The best professional speakers are able to relay information clearly, create a positive rapport with their audience and showcase their expertise.
That said, presenting can still be a challenge. This is especially true if you’re not deeply familiar with hosting presentations or if you suffer from anxiety when it comes to public speaking. Feelings of panic can be made worse when an upcoming presentation is vital to securing a new deal, locking in a new client, getting buy-in on a project or recruiting fresh investors.
If this sounds familiar, consider how creating a captivating PowerPoint presentation might be able to help. The right visual aide, arranged professionally, can mitigate pre-presentation woes and help you focus on relaying your message effectively. Here’s how.
A Visual Presentation Sets the Pace for Everyone
PowerPoint presentations are a great tool for setting the pace of a presentation. Paper handouts encourage audience members to flick ahead, and having no handouts will mean your audience has to hang on to your words alone. Both situations may make you feel rushed (or may mean you run out of time). By supplying paper copies of your presentation and dictating the pace yourself onscreen, you’re setting a tone for the room while keeping yourself on track.
A Professional PowerPoint Is Captivating
A beautifully organized, fascinating PowerPoint will help draw eyes from the speaker. As a host, you certainly want to maintain eye contact with your audience. But having moments to breathe and to let the PowerPoint take the spotlight will allow you to gather your thoughts and regroup.
If you or your company don’t have the team members, or the capacity, to create a truly stunning PowerPoint deck, seek out a design company that offers presentation design services for any industry. That way, they’ll be able to articulate your brand and message effectively regardless of the subject.
Companies that specialize in PowerPoint presentations will be able to help you avoid many often-encountered mistakes and give your presentation an elite edge. This will lend you confidence and authority during your talk — allaying jitters and setting you up for success.
A Slide Deck Means Nothing Is Missed
Knowing that all of your touchpoints are listed clearly, with forethought and consideration far ahead of the talk itself, will alleviate much of the anxiety that comes when trying to memorize every important point. Furthermore, PowerPoint users can include comments (kept private to audience members) on their version of the slides with important details and points from which to adlib.
The Tangibility of the Remote Will Provide Comfort
Did you know that our sense of touch can help reduce anxiety? Anxious people often fidget, wring their hands, push the hair from their face or repeatedly fix their tie. With a smart PowerPoint deck, presenters who feel the effects of anxiety can instead focus on a remote control — its touch and feel — to help minimize runaway feelings of stress.
Animations and Other Media Can be Included
Lastly, PowerPoint presentations allow for the inclusion of helpful visual and audio media. A professional design agency can be particularly helpful here, especially if you’re not tech-savvy. Short animations or videos and audio clips are a great way to recapture your audience’s attention while giving you a moment to process and reorganize your thoughts.
Ultimately, even seasoned presenters have moments of anxiety when the time comes to host a presentation. With the right PowerPoint slides, however, it’s possible to give a captivating talk with confidence and finesse for any occasion.