Unless you run a grocery store in Honolulu, Hawaii or you’re a lonely farmer in the region of Dagestan, Russia, or, to make it clearer, if you’re living a situation which is unaffected by the rest of the world; you need to be able to give good presentations.

You can give listeners something so good that they’d, literally, find it tough to forget your face, or your name. The thing is that there are many different aspects involved in making a memorable statement. Being able to speak clearly by using an attractive tone of voice, using expressive body language paired with strong eye contact and asking questions and engaging with listeners, are three generic practices that pretty much appeal to anyone.

If you follow a step by step guide, I guarantee you that your own personal effort wouldn’t lead to a boring experience. So, what you need for now is get the best out of these 13 tips in order to make yourself as prepared as it gets.

1. Study your audience
Before making any plans about what you’re going to present, what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it; what you need is having a good idea about who you’re dealing with.
Your audience will be defined by your topic, so based on that do your own research and draw some of your own conclusions about your target persona.

2. Rehearse
As a second step, having more or less “met” your audience in your mind, do some rehearsals by using a mirror, or by asking for some friend’s patience.
Take down all of your strengths and weaknesses and try to both fix your weaknesses and keep your strengths the way they are, or just get prepared to frame them.

3. Arrive earlier
It’s always preferable and stress-free to get to know a little bit about your listeners. Also, think about this. If you took time to watch someone give you something you’d want to remember, you definitely wouldn’t like to wait too much.
So, don’t risk it, just arrive a bit earlier.

4. Less is always more
Coming to content, lately it’s becoming rare to see too much information on PPT presentations, or presentations in general. Minimalism is definitely becoming more and more popular and it really has taken over.
What you need as far as creativity is concerned, is to make sure that the images displayed are simple, clear and of good quality, and also that word content is as brief as possible.

5. Use synergy and consistency
There is always a correlation between what you say, how you say it and what is displayed on your slides. Well, at least if there isn’t, there should be.
Any message you’re communicating can be successfully given to your audience if all bits and pieces work together during the whole time of the presentation. So, try to have a clear fundamental thought in mind and don’t let your audience miss the point.

6. Give examples
Using a story to tell something is engaging. Usually people “feel” things a little more when they’re given true anecdotal evidence through real life examples.
If circumstances allow it; look for stories that are thrilling and juicy. After all what you want is to make your presentation is one of those that stand out.

7. Don’t read too much
It’s effective to read out loud a motivational quote or anything else that strongly changes people’s minds. However, if you do it too much, lack of engagement is most probably going to become part of your problems.
While rehearsing, take some notes and clear out those subtopics in which reading is fruitful and those that are understood by just talking through.
Unless you’re a really good storyteller, just pick the right moments to read.

8. Improvise
Sometimes ideas and creativity are just no longer there. Do not panic though; this can happen to even the so called influential individuals.
Keep in mind that tough situations are better treated by taking a deep breath, relaxing and finding a good way to improvise.
No need to squeeze yourself too much though, just spit out anything loosely relevant that comes to mind, no matter how much on point it is or not. The key is to not look unprepared; you definitely don’t want that.

9. Ask relevant questions
While presenting, take a look at your audience. A lot of people may look shy, but you’ll probably realize that some eyes “say”, “I’d like to speak too here!”.
Ask some questions to make interaction livelier and pick people that look unique or stranger than others. Things will be more interesting that way. At the same time, you should in no way let them make too much noise by talking to each other. Ask questions on point and at the same time set some limits in terms of what all that is about.

10. Be human
When listeners are able to view you as a regular individual they’d happily meet at the streets; it’s most guaranteed that they’d feel nicer and warmer listening to you.
If further engagement is what you want, which is definitely what you need; let listeners put themselves in your shoes and feel as confident as it gets with just being yourself.

11. Read your audience’s mood
Try to align your presentation with, not just your audience persona, but also with your audience’s mood.
Light things up if you see too much boredom and calm things down if you see “chaos” approaching.
You can also use simultaneously this step together with asking relevant questions; if it feels right just make use of both at the same time.

12. Be humorous
This is probably the basis of how your whole time presenting should go. Keep in mind that by making people laugh, or at least smile, you’re building up positive mood and you’re making this a nicer experience.
A good sense of humor is always appreciated and liked.

13. Enjoy it!
There’s no better way to make sure all this goes smoothly. As a last step, remember to enjoy it as much as it gets!
Giving good and memorable presentations is one of OneTeam’s main skills. We’re always eager to train our young and least experienced members.