You are not just the heart and soul of your startup you are also the face of your company. As an entrepreneur, you must present your business in many different occasions – in front of customers, in front of investors, in front of potential employees or partners, in front of the whole entrepreneurial world.
Your ability to give killer presentations will improve the general image of your startup and will increase the chances of achieving your goals through better communication and audience engagement. So, it is essential for entrepreneurs to discover the best presentation style for themselves and master it.
Know your audience
Before you start preparing your presentation, you must know who your audience is. There is no need to say that the different audiences require not just different approach, but also different type of information. In business the biggest asset is time, so you must be ready to present in a way which will be dedicated to your listeners without making them feel that they are wasting time with irrelevant information.
Write your key points
Create a list of the subjects that you need to cover in your presentation. Envelop everything which needs to be included, not less or more. Your key points will form the skeleton of your presentation and you will continue building the rest of it without worrying that you are missing something important.
Connect the dots
Structure your presentation in a way to deliver clear message and to avoid confusion. You need your audience to understand what you are saying and to project the clear vision and a complete picture in their minds. Know what are you saying and how this information is related with the message you want to send.
Tell a story
This is very useful way to win the audience, but it can be tricky. So, make sure the story you are going to tell is related with the topic. It must be enlightening and to send strong message. Don’t tell a story just for the sake of telling one. As everything else in your presentation, it must be well-thought and on point.
Humor
Telling a joke can be an ice breaker, but there is one very thin, almost invisible, line which you don’t have to cross when telling a joke. This could be tricky, especially if you are presenting in front of an international audience. Humor often backfires and you must be careful if you decide to engage the audience with a joke. You can make them smile with presence and interesting comments, but be careful with the jokes.
Prepare according to your time
Know how much time you will spend on each of your key points and how much given time you will have for your presentation. This will help you to complete your presentation on time and avoid leaving misunderstood.
Get visual
People listen with their eyes. Make your presentation visual but avoid being extreme. Boring presentations with a lot of text, which basically covers what you are saying, is a mood killer. On the other hand, unrelated slides, which mismatch your words and are there just to be there, are working against you. Putting together a great visual content requires a lot of work and you should do it right to be able to impress the audience.
Follow your thoughts
Be consistent in your presentation and avoid jumping from topic to topic. Create visual time line in your head and follow this line in order to create well-structured presentation.
Mind the body language
Not just the words you are saying have impact on the people’s attention. The way you stand, the way your voice tone sounds, the way your face expresses your words is very important. You must develop stage presence which some people have as a natural gift, but others must practice.
Make the audience think
Deliver your information in an engaging and memorable way. The best way to stay remembered is to make the listener think. Once they concentrate their attention to something very valuable which requires a lot of attention, you have done a great job, you have made an impact. Make the people think and they will never forget you.
Know who you are presenting before and after
The mood of the audience matters a lot and is something that you cannot predict before the actual moment of your presentation comes. The state of mind the people before you have put the listeners is one of your biggest challenges. While presenting, especially when you are among different entrepreneurs, you must know how to switch the attention from the previous presentation and how to keep the attention to your presentation after you are done.
