches. To bolster the strength of our qualitative analysis, we employed data triangulation by incorporating multiple data sources including on-site reflective journals, recorded group reflections and focus groups. These sources allowed us to capture comprehensive exploration of students’ experiences. The analysis involved two independent coders, each responsible for examining the three sources of data. By comparing interpretations of the coding, we assessed the extent of convergence across various data and between coders while also identifying any divergences. This approach ensured a rigorous examination of the experiences and learning outcomes. Through analysis, a conceptual diagram for the learning outcomes from OCIP was generated.

The study was declared to have exempt status and ethical waiver by the SingHealth Centralised Institutional Review Board (Ref no. 2018/3226).

Table  1 shows the characteristics of participants and their motivations to join the trip. There was a balanced number of male and female participants from both year one and two of the same medical school, with an average age of 20 years old. Approximately three quarters (75%) did not have a prior OCIP experience. The majority of students (50%) stated that the experience of healthcare in a low resource setting was the main motivation to join the trip, followed by the experience of healthcare within a different culture, learning how to plan for medical mission trips, wanting to join a sustainable OCIP project and an interest in serving an underserved population.

Learning points during the preparation phase of the trip

Table  2 shows what participants learnt during the pre-trip preparation phase. Three themes were identified – organisational skills, teaching skills and the ability to take into context the culture of the recipient community when developing health education materials. As this is a student-led trip, the students organised all aspects of the trip for the team as well as for the Nepalese community. Consequently, many reflected on acquisition of organisational skills during the preparation phase.

The students also prepared teaching materials for first aid, hand hygiene and women’s health under the physician’s guidance. The initial teaching materials were adopted from the internet, which lacked localisation and thus appeared to be unsuitable for the villagers. For example, for menstrual hygiene, the menstrual cup was seen to be too invasive and culturally inappropriate, and the sanitary napkins were viewed as environmentally unfriendly as compared to using a cloth. Through feedback from the physicians as well as sharing from their predecessors who had visited the village the year before, they learnt to tailor the teaching materials accordingly to the local culture, beliefs and practices.

OCIP experience and learning outcomes according to ACGME framework

Participants’ experiences and reflections engendered various themes under the six domains of the ACGME framework. These quotes for the themes are summarised in Table  3 .

Patient care (PC)

Their reflections depicted the experience of humanism . Besides attending to the patients, the students observed how the doctors, translators and physiotherapists interacted with the patients. This allowed them to appreciate different facets of patient care such as understanding patients’ unique concerns besides the medical complaints and seeing them as an individual rather than a collection of symptoms and signs. Socioeconomic and cultural determinants of health were another two emerging themes of this domain. As one student reflected, “an elderly couple with social issues that greatly outweighed their medical ones, leading me to rethink how to we treat patients”. Seeing them in-situ within their villages and communities allowed the students to appreciate how their lifestyle, habitat and beliefs could influence their presenting medical complaints and health behaviors. For example, students noticed that despite medical advances and awareness, villagers preferred to follow the practice of being isolated during the menstrual cycle or deliver at home instead of using a birthing center due to their own cultural beliefs.

Medical knowledge (MK)

Besides clerking for the patients, the students took on the roles of a pharmacist and a triage nurse which helped them improve the understanding of the patient’s healthcare journey and narratives. Students also worked closely with the doctors who would supervise all the cases they saw. This opportunity allowed them to “use medical knowledge to correlate the clinical presentation with the disease” and apply their medical knowledge in a safe, protected environment.

Practice based learning and improvement (PBLI)

Interactions with the stakeholders especially enabled the students to appreciate the role of PBLI in striving for quality care for the villagers. As this OCIP doesn’t involve any NGOs, the students had the chance to directly interact with the village leaders and clinic leads to understand the healthcare issues in the village and brainstorm on solutions. Through conversations with these stakeholders, they were able to “understand the situation better and design programmes that will benefit the communities the most.” In this process, they learnt how best to investigate and evaluate the needs of the population and the importance of regular feedback to improve the system .

Interpersonal and communication skills

During the OCIP, the patients mainly spoke the Nepali language which indeed created a challenging language barrier . When the students had to work around this barrier, it allowed them to appreciate the importance of non-verbal communication as well as accuracy in understanding the patients’ narrative when taking a history from them. As one student described, students learned “how to make patients feel engaged and connected to you even though I was speaking through a translator.” During the daily reflections sharing, the physicians shared their communication challenges back in multiracial Singapore where knowing English alone is insufficient as each of the elderly patients speak their ethnic dialect. This reflection allowed the students to relate the experience to the situation In Singapore and reflect on how they would communicate across language barriers .

Systems based practice (SBP)

This OCIP was designed in a way that the team has to trek through the mountains from the nearest town to reach the villages for medical service provision and training. This follows the villagers’ journey should they need to travel to a tertiary hospital as the roads are not conducive for vehicular travel. The experience made the students realize how such a system can especially impact the speed of treatment in times of emergencies. During reflections, the physicians also shared that although Singapore is a developed country, for an elderly or disabled patient, their frequents trips to the hospital for multiple medical appointments is comparable. Hence, an ideal situation may be to have a strong primary healthcare facility near their homes, staffed by health professionals who have built a good rapport with the villagers and can manage common chronic conditions. It was commonly reflected that such experiences and sharing enabled them to understand healthcare delivery in low resource settings and relate it back to practice at home. Many reflected on health inequity as they saw how those living in the mountains were disadvantaged due to inaccessibility by virtue of the terrain or when they were unable to afford transport via helicopter to reach a tertiary hospital when time critical care is needed. In addition, the health post at these mountainous villages were often left unattended unlike those along more popular trekking routes like the Everest Base Camp trek or in the city. This created an unreliable system and affected the confidence the villagers have on the healthcare providers. Birthing centres were also present, but they were located on the top of a hill which was challenging for pregnant ladies to travel to. Hence people defaulted antenatal follow-ups and delivered at home. Such experiences brought about reflections on healthcare systems, accessibility and delivery. Specifically, students highlighted the importance of “understanding the bigger picture of the healthcare system in the management of patients.”

Professionalism

Many themes emerged under the domain of professionalism, such as the ethics around such short-term mission trips as well as role modelling when the students saw how the local doctors worked hard for the underprivileged population. Students reflected that healthcare is all “about heart” and they should “always reach out to those in need of greater help.” Experiencing healthcare in a low-income setting also brought about a sense of gratitude . Concurrently, organizing and conducting the trip together with different healthcare professionals provided the platform for the development of teamwork, leadership and interprofessional skills . Lastly, through their experience and reflections, the students reflected on their self-resilience as well as the resilience of the Nepalese people in managing with the minimum. Students observed that witnessing how Nepalese people navigate challenges despite limitations in healthcare infrastructure provided them with “a better insight into what it means to be resilient and how to cope with difficult situations.”

The ACGME framework is broad enough to encompass the various themes from the students’ reflections. Interestingly, these themes refer to the soft or non-technical skills (NTS) in the medical curriculum. These themes also fall within the domains of global health education (socioeconomic and cultural determinants of health, PBLI, SBP), personal (teamwork & leadership skills, resilience) and professional (humanism, MK, ICS, interprofessional skills) development. Teaching the NTS is challenging and may sometimes be perceived as less important by the students. Hence, we propose an alternative conceptual model (Fig.  1 ) to highlight learning outcomes from OCIPs. It aims to help the facilitator and learner in reflecting on their experiences, converting them into learning moments and effectively consolidating learning outcomes in an OCIP. Our framework takes the form of a pyramid, with “Personal Development” forming its base, “Professional Development” building upon that foundation and ultimately capped with “Global Health Awareness”. It is structured as such because it is imperative for the learner to develop personal competencies and attributes to be in a comfortable zone, to glean the higher-order professional and global health skills offered by an OCIP experience. For example, without addressing personal competencies such as teamwork or adaptability to the challenging environment, students may struggle to progress to the next stage of learning professional competencies. Only by adequately addressing these two foundational skills, can students develop a deeper appreciation for global health principles, such as social determinants of health. Understanding the students’ motivations pre-trip can set the learners’ agendas and shape the experiential learning outcomes. Lastly, reflections during the trip and a healthcare journey approach can meaningfully contribute to reaching these outcomes.

Framework for OCIP learning outcomes

This study sought to understand Singaporean medical students experience and learning outcomes of the OCIP. While findings from this study echo the benefits of global health experience published elsewhere [ 8 , 10 , 16 ], this is the first study to show how the OCIP experience could translate to various facets of ACGME domains. Our results demonstrate that OCIP is relevant to undergraduate medical education and could be a pedagogical tool for acquiring ACGME competencies as well as skills relevant to their personal, professional development and global health understanding.

The OCIP provides the opportunity to utilize both experiential learning [ 17 , 18 ] and reflections, which are powerful pedagogical tools in medical education and part of the Kolb’s learning cycle. It provides the space to experience medicine in a more relaxed setting. The dedicated sharing time allows them to reflect and conceptualise the experience and eventually test out what they have learnt the following day [ 17 ]. The experience, reflection, abstract conceptualisation and experimentation are all part of the Kolb’s cycle.

The OCIP also contributes to the transformative learning process [ 19 ]. The students had certain assumptions at the start of the OCIP, which were challenged during the trip. Some of the self and group reflections evoked deep discussions which brought about a change in their perspectives. This is similar to studies which show that critical reflection of experiences serve as a pedagogical approach to learn complex concepts [ 20 , 21 ]. For example, a successful physician is seen as one who can diagnose a patient’s problem and prescribe the appropriate management. However, in the low-resource setting, there was the realization that such skill would not suffice in the optimal long-term management, due to the scarcity of treatment or the inability of villagers to travel regularly to tertiary hospital for continued treatment. Thus, a “health systems” thinking process would be required to address the patient’s problems. Upstream problems (e.g., sanitation, diet) need to be addressed and active effort needs to be made for effective health education and preventative health. Allied healthcare may need to be stationed at the village health posts. The physician should be able to effectively communicate a diagnosis to the villagers and help them understand the impact of illness and treatment noncompliance on their lives such that they follow up on their treatment. And most importantly there should be a system to ensure continuity of care after the departure of overseas physicians. From this experience, it became evident that a successful physician should possess strong leadership skills and ability to bring all of these together.

Such an experience showed the students that a successful physician also needs to have NTS. The Lancet Commissions have proposed a new approach in medical education that focuses on teaching NTS to address health inequity [ 22 ]. These topics are also important to develop a future generation of doctors who are community and socially responsible [ 20 , 23 ]. However, these are challenging topics to teach. The OCIP experience generated the importance of NTS - such as PC, ICS, SBP and professionalism. A well designed OCIP can facilitate the learning of these challenging concepts [ 24 ].

Findings from this study can pave the way for adoption of more relevant competencies to measure the impact of an OCIP. For example, cultural competence or humility has been one of the commonly used learning outcomes. However, the limitations of using this term as a learning outcome are being recognised, as it has not succeeded in reducing health disparities. In response, some have proposed a transnational [ 23 , 24 ] approach to medical education and a global health curriculum to complement OCIPs. The transnational approach comprises both of medical and social competencies that allow the physician to manage patients in various settings. Some of the learning themes identified in this study fall within the transnational framework [ 24 ] and hence, these outcomes (e.g., health systems understanding) may be used to measure the educational effectiveness of an OCIP. Adopting a transnational approach may potentially result in incorporating new competencies into medical education to cultivate socially responsible physicians.

Our findings underscore the need to develop a curriculum for physicians leading OCIPs on how to facilitate the experiential learning through reflections [ 20 ]. A curriculum covering topics relevant to the practical and medical education aspects of an OCIP is much needed [ 4 ]. Although there are existing guidelines on global health ethics [ 2 ], infectious diseases, tropical and travel medicine, currently, there is no guideline on how to facilitate the experiential learning process of medical students during an OCIP. Our findings serve to act as an impetus to develop a more structured approach to OCIPs to ensure that its educational benefits are appropriately assessed.

This study has a few limitations. The study was based on a single OCIP group in Singapore which may limit the transferability of the findings. The physician leads of the OCIP group utilized reflections to facilitate learnings from the OCIP experience and hence there is uncertainty if similar learning outcomes will be achieved if an OCIP didn’t consist of reflective practice. This study explored the OCIP’s benefits solely from the perspectives of the medical student volunteers, leaving the viewpoints of local translators or local population unaccounted for. Further research work is warranted to include the perspectives of the community receiving help [ 25 ] to understand the OCIP’s experiential learning in a more holistic manner.

The rich experience of an OCIP can provide valuable lessons that classroom or bedside teaching may not achieve. In today’s globalized world, as patient care becomes more complex, it is essential to be an all-rounded physician. The experiential learning from OCIPs can facilitate this development. Future steps should focus on how to make such trips more impactful and relevant for the community it serves and to develop a pre-trip checklist of competencies that encompasses the essential NTS required for such trips.

(3897 words)

Data availability

All relevant data are within the manuscript.

Crump JA, Sugarman J. Ethical considerations for short-term experiences by trainees in global health. JAMA - J Am Med Assoc. 2008;300(12):1456–8.

Article   Google Scholar  

Shah S, Wu T. The medical student global health experience: professionalism and ethical implications. J Med Ethics. 2008;34(5):375–8.

Pinto AD, Upshur REG. Global health ethics for students. Dev World Bioeth. 2009;9(1):1–10.

Elit L, Hunt M, Redwood-Campbell L, Ranford J, Adelson N, Schwartz L. Ethical issues encountered by medical students during international health electives. Med Educ. 2011;45(7):704–11.

Hayes F, Clark J, McCauley M. Healthcare providers’ and managers’ knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding international medical volunteering in Uganda: a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2020;10(12):e039722.

McCauley M, Raven J, van den Broek N. Experiences and impact of international medical volunteering: a multi-country mixed methods study. BMJ Open. 2021;11(3):e041599.

Frenk J, Chen L, Bhutta ZA, Cohen J, Crisp N, Evans T, et al. Health professionals for a new century: transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world. Lancet. 2010;376(9756):1923–58.

Holmes D, Zayas LE, Koyfman A. Student objectives and learning experiences in a global health elective. J Community Health. 2012;37(5):927–34.

Elam CL, Sauer MJ, Stratton TD, Skelton J, Crocker D, Musick DW. Service Learning in the Medical Curriculum: developing and evaluating an elective experience. Teach Learn Med. 2003;15(3):194–203.

Dornan T, Littlewood S, Margolis SA, Scherpbier A, Spencer J, Dornan T et al. How can experience in clinical and community settings contribute to early medical education a BEME systematic review how can experience in clinical and community settings contribute to early medical education a BEME systematic review. 2009.

Wolfberg AJ. Volunteering Overseas — lessons from Surgical brigades. N Engl J Med. 2006;354(5):443–5.

Withers M, Browner CH, Aghaloo T. Promoting volunteerism in Global Health: lessons from a medical mission in Northern Mexico. J Community Health. 2013;38(2):374–84.

Reasoner K, Desai MJ, Lee DH. A helping hand: the Case for Volunteerism. J Hand Surg. 2018;43(10):941–4.

Chan YC, Tan CH, Donkers J. Impact of reflective writings on learning of core competencies in medical residents. Asia Pac Sch. 2021;6(4):65–79.

Sandars J. The use of reflection in medical education: AMEE Guide 44. Med Teach. 2009;31(8):685–95.

Haq C, Rothenberg D, Gjerde C, Bobula J, Wilson C, Bickley L et al. New World Views: Preparing Physicians. 2000;(October).

Kolb David. In: Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. FT.

Dunn D, Saintonge MC. Experiential learning. Med Educ. 1997;31:25–8.

Van Schalkwyk SC, Hafler J, Brewer TF, Maley MA, Margolis C, McNamee L, et al. Transformative learning as pedagogy for the health professions: a scoping review. Med Educ. 2019;53(6):547–58.

Dharamsi S, Richards M, Louie D, Murray D, Berland A, Whitfield M, et al. Enhancing medical students’ conceptions of the CanMEDS Health Advocate role through international service-learning and critical reflection: a phenomenological study. Med Teach. 2010;32(12):977–82.

Peluso MJ, van Schalkwyk S, Kellett A, Brewer TF, Clarfield AM, Davies D, et al. Reframing undergraduate medical education in global health: Rationale and key principles from the Bellagio Global Health Education Initiative. Med Teach. 2017;39(6):639–45.

Frenk J, Chen L, Bhutta ZA, Cohen J, Crisp N, Evans T, et al. Health professionals for a new century: Ttransforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world. Lancet. 2010;376(9756):1923–58.

H. RM. International medical education and future directions: a global perspective. Acad Med. 2006;81(12 SUPPL):S22–9.

Google Scholar  

K PH. Medical education for a changing world: moving beyond cultural competence into transnational competence. Acad Med. 2006;81(6):548–56.

Kraeker C, Chandler C. We learn from them, they learn from us. Acad Med. 2013;88(4):483–7.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Project Aasha students who participated in this study.

This work has not received any external funding.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

Gayathri Devi Nadarajan

SingHealth Duke Global Health Institute, Singapore, Singapore

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, National University Health Systems, Singapore, Singapore

Kumaran Rasappan

Ministry of Health Holdings, Singapore, Singapore

Jonathan Shen You Ng & Melvin Lim Junchen

Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

Sungwon Yoon

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Gayathri Devi Nadarajan (GDN) and Sungwoon Yoon (SY) conceptualised the article, contributed to article sections, and reviewed and revised manuscript based on suggestions from the other authors. GDN, SY and Melvin Lim Junchen (ML) undertook the thematic analysis and contributed to the result section. Kumaran Rasappan and Jonathan Shen You Ng contributed to the article sections. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript. GDN takes full responsibility for the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kumaran Rasappan .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The SingHealth Centralised Institutional Review Board (CIRB) granted an exemption for informed consent and ethical waiver, CIRB Ref. 2018/3226. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations for this study. This study was conducted and completed at National University Hospital, Singapore (primary site) and SingHealth.

Consent for publication

Not applicable as not an experiment involving human participants nor does the manuscript contain information or images leading to identification of participants.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1

Rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Nadarajan, G.D., Rasappan, K., Ng, J.S.Y. et al. Medical students’ experience and learning outcomes of overseas community involvement project: a qualitative study. BMC Med Educ 24 , 854 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05560-6

Download citation

Received : 05 May 2023

Accepted : 15 May 2024

Published : 08 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05560-6

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Medical mission
• Medical volunteerism
• Humanitarian medicine
• Experiential learning
• Reflective learning
• Transformative learning

BMC Medical Education

ISSN: 1472-6920

• Submission enquiries: [email protected]
• General enquiries: [email protected]