5 Little Things You Can Do to Drastically Improve Your Presentation Skills

 The good news is that you by no means have to be a lifelong, career public speaker to deliver a solid presentation. Yes, getting up in front of a group of people and delivering information is easier if you do it regularly—but there are always little things you can do to drastically improve your presentation skills. If all goes well, your audience will think you’re a seasoned professional of presenting even if it’s your first time in the spotlight.

Here are five tips you can use to take your presentation skills to the next level.

 Become Fluent in Body Language

It’s objectively difficult to keep track of your body language during a presentation. After all, you’re focused on so many other factors: the equipment you’re using, how your voice sounds, your deck of slides, remembering your cues, etc. You may not even realize you’re embodying some counterproductive habits, like fidgeting or looking down at your notes too frequently.

The first step toward conveying ideal body language—confident, non-distracting, engaging and comfortable—is understanding your tendencies as they stand. Then you can improve them through practice. Taking a video of yourself delivering a speech might feel cringey at first, but it’ll help you refine those habits.

Body language is a complex language. Who knew there were so many ways to move your hands alone? As Harvard Business Review outlines, one body language expert studied business leaders and shared examples of effective postures they encountered:

• The Box: Keeping your gestures within a certain perimeter helps convey trustworthiness compared to wild movements all over the place.
• Holding the Ball: Many leaders hold their hands around an invisible basketball to convey authority.
• Pyramid Hands: Holding your hands still in a pyramid can help you avoid the urge to fidget or hang ineffectively at your sides.
• Wide Stance: Keep a strong stance, with both feet on the ground about shoulder-width apart.
• Palms Up: Positioning your palms upward exudes honesty and sincerity.
• Palms Down: Positioning your palms downward tends to project strength and assertiveness.

Developing intentional body language helps earn audience trust, eliminate distractions and back up your verbal points with physical postures.

 Boost Audience Engagement

People like to be part of the conversation. Treating audience members like passive listeners gives them little reason to engage. But making your presentation more interactive does.

Something as simple as inserting a PowerPoint or Google poll can change the tone of your presentation—allowing people to participate in live surveys, ask questions anonymously, participate in trivia contests and more. Audience response systems like Poll Everywhere integrate with existing presentation software and allow people to participate using their mobile devices or computers—no clickers required.

 Practice Presenting from Memory

It’s incredibly tempting to default to reading off your notes, especially if you get nervous on the day of your presentation. But this will damage your credibility, and it’ll actually leave you less prepared to roll with the punches—like if someone asks an off-script question.

Practice enough to get comfortable presenting entirely from memory. Your delivery will be better and you’ll get the confidence boost of knowing you can survive without notes.

 Repeat What You Want Remembered

The fact of the matter is people will remember only a fraction of what you present. Reinforcing key points is the only way to make sure they stick.

One Inc. editor recommends introducing a point, explaining it, providing examples of how it can be applied, then revisiting it at the end of the presentation along with action steps audience members can take based upon that point.

It may feel like overdoing it, but repetition is what will help your main points gain traction.

 Do a “Dress Rehearsal”

Big events often have rehearsals preceding them, and for good reason. Running through your presentation ahead of time, technology and all, will help you absolutely nail it on the big day.

These five little adjustments can drastically improve your presentation skills, helping you excel when it counts most.