meeting during presentation

How to Give a Presentation During a Meeting (Without Screwing Up)

Tips and tricks for being persuasive and keeping your audience engaged.

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Giving a presentation during a meeting may seem easy on the surface, but many factors can get in the way of being effective.

You may be shy and stumble over your words. You may get nervous and rush through things too quickly in hopes of “getting it over with.”

You may even confuse your audience by sharing information in a scattered or illogical way.

It happens to the best of us.

The good news is, with thoughtful preparation, even the shiest among us can give killer presentations that captivate our coworkers.

Here’s how:

How to start a presentation
Effective presentation skills ‍
When to use PowerPoint ‍
Presentation tips and tricks

1. How to start a presentation

The best presenters capture audience attention from the beginning. They know that a lackluster start to anything will immediately sow seeds of disengagement.

Whether or not you believe human attention spans are like goldfish , the fact is, a strong start to your presentation will fill the room with energy that perks people up, while a weak start paves the way for staring off into space and discretely checking email.

Here are a few tips to start your next meeting presentation right:

Ask a question

Everyone likes feeling heard. One of the easiest ways to hook an audience from the start is by inviting them to respond to a relevant prompt. If a VP of marketing were giving a presentation about the company’s upcoming brand refresh, they might start by asking something like “How many people here feel like they have a good sense of how we’re perceived as a company?”

Share a story

As humans, we’re wired to pay attention to stories. They’re especially useful when the subject matter at hand isn’t particularly interesting on its own. If a CEO were giving a presentation aimed at motivating the entire company, they might share a story about how many people it once took to operate a battleship.

2. Effective presentation skills/techniques

Effective presentations are usually the result of careful preparation. Here are a few skills to refine during the preparation phase:

Knowing your audience

Giving an effective presentation means knowing your audience. To earn and sustain their attention, you need to assess what they already know about the subject and how much they care about it.

Use this information to calibrate your approach. You don’t want to assume they’re enthusiastic experts if they’re not, but you also want to respect their intelligence by meeting them where they are without lecturing them.

It’s a delicate balancing act, but when you get it right, you’ll leave them enough room to figure some things out on their own.

WHAT Ask questions that anyone in the audience could answer. ‍ WHY This allows you to engage the room and keep the audience energy level high.

Framing your story

If you’ve ever watched TEDTalks, you know firsthand that many of the best presentations unfold like a detective story. The speaker presents a problem, describes the quest for a solution, and leads the audience to a collective “aha” moment where their perspective shifts and they become even more engaged.

Take the time to plot your points in a meaningful way so that your message is not only easy to follow, but also easy to remember. That means eliminating any diversions that don’t serve the story.

When framed correctly, even the most serious and complex subjects can be riveting.

3. When to use a PowerPoint and when not to

PowerPoints have become the de facto tool of choice for meeting presentations. You can share visuals, advance slides with the click of a mouse, and they don’t take a ton of technical or design chops to look pretty.

The problem is, people tend to hide behind them. While it’s undeniably handy, PowerPoint isn’t the best vehicle for every presentation.

You should use a PowerPoint when:

You want to review team progress against metrics
You need to share a revenue report
You have a lot of technical and/or data-rich information to convey

You shouldn’t use a PowerPoint when:

You need to create a strong connection with your audience
You have an important story to tell (e.g. why the company is pivoting)
You want to motivate and inspire people

If you’re still on the fence about whether you should use a PowerPoint for your next presentation, consider the goal of the meeting.

When your meeting goal is something straightforward, like assigning action items or reviewing team performance, go for the PowerPoint.

If you’re aiming to convey something less cerebral—and potentially more emotional—don’t distance yourself from the message. Leave PowerPoint (and all technology) out of the equation.

4. Presentation tips and tricks

There are a few universal tips that will make your next presentation more effective no matter what it’s about:

Follow a logical structure ‍ Even if you can’t think of a relevant story, the information you present have a clear structure to keep people on track.

Slow down ‍ Speaking too fast breeds boredom and confusion. Even if you think you talk slow, talk slower.

Use questions as segues ‍ In addition to being great presentation starters, asking questions enables the presenter to shift from one topic to another without losing momentum.

Build your confidence ‍ Letting your personality shine through is a surefire way to convince people they should listen. Practice your presentation until it feels like you’re talking to a friend.

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How to Conduct Effective Meeting Presentations?

Learn the art of conducting effective meeting presentations with our comprehensive guide.

How to Present During a Meeting?

When presenting during a meeting, utilize a visually appealing presentation template to impress your audience. Whether it's a business update, proposal pitch, or board meeting, a customizable PowerPoint or Google Slides template can keep your presentation persuasive and your audience engaged. Download popular templates for an intuitive and bold visual impact.

Craft infographics, charts, and graphs to communicate data effectively. Introduce speakers, analyze key points, and address stakeholders with an eye-catching design.

Pro tips: keep your presentation concise, address department KPIs, and be ready to communicate action items. Make your next meeting visually compelling, fully customizable, and ready for success.

What are the essential components of a successful meeting presentation?

The essential components of a successful meeting presentation encompass a blend of visual appeal, concise communication, and strategic engagement. Begin with a well-designed presentation template, whether in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote, to set a visually impressive tone. Craft a compelling agenda that outlines key updates, proposals, or pitches, ensuring your meeting presentation aligns with the overall goal. Utilize charts, graphs, and infographics to present data clearly and persuasively. Keep your presentation customizable, allowing for adaptability to different audiences.

Address stakeholders, introduce speakers, and analyze departmental insights with a persuasive narrative. Engage your audience with eye-catching graphics, bold visuals, and an intuitive flow. Edit lengthier content, appeal to the CEO or board of directors, and pay attention to key performance indicators (KPIs). Enable collective participation by outlining action items, hosting a productive meeting, and keeping your team updated with impactful visuals.

Key slides to include in your meeting presentation

In crafting a comprehensive meeting presentation, several key slides are essential to convey information effectively. Begin with a title slide that sets the tone and introduces the topic. Follow with an agenda slide outlining the meeting structure. Utilize an updated slide to present key information succinctly, keeping stakeholders informed. Incorporate charts and graphs for visual impact in a data slide, providing a clear representation of metrics or performance.

For proposals or pitches, a persuasive slide detailing the proposition and benefits is crucial. An interactive timeline slide can visually map out project progress or plans. Engage the audience with infographics, showcasing complex data in an accessible manner. Conclude with a summary slide, recapping key points and opening the floor for discussions or questions. These key slides collectively create a dynamic and informative presentation, ensuring your message resonates with the audience.

Tips for creating an engaging meeting presentation

Creating an engaging meeting presentation involves a strategic blend of content, visuals, and delivery. Begin by understanding your audience and tailoring your content to their interests and needs. Craft a compelling narrative that follows a logical flow, ensuring clarity and coherence. Utilize visually appealing slides with graphics, charts, and minimal text to maintain audience interest. Incorporate interactive elements like polls or Q&A sessions to actively involve participants.

Practice your delivery to ensure a confident and engaging presence during the presentation. Keep the content concise, focusing on key points to avoid overwhelming your audience. Utilize storytelling techniques to make your presentation memorable and relatable. Invite questions and discussions to foster participant engagement, turning your meeting presentation into a dynamic and interactive experience.

How to customize a meeting presentation template

Customizing a meeting presentation template allows you to tailor the content to your specific needs and style. Begin by choosing a template that aligns with the theme and purpose of your presentation. Update the title slide with your presentation's title, date, and any relevant branding. Modify the agenda slide to reflect the meeting structure and topics. Replace placeholder text and images with your content, ensuring clarity and relevance. Adjust the color scheme and fonts to match your brand or personal preferences. Add or remove slides as needed to suit the presentation's flow. Incorporate your logo and other branding elements for a professional touch.

Don't forget to review the template for consistency and coherence after customization. By personalizing each aspect, you transform a generic template into a unique and impactful meeting presentation that effectively communicates your message.

Why PowerPoint is a popular choice for meeting presentations

PowerPoint remains a popular choice for meeting presentations due to its user-friendly interface, versatility, and widespread accessibility. The software provides a straightforward platform for creating visually appealing slides, allowing presenters to integrate text, images, and multimedia seamlessly. With a plethora of built-in templates and design tools, PowerPoint enables users to craft professional-looking presentations without extensive design skills.

The compatibility of PowerPoint files across different devices and operating systems ensures easy sharing and collaboration. Its robust features, including animations, transitions, and speaker notes, enhance engagement and convey complex information effectively.

As a staple in business and educational settings, PowerPoint's familiarity and integration with various technologies make it a go-to tool for delivering impactful meeting presentations that captivate audiences and facilitate effective communication.

Pro tips for delivering an impactful presentation

Delivering an impactful presentation requires a combination of preparation, confidence, and audience engagement. Start by thoroughly understanding your content and audience. Craft a compelling narrative with a clear structure, focusing on key messages. Utilize visuals effectively, incorporating charts, graphs, and images to enhance understanding. Practice your delivery to ensure a confident and natural presentation style.

Consider the pacing of your speech and maintain eye contact to connect with your audience. Use gestures and body language to emphasize key points. Be prepared to adapt to audience reactions and questions, fostering interaction. Manage nervousness by focusing on your message and the value you bring. Lastly, seek feedback for continuous improvement. By incorporating these pro tips, you can deliver presentations that captivate and leave a lasting impact on your audience.

How can I create an effective meeting presentation template?

Creating an effective meeting presentation template involves thoughtful design and consideration of your audience and content. Begin with a clean layout that aligns with your brand or theme. Use a consistent color scheme and fonts for a professional look. Include placeholders for titles, text, and visuals, ensuring flexibility for various content types. Integrate your logo and branding elements to enhance recognition.

Prioritize simplicity, allowing for easy customization while maintaining visual appeal. Test the template's functionality and coherence, adjusting as needed. By focusing on clarity, consistency, and adaptability, you can craft a versatile meeting presentation template that streamlines the creation process and enhances overall visual impact.

Choosing the right template for your meeting

Choosing the right template for your meeting is crucial for creating a visually appealing and cohesive presentation. Consider the nature of your meeting, whether it's a formal business gathering, a creative workshop, or an educational session. Select a template that aligns with the overall theme and purpose of your presentation. Pay attention to color schemes, fonts, and layouts that complement your content and brand identity. Evaluate the template's structure, ensuring it accommodates your agenda and content flow.

Prioritize simplicity and clarity to enhance audience comprehension. Customizability is key, allowing you to adapt the template to your specific needs. By thoughtfully choosing a template that resonates with your meeting's objectives, you set the stage for a visually engaging and impactful presentation.

Customizing a meeting presentation template to fit your needs

Customizing a meeting presentation template is essential to tailor it to your specific needs and enhance its effectiveness. Begin by replacing the default content with relevant information, ensuring clarity and alignment with your presentation goals. Adjust the color scheme and fonts to match your brand or personal preferences, fostering a cohesive and professional look. Add or remove slides as necessary to accommodate your agenda and content structure. Incorporate your organization's logo and branding elements for a personalized touch.

Fine-tune the layout to optimize visual appeal and maintain consistency throughout the presentation. Pay attention to spacing, imagery, and the overall flow to create a polished and engaging template. By adapting each element to your requirements, you transform a generic template into a powerful tool that effectively communicates your message and resonates with your audience.

Utilizing PowerPoint or other presentation software for your meeting

Leveraging presentation software like PowerPoint for your meeting provides a dynamic platform to convey information effectively. With user-friendly interfaces, these tools allow you to craft visually engaging slides that incorporate text, images, charts, and multimedia elements. PowerPoint, in particular, offers a vast array of templates, design tools, and animation features, streamlining the creation process.

The ability to customize layouts, fonts, and colors ensures alignment with your branding or theme. Presentation software enhances audience engagement through visual aids, facilitating clearer communication of complex ideas. Additionally, compatibility across devices and easy sharing options contribute to seamless collaboration.

Whether it's PowerPoint or alternative software, utilizing these tools empowers presenters to deliver polished, professional, and impactful meetings that resonate with participants.

Tip for incorporating visual aids into your meeting presentation

Incorporating visual aids into your meeting presentation enhances engagement and reinforces key messages. Begin by aligning visuals with your content, ensuring they complement rather than distract. Use high-quality images, charts, and graphs to convey complex information. Maintain a consistent design theme for a polished look. Limit text on each slide, emphasizing concise, impactful points. Integrate animations sparingly to enhance transitions and maintain audience focus. Ensure readability by selecting appropriate fonts and font sizes. Practice your presentation with visuals to refine timing and delivery.

Be prepared to explain each visual, providing context for better comprehension. Utilizing well-designed visual aids not only reinforces your message but also captivates your audience, making your meeting presentation more memorable and impactful.

What are the best practices for presenting during a meeting?

Best practices for presenting during a meeting involve thorough preparation, starting with a clear understanding of your audience and content. Craft a compelling narrative with a structured outline. Utilize visuals judiciously for clarity, and practice your delivery to enhance confidence and fluency. Maintain eye contact, use gestures purposefully, and adapt to audience reactions. Manage time effectively, allowing for Q&A.

Seek feedback for continuous improvement and always stay attuned to the needs and dynamics of the meeting. Engaging, clear, and well-organized presentations contribute to a successful meeting experience for both presenters and attendees.

Tips for keeping your audience engaged during a meeting presentation

Keeping your audience engaged during a meeting presentation is crucial for effective communication. Begin with a compelling introduction that captures attention and establishes relevance. Utilize visuals, such as slides, infographics, or videos, to convey information in a dynamic and accessible manner. Incorporate interactive elements like polls, questions, or discussions to involve participants actively. Maintain a conversational tone, avoiding monotonous delivery. Vary your presentation pace and employ gestures to emphasize key points.

Encourage audience participation through Q&A sessions or interactive activities. Break longer presentations into digestible segments to sustain interest. Lastly, be responsive to audience cues, adapting your approach based on their reactions. By employing these tips, you can create a more engaging and memorable meeting presentation experience for your audience.

How to structure your meeting presentation for maximum impact

Structuring your meeting presentation for maximum impact involves careful planning and a strategic approach.

Begin with a compelling introduction, clearly stating the purpose and relevance of your presentation. Develop a well-organized outline, dividing content into logical sections. Create a narrative flow that guides the audience through your key points seamlessly. Use visuals strategically to enhance understanding and retention. Incorporate interactive elements or discussions to maintain engagement. Ensure a smooth transition between sections, building anticipation for each segment.

Conclude with a strong summary and a call to action if applicable. Practice your delivery to refine timing and clarity. A structured presentation not only facilitates comprehension but also captivates your audience, leaving a lasting impact.

Ways to effectively convey your message during a meeting presentation

Effectively conveying your message during a meeting presentation requires a thoughtful and strategic approach.

Begin by understanding your audience and tailoring your content to their needs and interests. Clearly define your key message and structure your presentation to emphasize these points. Use engaging visuals, such as slides or infographics, to support and enhance your verbal communication. Practice a confident and clear delivery, paying attention to tone and body language. Incorporate real-life examples or anecdotes to make your message relatable. Encourage audience interaction through questions or discussions, fostering a dynamic exchange.

Be mindful of time management to avoid information overload. Lastly, seek feedback and be open to adjusting your approach based on the audience's response. By employing these strategies, you can ensure that your message is not only heard but also understood and remembered by your audience.

Utilizing graphs and charts in your meeting presentation

Incorporating graphs and charts into your meeting presentation is a powerful way to convey complex information visually, keeping your audience engaged and enhancing overall comprehension.

Utilize popular meeting presentation templates available in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote for a customizable and professional layout. Graphs and charts, when strategically placed, make your presentation visually appealing and persuasive, catering to diverse learning styles. Craft infographics that provide a snapshot of key data, making it easy for your audience to grasp important insights. This visual approach adds an element of creativity to your business presentation, making it more compelling and memorable for stakeholders, including board members, corporate teams, and department heads.

Strategies for adapting your presentation to different types of meetings

Adapting your presentation to different types of meetings involves strategic planning and customization.

Begin by selecting a suitable meeting presentation template, ensuring it aligns with the specific nature and formality of the gathering, be it a board meeting, corporate event, or departmental briefing. Tailor your content to address the unique interests and expectations of your audience, incorporating persuasive elements such as graphs and charts to engage stakeholders effectively. Adjust your tone, language, and level of detail based on the formality of the meeting and the familiarity of the audience with the topic.

Proactively address potential questions and concerns to enhance clarity. Employing these adaptive strategies ensures that your presentation resonates with various audiences, making it a valuable tool for communication in diverse meeting settings.

How to impress your audience with a meeting presentation?

Impressing your audience with a meeting presentation involves a combination of strategic planning, engaging content, and confident delivery.

Begin by selecting an eye-catching meeting presentation template that aligns with the tone of your message. Craft a compelling introduction to capture attention, clearly stating the purpose and relevance of your presentation. Utilize visually appealing elements such as graphs and charts to convey information in a digestible format. Ensure a well-organized structure that guides the audience seamlessly through key points. Practice your delivery to enhance confidence, maintaining a conversational tone and incorporating expressive gestures. Foster audience engagement through interactive elements or discussions.

Conclude with a strong and memorable summary. By combining these elements, you can leave a lasting impression on your audience, making your meeting presentation both impactful and memorable.

Creating a visually appealing meeting presentation

Creating a visually appealing meeting presentation is essential for capturing and maintaining your audience's attention.

Begin with a visually pleasing meeting presentation template, ensuring it aligns with the theme and formality of your presentation. Use a cohesive color scheme and professional fonts to enhance readability. Incorporate high-quality images, graphics, and icons to add visual interest and support key points. Utilize spacing and layout effectively to avoid clutter and maintain a clean, organized look. Consistency in design elements throughout the presentation enhances its professional appearance. Incorporating visually engaging elements not only makes your content more accessible but also contributes to a positive and memorable audience experience.

By combining these design principles, you can create a visually appealing meeting presentation that effectively conveys your message and resonates with your audience.

Delivering a persuasive pitch during a meeting presentation

Delivering a persuasive pitch during a meeting presentation requires a strategic blend of compelling content, confident delivery, and audience engagement.

Begin by clearly defining your key message and aligning it with the needs and interests of your audience. Craft a compelling narrative that includes relevant data, anecdotes, and persuasive elements. Utilize a visually appealing meeting presentation template to enhance professionalism. Practice your delivery to ensure a confident and dynamic presentation, paying attention to tone, pace, and body language. Foster audience engagement through interactive elements, questions, or discussions. Address potential concerns proactively and provide solutions.

Conclude with a strong call to action, prompting your audience to take the desired next steps. By combining these elements, you can deliver a persuasive pitch that not only captivates your audience but also motivates them to act on your proposed ideas or recommendations.

Tips for using PowerPoint to make an impactful meeting presentation

Leveraging PowerPoint effectively can significantly enhance the impact of your meeting presentation.

Begin by selecting a visually appealing meeting presentation template that aligns with your content and audience. Maintain a clean and organized layout, avoiding clutter to enhance visual clarity. Use bullet points, graphics, and charts to convey information concisely and memorably. Employ consistent fonts and color schemes for a professional look. Utilize animations and transitions judiciously to add dynamism without distracting from your message. Practice your delivery to ensure seamless integration with your slides. Incorporate impactful visuals, such as images and infographics, to support key points.

Remember that PowerPoint is a tool to complement your presentation, not overshadow it. By following these tips, you can harness the power of PowerPoint to create an impactful meeting presentation that effectively communicates your message.

Engaging your audience during a business meeting presentation

Engaging your audience during a business meeting presentation is crucial for a successful delivery.

Begin by capturing attention with a compelling introduction, clearly outlining the purpose and relevance of your presentation. Foster interaction through strategically placed questions, discussions, or audience participation activities. Utilize a visually appealing meeting presentation template to enhance engagement and maintain a professional appearance. Incorporate relatable anecdotes or case studies to make your content more accessible.

Keep your delivery dynamic by varying your tone, pace, and gestures. Address potential concerns proactively and encourage questions throughout the presentation. Emphasize the benefits or solutions your content offers to maintain audience interest. By creating an interactive and engaging atmosphere, you can ensure that your business meeting presentation resonates with your audience and effectively conveys your message.

How to make your meeting presentation memorable and effective

To make your meeting presentation memorable and effective, focus on creating a lasting impact on your audience.

Begin with a compelling story or anecdote to captivate attention from the start. Structure your content logically, emphasizing key messages and supporting them with visuals. Use a visually appealing meeting presentation template that aligns with your brand and enhances the overall experience. Incorporate memorable quotes, relevant statistics, or relatable examples to reinforce key points. Ensure a dynamic delivery by varying your tone and pace. Encourage audience interaction through questions or discussions.

Conclude with a strong and concise summary, leaving a lasting impression. Follow up with a well-designed handout or supplementary materials for reinforcement. By combining these elements, you can make your meeting presentation both memorable and effective, ensuring that your message resonates with your audience long after the presentation concludes.

Why is it important to tailor your presentation to the specific meeting?

Tailoring your presentation to the specific meeting is essential for effective communication and audience engagement. Understanding the context, goals, and expectations of the meeting allows you to customize your content, making it more relevant and impactful. This tailored approach demonstrates a commitment to meeting participants and enhances the likelihood that your message will resonate.

By aligning your presentation with the unique needs of the audience, you create a connection that fosters interest, comprehension, and retention. It also showcases adaptability and consideration, contributing to a more positive and productive meeting experience for all involved.

Adapting your meeting presentation to the audience and purpose

Adapting your meeting presentation to the audience and purpose is pivotal for a successful communication strategy. Tailor your content to suit the knowledge level, interests, and expectations of your audience.

Consider their background, industry, and specific needs to ensure relevance. Align your language and examples with their familiarity to enhance understanding. Catering to the purpose of the meeting involves clarifying whether the goal is to inform, persuade, or collaborate, and adjusting your tone and content accordingly.

A clear understanding of your audience and purpose allows you to deliver a presentation that resonates, captivates, and effectively conveys your message, fostering engagement and achieving your desired outcomes.

Addressing the specific needs and goals of the meeting in your presentation

Addressing the specific needs and goals of the meeting in your presentation is paramount for success.

Begin by understanding the objectives and expectations of the gathering. Tailor your content to directly align with these goals, ensuring that your presentation provides valuable insights, solutions, or information. Consider the unique needs of the audience and adapt your messaging to resonate with their concerns or interests. Clearly articulate how your presentation contributes to meeting objectives, whether it's to inform, persuade, or collaborate.

By directly addressing the specific needs and goals of the meeting, your presentation becomes more focused, relevant, and impactful, leading to a more meaningful and productive engagement with your audience.

Utilizing speaker notes and cues for a tailored meeting presentation

Utilizing speaker notes and cues is an effective strategy for delivering a tailored meeting presentation. Speaker notes allow you to include additional context, key points, and reminders to ensure that your message aligns with the specific needs of the audience and the goals of the meeting. These notes provide a roadmap for your delivery, helping you maintain a focused and tailored approach. Cues can include prompts for engaging the audience, emphasizing crucial points, or adjusting your tone to suit the atmosphere.

By leveraging speaker notes and cues, you enhance your ability to customize content on the fly, respond to audience reactions, and address unexpected questions, ensuring that your meeting presentation remains adaptable, relevant, and finely tuned to the unique context of each engagement.

Key strategies for customizing your meeting presentation content

Customizing your meeting presentation content involves several key strategies to ensure relevance and engagement.

Begin by understanding your audience's background, interests, and expectations. Tailor your messaging to align with their knowledge level, using language and examples they can relate to. Incorporate relevant data and insights that directly address the specific needs and challenges of your audience. Structure your presentation to match the goals of the meeting, whether it's to inform, persuade, or collaborate. Use visual aids and graphics that resonate with the audience and enhance comprehension.

Be adaptable, and ready to adjust your content based on real-time audience reactions or questions. By employing these strategies, you can create a meeting presentation that is not only customized but also impactful, fostering meaningful connections with your audience.

Why a personalized approach enhances the impact of your meeting presentation

A personalized approach significantly enhances the impact of your meeting presentation, turning it into a memorable and engaging experience.

By customizing your content using a meeting presentation template, you ensure that your message aligns with the specific needs and preferences of your audience. Tailoring your presentation to address their concerns and interests makes it more relatable and persuasive. Utilizing customizable features, such as graphs, visuals, and infographics, adds a professional touch and keeps your audience engaged.

A personalized presentation also demonstrates your commitment to understanding the unique challenges and goals of your stakeholders, fostering a stronger connection. This approach, coupled with pro tips for impactful delivery, transforms your meeting presentation into a powerful tool for effective communication and collaboration.

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Giving a meeting presentation might seem daunting, but taking time to prepare and practice can take your confidence to new heights. Try out these tips!

Nothing induces a yawn quite like someone monotonously reading information from slides. If this is you, then you might be dragging your team through meeting presentations that just don’t get points across in impactful ways. There’s a better way — or more accurately, ways — to do it. This article is your guide to confidently giving a powerful presentation that gets the point across while engaging your team.

What are the different types of presentations?

How to prepare for a meeting presentation, how should you begin a meeting presentation.

What you should do during your presentation

Ways to wrap up your presentation

7 tips to have the best meeting presentation

Think about the reasons why you might call a meeting. You could be sharing project updates, encouraging your team after an exhausting project, or sharing important information about new company policies. Each of these meetings calls for a different type of presentation, but here’s the catch: The best practices for meeting presentations remain the same. We’ll get to those in a moment, but first, below are some presentation types you should get to know.

1 Informative

Informative presentations educate, update, or advise your team. You’re basically laying a foundation upon which your team can do the best possible job. Some potential occasions for informative presentations include introducing a new time tracking system or explaining how to use a new software platform.

During an informative meeting, you might display examples, comparisons, or graphs. But that’s not always the most fun (okay, maybe it’s never the most fun). Simplify complex information by playing games, including a video, or pursuing other ways to add some excitement to your presentation.

Use a meeting management tool like Fellow to prepare for your presentation and have all your notes in one place.

2 Instructive

During instructive presentations, you get to play teacher. You’ll give your team detailed directions on how to reach collective and company goals. Think of them like a manual: They should tell your team how to use their tools to get the job done. But be sure to make them more exciting than manuals! Interactive, hands-on lessons can help make a cut and dry subject more engaging for your team.

3 Persuasive

Persuasive presentations convince attendees to adopt a viewpoint or agree with a proposed action plan. When you lead a persuasive meeting, you’ll typically provide anecdotes and rich details to engage listeners’ emotions. There’s really no better way to connect people with an argument – everyone loves a story. Persuasion is a particularly effective tactic in investor meetings .

4 Motivational

Inspiration and encouragement are the bread and butter of motivational presentations, which get your team excited to take the next steps toward success. These presentations appeal to your team’s emotions and encourage behavioral changes. After a successful motivational meeting , you should feel the energy in the room crank way up as everyone gets on board with your team goals.

5 Decision-making

Decision-making presentations help your team arrive at a decision or solve a problem. They help you make smart choices and prepare alternatives if something goes wrong. And even though making decisions can be tough, preparing your presentation can be easy. Just describe the situation at hand and specify the criteria influencing the decision, then use that all to plot a course of action. And then, act on it!

A progress presentation is all about giving updates. This presentation gets your team up to speed on the status of a project and details your remaining tasks and deadlines. A progress presentation is also a great opportunity to tell your team members how well they’re performing and celebrate their recent wins and accomplishments. Seriously, meetings don’t have to be all business – you do want your team to look forward to them!

Preparing for your presentation is just as important as actually presenting. Showing up to your meeting unprepared shows that you’re not prioritizing the meeting – and, more annoyingly, its attendees. A disorganized, repetitive presentation can also quickly lose your listeners’ attention. The below tips counter these challenges and make sure your team walks away educated, inspired, and well-equipped to do amazing things.

Understand your team. Each team member is responsible for a different task or set of tasks. When you know who’s in the room, you can skip over the “101” of your strategy. This way, you don’t bore (or maybe even insult) your attendees by overexplaining what they already know.
Prepare in advance. Having a plan keeps your meeting thorough and well-organized. To plan your meeting, gather key information, organize your thoughts, and place those in the presentation. Tailor this important visual aid based on whether you’re meeting in-person, via phone, or by videoconference. You could use a PowerPoint template to create the most beautiful graph is all good and dandy, but you can’t show it on the phone.
Practice. This advice is age-old, but it’s been proven effective : Practice makes perfect. Seriously – running through your presentation ahead of time helps you memorize the key points you’ll share. This way, you can spend less time going through your memory Rolodex and more time connecting with your team. Practice also boosts your speaking confidence so your delivery is clear.

Eight seconds. That’s how much time you have to grab your team members’ attention . That’s it. That’s all. So clearly, your presentation’s introduction needs to spark your listeners’ interest. These ideas can quickly captivate your team’s attention.

Tell a story. The human brain is wired to enjoy stories. Vibrant, compelling storytelling draws your team’s attention and helps listeners relate to your ideas. Start your presentation by captivating your team members’ emotions to set the tone for your presentation.
Ask a question. Asking your team an open-ended question immediately invites them to participate in your presentation. Your team members’ answers can shed light on their viewpoints, and then, you can tailor your presentation accordingly.
Use a short icebreaker activity. Icebreakers are a tried-and-true way to get your team engaged and encourage their participation. Whether in the form of questions or a quick game, icebreakers can get everyone pumped and ready to go.

What you should do during your meeting presentation

Once you’ve finished preparing, approach your presentation as a listener. If you don’t find your presentation interesting, neither will your team members.

Your presentation should do more than… well, present . Instead, show your listeners why they should care about your topic, and convey the information in ways that will get their attention. Consider the following tips.

Engage your team. Appealing to the senses is a great start. Doing so both tugs at your listeners’ heartstrings and helps them retain key information. For example, use visual aids and colorful charts to appeal to sight. Engage listeners’ sense of touch by using props. Auditory examples include speaking enthusiastically and telling thought-provoking stories.
Make eye contact. Reading directly from your notes or presentation can distance you from your listeners. Use your notes as a reference, and instead, focus on connecting with your listeners as you would during a normal conversation.
Do quick check-ups. Checking in with your team throughout your presentation lets you gauge your team members’ attention and interest. Ask a quick question or solicit feedback about something you just discussed. If you don’t get much of a response, you’ll know attention and interest are low. And then, it’s on you to change things up and get all eyes back on you.
Create space for questions. Don’t spend your entire presentation going through information. Instead, allow time for your listeners to ask questions. This way, you can further discuss points they don’t understand or address any concerns.

You had an exciting start and a thorough, engaging, presentation. Now, it’s time to seal the deal. Close things out with a brief summary and list some key takeaways. To give your presentation a memorable closing:

End on a positive note. Thank your team for listening and participating. Use a call to action to further motivate your team. Giving your presentation a positive ending can hint at what you’ve set up your team members to achieve. And that prospect is always exciting.
Talk about what’s next. Don’t let the momentum end when your presentation does. Use meeting action items to show your listeners how to follow through on everything you’ve discussed. Assign your team members specific responsibilities, and explain any workflow or task changes stemming from your meeting.

7 tips and tricks to have the best meeting presentation

You now have the tools and knowledge to prepare an engaging presentation! But before it’s time to get on the podium (or just in front of the conference table), keep these tips in mind.

Have a logical structure.
Make it interactive.
Glance at the clock.
Create natural segues.
Build your confidence.
Let your personality shine through.

1 Have a logical structure.

A scattered presentation can easily lose your team’s attention. Facts and demonstrations should be a part of the structure where they won’t interrupt the natural flow of your presentation. Exclude examples or points that don’t directly contribute to your presentation.

2 Slow down.

Speakers tend to talk faster when they’re presenting – public speaking can be nerve-wracking! But rushing through your presentation can cause your team to miss key points and feel confused. Talk slower than normal – what seems slow to you is likely a perfect speed for your listeners.

3 Make it interactive.

Use questions, activities, and discussions to encourage team participation . You’ll keep listeners engaged and more receptive to your ideas.

4 Glance at the clock.

Occasionally checking the time can prevent you from lingering on certain points too long. This way, you can get through your full presentation without rushing or going too long.

5 Create natural segues.

Organize your presentation in a way that links ideas together and creates a smooth flow between points. Think of your presentation like a movie: There should be a transition from one “scene” to the next. This way, your team members can more easily follow along.

6 Build your confidence.

Practice, practice, practice. Imagine your living room is your meeting space, and practice giving your presentation aloud with no one present. The more you practice and present, the more confident you’ll become. And sure, it’s understandable to feel nervous before a presentation. But just trust yourself! You’ll do great.

7 Let your personality shine through.

Leave room for you in your presentation. If quirky jokes are your specialty, don’t hesitate to add them (where appropriate, and with discretion) into your presentation. If a personal story might perfectly explain a concept, there’s room for that too.

Presenting like a pro

Giving a meeting presentation might seem daunting, but taking time to prepare and practice can take your confidence to new heights. The tips in this article can help you level up your presentation skills and keep your listeners participating the entire time. And for every type of meeting presentation, Fellow has many resources to help you create meeting agendas, improve team engagement, and receive useful feedback from your employees.

How to Conduct a Meeting Audit in 7 Steps: A Guide for Leaders 6 min read

Meeting Minutes: Templates, Examples (and Automations) to Move Faster and Smarter 9 min read

How To Write and Automate a Meeting Summary for Optimal Outcomes 7 min read

How to Coordinate Multiple Tasks and Priorities Effortlessly

See how leaders in 100+ countries are making meetings more productive and delightful.

Say goodbye to unproductive meetings. Fellow helps your team build great meeting habits through collaborative agendas, real-time notetaking, and time-saving templates.

End every meeting knowing who is doing what by when. Assign, organize, and prioritize all your meeting action items in one place.

Give and get feedback as work happens. Request and track real-time feedback on meetings, recent projects, and performance.

Improve your practice.

Enhance your soft skills with a range of award-winning courses.

How to Give a Presentation During a Meeting

February 7, 2022 - Dom Barnard

Presenting at a meeting, even for the most experienced speakers, can be a scary experience. Some people react with panic when they hear the word ‘presentation’. Keeping track of the time and managing visual aids while speaking is hard enough for most professionals.

It is crucial to impress the audience with credibility and confidence in the information being shared, whether addressing colleagues, clients, a board of directors, or business partners. Rather than just getting by, a few practical tips can you successfully present in a meeting.

Develop an audience-focused perspective

It is vital to shape a meeting for the specific audience it is addressing . This requires a thorough understanding of them. For instance, a presentation for technical developers would differ greatly from a presentation targeted at CEOs, even if it is the same project.

The presenter should take into account what the audience already knows and what they are looking for from the presentation. When planning a business meeting, the speaker must reckon with:

Audience size
The level of complexity at which to address the topic
Part of the audience that might be disinterested
How to help even the least informed to understand the subject

The audience is always right. If a new product fails in the market, prospective customers did not make a mistake in refusing to buy it. It is better to place faith in the wisdom of the target audience when preparing a presentation. Then they can judge what will resonate well with them. After all, it’s theirs to gain.

When addressing a new audience, it pays to research the demographic and perhaps consult with other leaders before the meeting to explore the agenda. Investigating an audience helps to know better their needs and interests. The ultimate goal is to make a bid, motion, or proposal that’s focused on the listeners’ perspective.

Manage your nerves

The fear of public speaking, also called glossophobia, is a common phenomenon. According to Psychology Today , an estimated 25% of the world population has this problem.

Even mild glossophobia can have severe implications in some individuals. Even some experienced public speakers get anxious when presenting a business idea. In short, the most challenging part of making a business presentation is managing the nerves. A few tips would help overcome anxiety.

1. Silence voices in the head

Some voices in the head can damage one’s confidence, suggesting that the presentation is boring, embarrassing, and not good enough. Such voices of insecurity only make the presenter self-conscious.

The important thing is to identify and dismiss them as lies. Practising this attitude will eventually lead to more confident presentations.

2. Focus on the point, rather than oneself

Some people are so afraid of public humiliation that they end up messing up and embarrassing themselves. They forget the meeting is not about them but the matter in question.

The best approach is to stop perceiving the presentation as a contest or a source of judgement. Shifting the attention from oneself to the main objective eliminates the anxiety.

3. Turn anxiety into excitement

Nervousness and excitement are closely related. Proficient business presenters see themselves as excited rather than nervous moments before getting on stage.

4. Use notes as shorthand reminders

Notes should guide the presenter on what to cover and in what sequence. The points should be used as support, not scripts. It is about delivering the ideas, not reading them.

5. Authenticity

Many business presenters mess things up by trying to fake things. An audience will respond best to authentic behaviour, even if it’s not perfect. By contrast, a presenter who sounds artificial damages their reputation, breaks the connection, and reduces audience engagement.

Being audible enough is critical to passing a powerful message during a meeting. Loud voice projects confidence, authority, and leadership.

Body language

Business leaders use body language to their advantage. This is a preeminent visual that the audience needs to see. It is how the body communicates non-verbal, i.e., through posture, gestures, stance, and facial expressions.

Depending on the body language, which can be conscious or unconscious, a presentation can evoke confidence, frustration, boredom, anger, or excitement. Some of the most powerful board meetings have been delivered by applying body language tips highlighted below.

Holding eye contact with delegates to enhance credibility
Smiling more to build trust
Standing still (reduce the pace) to sound more powerful
Use of hands to express emotions and emphasize key points
Utilising the entire space and walking around to encourage engagement
Standing upright with relaxed arms to demonstrate confidence

Audience participation

Most people don’t like lengthy presentations. When bored, they start murmuring to their neighbours or checking their phones. To avoid monotony, the audience must be involved . Ice breakers and introductions, for instance, re-energise attendees so they can concentrate. Some of the effective ways to engage the audience are as follows.

Telling a joke or story
Getting people to read information out loud
Sharing a personal experience
Including a Q&A session in a PowerPoint presentation
Relating ideas to a current trend
Bringing slides to the attendees’ hands with appropriate tools
Asking provocative questions
Provide a comical observation about the audience

The first five minutes of a business presentation is the perfect time to ask people in the room to raise their hands and answer simple questions. This is probably the best moment to capture their attention and spark interactions.

A killer opener is the fastest way to convince a crowd. If the audience can respond to a poll or agree with the underlying premise, they are more likely to accept the call to action.

Streamline the PowerPoint

While having text on PowerPoint (or similar software such as Keynote) is the easiest way to recall points, it is easier to lose the audience when reading directly from the slides. Many executives make this mistake in their first year of running a company.

Instead, they should create simple, clean visuals with consistent colours to explain concepts. Images must be relatable to the audience’s perspective. Text must be less than 10 words per slide and in bold font, if necessary.

Visuals should illuminate rather than misrepresent an explanation. Pictures and graphs showing percentages can be more effective than text. However, complex imagery gives the viewers a hard time trying to fathom the agenda. Some attendees may be short-sighted, so there’s a need for larger and clearer fonts. All in all, simplicity and consistency are fundamental to helping the audience follow along.

No matter how complex a business presentation seems, it is of utmost importance to capture the attention of the audience and keep them hooked till the end. The advice on this page can take a formal meeting from merely good to great. The tips above can be used by all presenters across the board, regardless of their experience level.

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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.

Improve Presentation Skills List Infographic Venngage

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.

17 Public Speaking Tips That’ll Help You Crush Your Next Presentation

It’s no easy feat to stand up and talk in front of people—whether it’s five or 50 or 500. In fact, surveys have found that public speaking has long been one of the things Americans fear most.

Unfortunately, in many professions, some amount of public speaking is necessary. It might be that you need to present in a small meeting, give an update to the entire company, or present at a conference or other event. No matter what it is or how daunting you find it, there are steps you can take to prepare and improve your skills.

Understand the Expectations and Learn the Details
Know Your Audience
Plan and Structure Your Speech
Don’t Overload Your Slides
Practice, Practice, Practice
Get Feedback
Memorize Your First and Last Lines
Join a Club or Go to a Workshop
Get in the Zone
Don’t Bury Your Face in Notes
Make Eye Contact
Repeat Yourself
Let Some Questions Go
Keep Talking
Remember the Audience Is on Your Side
Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself

Before You Even Get Up There

So much of what goes into public speaking happens way before you step up to the front of the room. Preparation and practice are key. Here’s what you can do in advance to make the actual speaking part as smooth as possible.

1. Understand the Expectations and Learn the Details

“Gather all of the information regarding location, technical setup, time you’ll be speaking, dress, topics to include/avoid, type of presentation, etc.,” says Tara Goodfellow , a Muse career coach and owner of Athena Consultants . Having all of this information ahead of time will help you prepare a presentation that fits the occasion and resonates with your audience.

It’ll also help you avoid technical or logistical snafus that can add unnecessary stress, Goodfellow says: “You don’t want any surprises as in realizing you were supposed to bring a laptop or handouts.”

2. Know Your Audience

It’s as important to understand your audience as it is to understand the subject you’ll be discussing in front of them. “Make sure you understand the level of knowledge,” Goodfellow says, and tailor your presentation accordingly. “You don’t want to bore them with details they already know nor do you want to overwhelm them.”

Josephine Lee , third place winner in the 2016 Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking , emphasizes that even if she’s giving the same speech to two different audiences, she’ll take the time to customize it. She always asks herself, “What is the specific audience and why are they there?”

So, for example, the toast you’d give at an engagement party among all your college friends might be pretty different from the speech you give at the same friend’s wedding in front of the whole extended family.

Or in a professional context, imagine you’re giving a presentation about the future of your company. That would look really different depending on whether you’re talking to a group of executives from your own organization versus a room full of college students who are interested in getting into the industry. For one, you might dive into the nitty gritty of last quarter’s performance and share your insights about what changes your organization needs to make to remain competitive. For the other, you’d probably zoom out a bit more, give an intro to your industry, and sketch out what your company does and where it’s going.

3. Plan and Structure Your Speech

So often the focus of advice about public speaking is about how you’re saying the words in front of an audience. Those things are unequivocally important (which is why we go into detail about them below!) but before you get there, you have to think about what you’re saying.

“You can have great diction and you can have great presentation skills, but if your words and structure are all over the place then people are not going to remember what you said,” says Lee, who credits Toastmasters with teaching her how to write a speech. “It is 100% about simplicity, because when you’re giving a speech in front of a live audience it’s so fleeting that if you have multiple points and if you go off on tangents and if you don’t stay on one simple path then people won’t remember what you were speaking about.”

Lee always picks one central point when she’s preparing a talk—whether she’ll be speaking for five minutes or 45. She’ll present her central theme, give supporting evidence and examples, and keep circling back to that main message. “So even if the audience forgets 99% of your speech, which they will, they will go home with that 1%,” she says.

Rajiv Nathan , a Muse career coach and founder and CEO of Startup Hypeman , takes a similar approach with a slightly different formula. His go-to structure for a talk is “inward, outward, forward.” He starts with a story that explains why he’s talking about this topic in the first place, zooms out to evidence that others are thinking about it as well, and ends with solutions.

In a workplace setting, this might translate into laying out a challenge your team is facing, zooming out to examine how other teams and companies are thinking about and handling similar issues, and end by proposing next steps for your team.

4. Don’t Overload Your Slides

If you’re using slides to accompany your presentation, make sure you avoid overloading them with too much text. “Think about how you like to be presented to,” Goodfellow says. “Very few of us like an 80-slide presentation where the person just reads everything to us.”

Beyond the simple fact that people will be distracted squinting at that teeny tiny type, you might be tempted to start reading off the slides and you’ll end up sounding a little too much like Ferris Bueller’s economics teacher (i.e. droning on and on and on in a monotone).

Instead, Nathan says, use slides primarily as visual complements to your words and a tool to emphasize your main takeaway.

5. Practice, Practice, Practice

Okay, pay attention, because if you absorb just one thing from this article it should be this: You have to practice. Not once or twice but over and over again.

“When you practice it enough you figure out the rhythm,” says Nathan, who estimates he practiced his TEDx talk about 100 times before he gave it. You’ll also feel more confident and comfortable speaking without reading off a piece of paper (or your slides) because the structure and progression will become so familiar.

Lee takes advantage of any opportunity to practice when she’s preparing to speak. “Practice of any sort can be very helpful. I practice in my room or in the shower or driving in the car,” she says.

6. Get Feedback

While practicing on your own is useful, it can be even better to do it in front of a live audience—even if that’s just your work bestie or your sister. The more you get used to speaking in front of actual humans the easier it’ll get.

Plus, you can get feedback from your trusted practice audience before you go out and do the real thing. Ask them if your words and points were clear, if there was anything that confused them, how your rhythm was, and if there was anything else they noticed.

You can also give yourself feedback. Use your phone (or whatever other device you have) to record audio or video of your practice sessions. When you play it back, you can become your own audience in a way and pick up on things you didn’t realize needed some attention.

“I have had clients astounded at their mannerisms and overuse of ‘um’ when we’ve played back video. Most of us have a nervous ‘go to’ sound or movement,” Goodfellow says. “Once you’re aware of it, you can work on it.”

7. Memorize Your First and Last Lines

You’ll want to have a pretty clear idea of what you’re going to say, of course. But you also don’t want to sound like a robot regurgitating a pile of words you wrote down.

By the time she was comfortable in front of an audience, Lee wasn’t reading her speeches or even memorizing an exact script. “If you memorize everything word for word, it’s not going to sound very natural,” she says. Instead, she plans the structure but keeps the words themselves a little loose with a couple of exceptions: “I generally try to memorize the opening sentence and the closing sentence.”

The goal is to ensure you start and end strong while still giving yourself the room to speak naturally in between.

8. Join a Club or Go to a Workshop

If you’re committed to improving your public speaking skills, then not only should you practice each speech or presentation before you give it, but you should also try to get as many of the real thing under your belt as you can so that you become accustomed to it.

“It’s the most important to get as much stage time in front of an audience” as possible, Lee says. “That’s why Toastmasters was such a useful organization for me because it gave me the grounds to practice on in front of a live audience.”

Toastmasters is of course one of the more well-known options, with more than 16,000 clubs all over the world, but you can also check out meetups, classes, and workshops. If those options aren’t available in your area or don’t appeal to you, try gathering a group of friends and/or colleagues who want to practice their skills and give and get feedback on a regular basis as well.

During Your Speech

Doing all of the prep work should help you feel ready and confident—at least, more than you would otherwise. Here’s how you can keep helping yourself in the moment.

9. Get in the Zone

For about 10 minutes before he gets on stage to give a talk, Nathan becomes something of a recluse. He doesn’t talk to anyone, he drinks some water, he crouches down somewhere, he focuses on his breathing, and he repeats this phrase to himself: “Use expression to create possibility.”

Now, that’s a very specific set of actions that works for him, but he recommends everyone figure out their own “stage mantra” or routine. Ask yourself, he says, “What do you need to be repeating to yourself beforehand? What, action-wise, do you need to do beforehand to get yourself in the zone?”

It might take some time to find the things that help you in the lead-up, whether you do them the night before, the day of, or in the moments just before you begin. If you’re not sure where to start, think back to some other reference point in your life when you were preparing for an important event, Nathan says. What did you use to do before a baseball game or piano recital or big exam? See if those things help now and iterate until you find the right combination.

10. Don’t Bury Your Face in Notes

When Lee first started giving speeches, she’d just read the whole thing word for word off a piece of paper. “It was terrible,” she says, remembering the early days before she became the accomplished speaker she is today. “Notes are like a crutch. So you just start to rely on [them] more and more,” she’s realized. “It’s more important that you’re connecting with the audience, making eye contact with the audience, and [having] a true conversation with the audience.”

She no longer uses notes at all—she just memorizes the opening and closing lines, as mentioned—but reaching that comfort level takes practice. If you’re still working up to that and need your notes, she says, go with bullet points. They’ll help you stay on track without tempting you to read everything from the page.

Notes can also block your face or torso, or draw your eyes down as you’re reading, says Nathan. So if you plan to bring some, try folding your paper or using index cards with just those few bullet points to serve as a reference.

11. Make Eye Contact

You’ve surely heard it before, but eye contact is key in public speaking. It helps you connect with the audience, Lee says, and it’s most effective when you focus on one person at a time. “When you are giving a speech, you should always sound like you are delivering to a single individual rather than speaking to the masses,” she says. “Direct eye contact with one person then moving to another is an effective way to do that.”

12. Use Pauses

“A lot of times people speak really fast. Their mind is racing and they want to make a good impression,” says Jennifer Sukola , a Muse career coach and human resources professional. “People tend to want to rush through and get it over with,” especially when they’re nervous. It’s something you might get feedback about or pick up on if you record yourself.

One of Sukola’s biggest tips for public speaking—using pauses—can help with overall speed as well as pacing. You can use pauses strategically, inserting them right after important points to let them sink in or right before to allow you to gather your thoughts and get the audience’s attention for what you’re about to say.

Sukola likes to follow a structure where she makes a point, pauses, provides support for that point and recaps, pauses again, makes a related point, etc. “If you follow that outline and pause in conjunction with the points you’re making,” she says, “the audience has a chance to let that simmer, to let your points settle and think through [them].”

13. Repeat Yourself

Remember that the people listening to you talk live can’t rewind to catch that important thing you just said or flip back a few pages to find that crucial point you made earlier the way they could if they were watching a video or reading a book.

So help them out by repeating the thesis or main takeaway of your talk, says Nathan. In his own talks, he might repeat that take-home line six or eight times. The repetition ensures that everyone hears it, realizes it’s important, and can process it and let it sink in.

“It’s got to be short and punchy,” says Nathan, and you can accentuate it with pauses before or after you say it. If you have slides, you might also want to put it up there once or twice. It’s like the chorus of a song, Nathan explains. It’s catchy and it’s the first thing someone will be able to repeat back to you.

14. Let Some Questions Go

You can do a whole lot of planning, but the truth is that you can’t anticipate everything, including questions that might come up. Goodfellow stresses that it’s okay to say, “That’s a great question, let me get back to you on that.” In fact, that’s far better than stammering through and making something up.

15. Keep Talking

Lee may now be an award-winning speaker who travels all over the world to give talks and feels comfortable ditching the notes, but even she still freezes and forgets her speech sometimes. You have to just keep talking until you find your way back.

“Get away from that mentality that you have to be perfect. It’s okay if you forget,” she says. “You learn to start to fill in the gaps. Start to speak until you remember. No one in the audience knows you forgot your speech,” she adds. “What you are feeling inside is not as apparent as you think it is. If you keep that in mind and keep talking, eventually you’ll come back.”

And if your talk has a clear, simple structure, it’ll be easier to find your way back in.

16. Remember the Audience Is on Your Side

For many people, public speaking feels like one of the scariest things they could be called on to do, Lee says. They’re terrified of failing and think they’ll be humiliated and ostracized. But the people on the other side don’t want to see you mess up—they’re eager to hear what you have to say.

“If you remember that the audience wants you to do well, that they’re on your side, it’s a much easier process,” says Lee. Focus on what you’re giving to the audience—as if you were giving advice or telling a story to your best friend—rather than on yourself and how you appear.

17. Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself

Finally, remember that everyone gets nervous. Those executives many levels above you whose presence is making you sweat? They probably get nervous when they speak, too, Goodfellow points out. “Give yourself a little bit of grace,” she says, and do the best that you can.

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10 ways to interact with audience members while you present

Presentation expert Clif Atkinson tells a great story about a 2009 education conference where two speakers got very different reactions from their audiences. The first speaker started off with interactive exercises, he was entertaining, and overall, he was a hit. The second speaker launched in with a more traditional PowerPoint presentation , and he … didn’t go over quite so well.

In fact, while he presented, bored attendees started a “backchannel” on Twitter. They critiqued his slides, his content, and his delivery until finally, someone suggested a t-shirt. By the end of the keynote, you know exactly what happened: a t-shirt was made and for sale on CafePress.

All this to say that audience participation isn’t always a good thing. What you’re aiming for isn’t just participation for the sake of participation, but an interaction that gets the audience closer to embracing your ideas.

You want to keep them engaged, on their toes, and show them that you value and want to connect with them. To that end, we offer you these 10 positive ways to interact with audience members to foster engagement and participation.

10 audience engagement examples to keep interaction up to

Audience engagement example #1.

Ask a series of “raise your hand if… ” questions. The first simple thing to try is to ask your audience a series of questions. Each question should demand a gradually-more-difficult response throughout your presentation.

Within the first 60 seconds of a presentation, I like to ask the audience a simple question about themselves — then get them to respond by raising their hands. (“Raise your hand if you’ve ever…”)

Why do this so early? A  recent study on attention span during lectures showed that the first lapses in listener attention tend to happen within the first minute of the talk. So, by asking a question like this right away, you spark an interaction and establish a small, immediate connection.

If they’re willing to raise their hand at the beginning of a talk (and answer a poll, agree to a premise, etc.), they might be more willing to follow your call-to-action by the end of your presentation.

Audience engagement example #2

Tell a joke. Another simple way that you can forge a connection at the beginning of your presentation is by telling a joke. A joke is, in itself, a smart way to interact with audience members since it’s a natural back and forth. It either asks the audience to answer a question (Why did the chicken cross the road?), or it elicits laughter (hopefully).

A  study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology proved that using humor improves peoples’ perception of you in a professional setting. So try making your listeners laugh, and they’ll think even more highly of you from the get-go. (Note: joke-telling requires subtlety; get lots of feedback on your joke-telling abilities before trying it in front of an audience. Seriously! Telling a bad joke, or even a good joke badly, is a great way to lose your audience, too.)

Audience engagement example #3

Use a polling tool. Polls are one of the best ways to interact with audience members. They cause people to think critically about what they hear and urge them to share their own opinions and expertise. Aside from the typical hand-raising poll, technology can help here. Put a question on the screen, then ask people to respond via their smartphone or laptop.

There are many polling tools out there that you can use to collect responses, including  Polleverywhere.com , which is a popular app that can collect and broadcast poll results in real-time.

Audience engagement example #4

Turn to X (formerly Twitter). I’ve always been a fan of the power of Twitter, especially when it comes to boosting audience engagement during a presentation or event. Sure, it can be used to design a t-shirt about your boring talk. But better yet, you can use it to interact with audience members who are responding to your ideas in real time.

One of the simplest techniques is to create a unique hashtag for your talk. Ask them to send tweets with that hashtag, and make it easy for them by keeping your hashtag visible during your talk. You can even use a tool like  Everwall to easily project what people are tweeting about your talk onto a screen in front of them.

Be strategic though, about when and how often you display Tweets. You don’t want to distract people. Choose a strategic moment in the talk when you can step aside and let the opinions of the audience speak for themselves. Or, in a day packed with presentations, use Twitter in between talks to help boost audience participation.

Displaying live content from Twitter works twice as hard as other interaction techniques. It encourages listeners to grapple with what they’re hearing during a talk (and to wait and see their own tweet up on the stage), and the tweeted content is available to the entire internet. This means that you can increase the reach of your event (organically!) beyond just the people who are in the room.

Audience engagement example #5

Get the slides in peoples’ hands. Presentation slides  help you communicate your ideas clearly, but they can also get people to participate while you speak. Give people a closer look at slides by using a tool that can bring those slides directly into their hands. You can use a tool like a Slidedo c™ to create visually-digestible versions of your slides for your audience in advance.

Another way to help people engage more with your slides is to simply invite them to snap a photo. Pause a moment, then say, “Okay, everyone, take out your smartphones. This is the slide you want to take home with you.” Not only do they get a nice visual takeaway, but you also get another moment to do a call-and-response with your audience.

Audience engagement example #6

Prop it up. Physical, tangible props or visual aids are another one of the easiest ways to interact with audience members while you present. You can use a prop onstage to demonstrate ideas, or you can pass it around the audience so that they can engage with it. Anything tangible increases the number of senses engaged and boosts your audience’s attention.

One example of a great speech that uses a prop is Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED Talk “My Stroke of Insight” in which Taylor used a human brain model as a prop to explain what happens during a stroke. Many props end up becoming a  S.T.A.R. Moment ™, as well, which adds even more impact.

Audience engagement example #7

Get active. The fact that you’re giving the talk doesn’t mean it has to be one-sided. You can get people to interact with activities. For instance, you can instruct audience members to pair off, then give them 5 minutes to complete an exercise. This exercise could simply be an icebreaker to get to know someone else in the room.

On the other hand, it could be an exercise that helps them develop useful skills you’re trying to impart (i.e. sales techniques, communication strategies, and more). Whatever you ask of them, just remember that each back-and-forth helps you work toward your big ask or call-to-action at the end.

Audience engagement example #8

Get people to repeat information out loud. It may seem like an elementary exercise, but if you want to be memorable and engaging, ask people to repeat key concepts out loud. In a  study on memory , researchers at the University of Montreal found that repeating information boosts a person’s ability to recall that information. So, by asking your audience to repeat key facts and concepts from your talk, you increase the chances they’ll remember it.

Audience engagement example #9

Take questions along the way. Questions make it easy to interact with audience members, yes, but they can also help educate them about your information or idea. Don’t wait until after your talk or for when you can meet one-on-one with audience members to answer their questions.

Designate times within your talk when you collect and answer questions from attendees. You can use a tool like  Slido which allows audience members to submit questions in real time. Then you can sort through those questions and answer the ones you deem best or most helpful.

This allows you to create more of a curated Q&A experience, instead of relying on strong, high-quality questions from your audience that also happen to reinforce your main message. Collecting them through an app this way allows you to have some quality control, as well.

Audience engagement example #10

Create an interactive experience. You can take action a step further — with interaction. Your goal here is to make the audience feel like they are participating in something. Have them move around the room. When you create a space that doesn’t feel like an auditorium or allow to physically interact with the audience, it feels like something is happening to them.

One great interactive talk I attended was about the effects of war on the availability of different spices in certain regions of the world. Stapled to the program for the show were two small plastic envelopes. In each envelope was a flavored marshmallow, labeled A and B.

At the right moment in the presentation, the presenter asked everyone to eat marshmallow A, then compare it to the taste of marshmallow B. And in that moment, everyone in that room shared the same flavor experiences (and a moment of realization about one of the many indirect costs of war).

How to engage an audience in any scenario

At the end of the day, your audience is going to participate in your talk one way or another. You want to be sure to control the nature of that participation by being smart about the ways you interact with audience members while you present.

If you try out some of the ways to interact with audience members discussed above, you can be pretty sure that no one will be bored enough to create a t-shirt about how boring you are. You may even end up with an audience who feels moved to make a t-shirt about how engaging you are – but who can’t do it because they are just so busy participating in your fascinating talk.

For more tips on keeping engagement high in your next presentation, take our Resonate® workshop . It’s designed to help you structure your presentation in a persuasive and engaging manner naturally. Get equipped with the course, today!

This article was originally published on September 23, 2020. It has been updated in July 2024 for relevancy.

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How to get instant feedback from your audience.

Getting your audience engaged is the most important thing you can do when presenting. We previously published an article on Zeetings , a program that lets the audience become part of the story by using an interactive program directly from their smartphones. Here, Farshad has reviewed ten other programs that you can use to make sure your audience becomes part of the story, instead of just listening to it.

Sometimes the biggest enemy of a presenter is doubt. One can get a bit jittery by looking at uncertain faces in the crowd. You might want to know what your audience is thinking so that you may be able to refine your presentation in case you’re going off track. One of the best ways to find out what your audience is thinking is to use polls. Conducting live polls during a presentation session can help you gather instant feedback and fine tune your presentation on the fly to ensure you can be on top of your game.

There are a number of polling apps, devices and plugins that you can use for conducting live polls during presentations. Different polling tools provide different options, including some which even enable presenters to continuously gather audience feedback and view brief statistics as they present their slides. If you want to use polls in your presentations like a pro, then here are 10 best polling tools to gather instant audience feedback.

1) Presentain

Presentain is a presentation web app where you can either upload and present a PDF, PPT or PPTX file or fetch a file using your Google Drive account to present your presentation right from an internet browser. Presentain provides presenters with a URL that can be shared with the audience so they can follow your slides live as you present them, using any internet connected device.

Your audience can also take part in Live polls using the same URL, allowing you to not only present your slides by broadcasting them via the internet but also to instantly gather audience feedback by offering them polls. In fact, your audience can even ask you questions using their internet connected devices.

Here is a brief introductory video which shows all the basic features of Presentain.

2) PollEverywhere

PollEverywhere is an audience response system which enables creating polls in PowerPoint and Google Slides. The PollEverywhere add-in for PowerPoint or the Chrome extension for Google Slides can be used to create polls and gather audience feedback by allowing people to participate in polls via internet connected devices such as smartphones tablets or laptops. Furthermore, your audience can also respond to polls via Twitter.

PollEverywhere has a comprehensive set of features for conducting polls and quizzes using open ended questions, multiple choice questions, true or false quizzes, as well as clickable image and Q&A polls.

Here is a short video which explains the main features of PollEverywhere.

3) Mentimeter

Mentimeter is an audience response system which allows presenters to create polls using multiple choice or open ended questions, polls based on a point-based system, or use dual axis or scales to gather audience feedback. Your audience will be able to cast their votes via a designated URL. This means your audience can instantly cast their votes by using their mobile phones, tablets or laptops during a Live presentation session.

Here is an introductory video which explains how Mentimeter works.

Swipe is a comprehensive presentation web app which can not only allow you to conduct polls but you can also use it as a PowerPoint alternative. You can get started with Swipe by uploading a PDF or image file, and even embed videos from YouTube and Vimeo.

With Swipe you can design your slide decks and add polls to your presentations. Like most polling systems, Swipe provides a polling URL for the audience to respond to polls.

5) ParticiPoll

ParticiPoll is a PowerPoint add-in which can help you add polls to your PowerPoint slides. You can start using Participoll by signing-up for a free account, picking a polling URL and downloading the add-in to start adding polls to your PowerPoint slides. Your audience will be able to respond to polls using your custom polling URL.

The data gathered via Participoll is logged to your account, which means you can login anytime to your Participoll account to view audience feedback.

6) Ask The Room

If you’re looking for a free and easy way of conducting a Live poll during a presentation, you can also use Ask The Room . With Ask The Room you can instantly set up a poll by using options like ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Don’t Know’. Ask the Room requires no sign-up and you can begin your poll by going to the home page, and clicking on Start Poll. You will be provided with a custom URL to share with your audience where they can poll, and you will be able to see the result in real-time via your browser.

7) ActiVote

If you are looking for a voting system for educational purposes that comes with associated hardware clickers that your audience can use, then Activote can be a good option. ActiVote is a comprehensive polling system by which you can create polls on your computer and allow your audience to respond using ActiVote clickers.

The primary use of ActiVote is for educational purposes and it can be a good option for conducting quizzes or assessing your students using various voting based activities. ActiVote works with Windows, Mac and Linux.

OMBEA is an audience response system which can be used to insert interactive slides in PowerPoint to conduct polls during presentations. OMBEA not only works with laptops, smartphones and tablets but is also compatible with remote clickers.

You can conduct polls using open ended or multiple choice questions and enable your audience to respond using remote clickers or internet connected devices. This makes OMBEA easy to use and expands the number of devices that can be instantly turned into remote clickers.

9) iClicker

If you are looking for a clicker based polling system, which also supports clicker devices, then iClicker is an audience response system that you should look into. This clicker based polling system enables you to gather audience feedback by allowing them to poll using smartphones, tablets, or clicker remotes.

To find out all about how iClicker works, see the developer’s introductory video given below.

10) ClickAPad

ClickAPad is another comprehensive audience response system which not only provides a polling add-in for PowerPoint but also offers clicker remotes for purchase or rent. ClickAPad has a number of products that you can look into for conducting polls during your events to quickly gather audience opinion regarding a specific topic.

The tools mentioned above include both free and paid tools, with basic to advanced polling options. Whether you are a teacher, business professional, or just someone looking to conduct a survey during a live presentation, the aforementioned polling tools can help you conduct polls and fine tune your presentation in view of live audience feedback.

If you liked this, then you might also like

A conference calling platform which allows you to conduct instant polls: How to Deliver Online Presentations During Remote Meetings

Using audience polls in a webinar : Why Webinars are Great and How to Design Them Effectively

Using audience polls to keep your audience engaged: 7 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Keep Your Audience Hooked

5 More Ways to Get Instant Feedback from your Audience

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35 Comments

Jack Vincent

10th January 2017 at 2:53 pm

These are really good recommendations. I’ve also used a tool called HappyScore http://about.happyscore.io , which is a bit different.

Good stuff, Farshad. Thanks!

27th September 2017 at 3:35 pm

Let me add Meeting Pulse to the list. It works well and looks really nice. https://meet.ps

People use it for classes and lectures because the free version allows to poll up to 50 people. It’s also good for business meetings and webcasts. Features include – 15 second to set up a poll – all popular questions types – works for every device – no need to install anything – very simple

You can also run Q&A and create surveys.

jeremy pokers

22nd November 2017 at 11:02 am

These are really good recommendations. I’ve also used a tool called BugRem , http://www.BugRem.com which is a bit different.

Lesley Barringer

23rd November 2017 at 1:55 pm

Hi Jeremy Thank you for your comment! I’ve just visited BugRem’s site to investigate, and it looks interesting and has a free trial too… Thanks again Lesley

Ben Bradbury

19th December 2017 at 2:08 pm

Great article Farshad! Glisser is also a simple way to collect instant feedback from your audience. All web-based, nothing to download, and their polls are pushed instantly meaning you collect the maximum level of feedback from your audience. You can also share your slides and ask questions through it too.

Check it out here: http://www.glisser.com

Rosie Hoyland

19th December 2017 at 3:17 pm

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Ben. I’ve just looked at your website – interesting (and useful)…

John Dineen

4th January 2018 at 2:44 pm

Great post. I stumbled across the post while I was searching for embedded polls. To add another tool to the mix – Pubble Live Q&A: https://www.pubble.io/live-qa

Pubble’s live Q&A is deigned to be incorporated into the conference / event website. It enables the participants to ask questions and follow the thread live. It includes a presenter mode for the presenter to display selected questions on the main stage.

Moderation is supported. You can also push in questions from Twitter. Lots of other cool features, detailed on the product page above.

5th January 2018 at 11:48 am

Thanks for sharing this John. It looks like your tool would be useful for hosting live audience Q&As. Have you seen our article on this: https://www.presentation-guru.com/5-easy-to-use-solutions-to-boost-your-audience-engagement/ which gives tips on how best to incorporate Q&A sessions into your presentation?

Ronnie Overgoor

11th March 2018 at 7:29 pm

Maybe a good idea to add NorthPolls to the list: http://www.northpolls.com . NorthPolls is extremely easy to operate by the chairman of the day on the stage via his or her own smartphone.

12th March 2018 at 11:33 am

We’ll check it out Ronnie – thanks

Heera Malik

4th April 2018 at 6:14 pm

I suggestion to try BugRem tool. #www.BugRem.com

Leo Budrinca

13th April 2018 at 10:02 am

You can also try for free https://hypersay.com/ Hypersay is a platform for interactive presentations that massively increase engagement. Keep your audience engaged with polls, questions, private notes and live slide sharing. Store, enrich & deliver presentations from your cloud.

17th April 2018 at 3:58 pm

Here’s another free tool for Polling, Quizzing, Audience Questions (and voting), slides follow-through, after-session audience feedback, and instant slide-deck handout. http://www.beamkast.com

Frank Zielen

18th April 2018 at 3:58 pm

Here’s another one: “Poll At Once”.

This is a free native app for iOS and Android. It’s just one touch to start a poll and designed for live audiences. Attendees can just answer A,B,C or D. No sign up and total anonymous.

Check out here: https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/poll-at-once/id1366256403?mt=8 or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.zmb.poll

Maybe you like it.

Nidhi Bambalkar

12th May 2018 at 4:17 am

Nice but one more to add i.e. Customer feedback tool.

15th May 2018 at 9:58 am

That’s a great post. And it really helps. It gets more and more difficult to keep the audience engaged while presenting. We stick to directpoll.com. It is a very simple solution for real time feedback on your live stream poll.

15th May 2018 at 11:09 am

Thanks Kate – you’re absolutely right and it’s great to find out what people are using day-to-day.

Llarry Watson

19th June 2018 at 12:11 pm

Hi! Great blog! To get instant feedback from audience and customers, you can use feedback apps. Feedback apps are cost efficient and provide accurate results. Soft Intelligence Data Centre has engagement apps for organizations and businesses which help in the overall growth. You must check out them once.

19th June 2018 at 12:14 pm

We will do! Thanks for the tip.

12th July 2018 at 1:00 pm

Nice article! I just wanted to introduce you to a polling based mobile app that I developed recently, called Pollpop (pollpopapp.app.link). It’s about organizing polls and discussions within your groups or the public at large. Let me know your thoughts. Cheers!

13th July 2018 at 10:02 am

Thanks Dev – we’ll take a look.

Melissa R Halvorsen

10th September 2018 at 6:21 pm

I tried to use Presentain, and it’s essentially useless in America. It’s based in Ukraine, and their app isn’t available to the US market. It’s a paid platform, so buyer beware.

18th September 2018 at 1:06 pm

Hi Melissa,

I have previously used Presentain without any issues, however I recently tried it again after seeing your comment and it seems there might be a bug preventing users to log into the app. You can try other options in the post to gather audience feedback as an alternative.

Recently, I used Mentimeter for feedback after a presentation at my organization. I used emoticons representing satisfied and unsatisfied audience and conducted a Live poll and it worked out perfectly.

Dave Horchak

6th October 2018 at 8:42 pm

The whole idea is assinine. Real science shows once you are part of the group tour measurements are worthless. The audience knowing they are being viewed and measured will give answers they think you want instead of true opinions. Waste of time and money more harm then good as it will support your preconceived notions and give failed erroneous data.

23rd January 2019 at 4:36 am

I have a new engagement tool for free has a lot of features to engage and attract your audience http://www.enablerplus.com

19th July 2019 at 11:05 am

These are really amazing tools. You can also add 2Shoes App in your list. Thanks for sharing.

Shahani Markus

7th September 2019 at 3:20 pm

Check out http://www.emojot.com – it is a full-fledged voice-of-audience solution (as well as a voice-of-customer and voice-of-employee solution). Its capabilities are best suited for enterprises. It has been used for TV, radio and large conferences as well as in small group meetings.

brian schott

20th December 2019 at 10:58 pm

Please consider Pollaborator.appspot.com

Pollaborator http://pollaborator.appspot.com/ is a unique, free web app which enables anyone with a google account to create a PARTICIPATIVE poll: in addition to indicating preferences in Pollaborator, respondents can add their own questions/comments for future respondents to indicate their preferences, too. To experiment with Pollaborator go to this link http://pollaborator.appspot.com/table?ID=codeBSchott (anyone, no account is needed).

Elizabeth Keshishyan

23rd December 2019 at 3:22 pm

These are some great tools. I would also add to the list the Swift Polling by ExciteM ( https://swift.excitem.com ) which allows for PowerPoint integration and SMS voting. This is a life-saving solution for cases when people do not own smartphones.

19th April 2020 at 5:21 pm

I can recommend to have a look at Poll For All ( https://pollforall.com ) The poll result view in the app gets real time updates and can be used in presentations. There is a web app, which can be opened directly in a desktop browser.

21st April 2020 at 4:07 pm

I will take a look – thanks for bringing it to our attention.

20th June 2020 at 1:51 pm

Hi, farshad! These are a really awesome tool in today’s world to take instant feedback from the audience and most of them I never heard about. I will definitely go to use them and share it as much as possible because it creates a lot of disturbance during a session to ask audience review over a certain topic. Thanks a lot for sharing them!

Prakriti Sarvouy

21st August 2020 at 11:18 am

Try Pollpop for voting and discussions within your group. It’s pretty slick. You can ask a question to your group (along with images, videos, maps, even other widgets, and options). Ask as a private or semi-private option. Your group gets a chance to vote and discuss the topic. You also get a cool analysis of the voting results, so you clearly know who stands where. You can also add your group members as connections for future discussions.

• App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/ph/app/pollpop/id993397343?mt=8 • Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amaze.pollpop&hl=en • Website: http://pollpopapp.com

17th September 2020 at 11:19 am

This sounds fantastically useful! Thanks for sharing.

Muhammad Lodhi

18th February 2021 at 4:23 pm

Excellent information and comments by everyone. I am looking for free software to run polls from my PowerPoint presentation for my students without adding any cost to them – they are already paying a hefty price for books and online resources. Poll Everywhere looks good but charges students. Has anyone else a product to share with me. Please send information to me at [email protected] . Thank you for the belp.

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How to Prepare for a Meeting: Step by Step (With Examples)

It’s a good idea to make sure that all bases are covered if you’re planning a meeting ahead of time, so that you know it’ll go smoothly.

But there’s plenty more to do than just getting your slides and talking points ready while you’re in preparation for the meeting.

From working out a clear structure to getting your team prepped and ready, there’s a lot to consider.

Let us walk you step-by-step through the meeting preparation process that works for us at Slido and share some of the best practices that were game-changing for us.

1. Set purpose and goals

First, define the meeting purpose, or the ‘ Why ’ behind your meeting. Why are you meeting? Is it to brainstorm? Is it to have a discussion or plan the next steps? If you set one clear objective, it’ll be much easier for you to design an agenda for your meeting.

Second, specify the main goal, or the ‘ What ’ of the meeting. What should come out of the meeting? What is the main deliverable? Set a tangible meeting outcome and stick to it. If it’s to make a decision about X, don’t leave the meeting without seeing it through.

These will be the guideposts that will help you set the right expectations and steer the meeting in the right direction.

2. Create & share an agenda

Now that you’ve set your meeting objectives and goals, it’s time to create a bulletproof agenda.

A meeting agenda is an outline of all the activities and discussion points to cover during a meeting in order to reach the meeting goal/s. In short, a structure that your meeting will follow.

While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all meeting agenda template, there are several best practices to keep in mind when designing an agenda for a) recurring and b) one-time/first-time meetings.

Recurring meetings

With meetings that you run regularly – e.g. team syncs – it is tempting to think there’s no need for an agenda. Your colleagues already know the format, so what’s there to design? Well, there are still things to consider.

The main keyword here is simplicity . A simple agenda goes a long way and will hold your meeting together like a skeleton. All you need is a list of action points to go through.

Write down the main discussion points that you want to touch on during the meeting. You can even assign owners that will drive the discussion around each point.

Here’s an example from one of our meetings:

an example of a meeting agenda for regular recurring meetings

💡 Don’t forget to share the agenda with your team members ahead of the meeting (1-3 days) via your internal comms channels, such as Slack, Webex, or Microsoft Teams.

One-time meetings/First-time meetings

With new meetings for which you don’t have an already established format, you need to go deeper. In these instances, you need to design the whole meeting agenda from scratch.

The main keyword here is alignment . Given that your team members don’t know the format, it’s crucial to:

Communicate clearly the purpose, expectations and goals of the meeting
Describe the structure and length
Explain what needs to be prepared and what the responsibilities of each member are
Crowdsource any questions or discussion points in advance of the meeting

If there are multiple speakers who will present at the meeting, align with them prior to the meeting. Set a time frame for each of the meeting sections. Be as specific as possible.

Get inspired by our first-ever ‘Cross-team alignment’ meeting, for which we set a very bold objective — to bring together 3 teams (20+ people) and get them aligned .

an example of a meeting agenda for newly run formats of meetings

A lot also depends on the size of the meeting. If you’re preparing an all-company meeting, there’s a whole different strategy to employ. Read more about how to design an all-hands meeting agenda here .

3. Send out meeting invites

Send meeting invites to everyone involved in the meeting at least two weeks in advance so your colleagues have enough time to work it into their schedules.

Add all the important details in the meeting invite description. Share the meeting goals and the agenda (regardless of whether you already shared it or plan to share it later – make it available in the invite as well).

In case you’re meeting online or in a hybrid setup , also include the link to the video conference call so that nobody can miss it, and can easily access it via their calendars.

Here’s an example of a meeting invite for our summer brainstorming session:

an example of a meeting invite with shared meeting agenda, meeting goals, and Slido

💡 For even better invites, add links to Slido so you can start collecting people’s input , like questions or ideas before the meeting. Learn more in the next point.

4. Collect questions and ideas from your team

Gathering input from the team members before the meeting works well with some meeting formats.

Brainstorming & planning

For example, if you’re having a brainstorming session or a planning meeting, start collecting your team members’ ideas beforehand. Attach a link to Slido to the meeting agenda or to the meeting invite and ask your colleagues to type their ideas into the app.

This gives your colleagues a safe space for submitting their ideas and levels the playing field – everyone can contribute equally , even the ones who fear speaking up in the meeting. They can even do so anonymously if they wish.

Plus, it’s more efficient than brainstorming during the meeting. It allows you to review all the submissions before the meeting and then spend the meeting time discussing and prioritizing.

In preparation for our meetings at Slido we use this technique a lot:

an example of collecting ideas before a brainstorming meeting via Slido in internal communications channel

Retrospective meetings

A team retrospective is another meeting type where you can benefit greatly from collecting insights beforehand.

Send a stop-start-continue survey for your participants to fill out in advance.

an example of a retrospective survey created in Slido

Go through people’s submissions and look for patterns, items mentioned repeatedly, or any other important feedback. This way, you can identify the most burning issues which you can then use to create an agenda, and drive discussions during the meeting.

Create your own poll or survey in Slido and hear from everyone. Sign up below and try it for yourself.

All company meetings/All team meetings

Larger meetings such as all-hands, town halls, or strategic team meetings provide an opportunity to address questions or concerns that your team members might have. Give your team a chance to post their questions into Slido even before the meeting.

You can then address them during the meeting – either in a dedicated Q&A session , or address them continuously throughout.

We start collecting questions from our employees about a week before every company all-hands meeting .

an example of collecting questions before a meeting via Slido in internal communications channel

This way, our executive team has time to prepare their answers and our colleagues have a chance to go through the submitted questions and upvote the ones they identify with. We also give our colleagues a chance to ask anonymously which means our leadership gets more honest questions.

You can find more tips and ideas for all-hands meetings at our all-hands hub .

Read also: How to Host More Effective Meetings by Collecting Input in Advance

5. Distribute supporting materials

If there’s material that you want your meeting participants to review before the meeting, or if there’s something that you want your team to prepare, communicate it well in advance. You may, for instance, add it as an attachment to your meeting invite or share it in your internal comms channel.

It’s good for getting everyone aligned and familiar with the forthcoming discussion.

However, it’s good practice to clarify expectations and make a clear distinction between what’s a must and what’s nice to have . Perhaps not everyone needs to read through a 50-slides-long presentation. Sometimes, it’s enough to get a gist of what will be discussed.

6. Prepare your slides

Getting the slide deck ready is a drill you surely know very well, but here are a few tips that can make your life a little easier.

Apply a minimalistic approach to your slides. Keep them simple – one idea/one number/one sentence per slide. People don’t want to read huge bodies of text on slides. Plus, it’s more visually appealing.
Use the ‘Rule of three’ method – three bullet points, three columns, etc. It’s easier for people to process
Cut the number of slides too. Spend the meeting time on a fruitful discussion rather than going through an 80-slides-long presentation.
Use visuals like images, graphs, tables, etc. Preferable to making people read, apply the ‘show & tell’ approach – show something visual and describe what people are looking at.
If there will be multiple presenters at your meeting, have one master deck. Share it with all the contributors before the meeting and ask them to add their slides there. It’s much smoother than switching presentation decks.
As you prepare slides for your meeting, think of all the points of interaction with your meeting participants (see the next point). For instance, you can insert live polls directly into your slide deck with Slido for Google Slides and Slido for PowerPoint .

7. Create opportunities for interaction

When designing a meeting, create multiple ‘ interaction points ’ – the spots on the agenda where you purposefully create a space for your meeting participants to actively contribute.

This is important for creating meaningful engagement throughout your meeting. If you let your participants sit passively through the meeting, you will eventually lose their attention.

Forbes reports that the average person loses focus within 10 minutes.

If, on the other hand, you give them space to be actively involved in the meeting, you will engage them.

So, how do you create these interaction points?

Go through your meeting agenda and think about at which point it would make sense to hear from your participants.

For example, after you’ve brainstormed some ideas for projects, ask your teammates: “Which of these projects do you think we should prioritize in the next quarter?”

Turn it into an interactive poll . Add your project ideas as options in a multiple choice or a ranking poll and let your teammates vote.

an example of Slido's ranking poll used for prioritizing the upcoming projects

It’s a way to make your meetings more democratic – you’ll give everyone a voice – and engaging – you’ll involve everyone in co-creating the meeting and influencing its outcomes.

Learn more about how to create interaction spots in your presentation here .

💡 You can add a Slido poll, quiz, or Q&A directly into your slide deck with Slido’s integration with PowerPoint and Google Slides – it will be added as a separate interactive slide. You can manage every interaction as you click through the slides.

8. Prepare the opening

How you kick off the meeting may lay the foundations for the rest of the meeting, so leave nothing to chance and make sure to prepare your opening well.

Welcome everyone; if your meeting includes remote participants, give them a special greeting to make them feel included from the start.

To loosen people up, prepare a little icebreaker, using our selection of icebreaker questions , or, if you need a quick interactive activity that will get people talking, fire up a fun poll question .

For example, check the mood in the room and ask your colleagues how they feel in a word cloud poll . You can even let them express their feelings in emojis.

Slido word cloud used with emojis as an icebreaker at a project kick off meeting

Use the poll results to trigger a small chit-chat at the start – it’s good to start the meeting with a bit of socializing, and make sure to ask open-ended questions if you want to get people really talking.

Once you kick off the official part, provide a quick context for why you’re meeting up today and briefly run people through the agenda once again.

9. Set up the meeting

Lastly, make sure you have the meeting room arrangements figured out – whether you’re meeting in an actual room or in a virtual one.

Meeting room: Face-to-face meeting

Book a meeting room and add the room number in the meeting invite or write it in your team’s internal comms channel so everyone knows where it is you’ll be meeting.
Consider the number of participants; make sure everyone will have a place to sit. Arrange some extra chairs just to be safe – more is better than less.
Make sure the seating doesn’t favor anyone – everyone should feel equal and able to contribute. Ensure everyone can hear each other well. If it’s a large meeting, ensure there’s a microphone at people’s disposal.
Arrange for refreshments; at least supply water, so people don’t need to leave the room to get a drink.

Meeting room: Hybrid meeting

Book a room with a large screen and a tech setup that allows for a conference call with good audio and video.
Good audio is key . Make sure that all participants – both on-site and remote – can see and hear each other well. If your online colleagues can’t hear what’s happening in the room, they’ll have trouble joining the discussion. Ensure all your meeting rooms are equipped with quality external speakers.
Have microphones available in the meeting room to make sure everybody online can hear their on-site colleagues if they speak up. This is important especially for meetings with a larger number of participants.
Check if people online can hear you well . Everybody has to hear everything – and feel like they’re heard.

Online room: Fully remote meeting

Make sure everyone has easy access to the video conferencing link where the meeting will happen. Share the link in your team’s internal comms channel or in a calendar invite (see point #3).
Send a meeting reminder via your team’s internal comms channel some 5 minutes before the meeting.
Start the video conference a couple of minutes early , to avoid any delays. Test the audio and troubleshoot any potential tech issues.
Ensure every participant can hear you well as people start joining the call. You can do a little ‘thumbs up’ check – just ask your participants to put their thumbs up if they hear you well.
Encourage people to turn on their cameras so your meeting feels more personal.

Ready to kick off your meeting?

The quality of pre-meeting preparation can make or break your meeting. You can never be over-prepared. But fail to prepare at your own peril.

With the tips that we’ve shared above, you will be 9 steps closer to a stellar meeting . We wish you good luck.

And in the meantime, go ahead and try Slido for free. Start by adding one or two polls to your meeting presentation to keep your team members actively engaged . You can always add more later.

Here’s to better meetings! 🥂

Try Slido at your meeting

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20 Presentation Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged from Start to Finish

Business | Marketing | Nonprofits | Students | Teachers

By kai tomboc - january 14, 2020.

Losing the audience’s attention is one of the most painful challenges for anyone making a presentation.

Halfway through your presentation, you notice that a couple of audience members are getting restless. The people at the back seem bored as they look down on their phones, and one of them just yawned (ugh!).

You start to feel that you failed to engage your audience. You wonder if you’re the problem. Are you a boring presenter? Perhaps you’re stuffing too much information in your slides.

Master audience engagement with these presentation best practices

From engaging product demos to presentation decks that stand out, read on for 20 valuable tips to keep your audience excited to hear more from you.

What makes a great presentation?

Before you get started, it pays to know what makes an excellent presentation.

1. It informs your audience by providing reliable information.

People want to be informed. They want to learn something new. For this reason, you should look for reputable links. The information should be as recent as possible, and at least less than a year old.

Your research work doesn’t need to be from online sources. You could also cite printed sources from the library. Double-check all of your sources and make sure they have substantial research and statistics to back them up.

2. It persuades your audience to take action.

A presentation should be persuasive. This is especially true for business presentations and product demos. You might also want to appeal to your readers through emotions.

3. It educates your audience and empowers them to make informed decisions.

Presentations are, by nature, educational. You might be introducing your audience to a new idea, product, or service.

4. It instructs your audience in a clear, compelling way.

A presentation should be instructional. Organize your presentation as clear and concise as possible, so your audience will be able to digest your information more effectively.

5. It inspires your audience by being memorable.

A good presentation motivates an audience to act on things that they’ve been meaning to do after hearing you speak or present.

20 best pactices for visually-appealing, convincing presentations

With all that in mind, here’s a list of useful best practices and tips for presentations that stick.

1. Know your target audience.

example of getting to know an audience persona

Your target audience is the demographic that you’re aiming to convince, educate, or inspire with your presentation. This crucial step helps you craft a presentation that resonates with your intended audience.

For instance, if you’d like to educate teens, create a presentation that appeals to their age group. Make your presentation more upbeat, and use pop culture references and images that they can relate to.

On the other hand, if your target audience spans middle-aged professionals, your presentation should be straight-to-the-point and based on facts. These professionals are typically results-oriented, and they want to get to the heart of the matter right away.

By and large, getting to know your target audience enables you to create a presentation without wasting time on uninterested demographics.

2. Create an outline.

Your next step is to create an outline of your presentation. It will help ensure order in your presentation and present facts and sources as effectively and efficiently possible.

It’ll also help if you assign a subtopic for each slide. Let’s say your main topic is the American Civil War. The war lasted roughly four years, and if you delve into it without any organizational structure, your audience will end up confused. Sort your slides according to year and the important events that took place. The same applies to any topic.

3. Start with a memorable introduction.

Opening a presentation with “My name is .. ” or “I’m here to talk about..” are less likely to make your presentation memorable and engaging to your audience.

So how do you keep everyone glued to your presentation with a powerful, memorable opener?

Share an anecdote, ask an intriguing question, or get people’s energy up with a short activity.

Next, make your opening slides as eye-catching as possible. In your opening slide, use bold fonts. Add visuals like gifs or an animated infographic.

Finally, provide an overview of your presentation in the introduction slide. An overview that meets your audience’s expectations of your presentation helps keep an audience absorbed and attentive from start to finish.

4. Eliminate clutter in your slides.

Avoid overcrowding your slides with images or graphics. Although it’s fine to use visuals to complement your slides, the keyword here is “complement.”

Too many photos will make your slides look cramped. Take a minimalist approach to your slides. For images and graphics, use them sparingly and thoughtfully.

Don’t be afraid of white space in your slides. Consider readability first, visual appeal second.

5. Use pictograms.

Lengthy presentations could get boring in the long run. So if you want to keep your audience’s attention, you will need to make your presentation attractive and easier to understand.

Enter pictograms !

Pictograms express information, ideas, or messages through images, signs, or symbols. Also, they can help simplify complicated concepts.

6. Be thoughtful of your color scheme.

Your choice of colors can have an impact on your audience’s mood and perception of your presentation. It may not be evident at first glance, but your presentation colors can draw a particular set of feelings from your audience. Orange looks more carefree than beige, right?

Here are some quick tips to help you pick the right color combination for your presentation:

Choose a color scheme that matches your presentation’s theme. For example, if you’re about to present a serious topic, consider somber, dignified colors like white, black, or brown. But if you want your presentation to be more upbeat, use lighter hues like yellow and orange.
Use your brand colors to raise brand awareness and recognition.
Stick to 2-3 colors. Joint research by Adobe and the University of Toronto revealed that most people prefer a combination of 2-3 colors. A good rule of thumb is not to use more than four colors. When using more than 3-4 colors, go for shades, tones, and tints of your original colors like the example below.

shade, tint, and tones of the color blue

7. Focus your audience’s attention using data visualization.

Presenting statistics and percentages in writing can be a challenge to use in your presentation. For this reason, consider data visualization.

For example, graphs and charts are often used to highlight comparisons in data. You can also use them to inform your audience of a specific data point.

It’s worth noting that a poorly-designed graph or chart could ruin your presentation if proven false or shabbily done. Make sure that your data are correct, and your diagrams or charts are correctly labeled. Don’t just use pie charts because they look hip and smart. You have to learn how to choose the right chart or graph to visualize your data.

8. Use presentation templates.

Templates often take a bad rap because they’re perceived as limiting, sapping one of creative freedom. However, templates shouldn’t be perceived this way.

Think of templates as frameworks or a set of building blocks that you can tinker with as you create your presentation. Without a templated structure, you’ll likely waste a lot of time and resources making your presentation from scratch.

For example, use infographic templates as a way to make your presentation more engaging (minus the time-consuming task of making a presentation from scratch. The process infographic template below is perfect if you’re explaining a process in one of your presentations.

presentation template explaining a process

9. Try the duotone effect in your presentations.

The duotone effect is the use of two contrasting colors to create dramatic, visually pleasing results. Thus the name duotone.

This design style is gaining popularity with designers and non-designers alike. Learn more from this quick duotone tutorial via Adobe .

10. Show, don’t tell.

Stories are a powerful medium to get your audience to sit up and listen to you. For this reason, aim to “show” rather than “tell” your audience about a topic, insight, or idea.

For example, don’t just state facts or figures about the dangers of not investing in their retirement. Instead, share the story of someone you know who failed to plan for their retirement, nudging your audience towards making their own conclusions or insights.

Don’t bombard your audience with too much information all at once. Avoid jargon or complex concepts without sharing a story that’ll resonate with them. With compelling storytelling, you can create anticipation and then slowly build up to your key points.

11. Incorporate infographics into your presentation.

Infographics are valuable presentation tools because they combine visuals and text. As a result, you can communicate with impact.

Furthermore, infographics make your presentation more memorable. How?

A relevant image paired with informative text helps people retain 65 percent of the information three days later — a stark contrast to presenting text-only content where someone’s likely to remember only 10 percent of the information.

Here are a few guides and tutorials when creating infographics for your next presentation:

Guide to Making Infographics from Scratch (guide)
5 Ways to Use Call to Action in Your Infographic to Boost Audience Engagement (video)
How to Write Sharp, Compelling Infographic Copy (guide)

Easelly Pro Tip: Divide long infographics into smaller segments. Add an infographic section for each presentation slide. If you’d like to raise the bar further for your presentation, try animated infographics to make your slides come to life.

12. Avoid using bullet points.

Bullet points are great tools to emphasize tips, features, or steps in lists. However, it’s best to avoid them in presentations because they don’t help your audience retain information.

Research even supports this recommendation. In 2014, the International Journal of Business Communication published the results of their research — The Use of Visualization in the Communication of Business Strategies: An Experimental Evaluation .

The researchers wanted to learn whether the use of visuals is superior to text (a bulleted list to be specific) in communicating the strategy of the financial services branch of an international car manufacturer.

The researchers concluded the following:

“Subjects who were exposed to a graphic representation of the strategy paid significantly more attention to, agreed more with, and better recalled the strategy than did subjects who saw a (textually identical) bulleted list version.”

Instead of using bullet points, consider using icons or visuals.

Take a look at the example below. Which do you think will likely get the audience’s attention and be more memorable after the presentation?

13. Choose fonts that are easier to read.

The quality of your font could affect your audience’s reaction to your presentation. Don’t just use the first standard font that pops up in your presentation editor.

Your font should match the mood and intent of your presentation. If you want your presentation to appear casual, choose a font that gives off a similar feeling.

14. Use contrast in your presentation.

Check for contrast between your texts and presentation background to ensure readability. Make it a point to distinguish one from the other.

It’s also worth noting that you are going to show your presentation to a group of people. Depending on the seating arrangement, viewers at the back may find it hard to read your presentation. Make sure that your fonts are of the appropriate size. That way, none of your audience members will have to struggle reading your slides.

15. Consider gifs and memes

Gifs and memes are popular media tools for a good reason. You could incorporate them into your presentation, and they could add a sense of humor to your topic or pitch.

When using gifs and memes, avoid those that could be misinterpreted as politically incorrect or culturally insensitive.

16. Create a consistent look and feel in your slides.

Choose a theme for your presentation templates, and stick with it ’til the end.

This doesn’t mean that you should be boring or dull with your presentation. You can add images and infographics, but there should be a sense of consistency in your slides.

Consistency leads to familiarity, which in turn encourages learning and engagement.

17. Ask intriguing questions.

Asking intriguing questions enables you to draw your audience’s attention and highlight key points at the same time.

For example, you are conducting a presentation on the Roman empire. You want to get your audience’s attention, so you raise questions such as what they know about the Roman empire, and how did the Roman empire impact modern society?

The audience may or may not get the right answers, but they will most likely try their best to answer your questions. The resulting exchange of ideas will make your presentation more spontaneous and engaging.

18. Limit to one visual per slide.

Using too many visuals at once will make your presentation appear cluttered. Limit to one visual per slide to help your audience engage more with your text and information.

19. Embrace white space.

White space , also known as negative space, is the space between the lines of texts and visuals in your presentation. It doesn’t have to be white as it can also take the color of your presentation’s background. Think of white space as “empty space”.

It helps improves readability and ensures that your graphics and texts are clear and legible in your presentation.

20. End your presentation with an excellent call-to-action.

Call-to-action statements are an integral part of any presentation. They compel your audience to take action, and it makes your presentation more interactive.

Here’s a short video explaining how to use call-to-action in infographics (the same principles apply for presentations!):

Say you’re designing a presentation for a new gym you’re managing. You want people to try out the gym and the services you offer. You could incorporate the call to action at the end of your presentation.

“See you at the gym next week?” or “Level up in the New Year by signing up for our free gym membership for a month!” are good call-to-action statements that you can use.

Ready to start creating your presentation?

We’ve got your back if you need help with your visuals and infographics for your next presentation.

Use our simple infographic maker tool or hire one of our infographic design pros for custom infographics and animated infographics .

Here’s to a stellar presentation – we’re rooting for you!

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Join a Meet video meeting . At the bottom, click Present now . Select Your entire screen, A window , or A tab . If you present a Chrome tab, it shares that tab's audio by default. To present a different tab, select the tab you want to present, click Share this tab instead . If you present a Slides presentation through a tab, you can control it in Meet . Click Share. Optional: To unpin your presentation and view it as a tile, click Unpin . See how to un-pin a presentation in Google Meet using Google Workspace for business You can now see more participants while you present.

If your camera is turned on, your video is active while you're presenting.
For better presentations and to prevent mirroring, share a new window or a specific tab instead of the meeting window.
To share your audio, you must select Share a Chrome tab or Share this tab.

Scroll & zoom while you present

When you start to present, you can scroll and zoom within the presentation tile.

Existing presets: 25%, 33%, 50%, 66%, 75%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 110%, 125%, 150%, 175%, 200%, 250%, 300%, 400%, 500%.

Stop presenting

In the Meet window, click Stop Presenting .

Present if someone else is already presenting

At the bottom, click Present now .
Select Your entire screen , A window, or Chrome Tab.
Select Present instead .

Control Slides presentations in Google Meet

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If you’re using Google Meet on an eligible work or school account, you can control Google Slides presentations from within a Google Meet video meeting. You can also make other people in the video meeting co-presenters.

Important : To control a Google Slides presentation from a Google Meet video meeting, you must use a computer with a Chrome browser.

In a Chrome tab or window, open the Slides file you want to present.
In a different Chrome window, open Google Meet and join a video meeting.

You can either present from the Google Meet tab, or present directly from the Slides tab .
Select the tab with the Slides presentation, then click Share .
Important: You can only control a presentation in Google Meet when you're in slideshow mode.
Click to the next or previous slide with the arrow buttons.
Jump to a specific slide by clicking the slide number, and choosing from the list of slides.

Present to Google Meet from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides

Share files you present.

As you present, you can share access to the file when someone needs it. You can only share Docs, Sheets, or Slides files.

Important: To see share suggestions, you must use the Chrome or Edge browser and not be in Incognito mode.

A sharing suggestion only appears if you select “Present a tab” as the sharing mode.
You can grant access to the file and attach the file to the meeting’s Calendar event.
You shared the file.
The link is shared in the meeting’s chat.

Share during the presentation

If all participants have access to the file, the link is shared in the Meet chat and attached to the Calendar event.
If a participant doesn’t have access to the file, you’re notified with a pop-up. Click Share in Meet chat .
The file is shared in the Meet chat and attached to the Calendar event.

Tip: To not attach a file to an event, in the pop-up, uncheck “Attach the file to the Calendar event.”

Share in Meet chat

If all participants have access to the file, the link appears in the Meet chat.

The file is shared in the Meet chat.

Need more help?

Try these next steps:.

Google Meet is your one app for video calling and meetings across all devices. Use video calling features like fun filters and effects or schedule time to connect when everyone can join.

More From Forbes

Best practices for virtual presentations: 15 expert tips that work for everyone.

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In today’s COVID-19 world, virtual meetings and presentations have become the norm. While many presentation skills and best practices apply to both in-person and virtual presentations, expert virtual presenters understand the importance of adjusting their approach to match the medium. With in-person presentations, you more or less have a captive audience — you still need be engaging, but your audience is kind of stuck with you for the duration. But with virtual presentations, your audience has a greater opportunity to stray. You now have to compete for their eyes, ears, hearts, and minds against diminished attention spans, increased home and work life distractions, and conflicting priorities.

Here are 15 expert tips to set you up for success in your next virtual presentation:

1. Get the Lighting Right: As a presenter, it is essential that people can see you well. Make sure you have good front light—meaning the light shines brightly on your face. If your back is to a window, close the shades. While natural light is often the best choice, if your home office doesn’t have natural light and you do a lot of virtual presentations, consider purchasing supplemental lighting to enhance your image.

2. Choose the Right Background: Try to use a background that enhances your professional image and is aligned with your message. Avoid a cluttered background or anything that can be distracting. Learn whether your presentation platform enables you to use virtual backgrounds (like Zoom) or whether you can blur your background (like Microsoft Teams). Your background can either add to your professional presence or detract from it.

3. Know the Technology: Nothing kills a presentation faster than a presenter who fumbles with the technology. This is a performance, so make sure you know how to make it work. A dry run is essential so that you’re comfortable with the platform features. It’s best to have a co-host (or producer or moderator) assist you with the technology so that you can focus on your presentation. Make sure you practice with the same technical set up (computer and internet connection) that you will use when you deliver the presentation.

4. Play to the Camera: When you are the one speaking, look directly into your computer’s camera , not on the screen or at the other participants. This takes some practice, but it makes the viewer feel as if you are looking right at them. Some presenters turn off their self-view so that they aren’t distracted by their own image. Put the camera at eye level . Try not to have your camera too far above or below you. If it’s too low, then you run the risk of creating a double chin. A camera too high makes it difficult to maintain eye contact, as you may find your gaze dropping as you speak. If you are part of a panel or a team of presenters, make sure you are aware of when your camera is on. If you are not speaking but your camera is on, make sure you look like you are paying attention! Powerful presenters understand the importance of making eye contact with their audience, so this means you have to simulate the same effect virtually.

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5. Get Close (But Not Too Close). You want the camera to frame your face, neck, and shoulders. People are drawn to faces, so you don’t want to lose that connection by being too far away, but you also don’t want your face to take over the whole screen like a dismembered head because, well, that looks weird. Practice your positioning and distance.

6. Stand Up: If possible, use a standing desk or position your laptop so you can stand at eye level with your computer. Standing up provides a higher energy level and forces us to put our body in a more presentation-like mode. If you have to sit, lean forward as you would if you were presenting at a real meeting or as if you were a TV news anchor. Avoid slouching away from the camera, as that sends a signal that you are disconnected from the audience.

7. Be Animated: Just like in a live presentation, you want to present with a little energy and animation. Too slow or too monotone in your voice makes it easy for folks to disengage and tune out. Keeping people engaged virtually requires you to actually be engaging.

8. Pace Yourself: Without real-time visual audience feedback cues, getting the pacing right can be difficult. Even though you want to infuse some animation and energy into your presentation don’t pump up the speed too much. If you tend to be a fast talker in real life, practice slowing down just a bit. If you’re a slow talker, you may want to speed up just a bit.

9. Do A Sound Check: If your sound is garbled, people will tune out. While people may forgive less than perfect video, if they can’t clearly hear you, they will leave. Practice with someone on the other end of the presentation platform. Make sure your sound emits clearly. Sometimes headphones or external microphones work better than the computer audio, sometimes not. Every platform is different, so make sure your sound quality is excellent every time. And again, you should practice with the same technical configurations and location that you will use for your presentation.

10. Plug into Your Modem: If possible, plug your computer directly into your modem using an Ethernet cable. This will give you the strongest signal and most stable internet connection. The last thing you want to happen during your presentation is to have a weak or unstable internet signal.

11. Incorporate Redundant Systems. If using slides, make sure someone else (another webinar co-host or producer) also has a copy of the slides just in case your internet goes wonky and you have to present by calling in. If you are using slides, make them visually appealing. Use high-quality graphics and limit the amount of text on each slide. It’s your job as presenter to deliver the content. The slides are meant to enhance your spoken words, not replace them.

12. Engage Your Participants. Just as if you were doing an in-person presentation, craft your presentation to engage the audience. Incorporate chats, polls, raised hand features, etc. Try not to speak for more than ten minutes without some sort of audience engagement. Use the participant list to interact with your participants by name. Have people chat or raise a hand if they want to speak. Keep track of the order of people and then call on them to invite them to turn on their mics or cameras.

13. Let Someone Else Check the Chats. Don’t get sidetracked by the chats during your presentation. You’ll be shocked at how distracting it is to your train of thought if you attempt to read the chats while speaking. Instead, have your co-host or producer monitor the chats. If you ask people to chat you answers or comments to a question you’ve posed, then pause your talking and engage directly with the chats by acknowledging them, reading them out loud, and commenting on them.

14. Evaluate and Enhance: If possible, record the session and take the time to play back and look for areas that worked well and areas that you might want to improve upon. Great presenters, whether virtual or in person, understand the value of continually honing their craft. Be sure to acknowledge your strengths as well as your areas of improvement.

15. Be Yourself and Have Fun: Again, just like in face-to-face presentations, audiences connect to authenticity, so be yourself! Let your personality show through. Have fun. If you look like you’re enjoying the presentation so will others. Research shows that happy people retain information better than bored or disinterested people, so model the energy that you want to create. The audience takes its cue from you.

Remember, whether you are presenting in-person or virtually, all presentations are performances. And all performances are in service to your audience. Their time is valuable, so honor that time by delivering the best presentation you can. No matter what kind of presentation you are giving, you must find ways to create authentic audience connection, engagement, and value.

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50+ Fun Icebreakers For Your Next Presentation

If you’re looking for the perfect icebreaker to open your presentation and connect with your audience from the get-go, look no further! With the help of our presentation experts here at 24Slides, we have compiled the ultimate list of icebreakers you can use in your next presentation, meeting, or conference.

We’ll also go through some quick icebreakers 101, solving questions like:

What is an icebreaker?

Why should I start my presentation with an icebreaker?
What makes a good icebreaker for presentations?

And, of course, you’ll get our compilation of over 50 icebreaker examples for your next presentation. Since there’s no one-size-fits-all, we’ve divided our presentation ice breakers into categories depending on the context of your presentation, so you can go straight to the ones that will work the best for you!

In this article, you’ll find:

Icebreakers for one-on-one presentations

Icebreakers for small group presentations (2-10 people), icebreakers for medium group presentations (11-30 people), icebreakers for large groups (31+ people), icebreakers for business and sales presentations, icebreaker ideas for training sessions and workshops.

Virtual presentations icebreakers
Fun icebreaker examples for playful presentations
Great simple icebreaker questions

So, are you ready to become an expert in using icebreakers in your presentations?

Imagine you’re in a room with a bunch of people where you know only a few of them or even none at all. You’d probably start feeling awkward and self-conscious, uncertain to interact with those around you. When you’re uncomfortable, your attention will probably be divided between wanting to listen to the speaker and making sure your elbows don’t touch your unknown neighbor.

And, if you’re the speaker, you might feel pretty awkward too. Speaking in front of an audience is never easy, and you might wonder how to approach your presentation’s topic, especially if it’s dense or very important.

An icebreaker is precisely what its name suggests: it breaks the ‘ice’ of uncomfortableness between you and everyone else around you. Icebreakers are usually short activities meant to help your audience to connect first as people before approaching your presentation’s topic - making your audience more relaxed and likely to hear out your ideas.

Icebreakers can take many forms and shapes, from simple questions to engaging games. They can require people to talk with each other, answer a poll, or even move around the room. Anything that will make your attendees open up could be an icebreaker as long as it makes people feel more at ease!

Benefits of icebreakers

The main objective of using an icebreaker in a presentation is to help people get more comfortable and avoid the common awkwardness when first speaking to a new audience.

Icebreakers can accomplish many things - presenting yourself, getting people more at ease, and even as an introduction to your presentation’s topic. But they also offer a wide array of side benefits, like getting people more involved with your presentation and making it more memorable.

If you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Why should I add an icebreaker to my presentation? I’m just fine without one!’ here are 6 of the top benefits of using an icebreaker in your next meeting.

It breaks down the awkwardness

For people who aren’t 100% an extrovert, presentations and meetings are likely to create a certain degree of awkwardness. And having a room full of people who feel uncomfortable around each other can be detrimental to your presentation. Icebreakers help lessen this feeling in your presentation – making people relax and be more at ease so they can put all their energy into listening.

Icebreakers help people relax and have fun

When people relax, they’re more likely to entertain new ideas. An icebreaker may be the turning point to make them feel more receptive to what you’re going to say. It also opens up more possibilities for inviting your audience to participate and ask questions. Icebreakers are a great way to make them feel welcomed and more likely to volunteer or join whatever activity you’ve prepared for them onstage.

Help you connect with your audience

A presentation where the speaker starts right away can feel a little jarring. Icebreakers are the perfect way to introduce yourself and your topic without throwing your audience headfirst into the presentation. A good icebreaker can help you connect better with your audience – making them, in turn, more likely to hear you out!

Gives your audience an energy boost

Some presentations can feel like they take forever. When you’ve been sitting down for what seems like hours, you might feel yourself starting to nod off. An icebreaker doesn’t necessarily happen just at the start of the presentation. It can be a great way to wake up your audience after a quick break and bring them back to the topic at hand.

Gives a chance to network with others

The right icebreaker can get your audience talking and help them find things in common. After all, your audience is all in the same meeting for a reason! By giving them the opportunity to interact with one another, you are also giving them the extra value of finding people who can work with them in the future.

And, of course, icebreakers are great ways to get the ball rolling, so by giving your audience a chance to talk with one another, you might also get more interesting and unique takes on questions and ideas later on.

Creates a positive atmosphere

A positive atmosphere is created when people lower their barriers and defense mechanisms, making it more conducive to learning. A negative atmosphere, on the other hand, is felt when people don’t feel at ease and give their neighbors the cold shoulder. ‘Breaking the ice’ needs to get done as soon as possible!

5 Practical Tips for a Good Icebreaker

What makes a good icebreaker? This is a tricky question to ask. Many icebreakers that work in certain situations will not work in others, as their use depends on context.

Here are key factors to consider when planning your next presentation’s icebreaker:

Know your audience

Take the time to research your audience. The most important thing when planning your presentation’s icebreaker is to remind that you want your audience to feel less awkward — not more.

Taking your time to learn about the people in front of you is the easiest way to avoid doing or saying something that could potentially offend your audience. Even if you do it unintentionally, the damage will still be done.

Identify your presentation objective

The right icebreaker will help you achieve your presentation objective, so take some extra time to think about it. For example, if you’re giving a presentation on cooperation and teamwork, you can do a game where your audience needs to rely on one another. Or conduct a poll to ask your audience how confident they are in their teamwork skills.

Making your icebreaker closely relate to your presentation’s topic will not only open up your audience but also allow you to transition smoothly to the rest of your presentation.

Involve everyone

The icebreaker should be inclusive, meaning it shouldn’t exclude anyone from joining. For instance, if you have a disabled person in the crowd, then you wouldn’t want him or her to feel awkward for not being able to join.

Have a backup icebreaker just in case the first one excludes someone. The point is that fun icebreakers should make everyone feel more at ease — and not at the expense of the outliers of the crowd.

Make sure you understand the context

To pick the right icebreaker for your presentation, you must know the overall setting in which it will take place. A presentation to the board of directors where you need to explain where the sales have been going down is probably not the best place to use a joke as an icebreaker. Or, if you’re giving a quick 15-minute presentation, you might not want to begin with a game that will take at least 10 of them.

Taking into consideration general setting cues like time frame, space and resources availability, and presentation tone, will help you pick the perfect icebreaker.

The Ultimate Presentation Icebreakers List

Here you’ll find the perfect icebreaker for your presentation. Since not every icebreaker will work on every situation, here you’ll find them divided into several categories:

Icebreakers depending on your audience size
Icebreakers depending on your presentation’s tone and context
Quick and easy questions to break the ice

Do feel free to browse through the entire list: most icebreakers will be easy to adapt to fit your specific needs and your presentation!

Presentation Icebreakers for Every Audience Size

While in a small crowd, you might be able to ask person by person their input, this will most likely not be the case in large groups. On the flip side, a game that needs the audience to divide into teams might be a good pick for a medium-sized crowd, but not a one-on-one presentation.

Among the many options of icebreaker options all over the web, we’ve compiled and edited a list of which ones will work the best for each audience size:

Introduce yourself. Unless you already know each other, introducing yourself is the easiest way to look proactive and get your presentation going. After all, it’s in your best interest for your prospect to warm up to you before your pitch or presentation!
Have a conversation . Don’t go straight to your topic. Always warm up your prospects and engage them in conversation first. Try to ask open-ended (instead of just ‘yes’ or ‘no’) questions. You can tackle topics like current events, or even just the weather! Just talking in a more casual way will make the person feel more at ease and more likely to give you their undivided attention.
Ask them about their personal life. If it’s someone you already know, build rapport by showing you care about them. You can ask about their kids, vacations, or even their favorite sports team. Remembering what they care about can be a huge plus when building a better atmosphere!
Let them tell you what they expect from your presentation. It’s the easiest way to make sure you live up to your expectations! It also allows you to introduce the topics of your presentation seamlessly. Even better, you’ll feel and look more confident and under control by taking charge of the presentation’s rhythm and agenda.
Ask something related to your presentation topic. Ask them if they know anything about your company, product, competitors, or something to that effect. It’s not only a great way to start your presentation without spending too much time on what they already know, but it’ll also help you gauge their knowledge so you can decide how in-depth you need to get in your presentation.
Give them a small present just for showing up. Especially if the meeting is not an obligation for them, being appreciative if they show up can go a long way. After all, they’re investing their time and energy into you!
Compliment them. It’s always nice to get compliments. But don’t overdo it, and always, always be genuine. If your prospect feels like you’re using flattery to get the sale, then it can seriously backfire on you later on. You’ll lose face and credibility.
Introductions but with a twist. Ask everyone to introduce themselves and state something unusual or a fun fact about them. Towards the end of the presentation, ask them if they remember anything other people said during the introduction. If they get something right, reward them.
Ask people to line up alphabetically . You can do this with their first names or last names. Or even their nicknames. This gets people talking and getting to know each other’s names.
Charades . This is one of the best fun icebreakers on this list. It’s a party favorite but can also be used in presentations, meetings, and conferences. You probably already know how this works, but if not, here’s a funny charades video on Jimmy Fallon’s show.

String a story together . Storytelling is a powerful element in presentations. But for this icebreaker, you’ll need everyone’s help to create a story. Start the first sentence yourself and then ask the first person in front of you to continue the story. Each person gets to decide the direction the story takes, one sentence at a time.
Play word games . There are many different kinds of word games. But this is something you may find useful. Identify the subject or category the words should belong to, like animals or food. If the first person chooses ‘DOG,’ the next person must identify an animal that starts with the last letter of the previous word. In this case, it would be something that starts with the letter G, like GOAT.
One word to describe him or herself . Give your audience one minute to think about the perfect word that describes them. And let the others assess if they agree with that word or not.
Social media icebreaker . Let people open up their favorite social media accounts and then share a photo they’re most proud of. Ask them to share a line or two about why they love that photo.
Switcheroo. Ask everyone to stand up and switch seats with the people in front of them. Do this when you notice people are starting to get drowsy and need some stimulation.
Human bingo. This is a fun way to get to know people. Prepare the cards and the pen/pencil. The cards should already be filled out with various traits, characteristics, hobbies, etc. Then, your participants will need to go around and interview each person and check off a box that applies to them. The person who completes their card first gets a prize.
Friendly debate. Group your participants into two. One should be the ‘pro’ group and the other is the ‘anti’ group. For instance, you can choose pizza lovers and pizza haters. Give them a few minutes to present their arguments and let the great debate begin!
Two truths, one lie. Just like the title says, make your participants come up with 3 things about themselves, in which one of them is false. Then, in groups or pairs, the others would have to try and guess which one is the lie. It’s a great icebreaker to make your audience interact more with one another.
Guess game. Just like the last one, it’s easier to make participants interact with one another through a game. Make everyone write on a piece of paper something fun, like an unlikely hobby or the oddest job they ever had. Your audience must try to guess who wrote which one. It’s not only a fun icebreaker, but it also helps people find out the things they have in common.
Going to the beach. It’s an easy game, but a fun one! Each person will start by saying ‘I went to the beach and I took…’ plus an object, like a beachball, a towel, or a surfboard. Then, the next person must repeat the same sentence and add a new object to the list. The more people, the more the list will grow, and the first person who forgets an item loses! It’s also a good icebreaker for making attendees learn each other’s names by adding who brought what to part of the list they need to repeat.
Paper planes. Make your audience write something about themselves on a piece of paper, and then instruct them to make a paper plane out of it and throw it! When they pick up a new paper plane, their goal will be to find the correct person. It’s the perfect icebreaker to get people moving and getting to know each other!
Stretch. This one’s easy and straight to the point, but it does help break the boredom. Ask people to stand up and stretch for a few minutes. You can lead the exercise or play a short video on stage. After this short exercise, you can expect to see a bunch of awake and attentive faces.
Treasure hunting. Hide a few prized items throughout the venue and send your participants on a treasure hunt. It’s always exciting to look out for a prize! Even better, by making them solve clues, you’d encourage your audience to work on their teamwork skills.
Stress buster. Hand small slips of paper to everyone and ask them to write down the things that are causing them stress lately. Then, during or after the presentation, ask them to rip it to shreds.
Snowball fight. Divide your group into two sides, and give each person 3 pieces of paper to crumple. Give them 1 or 2 minutes to try to get as many ‘snowballs’ into the other team’s side. A healthy amount of competitiveness will help you break the ice in no time!
This or that. Another great icebreaker to highlight the things in common! Ask your audience to stand in the middle of the room, and ask them questions that will make them pick a side of the room. Things like ‘Dogs or cats?’ or ‘Night Owl or Early Bird?’ will have them jumping from one side to the other.

Icebreakers depending on your presentation’s tone

When planning your next icebreaker, you must always take into account the context of your presentation. After all, giving a sales report to your boss is not the same as giving a fun workshop on teamwork.

If you’re looking for the perfect icebreaker for a specific situation, here you might find the one you’re looking for!

If you’re looking for a more professional way to warm up your audience for your work presentations, these icebreakers are the one for you. Most business presentations are more serious and straight to the point, just like these icebreaker ideas!

Storytelling. This one is the king of icebreakers for business presentations and for a good reason! Storytelling is an incredibly powerful tool to add to your presentations, as it helps to both exemplify your point and connect emotionally with your audience. And of course, this makes it the perfect option to break the ice and get their entire attention from the get-go.
The highlight of the week. This icebreaker is great for getting your audience into a positive mood. When planning your next business presentation, take some extra time to find something good that happened that week or that month. Maybe you record sales for that month, or you got an exceptionally good review from a customer.
Would you rather? When planning your sales presentation icebreaker, this one will help to get your potential customer right where you want it. Highlight the value they’ll get from your product, and how they are missing out on it. From our experience, asking, ‘What do you prefer, struggling 5 hours per week on PowerPoint, or getting your presentations done by a professional team of designers in 24 hours or less ?’ really puts things into perspective!
Give kudos. The best way to put people in a good mood is to spread out some positivity! Giving the spotlight to someone who has done outstanding work recently can be a great way to break the ice.
Brainstorming session. Group brainstorming is another great way to get people to exchange ideas. You hit two birds with one stone – an icebreaker and an idea generator rolled into one!

The best icebreakers for training presentations and workshops are those that incentivize teamwork and learning skills. These icebreakers will help your team get to know each other better and work together in tandem.

Live polls. There are many apps that allow your audience to make live polls and display the results immediately. This is a great icebreaker, as it can be as serious or lighthearted as you want. You can use it to ask the audience’s mood, their favorite food, and how much they know about the topic at hand.
Word cloud. Just like a poll, a word cloud can be a great option to explore what your audience thinks about a prompt or concept you give them and to get the ball rolling. You can make them write down in groups, have them add their ideas to a board, or even make one through an app !
Problem-solution icebreaker. Present a real or hypothetical problem, and ask people to pitch in their solutions. You can ask them for their input individually, or you can divide them into pairs. As the saying goes, two heads are better than one.
Finish a puzzle together. This is great for group work as everyone can contribute. For example, you can give them a few pieces each, and they’ll then work as a team to complete the puzzle.
Pop quiz. This icebreaker is the best to keep your audience on their toes and on a learning mood. You can add it at the end of your presentation, before or after a coffee break, or even at the beginning to see how much previous knowledge your audience has.

Virtual presentation icebreakers

Not sharing a physical space can make breaking the ice even more of a challenge, especially since many icebreaker ideas would not fit an online presentation. So here you’ll find some icebreaker options that are specifically designed for virtual meetings!

Drawing battle. You don’t have to be a professional artist to enjoy this one! There are many apps and websites that allow you to add this game to your virtual meetings. Just propose a topic and let people try to guess what one of them is drawing! You can even divide them into teams to make it more interesting.
Try a virtual escape room. If you have time, try giving your audience this challenge to build cooperation and teamwork. It’s not only great for learning to work together but also to have fun and loosen up.
Count till 20. Your team must try to count to 20 by shouting one number each… but without agreeing in which order they’ll go. This icebreaker will definitely make people wake up, and probably also laugh as they try to avoid talking at the same time.
Emoji movies. Just like charades, your audience must try to guess the movie or book. But instead of someone acting, they must guess it from the emojis. It’s a great adaptation of a classic game for virtual meetings!

Fun icebreaker ideas for playful presentations

Icebreakers can also help your presentation be more playful and fun! If you like your icebreakers a little silly to make sure people loosen up their inhibitions, then take a look at these ideas.

The no smiles challenge. If you’re making a fun, playful presentation, a great way to make it even funnier is to tell people smiling and laughing aren’t allowed in your presentation. This will most likely have the opposite effect, making people even more ready to laugh at your jokes!
Human rock paper scissors. This is a fun, high-energy game, but may not be feasible for older participants. Check this video to see if this is something you can use in your presentation.

GIFs mood barometer. If you want your audience to be a little bit playful, having them share their mood as a GIF is the perfect way. If you want to keep some control of what they share, you can also use a live poll to give them options to choose from. It’s the perfect lightweight activity that still gives you valuable insights into your audience and their energy levels.
Bad jokes contest. The only thing funnier than a good joke is an extremely bad one. Have your audience try to use their best dad jokes on each other while avoiding laughing at the jokes of the rest.

10 Great Icebreaker Questions for Any Presentation

Sometimes simpler is better, and the easiest way to get people talking is to ask them to do so! These icebreaker questions will help your audience open up without taking much time or extra preparation.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be, and what would be your superhero name?
What's the most random piece of trivia you know and why?
What is the oddest job you ever had, and how did you end up working there?
If you could make a reality show, what would it be about?
What cartoon character would you like to hang out with?
Where is the most embarrassing place you ever fell asleep?
If they made a sitcom about your life, what would the theme song be?
What were the best and worst workshops/meetings/conferences you ever attended?
If the zombie apocalypse began, what three people in this meeting would you want on your team?
If you had to teach a class right now, what would the subject be?

As a speaker or presenter, it’s important that you prepare fun icebreakers for your audience. You want people to be comfortable not just with you, but with their neighbors and groupmates as well. The icebreakers in this list are just the tip of the iceberg concerning the wide array of possibilities you can choose from. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and get creative with your icebreakers!

Need more time to prepare for your presentation? 24Slides has you covered!

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Why Do People Multitask During Videoconference Meetings?

The real reasons why employees multitask and how to address these reasons..

Posted August 11, 2024 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

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Reducing meeting size and focusing on essential attendees can boost engagement and minimize distractions.
Asynchronous communication tools like Slack and email can preserve deep work hours and improve productivity.
Inefficient meetings drive employees to multitask; managers must rethink meeting structures.

Many managers—perhaps you—feel really frustrated that their employees may be multitasking during videoconference meetings. In fact, when helping clients figure out their hybrid work policies, many managers want employees to return to the office so that they can be confident their staff are actually paying attention and are fully present during meetings.

Let's not beat around the bush: If your employees are fiddling with Slack while nodding through yet another Zoom presentation, chances are it’s not them, it’s you. Oh yes, I'm looking at you, the manager who can’t seem to organize meetings with focused agendas and optimal attendance. But before you get defensive, let's consider some facts. You see, our meeting culture needs an overhaul, and the solution lies not in blaming the employees but in recognizing our shortcomings as decision-makers.

The Unseen World of Multitasking During Virtual Meetings

Most managers would assume that the bulk of multitasking during meetings consists of personal distractions—texting friends or even doing some online shopping. But let's dismantle that myth. The reality is more nuanced and, ironically, more work-related than you'd think. Surprisingly, evidence from a prominent scholar on remote work, Nick Bloom, shows only a paltry 5% of your employees are texting or talking to family and friends during Zoom or Teams meetings

The primary distraction? You guessed it: additional work tasks. Work-related multitasking occurs in roughly 30% of all virtual meetings, according to academic research using Microsoft Teams data. This includes actions like responding to emails, juggling Slack messages, and even editing a document. I know what you're thinking: "Well, if it's work-related, then what's the harm?" The harm lies in the fact that this phenomenon is most prominent in meetings that share specific characteristics—being long, having large numbers of attendees, recurring on the schedule, happening in the morning, and featuring a majority of cameras turned off.

But let's take a step back. Multitasking isn’t the devil it's often made out to be. In fact, some people say it helps them stay productive during parts of meetings that are irrelevant to them. It's a survival tactic, a way to squeeze productivity out of time that would otherwise go to waste. The real issue is, why are they in irrelevant meetings in the first place? It's worth contemplating that the next time you catch someone multitasking.

Why Blame the Manager?

As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to create an environment that empowers your team to succeed. When a significant percentage of your team is multitasking during meetings, it implies that you haven't succeeded in making that environment conducive to full engagement. Now, you may argue that employees have a responsibility to stay focused. However, as the person setting the tone, structure, and agenda of these meetings, you have a more considerable share of the responsibility to keep them dialed in.

Here's where the rubber meets the road: the problem isn't that your team members are choosing to be distracted; the problem is they feel compelled to do so because of inefficiencies in the meeting structure. Maybe the agenda is too broad, or the meeting is too long, or perhaps there are too many voices in the room. Either way, something about the format of your meetings is driving your team to seek productivity elsewhere. This kind of behavior isn’t just occurring in a vacuum; it’s a response to the environment you've created or allowed to persist.

Moreover, this disengagement extends beyond the meetings themselves. When your team is multitasking in meetings, the implication is that there's not enough time outside of meetings to accomplish their tasks. And that is a massive issue. It shows that the organization or team may be operating in a perpetual state of "meeting overload," leaving little room for focused, uninterrupted work.

Your Next Steps: Fewer, More Focused Meetings

Forget what you've been told about meetings being the cornerstone of effective team communication. If we're honest, many meetings serve as little more than time sinks that dilute productivity. The good news is that you have the power to change this pattern.

When you do decide that a meeting is essential, the attendee list should be your first consideration. Every person in that virtual room should be someone whose input is genuinely needed. Ask yourself, "Who really needs to be here?" If you can't come up with a good reason for an individual to attend, strike their name from the list. The leaner the attendee list, the more likely it is that everyone present will have a role to play, which naturally encourages active participation and minimizes the room for multitasking.

However, a smaller list alone won't solve the issue. It has to be paired with a well-thought-out agenda that necessitates active involvement from all attendees. No one should be in that meeting room—virtually or physically—just to nod their heads or fill a seat. The agenda should require input, questioning, or at least some form of active engagement from everyone. When people know they have a role to play, they are less likely to disengage and turn to multitasking as a way to cope with a dull meeting.

If you've taken these steps—fewer, more purposeful meetings with carefully considered attendee lists and interactive agendas—and find that people are still multitasking, it's a sign you need to dig deeper. The problem may not be the meetings per se but rather some undercurrent of team dynamics or individual motivations that you haven't yet identified. This could range from poorly defined roles within the team, which lead to a lack of ownership and accountability, to more intricate issues like cultural mismatches, misaligned incentives, or even personal crises affecting focus and productivity.

In the End, It's All About Engagement

If you want to hold meetings that not only command attention but also foster productivity, you need to take a hard look at how you're facilitating them. Understand that while multitasking may offer a Band-Aid solution for the employee, it reveals a gaping wound in your management style and communication strategy. So don't blame the employees for trying to juggle tasks; restructure your approach, and you’ll find the focus you so earnestly desire from your team.

A version of this post was also published on disasteravoidanceexperts.com.

Cao, H., Lee, C., Iqbal, S., Czerwinski, M., Wong, P., Rintel,S., Hecht, B., Teevan, J., Yang, L. (2021, May 07). Large Scale Analysis of Multitasking Behavior During Remote Meetings. Digital Library . https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3411764.3445243

Chang, R., Coursaris, C., Léger, P., Sénécal, S. (2022, June 16). The Effect of Multitasking During an E-learning Video Conference on Learning Performance: A Psychophysiological Experiment. Springer Nature . https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-05657-4_14

Sarkar, A., Rintel, S., Borowiec, D., Bergmann, R., Gillett, S., Bragg, D., Baym, N., Sellen, A. (2021, May 08). The promise and peril of parallel chat in video meetings for work. Digital Library. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-05657-4_14

Gleb Tsipursky, Ph.D. , is on the editorial board of the journal Behavior and Social Issues. He is in private practice.

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Pds biotech announces abstract accepted for oral presentation at 2024 astro annual meeting.

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PDS Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSB) (“PDS Biotech” or the “Company”), a late-stage immunotherapy company focused on transforming how the immune system targets and kills cancers and the development of infectious disease vaccines, today announced that updated data from the IMMUNOCERV Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating Versamune ® HPV (formerly PDS0101) with chemoradiation to treat locally advanced cervical cancer will be presented during an oral presentation at the 2024 ASTRO Annual Meeting being held in Washington, DC, and virtually September 29 through October 2, 2024.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2024, 2:50-3:00 p.m. ET Session title: SS 34 - GYN 2: Strategies and Innovations of Clinical Trials in Gynecologic Cancers Presentation title: 298 - IMMUNOCERV Phase II Trial Combining the HPV-Specific T Cell Immunotherapy PDS0101 with Chemoradiation for Treatment of Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Presenting author: Adam Grippin, M.D., Ph.D., The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

About PDS Biotechnology PDS Biotechnology is a late-stage immunotherapy company focused on transforming how the immune system targets and kills cancers and the development of infectious disease vaccines. The Company plans to initiate a pivotal clinical trial in 2024 to advance its lead program in advanced HPV16-positive head and neck squamous cell cancers. PDS Biotech’s lead investigational targeted immunotherapy Versamune ® HPV is being developed in combination with a standard-of-care immune checkpoint inhibitor, and also in a triple combination including PDS01ADC, an IL-12 fused antibody drug conjugate (ADC), and a standard-of-care immune checkpoint inhibitor.

For more information, please visit www.pdsbiotech.com .

Forward Looking Statements This communication contains forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended) concerning PDS Biotechnology Corporation (the “Company”) and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the Company’s management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “forecast,” “guidance”, “outlook” and other similar expressions among others. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights; the Company’s anticipated capital requirements, including the Company’s anticipated cash runway and the Company’s current expectations regarding its plans for future equity financings; the Company’s dependence on additional financing to fund its operations and complete the development and commercialization of its product candidates, and the risks that raising such additional capital may restrict the Company’s operations or require the Company to relinquish rights to the Company’s technologies or product candidates; the Company’s limited operating history in the Company’s current line of business, which makes it difficult to evaluate the Company’s prospects, the Company’s business plan or the likelihood of the Company’s successful implementation of such business plan; the timing for the Company or its partners to initiate the planned clinical trials for PDS01ADC, PDS0101, PDS0203 and other Versamune ® and Infectimune ® based product candidates; the future success of such trials; the successful implementation of the Company’s research and development programs and collaborations, including any collaboration studies concerning PDS01ADC, PDS0101, PDS0203 and other Versamune ® and Infectimune ® based product candidates and the Company’s interpretation of the results and findings of such programs and collaborations and whether such results are sufficient to support the future success of the Company’s product candidates; the success, timing and cost of the Company’s ongoing clinical trials and anticipated clinical trials for the Company’s current product candidates, including statements regarding the timing of initiation, pace of enrollment and completion of the trials (including the Company’s ability to fully fund its disclosed clinical trials, which assumes no material changes to the Company’s currently projected expenses), futility analyses, presentations at conferences and data reported in an abstract, and receipt of interim or preliminary results (including, without limitation, any preclinical results or data), which are not necessarily indicative of the final results of the Company’s ongoing clinical trials; any Company statements about its understanding of product candidates mechanisms of action and interpretation of preclinical and early clinical results from its clinical development programs and any collaboration studies; the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; and other factors, including legislative, regulatory, political and economic developments not within the Company’s control. The foregoing review of important factors that could cause actual events to differ from expectations should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with statements that are included herein and elsewhere, including the other risks, uncertainties, and other factors described under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in the documents we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Versamune ® and Infectimune ® are registered trademarks of PDS Biotechnology Corporation.

Investor Contact: Mike Moyer LifeSci Advisors Phone +1 (617) 308-4306 Email: [email protected]

Media Contact: Gina Mangiaracina 6 Degrees Phone +1 (917) 797-7904 Email: [email protected]

MyU : For Students, Faculty, and Staff

Professor Sapna Sarupria receives 2024 CoMSEF Impact Award

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (8/16/2024) – Department of Chemistry Professor Sapna Sarupria was recently awarded the 2024 CoMSEF Impact Award from the Computational Molecular Science and Engineering Forum (CoMSEF ) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The award recognizes one person within 15 years of their highest degree for their outstanding research in computational molecular science and engineering each year. This highly competitive award represents the top computational chemists in the field.

Sarupria is recognized for her numerous contributions to the advancement of computational methods for studying rare events. She is also recognized for her service to the broader research community and her dedicated advocacy for diversity and inclusivity in STEM and higher education. She will deliver a presentation titled “Seeing the Invisible: In Nucleation (and in society)” during the CoMSEF Plenary Session at the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting. CoMSEF Impact Award winners receive a plaque commemorating their accomplishment and an honorarium.

The Sarupria lab is called the SAMPEL lab (SAMPEL = Simulations and Advanced Methods for Probing Energy Landscapes). SAMPEL uses molecular simulations and statistical mechanics to study condensed phase phenomena. They also develop and apply rare event path sampling techniques. These techniques enable accessing processes that involve high free energy barriers and are typically inaccessible in straightforward molecular simulations. Current projects in the SAMPEL lab include ice nucleation, enzyme engineering, polyamide desalination membranes, enzymatic breakdown of polymers, and stabilization of vaccines. These projects are motivated by applications in energy, biology and sustainable technologies. In addition to leading the research efforts of SAMPEL lab, Sarupria is engaged in several education and equity efforts. She co-founded the NSF funded Institute for Computational Molecular Science Education (i-CoMSE) and has led the organization of two workshops focused on Machine Learning in Molecular Science which were held at UMN – Twin Cities. She also co-organizes a virtual seminar series “ Statistical Thermodynamics and Molecular Simulations (STMS) ” that has been successfully running since 2020 and attracts over 80+ participants at every event! So far STMS has hosted 82 seminars with 164 speakers. Additionally, Sarupria is the Chair of the ACS PHYS Theory sub-division, elected trustee of the not-for-profit Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering ( CACHE ), and member-at-large of the Executive Board of the Program Committee (EBPC) of AIChE. She is also the co-Director of the recently established NSF-funded National Research Traineeship program (NRT) Data-Driven Discovery and Engineering from Atoms to Processes (3DEAP) housed in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at UMN.

SAMPEL Group website

Student presentations, awards, and alumni reception at JSM

Alumni, students, and faculty attending a JSM reception 2024 hosted by University of Washington Biostatistics and Statistics

The University of Washington Biostatistics Department was well-represented at this year’s Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM), with faculty and students receiving awards both during and prior to the conference. Community members also had the chance to connect with colleagues at the annual UW Biostatistics/Statistics reception.

Ken Rice , professor of biostatistics and graduate program director, noted that the annual meeting offers an ideal environment for networking.

“JSM is a great opportunity for us to catch up with our many alumni, and to introduce them to the current students. Our mixer, held jointly with UW Stat , is tailor-made for this sort of networking. Almost any session or ASA section is going to feature someone with a UW connection, making it easier to connect,” said Rice.

Ali Shojaie , professor of biostatistics and associate chair for strategic research affairs, provided departmental updates during the reception and introduced Trevor Smith , the new admissions and alumni manager for biostatistics. Abel Rodriguez , professor and department chair, spoke on behalf of UW Statistics, which co-hosted the reception.

Hosted by the American Statistical Association (ASA) , the event this year was held early August in Portland, Ore.

JSM Highlights

Faculty member Jennifer Bobb received a prestigious 2024 Emerging Leader Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS).

Doctoral student Kat Hoffman received the Gertrude M. Cox Scholarship sponsored by the ASA Committee on Women in Statistics and Caucus for Women in Statistics.

Doctoral student Marlena Bannick earned honorable mention for her paper and a scholarship from the Biopharmaceutical (BIOP) section.

Doctoral student Ameer Dharamshi presented his paper that received a best student paper award from the ASA Statistical Learning and Data Science section.

UW Student Presentations at JSM

Leah Andrews, “Semiparametric Methods for Vaccines and Immune Markers Using Test-Negative Designs with Missing Data” (received Most Outstanding Written Paper Award, WNAR 2024)
Marlena Bannick, “A General Form of Covariate Adjustment in Randomized Clinical Trials”
Ameer Dharamshi, “Generalized Data Thinning Using Sufficient Statistics”
Ellen Graham, “Data Fusion for Prospective and Retrospective Studies”
Antonio Olivas-Martinez, “Proximal causal inference for modified treatment regimes”
Rui Wang, “Nested Instrumental Variable Design”

UW Biostatistics alumni may also connect through a variety of channels by visiting our alumni page .

Parents join Lawrence teachers in call for phone-free classrooms

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Justin Blumenstiel, a parent and professor at the University of Kansas, talks with newly elected interim superintendent Jeanice Swift about the district's cellphone policy on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024.

A parent from Free State High School created a petition to coincide with another created by educators to urge the school board to limit cellphone use in classrooms throughout the Lawrence school district.

At the school board meeting on Monday, Justin Blumenstiel, a parent and University of Kansas professor, gave a presentation to provide information on the teacher policy for phone-free schools during public comment. Blumenstiel created his own petition including 108 signatures from parents across the district who stand behind the change in policy.

As the Journal-World reported , educators expressed concerns at the school board meeting on June 24 with the current cellphone policy, which states that cellphones should be “put away and out of sight.” The educators who spoke during public comment said the existing policy is problematic because it’s inconsistent from classroom to classroom.

“It’s our understanding that the teachers presented a petition about a month ago in this respect, and I wanted to push forward that the parents that signed my petition are in strong support of this policy,” Blumenstiel said.

The petition was discussed after many districts across Kansas implemented phone-free policies, in response to the growing mental health crisis among young people linked to social media use. Many educators are also concerned with a phenomenon called the proximity effect, which is the idea that the physically closer our phone is, the less we can resist the urge to check it.

Blumenstiel said there have been reports showing a decline in the mental health of youth since cellphones and popular social media platforms have been introduced. He also mentioned that schools which have banned cellphones in classrooms are reporting a decrease in student anxiety levels.

“I know that the school board is considering these matters very strongly and I really recommend urgency on these matters,” Blumenstiel said. “It would be wonderful if we could have a policy implemented by the end of this semester and in the spring of 2025.”

Lawrence district spokeswoman Julie Boyle previously told the Journal-World that the Board Policy Committee continues to discuss potential changes to cellphone policy and plans to invite input from students, staff and school families after the new school year begins.

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3 Group Presentation Pitfalls — and How to Avoid Them

Allison Shapira

Strategies for a polished, unified final product.

Putting together an effective group presentation takes teamwork and coordination so it doesn’t look like a patchwork quilt. And yet, many of us never budget the time to fully prepare. The author outlines some of the common mistakes people make in group presentations and offers best practices to keep you on track.

Many of us have experienced poor group presentations. If you’re giving one, it’s the last-minute scramble the night before to decide who is presenting which part of the presentation. If you’re observing one, it’s the chaos of hearing multiple people talking over one another or, even worse, simply reading their slides word-for-word and ignoring their audience.

Allison Shapira teaches “The Arts of Communication” at the Harvard Kennedy School and is the Founder/CEO of Global Public Speaking, a training firm that helps emerging and established leaders to speak clearly, concisely, and confidently. She is the author of the new book, Speak with Impact: How to Command the Room and Influence Others (HarperCollins Leadership).

Chosen Names, Pronouns, and Gender

As we approach the new semester, the LGBTQ Center and the Office of Title IX would like to remind our esteemed faculty and staff of the pivotal role we play in shaping the student experience at Ithaca College. This is especially true for those students who use names and pronouns that may differ from our records or assumptions. Research demonstrates the protective health impacts of using chosen names and the pronouns individuals determine for themselves. By understanding this and making a conscious effort to use their chosen names and pronouns, we can significantly contribute to a positive and affirming campus experience for all our students.

Some of our students are transgender , gender non-conforming , non-binary , or have another gender identity outside of the binary of man/woman. These students may use a name different from their birth or legal name. Some cisgender students use a name different from their birth name, too. Regardless of why a student uses a different name, it is important for us to recognize, respect, and remember to use their correct chosen name. Many of our trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students may use pronouns outside of the binary she/her and he/him. The most common other pronouns are they/them. To learn more about why pronouns are important, visit https://pronouns.org/ .

Class rosters have a student’s legal first name unless the student has designated their chosen first name with the Registrar's office. Students can designate a chosen first name using the online chosen/preferred name change form available at https://www.ithaca.edu/academics/registrar/forms/student-forms . Pronouns are not included on rosters, and we encourage you to forego using gender binary pronouns and instead use the neutral they/them or refer to students by their chosen name until and unless they choose to share their pronouns. 

A student may approach you before class begins, either in person or via email, to notify you that they use a different name than what appears on the roster or program attendance list, and/or pronouns different than what might be assumed. Many of these students have encountered frustration or harm due to others not respecting their chosen name or pronouns in their lives and academic careers before entering IC. The beginning of a semester can be especially challenging for these students as they navigate new environments. We can all help students feel welcome and respected doing our part to create inclusive spaces where chosen names and pronouns are not only respected but affirmed. Below, we have included a list of action steps you can take to smooth the way for our students to share this information and feel affirmed.

Action steps

Inclusive strategies for welcoming students include:

Use the name a student asks you to use, regardless of whether the roster or participation list has a different name and regardless of whether the roster name seems to be a name associated with another gender (please do not point this out or mention it to other students). Homer Connect pulls information listed in the chosen name field (if one has been entered) for class rosters. Making this simple change before publicly reading the roster or program attendance list will avoid inadvertently embarrassing the student or disclosing their personal information to others.
Create a simple online form for students to fill out with their contact info including the name they go by and their pronouns, so you have that information before the first class meeting. If you prefer a low tech option, during your first class meeting you can ask all students to complete index cards with the same information. You may need to explain/give examples. (e.g., my pronouns are 'she' and 'her'; my pronouns are ‘they/them’.) Not every student will opt to share their pronouns.
If you do class introductions, explicitly invite students to use the name they wish to be called. If the name is different from what is on the roster, update the roster to ensure you use the student’s correct name.
During class introductions, you can also create an opportunity for students to share their pronouns. Sample language could be, “Please share your name, pronouns (if you feel comfortable sharing), and [any other information you wish to learn]”. Important note: do not point out if a student “forgets” to share their pronouns. There are many reasons someone may forget or intentionally choose not to share their pronouns. If a student does not share their pronouns during group introductions, you can use their name to refer to them until you can follow up privately.
Use inclusive language. Avoid gendered terms like ladies and gentlemen or boys and girls and instead use gender-neutral terms for groups, such as students/scholars/athletes. You can also use they/them pronouns to refer to students when their pronouns are not known to you.
Call on students using a description rather than a gender, for instance instead of saying "the gentleman in back," or "the woman in the front," say things like "the student in the purple sweater in the back row," “the student with their hand raised,” “the student wearing a NY Mets jersey,” etc.
Display your pronouns during Zoom meetings. In your Zoom profile, you now have the option to designate pronouns, and how/when they are shared. We recommend that you select “always share.”
Consult the LGBTQ Center for resources, support, and referrals. Director Crissi Dalfonzo consults with faculty and staff seeking more information and connects students to the policies, programs, and services on our campus that support them. Visit ithaca.edu.lgbt , contact  [email protected]  or call 607-274-7394.
Put a Title IX paragraph on the syllabus or orientation/contact materials you provide to your students. “Title IX is a federal law mandating that educational institutions receiving federal funding must provide sex and gender equity. All students have the right to a campus atmosphere free of sexual harassment, sexual violence, and gender discrimination, including pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions. To make a report of sexual assault, sexual harassment or gender discrimination, please contact Linda Koenig, Title IX Coordinator; lkoenig@ ithaca .edu  607-274-7761 . Please visit  www.ithaca.edu/share  for more information.”

Simple adjustments like this will make a big difference in welcoming students into our spaces, classrooms, and co-curricular learning opportunities at IC. These actions are part of the larger work of creating and sustaining an inclusive, supportive, safe, and nondiscriminatory campus community for all our students.

If you have questions or would like a presentation on this or similar topics for your department, office, class, or student group, please contact either Crissi or  Linda directly. 

Thank you for the work you do creating welcoming, inclusive, and equitable spaces for our students.

Crissi Dalfonzo

Director, LGBTQ Education, Outreach & Services 

[email protected]  

Linda Koenig

Title IX Coordinator 