4 Ways To Improve Presentation Skills
The main purpose of this blog is to give tips and examples on how to improve presentation skills. Anyone, regardless of how good of a public speaker they are, could always improve their presentation skills. These tips are vital in making a presentation better and selling yourself, and your presentation to the audience better as well. I believe from personal experience, that using these skills are extremely effective in improving presentation quality. Kinesics, body movement is extremely important to get your audience more engaged. Eye contact is crucial to make each member of your audience feel like you are speaking directly to them. Confidence, as mentioned many times in this blog is really important to you as the presenter as well as affecting how the audience receives your message. Especially in slide shows, it is a good idea to use less words on each slide so that it does not look like you are just reading off of a screen for your presentation.
Kinesics is defined as the study of the way in which certain body movements and gestures serve as a form of nonverbal communication. I believe that kinesics is very important because hand gestures and body movements can get a speaker really engaged with their audience. It can be beneficial to move around while presenting so your audience doesn’t feel as if you are just standing in place reading off of slides. Although moving your body can be very helpful when delivering presentations, it can also be hurtful. People who sway, rock, or pace during presentations typically have worse presentations because their audience can get distracted by what they are doing instead of what they are saying. Kinesics can be really beneficial to your presentation but it can also have some negative effects, so it is something to watch out for.
Next, eye contact can be extremely useful in presentations. While presenting it is very important to look at your audience and not at your notes, or your slideshow. As a kid, sitting in classes I always noticed that when teachers were speaking in front of the class room, sometimes they would make eye contact with their students. I realized this was an extremely successful tool for public speaking because it forces your audience to pay attention and creates a connection between the speaker and the audience. While speaking in front of larger crowds, it is even easier. Obviously, you cannot make eye contact with every single person in the room, so I feel as if looking in general directions is a good trick. This makes the audience feel like your eyes are moving around the entire room, and so you are engaging with the full audience. I also believe this trick is useful for those who are not extremely confident in their public speaking abilities. Looking in areas of the crowd as opposed to directly at certain members of your audience is easier for the speaker. It makes the speaker feel more comfortable because they do not need to make eye contact consciously with any members of the crowd, but the audience will feel as if the speaker is looking at them.
As mentioned many times in this bog, confidence is key. When you are confident in what you are saying, you are able to express your presentation much more effectively, and smoothly with your audience. When you are prepared to present this can be very beneficial to your confidence as you have practiced your speech, and you will be less inclined to use filler words such as um or like which hurt presentations. Coming off as confident is also very important in the eyes of your audience. It reflects really well on your audience if you seem very confident. Being confident can actually trick the audiences mind into thinking just because pf the way you sound, can actually make whatever you are saying better. This skill can be very useful in all aspects of public speaking.
Lastly, over my years of public speaking, I have learned that it is better to have less words and more graphics, quick notes on your slides as opposed to having all of the information you are going to say directly on your slide. It makes you engage with your audience more so you are not staring at you’re the screen the entire time. This is a more professional look for you as well because you will need to know and have practiced what you are going to say. It also aids your audience in having them not have to read what you put on the slide to understand what you are saying. The slide showed be used to stress any key points you are going to say or use graphics or videos as visual aid to elaborate on what you are saying to your audience. This is a great trick to have your audience focused on you and not your slide show. This tip is a great way to make your audience feel more engaged with you.
