How to be a better presenter?

Are you among the many engineers and coders who have lots of data to present but don’t do a good job when it comes to presenting it in front of an audience? Are you wary about not brining enough substance to the table? If so, help might be closer at hand than you’ve imagined.

In this video, I’ll highlight aspects that can put your presentation woes to rest — and no — I’m not going to ask you to visualize your audience naked.

If you’re wondering what’s the worst that can happen in case you make a poor presentation, answers can range from a disappointed audience, to a less-than-favorable appraisal, to even having to look for a new job. Fortunately, how your presentation goes is largely in your control.

Make it About Content, Not People

Understand that you’re giving a presentation because you’re meant to have the required knowledge to put forth any given idea or data. With the expertise to back you, view all those in your audience as the same, irrespective of their designations. Remember that you need focus on your content, and not the audience.

Objectivity Matters

Making a technical presentation is not the same as conventional public speaking — with objectivity playing a crucial role in the former. If you’re trying to talk through your hat while offering no real substance, there’s a good chance your audience will look through your act. Being a good public speaker is not enough if you don’t have the required technical knowhow.

Cater to Everyone

Having technical knowledge is one thing, and assuming that your audience is on the same page is something else all together. When you’re giving a technical presentation, you need to cater to the least knowledgeable people in the group as well, especially when part of your audience is from other verticals.

When possible, get information about your audience ahead of time, using which you can tweak your presentation’s level of detail and depth. If part of the audience is non-technical, highlight the what, why, and how, and don’t bother talking about coding.

What Else Can You Do

• Explain how your presentation supports a product’s USP.
• Use relevant graphics in the form of photos, diagrams, and charts — but keep them simple.
• Include a Q&A session at the end.
• Use cue cards if you can’t remember the flow of your content.
• Use a transcription app that runs in the background.
• Speak in complete sentences.
• Pause after important points so your audience can absorb your message.
• Carry out a test run with colleagues and get feedback.
• Make videos of your trial runs and view them from the perspective of your audience.
• Start a YouTube channel to get feedback from others.
• Join Toastmasters — most clubs are meeting online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Take professional public speaking classes.
• Practice, practice, and practice some more.

What You Shouldn’t Do

• Don’t include too much textual content in the presentation — you’re there to do the talking.
• Don’t keep reading off the screen — your audience can do this on its own.
• Don’t be too harsh on yourself if you mumble or pause from time to time.
• Don’t worry about making eye contact with people — if anything, it helps draw in your audience.

In some cases, people find giving presentations stressful because they suffer from performance anxiety. In any such scenario, seeking professional assistance would be the obvious way to go.

If you can manage to keep these pointers in mind, giving your next presentation should become considerably simpler, and you’ll also have the pleasure of leaving your audience satisfied.

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