1. Your face is worth a thousand words. So is your tone of voice.
Practice makes perfect. For really important presentations, stand in front of a mirror at home and turn on your video camera. Give your presentation once in front of these tools and play back to tweak your voice modulation, facial expression, vocal delivery speed and more.
2. Stand up and keep your presentations to 10 minutes - when possible, anyway!
The stand-up meeting is a tried and true method for keeping meetings on task and everyone on their toes — literally. Read this great Learning Space how-to article to test a stand-up meeting in your office.
3. If you have remote attendees, turn on your webcam!
60% of our interactions are via nonverbal communication, like facial expressions, gestures and body language. If you have remote attendees and don’t include non-verbal cues, you’re losing 60% of your presentation power. Turn on your webcam in an online meeting room for maximum effectiveness. After all, everyone wants to see your pretty face.
4. Engage all five senses.
We communicate with our friends, family and office colleagues and make lasting impressions using all five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. To make a lasting memory and impression on the people in your presentation, consider bringing brain teasers, stress balls, candy, coffee and/or tea to your meetings to engage every one of their senses — and ultimately make your presentation more engaging.
5. Take 5 minute breaks – often.
If you’re planning on a long meeting — an hour or more — take frequent five minute breaks and start on time, every time. This will cut down on your meeting attendees worrying about missed called, emails, bathroom breaks, snacks and more, all of which distract from your message really sinking in.
6. Ditch the Powerpoint slides.
Powerpoints are an effective tool for sharing data, key points and storytelling. But before every meeting, you must ask yourself: Do I need slides? 80% of the time you don’t need to power up your PC, so spare your attendees potential Death by Powerpoint if it’s not necessary.
7. Use a slide animation tool, like Prezi, to spice up your Powerpoints.
New technology takes your boring old slides and adds unexpected flair to an otherwise dull presentation. Make your presentations “zoom” with cloud-based tools like Prezi, a great online free or paid solution that turns static infographics, slides and whitepapers into dynamic, awe-inspiring storytelling tools.
8. Offer multiple ways to join the presentation.
In our increasingly global world, telecommuting and joining from a remote office are the new norm. If you have remote attendees, offer them a way to hear and see your presentation digitally. New web conference calling solutions, like GlobalMeet®, enable multiple webcam video feeds, embedded Powerpoint video viewing and more. And for really interactive presentations, try iMeet® video conferencing, which enables YouTube viewing, streaming video, social media connections and dynamic collaborative note taking with Evernote.
9. Use colorful, exciting images to tell the story.
Did you know pictures are the top-viewed assets on websites and social media outlets? The power of images can make your audience laugh, weep, grimace and groan. This great PGi video shows you exactly how impactful images can be in your presentation.
10. Use 15 words or less on every slide.
No eye charts allowed. Use high-level, compelling “hooks” — like statistics, quotes or keywords — to keep your presentation on track and your audience engaged.
Looking for more fun presentation ideas? Check out these great Learning Space articles below or just share your thoughts - and questions - here on the Learning Space. We're here to help!
Presentation Ideas: Webcam How-To for Better Online Meetings
