Nowadays, we cannot imagine a student’s life without the internet and technology; it has become quite the norm. While talking about technology, PowerPoint remains one of the most common and most-used applications in almost every field, especially for students. A good PowerPoint presentation doesn’t only impress the class; it also shows in the grades.
Delivering a PowerPoint presentation isn’t just about following the cues in the tiles and elaborating; it is about making the process interactive, engaging, fun, and memorable. These are the keys for your presentation to stand out and make a mark for yourself. If you don’t want to rely on the free PowerPoint templates, this article is for you.
Here are the top ten tips to make your PowerPoint presentation worth it.
1. Showcase your personality
If you know people like Conan O’Brien and Steve Jobs, one thing you must have noticed is their personality. While Conan comes as a goofy person and engages the audience by cracking jokes, Steve used to speak in layman’s terms, making the common people understand without using technical jargon. Others watch your personality before you’ve started your presentation, so keep that in mind.
2. Hype up
It doesn’t matter which subject you’re going to present. If you don’t hype up yourself, you won’t be spreading your energy to your audience. You may make mistakes, but there is nothing worse than a dull, lifeless presentation. The audience will lose interest even if you talk about a very exciting subject. Hyping means that you are committed to what you’re doing and also excited to share with all of us.
3. Prepare a structure
It is fundamental that you prepare the things you want to mention, well, at least in your mind, before starting. It will help you keep up with the topic, and you will be able to process your thoughts in a structured way. Moreover, it immensely helps with the flow.
4. Tell stories
Your audience will instantly engage themselves if you start your presentation through a story. Introducing a character will make things more exciting, and you will find it easy to come to the main idea of your presentation.
5. Use pictures
Keeping fewer bullet points and more pictures and diagrams will increase your presentation’s value almost rapidly because most people like looking at pictures than reading. Let the pictures speak for you and enrich your presentation.
6. Humor is good
Another mistake that students make is that they try to keep a straight face while talking; they think that cracking jokes can offend teachers or professors. In reality, it is entirely the opposite. There is no definite age to enjoy a joke, so if you need to crack a few, just do it. It will lighten the mood.
7. Eye contact and hand gestures
Whenever you speak about the topics displayed on the slide, try to avoid stiffness as much as you can. It means trying to use your hands and facial expressions to convey the meaning and thoughts that you are going through. Moreover, the audience will follow your hands and try to grasp everything you say; it makes more of an engaging experience. The same thing goes for eye contact – try to make as much as possible without getting creepy. When you lock eyes with your audience, your speeches start sounding like stories, making a good presentation even better.
8. Improvisation
While it is better to structure your presentation beforehand, not everything goes according to plan. In that matter, try to improvise while sticking to your topic. Improvisation is a wonderful skill if you do it correctly; improvisation makes things sound even better. Even you can catch people off guard by landing a ridiculous claim or statement and build up from that. Surprised people go on with your speech more actively while also thinking about your presentation themselves.
9. Focus on speaking more
Many students put a lot of pictures and bullet points in their slides to make their point sound more valid, but sticking only to those can also ruin a good presentation. While your slides aid your speech, the audience will only be impressed by your speaking skills.
10. Rehearse
Nobody can become a great presenter overnight; it takes a lot of work and time. Rehearsing a presentation will bring out the errors, and only through that, you can perfect your art of presenting.
Conclusion
Those were the ten essential tips for a successful presentation, especially for students. As they are just getting started, many of them lack the confidence to nail a presentation. With these tips, anyone can be the next influential speaker.