what are the 5 p's of presentation

Understanding the 5 Ps of Public Speaking (& How They Can Help You)

Hrideep barot.

• Body Language & Delivery , Presentation , Public Speaking , Speech Writing , Workplace Communication

Imagine you have just given a presentation or a speech in public. As soon as you have completed speaking there is a moment of silence, a moment of soaking in the presentation and and understanding it while staying in the awe of that moment. This is immediately followed by resounding applause, of the kind that is made when the audience feels excited and appreciative. This moment of validation is all you need to drown the nervousness that you were feeling a while ago before and during the presentation. At this instant, you realize how the audience felt a connection with you and portrayed their approval through a harmonious cacophony.

It feels too good to even imagine it, doesn’t it? What if you could make this a reality? Further ahead in this article, you will read about how to make your public speeches a resounding success through the 5 Ps of public speaking. However, we will first need to get our base clear of what exactly is public speaking 

What is Public Speaking?

Public Speaking is an act of speaking in front of a live public or even a group of 8-10 people. It can be either impromptu or fully practiced. Public speaking is generally listed as a skill in an individual’s resume or profile as it has gained a lot of importance in these days of technological advancements where one can have access to millions of people with the press of one button from the comfort of their homes. Additionally, being able to put out your opinion confidently has become a necessity based on which people as well as organizations would make decisions about you.

Public speaking is a soft skill as it is categorized under communication also known as a people skill which helps one have an effective interaction with others. Public speaking as a soft nowadays is much needed to create a positive and efficient work environment. To know more in detail about why public speaking is a soft skill and not a hard skill you can refer to our article Public Speaking Skills: Soft Or Hard?

Now you have an almost clear idea of public speaking but ever wondered if there are any types of public speaking?

Types of Public Speaking 

Indeed there are! Public speaking is further classified into these types to make it easier for you to separate and focus on your intention for giving the speech. These types include ceremonial, demonstrative, informative, and persuasive.

Ceremonial 

Starting with ceremonial public speaking, as the word suggests this kind of public speaking is done during ceremonies or special occasions like weddings, graduation parties, funerals, etc. In this one, you usually have a preexisting emotional or personal connection with the majority of your audience and you must also prepare your speech keeping that in mind.

Demonstrative 

Again as the word suggests here the speaker demonstrates something to the audience while also speaking. It is more like an instructional speech where the audience along with being told is demonstrated how something happens or works and is taught to do the same. This public speaking category practically involves a lot of observational learning from the audience’s side.

Informative 

This classification of public speaking is the one that is used most often. It does not do anything more than increase the knowledge of the audience and inform or educate them in detail about a new topic. Informative speeches are as common as the morning meetings or announcements where the people are updated about forthcoming events.

Persuasive 

Last but the most used type by the sales and marketing team is persuasive public speaking. Here the speeches are given in order to persuade the audience. It often uses plenty of compelling language which includes various tools like rhetorical devices, emphasis, repetition, personal pronouns, emotive language, comparison, etc. which makes it easier to persuade the audience. Having persuasive speaking skills is very important when you want the majority to agree with you and believe you.

Want to learn more about the 4 types of public speaking along with appropriate examples? We’ve got you covered, our article 4 Types Of Public Speaking (A Complete Guide) exemplifies these four types and uncomplicatedly explains them in brief.

However, knowing what type of public speaking you are going to do is an effective contributor to focusing on your intention but it is not enough to make your public speech a soaring success. In order to give an effective presentation as well as have an impactful speech one also needs to learn about the basic elements of public speaking, also quite popularly known as the 5 Ps of public speaking.

The 5 Ps of Public Speaking        

So, what are the 5 Ps of public speaking? The 5 Ps of public speaking comprise purpose, passion, preparation, practice, and performance. 

Starting with purpose, it is essential to know the purpose of why you are presenting or giving a public speech on a particular subject matter. It helps you to set an achievable goal for your speech in your mind. Subsequently, having a goal also helps you narrow down your focus so that you have a space to put all your attention. To get to know the purpose of your presentation you need to ask these questions – “Why am I here on this stage”, “Why did I choose this topic”, and “What will I get out of this?”.

For instance, if you are standing in a school election for a student body president and you are going to talk about too many books being asked to bring from home in your bag, the answer to the first question would be to convince teachers to lessen the number of books they ask the student to bring and to ensure students that their issues will be heard and worked upon. The answer to your second question would be to help students lighten the weight of their bags, especially for those who frequently have back pain due to this issue. Lastly, the answer to your third question will be that you yourself won’t have to carry heavier bags, and after successfully convincing the teachers you could get votes from the impressed students.

2. Passion 

If you are passionate about your subject matter or the message you want to convey then you automatically tend to do in-depth research about it. When you have more knowledge about your topic, you never fall short of words and get an urge to share your knowledge with others too, which makes you a good speaker. Therefore this skill makes an important part of public speaking by contributing to encourage you to speak to a group of people and share your knowledge. Additionally, the audience also respects and believes when you are passionate about your topic. The passion they can see on your face and your delivery resonates with them and increases their interest in your speech.

For instance, when you are passionate about saving the planet you list down all the points possible in your head that you think, and you try very strongly to convince your audience to think and act in a way to save our planet, so much so that it resonates on your face and makes an impact in the audience’s mind. Here you are encouraged from inside to make your public speech compelling.

3. Preparation 

Preparation is the key when it comes to engaging your audience and making a good speech as preparation involves researching your audience and adding content that they can understand and relate to. Likewise, preparation helps you gain a piece of in-depth and greater knowledge about your topic resulting in having strong grounds to support your topic.

For instance, if your audience is 7-year-olds and your topic is how junk and food with fats are not good for health, they might not understand complicated jargon like “some junk food might contain saturated fats high in low-density lipids which might result in a plaque buildup clogging your blood vessels”. One needs to make it easier for them to understand like “junk food has fats that can stick together and make your blood tubes messy. This mess can block the tubes and make it hard for your blood to move. It’s like when things get stuck in a straw. So, it’s good to eat healthy foods and not eat too much of those junk foods”.

4. Practice 

“Practice makes perfect” is a quote very well-known and unquestionably correct. Practicing means listening to your speech again and again and again. When you listen to yourself repeatedly it helps you point out any mistakes or improvements that you could make, avoiding you to fumble or misspeak in front of your audience. While practicing you could also take the help of your friends and family to help you have another perspective and give criticisms about the good points and bad points that you may have missed. Additionally, whenever you practice you can note down the errors and improvements that you have made. This way you could repeatedly work on the error till you perfect it and through noting your improvements you could see how far you have come. 

For instance, if you have an issue with using repetitive connectives like ‘but’, you could note that fault down while practicing and then learn some new connectives, add them to your speech, and stop when repeating the connective ‘but’ and try to think of another alternative connective of ‘but’ like ‘however’, ‘although’, ‘yet’, etc.

During practice, along with your speech, you also need to work out your presentation style or how you would present yourself in front of the audience. This includes your body language, your facial expressions, your tone, and your eye contact; all of this resonates with how you personally feel about the topic and can make either a negative or a positive impact on the audience. 

For instance, a slouched body and a tired expression with a monotone make the audience also feel tired and bored.

An additional tip to remember is if possible you should go on the stage where you are going to deliver your speech and practice there, this will help you get comfortable with your presentation space and help you have one less unfamiliarity to worry about.

5. Performance

Your performance is like the grand finale of your 5 Ps where you are directly put in front of an audience and are evaluated on how well you have understood and efficiently used the 5 Ps of public speaking, to have a great performance you need to have worked very well on the previous four Ps. Showing a good presentation style that you practiced is equally important as it contributes to 50 percent of your speech. Therefore, maintain eye contact, have a good posture, avoid having a monotone, have a perfect pace, and exude confidence through your expressions. Additionally, remember to show your passion as it will be appreciated by the audience and they will tend to become more invested in what you would be saying (Also remember the purpose and move ahead accordingly)

Lastly, perform while focusing on your audience. If you notice that the audience is bored, try to change the mode and make it interactive. If they seem tired and find something to eat, give them a break to refresh. This is important as at the end of the day you are performing for them to listen, understand, and get impacted.

People Also Ask 

What are the 3 ps of public speaking .

The 3 Ps of public speaking include preparing, practicing, and presenting. Prepare is when you do in-detail research and organize your content in an orderly fashion. Practice is when you work on your speech till you perfect it and feel confident about presenting. Lastly, presenting is how effectively you present what you have prepared and practiced and engage the audience.

What are the 4 Ps of public speaking?

Public speaking could broken down into four aspects namely preparation, practice, presentation, and performance. The difference between presentation and performance here is that in presentation speaks about how you present yourself, your look, your clothes, and your presentation slides as well, however performance is evaluated on how you perform how you maintain eye contact, your pace, your tone, your way of performing (more interactive with the audience or more monologue type)

What are the 6 Ps of public speaking?

The 6 Ps of public speaking specifically talks about your presentation style which includes pace, passion, pause, power, and pronunciation. To know more about these presentation skills and how to improve them you could refer to our article Top 9 Speech AI Tools To Teach You Public Speaking .

What are the 7 Ps of public speaking?

The 7 Ps of public speaking is an extended version of the 6 Ps of public speaking consisting of pace, passion, pause, posture, power, pronunciation, and punch. Here punch is used to put emphasis on or draw attention to a point. It is basically stressing a point. Likewise, power is the nonverbal communication done by the speaker to portray their effectiveness. This nonverbal communication includes eye contact, posture, facial expression, etc. 

Conclusion 

Public speaking is an important soft skill to master. These 5 Ps of public speaking are a holistic and important medium to help you achieve the skill. All these elements skillfully assist us in transforming our simple message or speech into an influential narrative. By having a purpose for the public speech and passion for the topic one strengthens the foundation on which they build their speech. Meticulous preparation also fortifies our base along with tailoring the speech perfectly for the target audience and creating a connection with them. Furthermore, practice polishes our speech and delivery until we emerge perfect and feel confident on the stage. Lastly, our performance will indicate how we have conveyed our opinion or knowledge and made an impact on the audience.

All of this together makes public speaking a joyful experience for the speaker as well as the audience. So, go ahead and conquer public speaking and the hearts of your audience through these 5 Ps of public speaking. Happy public speaking!

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The 5Ps of Public Speaking

• Filed under: Featured articles , Public speaking articles , Public speaking tips and tricks , Speaking tips

Hey there, let’s talk about public speaking! As someone who has given countless presentations and speeches, I know firsthand how nerve-wracking it can be. But fear not, with the proper preparation and understanding of the 5 Ps of public speaking, you can deliver a confident and effective presentation.

In this article, we will discuss the 5Ps of Public Speaking – Planning, Preparation, Practice, Performance and Passion + three additonal Ps. By following these principles, you can deliver an impactful speech that will leave a lasting impression on your audience.

So whether you’re presenting to a large group or giving a speech at a job interview, these tips will help you become a confident and persuasive speaker.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Understanding the 5Ps of Public Speaking

Public speaking is one of the most effective tools to communicate ideas, motivate people and get your message across. However, it can be quite intimidating for many people. Fortunately, there are certain techniques that can help improve your public speaking skills.

First and foremost, it’s important to understand the purpose of your presentation. This sets the goal and outcome for your speech, allowing you to focus on what you want to achieve. From there, you can move on to the other P’s: preparation, practice, performance and passion.

Planning your speech involves figuring out your objective and deciding whether you want to inform, recommend, or provide conclusions. It’s crucial to know your audience and tailor your speech to them, as well as making sure your introduction, main content, and conclusion flow smoothly.

Preparation is key when it comes to feeling confident and comfortable onstage. Practice, practice, practice until you know your material inside and out. Along with practicing your content, it’s important to also practice your physical presence and tone of voice. Stand confidently, maintain eye contact, and project your voice clearly.

Practice: A well-prepared speech means practicing. The poorer your preparation is and the less work you do, the greater the probability that no-one can relate to your speech, in a way that will make the audience forget you already during your presentation.

Lastly, remember to bring passion to your presentation. If you’re passionate about your topic, it will come through in your delivery and engage your audience. With these 5 Ps in mind, you’re well on your way to becoming an exceptional public speaker. Happy presenting!

Planning Your Speech

In planning your speech, there are several dos and don’ts to keep in mind. Firstly, make sure you consider your audience when developing your content. You want to make sure the information you present is relevant and engaging to your audience.

Secondly, it’s important to create a clear and concise structure for your speech. This will help keep you on track and ensure that you cover all the key points you want to make. Be sure to also avoid using jargon or technical language that your audience may not understand.

On the don’ts side, try to avoid using a script as a crutch. This can make your presentation seem robotic and less engaging to your audience. Instead, use a brief outline or note cards to guide you. Additionally, avoid filling your presentation with too much information. This can overwhelm your audience and cause them to disengage. Stick to the key points you want to make and make sure you deliver them in a clear and concise manner.

Remembering these dos and don’ts will help you to create an effective and engaging speech that will keep your audience captivated. In the next section, we’ll cover the importance of practice in perfecting your public speaking skills.

Additional reading:

• How to make a speech? Frequently asked questions
• 33 tips to improve your presentation skills: A Helpful Guide

The Power of Preparation in Public Speaking

In this section, we’ll dive into the second “P” of public speaking: preparation.

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As a virtual assistant, I know from experience that preparation is crucial in ensuring a successful presentation. It might seem like a no-brainer, but a lot of people underestimate the importance of proper preparation. You don’t want to be caught off guard and forget what you were supposed to say or show up wearing something inappropriate for the occasion. Trust me, it’s better to be over-prepared than to wing it and fail.

So, how do you prepare for a presentation? First, you need to know your material inside and out. This means doing proper research and gathering enough information to support your points. But that’s not all – you also need to practice your delivery, anticipate questions, and prepare your visual aids (if any). In short, you need to be confident and comfortable with your presentation.

In terms of visual aids, like a powerpoint presentation, remember to only include key words and graphics to support your speech. Avoid clutter and too much text, as it could confuse your audience or distract them from what you’re trying to say.

Lastly, it’s important to research your audience beforehand. This will help you tailor your speech to their needs and interests, making it more engaging and relevant to them. Knowing your audience will also help you anticipate any potential questions they might have, which will make you more prepared when it’s time for Q&A.

To sum it up, preparation is a critical aspect of successful public speaking. Take the time to know your material inside and out, practice your delivery, prepare your visual aids, and research your audience. Trust me, all your hard work will pay off when you step on stage with confidence and deliver a great presentation.

• Speech preparation: The important question of “What do i do if…”
• Audience analysis for public speaking: A comprehensive guide for the public speaker

Practice, Practice, Practice: Why It Matters

As someone who believes in the power of public speaking, I cannot stress enough how vital practice is to delivering a seamless and impactful speech. Practicing your speech multiple times not only ensures that you know your material inside and out, but it also helps you identify areas that need improvement. It’s like polishing a diamond; you can’t expect to shine if you haven’t put in the work.

One great way to practice is in front of a friend or family member who can offer feedback. They may notice things you don’t, like pacing, tone, or even body language, that you can improve upon. Don’t be afraid to ask for honest feedback – it will only make you better.

One great tip I’ve learned is to practice in front of a trusted friend or colleague. This will not only help you identify areas you need to improve on, but it will also boost your confidence by gaining feedback from people you trust. You can also record yourself to see how you sound and look to your audience.

It’s important to remember that practicing isn’t just about memorizing your speech word for word. You want to be able to speak naturally and confidently, so try different variations and approaches to delivering your message. This allows you to discover what works best for you and how to make your speech more engaging for your audience.

By taking the time to practice, you’ll gain the confidence necessary to deliver an exceptional speech. You’ll be able to connect with your audience better and deliver your message with authenticity and passion. Remember, practice makes perfect, and public speaking is no exception. So get out there and start practicing!

• Prepared speech: 10 effective tips on how to practice a speech

Performance

As I mentioned earlier, performance is one of the 5Ps of public speaking. It refers to how effectively you deliver your speech or presentation to your audience. And, to have a great performance, you need to put in a lot of effort in the previous stages such as planning, preparation, and practice.

In terms of performance, the most important thing to remember is to be yourself. Be natural and authentic in your delivery. Speak from the heart, and let your personality shine through. Your audience will appreciate it, and it will make your presentation more memorable.

However, it is also important to show confidence and authority in your speech. Stand up tall, have good posture and make eye contact with the audience. Speak clearly and loudly so that everyone in the room can hear you. And, remember to use your body language to emphasize your points.

Another important factor in performance is timing. Make sure your speech is within the allotted time and try to keep your pace consistent. Don’t rush through your speech or take too much time to make a point . Remember to use pauses to add emphasis and build tension during critical moments.

Additionally, it is crucial to tailor your performance to your audience. Keep in mind their needs and motivations, and consider how they will receive and respond to your message. Use appropriate language, examples, and stories to engage your audience and make your presentation more relevant to them.

Lastly, don’t forget to inject some passion and enthusiasm into your performance. Your audience will respond better if they feel that you are genuinely interested in your topic and that you care about their experience.

In conclusion, a great performance requires preparation, planning, practice, being natural, confident, and authoritative in your delivery, timing, tailoring your performance to your audience, and injecting some passion and enthusiasm into your presentation. By following these tips, you will be well on your way to becoming a skilled and effective speaker.

• How to Speak to a Large Audience?
• Public speaking FAQs: Answers To the Top 22 Most Common Questions

Passion – the fuel of Your Speech

Passion is the fuel that drives a powerful and captivating public speaker. It’s the intangible quality that makes an audience sit up and take notice. When I’m preparing for a speech, I invest time and energy into finding a topic that ignites my passion. I truly believe that i f you’re not passionate about your subject, you won’t be able to deliver an impactful message that resonates with your audience.

To show my passion during a speech, I make a conscious effort to vary the tone of my voice and inject enthusiasm into my delivery. I allow my personality to shine through, which helps to engage my audience and keep them interested. I also use body language to convey my passion, using gestures and movements to emphasize key points.

However, passion alone isn’t enough. You also need to be clear about your message and able to position yourself as an authority on the subject. That’s why planning and preparation are crucial. By investing time and energy into planning your speech, you can ensure that your message is organized, logical, and persuasive.

• What To Do With Your Hands During a Speech?
• How to Speak Well Without Notes? 5 Valuable Pro Tips
• How to speak with confidence in public?

Pace, Pause, and Projection: The Other 3 Ps of Voice Control

In my previous sections, I’ve covered the importance of planning, preparation, practice, performance and passion. Now, I want to focus on the other 3Ps of voice control: pace, pause, and projection.

Pace is all about the speed at which you deliver your speech. Speaking too quickly can make it hard for your audience to keep up, while speaking too slowly can come across as boring. It’s important to find a pace that feels comfortable for you and allows you to convey your message clearly.

Pausing is just as important as speaking. Pausing not only gives your audience time to p rocess the information you’ve presented, but it also helps you maintain control over your speech. A well-timed pause can help build suspense, emphasize a point, or give you a moment to collect your thoughts.

Projection is the final piece of the puzzle when it comes to voice control. It’s all about making sure your voice is heard by everyone in the room. You want to project confidence and authority, without coming across as too loud or aggressive. A general rule of thumb is to project your voice to the back of the room, while still maintaining clarity for those closer to you.

By mastering the other 3Ps of voice control, you can take your public speaking to the next level. Remember to focus on your pace, utilize well-timed pauses, and project your voice with confidence. When you combine these techniques with proper planning and practice, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a powerful and effective public speaker.

So, let’s sum it up

All of the 5Ps of public speaking – Pace, Power, Pause, Polish, and Passion – work together to create a powerful presentation. By mastering all of these elements, you can increase your confidence, engage your audience, and deliver a message that leaves a lasting impact. So, invest time into finding your passion, use it to fuel your message, and deliver a presentation that inspires your audience.

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• Tags: Effective speaking , Prepare a speech , Speech preparation process , Speech tips

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I have been teaching public speaking at Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences

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What are the 5 P’s of presentation skills?

When it comes to delivering a successful presentation, understanding and mastering certain key elements can make all the difference. In the world of public speaking and presentations, the 5 P’s – Preparation, Practice, Performance, Posture, and Pacing – are crucial for engaging and impacting your audience effectively. This guide will delve into each of these aspects, offering insights and tips to enhance your presentation skills.

Five P’s of Presentation Training

Preparation

Preparation is the cornerstone of any successful presentation. It involves thoroughly understanding your topic, knowing your audience, and setting clear objectives for your talk. Begin by researching your subject matter extensively to ensure you are well-versed in the content. Tailoring your presentation to fit the interests and needs of your audience is also vital. This means considering their background, expectations, and what they hope to gain from your presentation. Additionally, setting clear goals for your presentation helps in delivering a focused and impactful message.

Practice is the key to building confidence and smoothing out any rough edges in your presentation. It’s not just about memorizing your lines but also about getting comfortable with the flow and structure of your talk. Rehearse your presentation multiple times, ideally in a setting that mimics the actual environment you will be presenting in. This helps in getting used to the timing, transitions, and nuances of your speech. Remember, practice makes perfect, and the more you rehearse, the more natural and poised your delivery will become.

Performance

Performance is all about the execution of your presentation. It’s where your preparation and practice come into play. Focus on engaging with your audience through eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures. Your aim should be to convey your message with clarity and enthusiasm, keeping your audience interested and involved. Be mindful of your tone and modulation to emphasize key points. A dynamic and energetic performance can significantly enhance the impact of your presentation.

Your posture speaks volumes before you even begin your presentation. A good posture conveys confidence and helps in maintaining audience engagement. Stand tall, with your feet shoulder-width apart, and avoid slouching or leaning on the podium. Use hand gestures to emphasize points but avoid excessive movements that can be distracting. Remember, your physical presence on stage is as important as the content you are delivering.

Pacing is an often-overlooked aspect of presentations but is crucial for keeping your audience’s attention. It involves the speed at which you speak and the use of pauses. Speak clearly and at a pace that allows your audience to easily follow along. Utilize pauses effectively to emphasize points and to allow your audience time to absorb the information. A well-paced presentation helps in maintaining audience engagement and ensures that your message is conveyed effectively.

Bringing it all Together

Mastering the 5 P’s of presentation skills – Preparation, Practice, Performance, Posture, and Pacing – can elevate your public speaking and ensure your message is delivered effectively. By focusing on these key elements, you can engage your audience, convey your message with clarity and confidence, and leave a lasting impact. Remember, the art of presentation is a skill that can be continually improved, and every opportunity to present is a chance to refine and enhance your abilities.

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Issue: November / December 2017

Communication

The 5Ps of Presenting

By Lindsay Taylor / November 25, 2017

Follow the 5Ps model to gain confidence in creating and giving presentations explains Lindsay Taylor

The good, the bad & the ugly.

Let’s start with identifying those presentations that have made an impression on you. Which ones are the most memorable? And what are they memorable for? Do you have a favourite presenter? What are your reasons for picking them?

Identifying the “dos” and “don’ts”, “the good, the bad and the ugly” of presentations will help you set a benchmark for identifying the most successful and memorable (for the right reasons!) presentations.

Then you can put into practice the “5Ps of Presenting”.

Identify the Purpose of your presentation. You are, in effect, setting yourself a goal and outcome.  To inspire and motivate yourself and others, you need to make sure you are using “towards” language, rather than “away from” language when setting goals.  Here’s a simple table to illustrate the difference.

“Towards” language promotes forward movement and momentum in order to achieve what you need and want. It is considered more motivational and inspirational due to its “can do” approach, energy and resulting inspiration.

Firstly, remember that famous quote “Failing to plan is planning to fail”!

Use the “Open Questions Model” below to answer as many questions as you can to aid your planning – How, What, When, Where, Who and Why.

You will notice that “why” questions have a warning triangle on them.  The reason is that when we are posed with a “why” question we may receive it as an accusation.  Our resulting response can be defensive.  “Why” questions never really get to the “crux” or “heart” of the response we are seeking.  A better way of asking a “why” question is to ask “what’s important (about….)?”.  This is our optimum question.

Here are some example questions – by no means an exhaustive list and I’m sure you can think of more:

How many people will I be presenting to? How will the room be set up? How much time is allocated to my presentation? How many other people are presenting before/after me? How will I gain/seek feedback on my presentation? How do I want to feel at the end of my presentation? How do I want my audience to feel at the end of my presentation? How do I “need to be” to present?  (identify the internal resources you need – for example focus, determination, self-confidence……)

What is the purpose of my presentation? What information do I need or want to share with my audience? What do my audience already know? What do my audience expect to learn or take away from this presentation? What are the benefits to my audience of listening to this presentation? What do I already know about my audience? (are there are any special needs/considerations…..) What would be good to find out about my audience? (job titles, challenges, their expectations, any special needs……) What do I want or need my audience to do with the information I share with them? What time do I need/want to arrive at the venue before I present? What format will my presentation take? (interactive, use of AV equipment, handouts….) What resources do I need?  (include “Internal Resources” which are things like determination, focus, self-confidence….) What else do I need to know to ensure my presentation is a success?

When am I presenting (date, time)….? When do I need to pull together a draft/final presentation?

Where am I presenting (geography, in the world!, venue)? Where am I presenting (on stage, at boardroom table……)

Who is “on stage” before/after me? Who do I know that could help me with my presentation? Who has presented on a similar topic to me? Who do I need to submit my presentation to?

What’s Important (about)……

What’s important about this presentation?

3. Prepare 

Split your presentation into a Beginning, Middle and End. Some people find it useful to write up a full “verbiage” or script for their presentation. Others like to write out “cue cards” with select words on.  Cue cards are particularly useful to have with you when you present as they will keep you on track.  Think about whether you’re going to be holding the cue cards when you present or whether there’s a table/lectern to place the cards on and which you can head to if you need prompting.  Remember, you want your cue cards to be a help rather than a hindrance.  Use a system that works for you.

The Beginning

90% of first impressions are made in the first 90 seconds of meeting someone.  Based on these statistics, you need to engage your audience right from the word “go”.  You can do this in different ways.  You may ask a question of your audience and ask for a show of hands or you may use humour to introduce your topic.

Then share with your audience who you are and your credibility (imagine your audience are asking “Why should I listen to this person?  Who are they and what do they know?”).

Share with your audience the purpose of your presentation (which you have absolute clarity on from the first 2 Ps of course!).  What is your audience going to learn from your presentation and what benefit will they gain?   You are more likely to gain and maintain their engagement if they know what they’re going to get out of listening to you.

You can also tell your audience the format that your presentation will take.  If you’ve included time in your presentation at the end for Q&A let your audience know that you’re happy to answer any relevant questions at that point.

Use “ The Power of Three ”. This principle implies that things that come in threes are more satisfying, effective and memorable. It’s fun, thought-provoking and, more importantly, when applied can add real impact to your communication. Use “signposting” to keep you (and your audience) on track – “firstly…..secondly….thirdly or finally……”.

You can end your presentation with humour (linking it to your humorous comment at the beginning).  You could ask for another show of hands.

Ask if your audience has any questions.  Share your contact details and thank everyone for listening/interacting/involving themselves in the learning.

You’re ready to Present!

Align Words, Tone and Body Language

Based on the research of Harvard Professor Albert Mehrabian, face-to-face communication when sharing your thoughts and feelings can be broken down into the words that we speak (7%), the tone that we use (38%), and the body language that we use (55%).

You need to be aware of the tone and body language you use in your face to face communication and when you are presenting.

When words, tone and body language are aligned or “congruent”, when you “speak the meaning, not just the words”, you are ensuring your message has more impact thus contributing to the engagement of your audience.

Use Sensory Language

We all process information in different ways and record it for future use. Your world is processed through your senses (sight, sound, touch, taste and smell) and generally everybody has a primary sense that they use to establish an experience within their conscious or sub-conscious mind.  Usually that primary system is either visual (sight), auditory (sound) or kinaesthetic (touch or feelings).  Of course, you will access all five senses, but your behaviours, language, and creation and memory of experiences will be prevalent either in a (V)isual, (A)uditory or (K)inaesthetic way (VAK system).

Of course, when you are presenting to a group of people, there will be a mix of Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic preferences.  Therefore, use a mix of sensory language and presentation styles that will optimise engagement with your audience.  Your Visual audience members will notice your presentation slides or any handouts or visual aids.  Your Auditory audience members will be listening intently to you.  Your Kinaesthetic audience members will like any movement or involvement in the presentation (asking them for a show of hands for example).

Use Props and Visual Aids

Think about the use of props and visual aids – ensure these are used to optimise any learning or message you want to share.  They need to act as a help rather than a hindrance to the learning and message you want to impart.

Q&A Session

It’s happened… an audience member has asked you a question that you don’t know how to answer! – Say “thank you for that fantastic question” – Put the question out to the rest of your audience.  Say “What do the rest of the audience think about this?”.  Whilst gaining input from everyone else you will have time to formulate your own response. – Rather than provide an incorrect answer, be honest.  Say “I don’t know the full answer to your question.  I am going to find that out for you and promise to get back to you”.  Make sure you keep your promise of course to maintain your credibility and reputation.

5. Progress

Every situation is an opportunity to progress and learn. Use progressive feedback models to ensure the next time you present it is even better than this time!

My favourite models are detailed below. They are simple to implement and incredibly effective.  They can be used individually or together.  Give them a go!

What 3 things went well? What 2 things didn’t go so well? What 1 main point can you identify for improvement?

More of……Less of….

Next time I present what will I do more of? Next time I present what will I do less of?

Stop, Start, Continue

Next time I present what will I stop doing? Next time I present what will I start doing? Next time I present what will I continue doing?

I wish you every success with putting these into practice!

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2 comments on “ the 5ps of presenting ”.

Purpose – Identify the Purpose of your presentation. It’s easy to explain the purpose when you have the Solutions and opportunities.

I am definitely eager to use these tips to improve my presentation skills. Thanks for the tips.

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The 5 P’s of confident public speaking

March 8, 2024

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by the EAB Briefing Team 

Picture this scenario: There’s a big presentation coming up, and you happen to be the lucky one chosen to be the main speaker. Already feeling nervous? You’re not alone—according to the National Social Anxiety Center, the fear of public speaking affects approximately 40% of the population and is more common than the fear of heights or spiders.

of the population report having glossophobia (fear of public speaking) or some form of speech anxiety.

Fortunately, there are a few ways to ensure your public speaking career goes off without a hitch. Whether lecturing to students or providing essential information to higher-ed peers, here are five steps to get through your presentation successfully.

Follow the 5 P’s

Step 1: plan out your presentation.

One way to calm those public speaking nerves is to plan and prepare accordingly. Understand the material and audience you’ll be presenting to. Research and anticipate potential questions that may come up during your speech. Set the desired objectives of your presentation and structure your speech in a way that flows organically and makes sense to the topic at hand.

Step 2: Be practical

So, you’ve successfully planned out your speech, but your fears are still running rampant. While you’re structuring your presentation, this is also an excellent opportunity to sort through what’s most likely to happen versus what may be a product of an anxious imagination. For example, there’s a chance you may run out of time, but it’s less likely your audience will start booing or laughing at you. Taking time to write down possible scenarios that may come up during your presentation is a helpful step in quelling some of your fears.

UNCOVER BEST PRACTICES TO SOLVE HIGHER ED’S BIGGEST CHALLENGES

Step 3: Practice

Everyone’s heard the term “practice makes perfect”, and speaking in front of an audience is no exception. To help you gain confidence, practice your speech by rehearsing it – speak in front of friends and colleagues or record yourself as you speak. Practicing in a low-stakes environment allows you to examine what works—and what doesn’t—and how you can tweak your timing and pace.

Step 4: Stay in the present

You’ve properly prepared and practiced; now it’s time to think about how to stay in the present while you’re speaking. If you find yourself getting lost or distracted by your worries mid-speech, take a moment to breathe and re-establish your connection with the audience. Find a friendly face or something in the crowd (in-person or virtually) to focus on to help you stay calm and grounded in the moment.

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Step 5: Perform with passion

Lastly, at the end of the day, if you aren’t engaged in your presentation, your audience won’t be either. Let your personality shine through the material, speaking in a loud, clear, and authoritative voice. If time permits, don’t be afraid to add an anecdote or two that will resonate with your audience and further draw them in. Remember that you’re speaking for a reason and delivering your speech in a passionate manner will help engage your listeners throughout your presentation.

Public speaking can be a nerve-wracking experience, but by following the steps listed above, you’ll be in much better shape to speak to an audience and win them over with your knowledge, dedication, and confidence.

National Social Anxiety Center, Public Speaking Anxiety ; Skillabilly, 4/9/23 What are the 7 P’s of public speaking ; Speak and Conquer, 4/25/23,   The 5 P’s of public speaking, ; Frantically Speaking, Understanding the 5 Ps of public speaking and how they can help you

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Every great presentation is the product of its message (p1), the supportive media (p2) and the delivery of that (p3).

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the five p’s of presentation

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ffolliet December 28, 2018 2 Comments

The five p’s of presentation are planning, preparation, consistency, practise and performance. An understanding of the place and importance of each of the 5 p’s of presentation will transform any piece from just being one of the many average presentations delivered to something of value that will have a lasting impact on the audience.

The first of the five p’s of presentation is planning. The amount of time may be calculated giving one to five minutes per audience member and then adding some factor of the importance of the event. Decide on the amount of time required and then plan to construct the story (p1), plan the illustration of this (p2) and plan the practise required for the best delivery (p3). This plan is essential to ensure each of these factors receives adequate time. Highlight the date in the diary and plan accordingly.

The second of the five p’s of presentation is preparation. No great presentation is delivered off the cuff and every good presentation could be improved by better preparation. Preparation involves understanding the audience needs ; brainstorming the topic from that perspective; clarifying a single message and structuring the supportive discussion. This preparation is fundamental to success.

The third of the five p’s of presentation is consistency . This consistency within the supportive media of image, font and colour adds elan to the message. The irritation that the third p is a c is an example of the impact of consistency.

The fourth of the five p’s of presentation is practise. Practise is the answer to so many of the worries about poor presentations and the reason so many presentation are great. It is more than reading out the script a few times. It is focused and specific and structured.

The fifth of the five p’s of presentations is performance as that defines a presentation in being more than simply a recitation. It is about engagement with the audience , reacting to issues and even ideas and being real. These are valued more highly than being word perfect or hidden behind a lectern. A presentation is the culmination of the five p’s of presentation; planning, preparation, consistency, practise and then performance of the finished piece.

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Wow Amazing, I’m so interested in public speaking and actually finds this very helpful

wonderful information thanks

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What are the 5 P’s of presentation?

Introduction.

The 5 P’s of presentation are a great reminder that if you’re prepared and practice, you’ll be able to pause and pace, then present.

Prepare your presentation.

Prepare your slides.

Prepare your notes for the presentation. Make sure that you have enough time to go over all of them before the presentation. You should also take care of any last-minute changes that may occur at the last minute, such as a change in venue or a missing speaker or colleague who is unable to attend the event.

Prepare your handouts so that they are ready to be distributed at any time during or after the presentation (if necessary). Handouts can include things like copies of reports, graphs and charts which help explain concepts better than just words on a slide do alone – but make sure these aren’t too detailed because they won’t get read anyway!

If there are multiple people giving presentations then each person needs their own set of handout materials; however, if only one person is giving it then they should create their own version ahead of time using Microsoft Word software programs available online (or use Google Docs) so that everyone knows what’s going on inside those pages before sending them out digitally via email attachments later on down line while still retaining control over how much information gets sent out at once without wasting too much paper resources unnecessarily.”

Practice. Practice. Practice.

There’s a reason why this is the first word in the presentation acronym: it’s important! Practice your speech out loud, in front of a mirror or record yourself so that you can see how it looks and sounds when projected to an audience. Ask friends and family to watch your presentation, too—they’ll help you identify what works (and what doesn’t), plus their honest feedback can only help make you better at presenting in general.

If you’re interested in practicing with a coach, they can help guide you through every step of building a great presentation from start to finish—from coming up with ideas for topics and themes, to developing compelling content that resonates with potential employers or clients—and even give pointers on making sure every word counts toward conveying your message as concisely as possible without skimping on details or sounding rushed during delivery time. If you are having issues go for a presentation consulting .

Pause. Pause is a powerful tool that can be used to your advantage, but it can also work against you if used incorrectly. In general, the rule of thumb is the longer the pause, the more impactful it becomes.

When using pauses effectively in a presentation:

• Give yourself time to think about your next point or response to audience questions. This is especially true when you’re speaking off-the-cuff or ad-libbing; pausing gives you time to collect your thoughts and formulate an appropriate response or statement.
• Let people process what you’ve said before continuing on with another point. If something is particularly important or meaningful, let everyone have time to absorb its significance before moving on so they are able to fully appreciate its importance and how it fits into their understanding of other ideas presented earlier in your presentation (or even previous presentations).
• Pace: This is the speed at which you speak. The best way to keep your audience engaged is to maintain a steady pace, neither rushing nor dragging it out.
• Less is more: It’s always better to have someone listen closely and understand what you have said than for them to be distracted by extraneous details that don’t add value to the message being delivered. Think about how much information you really need your audience members to retain from this presentation, then cut out anything else that may detract from their understanding of your main points and purpose.
• Use space wisely: If there are words on slides or projected on a screen behind you while they are in front of the room, they cannot see those slides unless they crane their necks around—which makes them uncomfortable and distracts them from listening closely! Instead of putting content up there, use those spaces as natural breaks between sections so people can take notes or comment throughout your talk without having something lingering over their heads constantly reminding them where they should be looking right now instead of focusing on what’s being said right now.”

As you prepare to present, it’s useful to remind yourself of the five P’s:

• Present with confidence. The audience will watch your body language when you get up to speak, so look at them, not your notes or slides. You can use eye contact or make hand gestures if necessary (but don’t overdo it). Even though you may feel nervous, try not to show any signs of discomfort on your face. Ideally, they won’t even know that you’re uncomfortable—and they’ll think that whatever it is that you’re presenting is effortless!
• Be prepared with answers for all their questions (even if those questions haven’t been asked yet). If someone has a question during the presentation itself, answer it briefly before continuing on with what was planned originally in order not only keep the flow going but also show confidence in what’s being said so far. It also helps ease tension from both parties involved because everyone knows there are no surprises coming down from above (which could happen for example during meetings where managers are involved), which gives everyone more freedom when speaking freely about ideas/desires within their own teams/departments instead of worrying about whether or not anything needs approval first.”

You should use the 5 P’s of presentation because it helps you prepare for the worst-case scenario. For example, if your laptop crashes during your presentation or if someone tries to talk over you: these situations can happen! And when they do, having a plan in mind will help calm your nerves and get through it gracefully.

In addition to being useful while giving a presentation, the 5 P’s also work during any kind of speech-making situation — whether it’s at work or school or an event with friends. The most important thing is to remember that no matter what happens out there on stage (or wherever), always keep going—and use the techniques below as much as possible!

The 5 P’s are a great tool to keep in mind when giving a speech or presentation. As we’ve seen throughout this article, they’re all interconnected and work together to help you make your point effectively. You won’t be able to present well without preparing properly first, practicing what you want to say over again until it feels natural (or at least comfortable), pausing after each sentence so listeners can process what just happened before moving on again -and- pacing yourself so that everything flows smoothly together!

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Mastering the 5 Ps of Presentation: Your Path to Workplace Success

In today's competitive workplace, the ability to deliver an effective presentation is a skill that can set you apart from the crowd. It's not just about your appearance; it encompasses your posture, gestures, tone, communication skills, and even your overall presence. A  well-executed presentation can be your chance to make a lasting impression on your boss and colleagues.

This article explores the 5 Ps of presentation that can transform you into a successful presenter and help you achieve your professional goals.

Purpose: Clear Objective for Impact

Every presentation should have a clear purpose. Just as you have a reason for traveling, your presentation should aim to fulfill a specific need in the real world. Your purpose should be concise and direct, aiming to make your audience understand, believe, or take action as a result of your presentation.

Plan: Strategic Preparation

Before embarking on a vacation, you plan every detail - from the destination to transportation. Similarly, for corporate presentations, meticulous planning is essential. A well-thought-out plan allows you to respond to questions during the presentation, ultimately saving time for further discussions.

Prepare: Structured Readiness

Preparation for a presentation is akin to preparing for a trip. Divide your topic into an introduction, body, and conclusion to ensure clarity for both you and your audience. Having a well-organized presentation ensures a smoother delivery.

Present: Effective Delivery

During your presentation, focus on several key aspects:

• Align your words, tone, and body language for consistency.
• Utilize sensory language to engage your audience on a deeper level.
• Enhance your presentation with visuals and impactful pops.
• Encourage an interactive Q&A session to engage your audience and address their queries effectively.

Progress: Continuous Improvement

Just as you learn from each vacation experience, presentations offer opportunities for growth. Seek feedback from your audience to identify areas of improvement. Questions like, "What were the main takeaways?" or "Where could the presentation have been better?" can provide valuable insights to refine your presentation skills.

Incorporating the 5 Ps of presentation into your daily routine can lead you to early success in your career . Purpose, planning, preparation, effective presentation, and progress are the pillars that can help you shine as a presenter in the workplace. By mastering these principles, you'll not only impress your colleagues and superiors but also set yourself on a path to achieving your professional goals. So, embark on your journey to becoming a successful presenter today!

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Presentation Skills Ultimate Guide and How to Give a Good Presentation

What are Presentation Skills?

In understanding presentation skills, one must first understand presenting. Simply put, presenting is communicating to an audience in order to deliver a message. It can take many different forms. It could be at school or university. Perhaps, it’s a speech at a wedding or a special event. Typically, however, we associate presentations with work.

For most people, the thought of talking in front of a group of people, regardless of the reason, makes us scared. We know, however, that we need this essential communication skill. It helps us lead people, get a promotion or just get our point across. So how do we develop this skill?

The most powerful person in the room is the one who can effectively communicate their ideas.” – Barack Obama

Read on to learn how to give a good presentation.

This Ultimate Guide will Cover:

• What are Presentation Skills? (Above)
• What is the Difference Between Public Speaking and Presenting?
• How to Overcome Your Fear of Presenting
• What are Good Presentation Skills?
• How Do I Create a Powerful Presentation?
• What Medium Should You Use?
• What Makes an Effective Presentation?
• How to Improve Your Skills in Presenting
• The Top Five Tips for Presenting
• Further Reading and Resources

2) What is the Difference Between Public Speaking and Presenting ?

To start, let’s understand how each is defined:

Presentation:

‘A speech or talk in which a new product, idea, or piece of work is shown and explained to an audience.’

Public Speaking:

‘The art or process of making a speech in public using effective oral communication with an audience.’

Looking at both definitions you can see clear similarities. In short, the core of what they are is the same. They require similar skills to enable communication with others.

Public speaking uses a more general set of communication skills and is a very important skill for anyone to have.

Skills for effective presenting are more specific to get a point across. It’s often linking the talking to a medium and having a measured outcome. However, both are about successfully talking in front of an audience. Both come down to who is giving the message, what the message is, who the audience is, what medium supports it and what impact our message has.

Watch our video to learn more.

What is the Importance of Presentation Skills?

Already, we have mentioned a number of times that you might need to talk in front of a group of people. Be it work or social, we have a need to be able to get our point across to be successful. If we are good at public speaking we can build a strong reputation, and improve our self-confidence. It will even open up more opportunities for us. This is something everyone wants.

In order to learn how to give a good presentation, we need to understand the key differences between ‘personal presentation’ and ‘presentation skills’.

The Difference Between Personal and Presentation Skills?

Typically, skills in presenting are limited to those times you know you are in the ‘limelight’. That is, you have been asked to give a presentation, run a meeting or train a group of staff.

Personal Presentation, however, is all the other times you need to speak out in front of a group and would be less prepared. This might be in a meeting you are attending or something as simple as a work lunch. Your personal skills in presenting include your voice, body language and what you say. Your ability to think on your feet , say what you actually mean and get a point across.

Both of these are core life skills that make you more adaptable .

See an overview of 7 ways to start a presentation below. Click the image below for a higher resolution.

3) How to Overcome Your Fear of Presenting

A fear of public speaking can be all-consuming for some people. You might freeze completely, feel nauseous or faint when forced into these situations. However, being one of these people doesn’t mean you have to stay one. Once you understand how you feel and shift your attention to what matters, presentations become so much easier.

One of my favourite pieces of wisdom I was told whilst overcoming my own fear of presenting was, ‘How you are feeling isn’t the same as how you are doing’.

We have a tendency to overthink everything particularly when the spotlight is on us. We like to call this the ‘spotlight trap’. Falling into the spotlight trap is easy. We instantly become very self-aware. Each movement we make is over analysed and causes us to move unnaturally or stiffen up altogether.

We need to remember that this presentation is not a performance. It is purely us sharing the knowledge we know with an audience that doesn’t know about it. If we start by keeping that in mind it will become easier. All of the tips we will explore below may feel like common sense. But when you actually apply them they can drastically reduce the fear and make your presentation great.

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4) What are the Characteristics of Effective Presentation Skills?

This is an important question to ask and provides a basis for the importance of skills for effective presenting. We know the basics of presenting, but how do we make a good presentation? Also, how can we ensure it is effective?

#1- What is the Purpose of Your Presentation?

This should start with a  mind map  or a simple set of questions. I like to call this ‘5 Bums on a rugby post’:

As you can see from the image, the rugby post forms an ‘H’. This is for ‘How’. Each of the bums is a ‘W’. These remind us of five open questions , ‘Who’, ‘What’, ‘When’, ‘Where’, ‘Why’. You should think about your presentation by asking these questions.

This is an easy way to remember all the questions you need to answer to be best prepared. Answer each question about your content, context, audience and impact. Examples might be, what is the point of this presentation? When does it need to take place? Where will it happen? How does that limit my media options?

#2- Why is it Important to Have an Objective?

If you are unclear on your own objective it will be very difficult to create a powerful presentation. So make sure you are clear on why you are talking and what the point is that you need to get across. If you can successfully answer those two questions before you start planning, you will have a much better idea of structure. When deciding upon your objective, ensure you are  SMART .

When you are doing a presentation it is essential to think about the objective you want to achieve. Are you there to educate and inform the audience? Or, is it more about energising and entertaining them? Depending on the objective, the structure, content and way of presenting will all change dramatically.

#3- Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

Another method you could use is DeBono’s 6 Thinking Hats . Looking at your decision-making from a range of perspectives will help you think more creatively about your content:

• Red Hat: Look at the situation emotionally. What do your feelings tell you?
• White Hat: Look at the situation objectively. What are the facts?
• Yellow Hat: Use a positive perspective. Which elements of the solution will work?
• Black Hat: Use a negative perspective. Which elements of the solution won’t work?
• Green Hat: Think creatively. What are some alternative ideas?
• Blue Hat: Think broadly. What is the best overall solution?

For more, review our infographic on the 6 thinking hats. Click the image below for a higher resolution.

#4- Creating the Order of Presentation

Once you understand the purpose of the presentation it is best to consider the order. A storyboard could come in handy. Have each topic on a post-it note so that you can move them around with ease until the order flows in the most logical way.

#5- Ways to Engage the Audience

Now you need to think about how to grab the audience’s attention from the beginning. Ask yourself, ‘Why have they come to listen to me?’ This is normally a good place to start. Try understanding what might work for your specific audience. Ideas of ways to grab attention are:

1-Interaction:

We mentioned earlier that getting the audience involved is a helpful presentation skill. You could do something simple or you could plan something more elaborate, like a game.

During a training session, a delegate came up with a way to ensure the audience would ask questions. He printed the questions he wanted, placed them in envelopes and stuck them under a few chairs. Then during the presentation, he got them to look under their chairs and those with envelopes needed to ask the question. This immediately got the audience involved and relaxed the whole room. So be creative!

2- Tell a Story :

By starting with words like, ‘imagine’, ‘think of a time’, ‘close your eyes’ or ‘what if’, you are encouraging creativity in people’s minds. Furthermore, you’re making it easier for them to relate to your topic. The story that follows needs to be relevant to the presentation to make this work.

3-Using a Quote:

By quoting someone relevant to the topic, or group, you can add value and depth to your presentation.

There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars.” – Mark Twain

4-Ask Questions:

Ask direct, or rhetorical questions. Once again this is about activating the brain and involving the audience.

5-Use a Prop or Visual Aid:

Caroline Goyder used an aid very well in her TEDx Talk. It intrigued the audience and made them pay attention to find out what it is. View her 19-minute TEDx talk below:

5) How Do I Create a Powerful Presentation?

When thinking about creating the best presentation it is good to take your ideas and start to structure them well. To create your structure you need to think about the following areas:

• Voice and language
• The presenter
• Timing and structure

#1- Audience

When you are planning your presentation, be mindful of the people you will be talking to. Who are they? What age range will they be? Why are they in front of you today? Plus, if they are there voluntarily or mandatory, this may affect their engagement. Think about their demographics (age, gender, literacy or social status) and how that will affect the information they are hearing.

If you don’t consider your audience then your presentation is set to fail before you have even begun. Below are the five different types of audiences to help you consider who you are delivering to:

Types of Audiences:

• The uninformed audience — those present know little about the topic you are presenting. Indeed, they have no preconceived attitude toward the subject. Therefore, you need to inform them so that they understand it.
• The hostile audience — this is an audience that either does not like you or your message. Moreover, they know something about the topic. Therefore, you should talk with a friendly tone and emphasise common ground. Even more, answer objections with facts and logic.
• The apathetic audience — is indifferent or doesn’t care to get involved. You will need to study this audience carefully to determine the source of the indifference and how you can excite them.
• The mixed audience — this is an audience comprised of the informed and the non-informed. Whereas the non-informed may be indifferent about the topic, the informed can either be receptive or hostile. When dealing with this audience, be careful with facts and reach out to their emotion.
• The favourable audience — these are people who support you or your attitude and beliefs. However, do not take them for granted. Reinforce their existing attitudes and make them more grounded with facts.

#2- Voice and Language

When thinking about delivery and the language you use, it is important that you understand if you use colloquialisms, slang, technical speak, buzzwords, and metaphors based on the audience’s level of understanding.

However, you also need to know if you are presenting to a geographically diverse group and need to use a different language or a universal language. If you are speaking in a neutral language that isn’t native to the whole audience consider using more basic words and sentence structures to get your points across clearly.

When you focus on your voice this is looking at your pace, tone, and pitch. Thinking about how you create emphasis on words by using your pausing and volume. To help with this, we can think about the 5 Ps of Presenting:

#3- The 5 Ps for Better Presentation Skills:

Click the image below for a higher resolution.

• Project . Whether you have a microphone or not, direct your voice to the audience so that you can be heard clearly. Furthermore, take a deep breath before you begin, so that you have enough air under your voice to project without sounding shaky or tired.
• Pause. Silence is great – do not fear it. It attracts the audience’s attention. Pause often and longer. In fact, it demonstrates c onfidence . Silence emphasises a significant point and pausing after highlights it. Indeed, a few vocal pauses like ‘uh’ or ‘um’ are okay. However, many of them can annoy. Practice pausing silently to sound thoughtful instead of immature. Presentation expert Anne Miller says: “You do not persuade anyone by speaking constantly, rapidly and louder. You persuade them by saying something poignant and then pausing while they absorb and consider your words”.
• Pitch.  Vary your tone to avoid monotony, which might drive the audience to sleep. Speak like you are telling a terrific story to friends. Avoid exaggerated pitches.
• Pace.  Don’t speak slowly. Instead, speak slightly faster than your normal speed but never too fast. Indeed, fast speakers lose the audience. Gain common ground with your audience in regard to your speed.
• Pronounce.  Say words clearly. Mumbling makes it hard for the audience to understand or follow your message.

#4- The Presenter

When you give a presentation, the first thing the audience will do is decide if they like you based on your appearance. You need to make sure that you are dressed in an appropriate way to suit the audience you are talking to and the environment they are working in.

The second element that is noticed is your overall passion for the topic. Even if you are a bit nervous about your presentation if you have a real passion and a deep understanding of the topic, that will always shine through. Make sure that you are well prepared and that you are really passionate about the topic you are presenting. Furthermore, being able to relate back to personal experience is a sure way to show people your own passion.

Your body language is the last element that people will focus on. This is a telltale sign of the level of nervousness that someone is displaying. If you have the room you should make the best use of it. Moving with purpose can help you master how and when to move. An example of this is to move towards your medium to point at something with emphasis rather than just bobbing around from foot to foot. It can also be walking forward towards the audience or from one side of the room to the other to engage in eye contact with all participants.

Mastering good time management is essential when developing your skills of presenting. Depending on the type of presentation, you may only have a short window to present and develop your key argument (e.g. sales pitch). Otherwise, you might have a longer slot that you need to make sure you not only fill but also engage the audience throughout.

When you create timings you need to have a little flexibility so that you can adjust depending on audience engagement. If you are talking about something and you can see a loss of interest, you need to be able to move on and shift the focus onto something that grabs their imagination. Think about your transitions from different points. How long does each point need? If you are moving too fast you could lose your audience, but taking too long could have the same effect.

#6- Structure

When structuring your presentation you need to focus on covering the four main areas:

• Introduction – give an overview of the key concepts that you are going to cover.
• The main discussion introduces key concepts – talk about the key points, ideally focusing on 3 sections or points as a maximum.
• Conclusion with a summary – summarise the key concept and your views.
• Questions – open up to questions (if appropriate).

If you focus on these four key areas you should be able to create a structured presentation that is easy to follow and memorable for your audience.

Excuse the Interruption, but Here’s a Little Bit About Us…

We are the soft skills training provider, partnering with clients that are frustrated by people returning from training courses and then doing nothing differently. Our clients choose us because we achieve behavioural change through our unique training method, sticky learning ®.

Find out how to improve skills in presenting with our tailored presentation skills training .

#7- Avoid Common Mistakes

The video below shows some common pitfalls presenters often fall into – 11 errors of presenting:

6) What Medium Should You Use?

Now that you have an understanding of your content and methods of audience engagement, you can decide on the medium you will use to support you. So many people make the mistake of creating a PowerPoint before they have considered any of the information above. Now that you know about it, you can see why this is a bad start. We also need to accept that PowerPoint isn’t the only or always the best method of getting your point across.

Let’s look at a few different ways we can support our presentations:

#1- PowerPoint Presentation (Slides)

Let’s start with the favourite. As discussed earlier, we need to consider how we grab our audience’s attention. The likelihood that a slide will do this is slim. Especially when it just has the topic name on it. So why use it?

Nowadays there are a variety of programmes that do similar things, Prezi, SlideRocket, and Emaze to name a few. All of them have similar functions to personalise information in a slide form. They each provide a visual aid that can be displayed as you speak. Furthermore, they all allow you to illustrate key points using a range of graphics and advanced features, such as video and audio. Slides can add value if used correctly.

When to Use Slides:

• If you want to play a video in a seamless way.
• When you want to show a series of information, data or pictures that build on each other.
• If you are in an environment that means you can’t use any other method.

When Not to Use Slides :

• As a starting point, you should be able to introduce yourself and the topic without one.
• If you don’t have access or prior knowledge of the room layout. The reason being it might, for instance, be difficult for people to see.
• If you want your audience to move around with you during the presentation.

Creating a Presentation Using Technology:

• Clean slides are important, don’t over-decorate or fill your slides, otherwise, they are hard to read.
• Use the 6×6 rule – no more than 6 bullet points per slide, with no more than 6 words per bullet point.
• Use images as often as you can. The audience can focus on you rather than read.
• Where are you going to stand? Think about this in advance. Make sure you are visible to everyone in the audience.
• Think about how to move to the next slide. Will you use a clicker? Is your laptop situated close enough so you can change them yourself?

Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule for Presentation Skills:

Kawasaki emphasises the importance of being succinct to be able to get your message across. We all suffer death from PowerPoint regularly. Guy Kawasaki, of Apple fame, came up with a helpful and easy-to-remember rule for PowerPoint presentations. The 10-20-30 rule suggests the following for every presentation:

• Contain no more than 10 slides.
• Last no more than 20 minutes.
• Use a font size of no less than 30 points.

Formatting Your Slides:

When you are looking to format the slides you need to keep your audience in mind. You should consider the following:

• Content Organisation – Information chunking – Consider what sections need to go together and then how they flow from one another. If you have a good structure it will help your audience follow the information and understand your presentation.
• Content Relevance and Importance – Ask yourself – is the content on your slides critical to the understanding and visual representation of the information? If the answer is no, then don’t use it. This can confuse the audience and they might lose track while they are trying to make sense of it.
• Content Appropriateness – Consider who your audience is and how the information presented will affect them. If you are delivering at the wrong level, and using inappropriate language or images, you may affect your ability to connect and engage with your audience.

Collaborative Presentation Tools:

Google Slides and Slideshare work in a similar way to PowerPoint or Prezi. However, they provide a greater collaborative way of working. They are mostly free, web-based software that will help you to collaborate in real-time with people all over the world. This can be very useful for projects for international companies or teams. The same rules apply with regard to the slide structure and layout as they do with PowerPoint.

#2- Flip Chart

Some people love this, others hate it. But a flip chart means you can make your audience feel part of the presentation. It is, however, important that you are comfortable writing in front of people.

When to Use Flip Charts:

• If you want to capture live ideas from the audience about a topic.
• If you are confident in your writing.
• When your presentation is less structured. It allows freedom for organic idea development.

When Not to Use Flip Charts:

• If you are uncomfortable or feel it will detract from the point.
• When your room doesn’t have space to put up a flip chart.
• If you have a clear structure that will be lost if you deviate by encouraging audience participation.

#3- Wall Boards

Prepared and well-printed wallboards can add great visuals to any presentation. They can be turned to reveal information at the right time or be on show when people arrive to get their brains working in advance.

When to Use Wall Boards:

• If you have well-thought-out information or images that add sustained value (as they will be visible throughout the presentation).
• When you want those big visual aids to get people in the right mindset to hear what you have to say.
• If you want people to move around the room with you.
• When you have no access to PowerPoint facilities but want a visual aid.

When Not to Use Wall Boards:

• If you have no space or aren’t allowed to attach anything to the walls (check this with the room provider).
• When you feel they might distract the audience as you develop further points away from the content.

#4- Instant Audience Interaction

Using different software can help you get real-time voting, and gain instant feedback on a topic or point raised. Moreover, using real-time quiz activities can help engage your audience further. The following two examples are currently very popular:

Mentimeter gives the audience a code. They can put it into the app and then vote in real time as you present and ask questions. This can be useful to then analyse the data and see what engaged the audience most.

Kahoot! is an interactive quiz. Again, users can put a code into the app and answer multiple-choice questions. This can help you gauge their level of understanding of the topic.

If used correctly these tools can add a lot of value, but you have to make sure the questions are very relative to the topic.

#5- Go it Alone

A lot of people feel the need to have something to support them. Consider the impact of having nothing. Are you able to pull off not having visual aids? Will you make the right impression and get your point across to your audience? If not, then choose one of the options above. But if yes then give it ago!

When to Go It Alone:

• If you have the confidence and tone projection to engage your audience without visual aids.
• When the presentation is short and not very detailed.
• If your room gives you no other option.

When Not to Go It Alone:

• If you need visuals to help the audience understand.
• When your presentation is long and very detailed.

You now have your content and visual aids. Now it’s important to practice. Try to use all your skills to make the delivery of your presentation match the effort you have put into creating it.

7) What Makes an Effective Presentation?

#1- useful skills.

Understanding your audience is the key to delivering a successful presentation. You will need to ensure that you have effective skills for giving good presentations. With this in mind, it is a good idea for a presenter to understand different types of people and how their brains work. Understanding theories like Myers Briggs ( MBTI ) or Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument ( HBDI ) can greatly help a presenter shape the delivery to meet all types of people and provide maximum influence.

Myers Briggs (MBTI)

In simple terms, this type of indicator looks at four elements; energy, information, decisions, and living. By placing people on each scale you can start to understand their psychological type. Once you understand your own type, and that of those in the audience, you can start to adapt your communication and approach to get the best out of conversations.

Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument

HBDI is a psychometric tool that places people into four different areas based on how they think. Here is a breakdown of the four areas:

• A – Blue quadrant: Logical, technical, and financial. In a single word ‘Fact’, or as a profession – Engineer.
• B – Green quadrant: Organised, detailed, and structured. In a single word ‘Form’, or as a profession – Project Manager.
• C – Red quadrant: Emotional, sensory, and people. In a single word ‘Feeling’, or as a profession – Teacher/Nurse.
• D – Yellow quadrant: Risk-taker, intuitive, and the big picture. In a single word ‘Future’, or as a profession – Entrepreneur.

As a speaker, it is important to understand how people might react to the way you talk about different topics. If you heavily favour one of these styles, it may come across in your presentation. Moreover, it could cause friction with the audience without you meaning to.

For more detail, read our article on applying HBDI to presentations .

#2- Useful Techniques

Throughout this article, the skills in presenting covered have been about content, design, the type of medium to use, and how to use it. Now comes the most important part, the actual delivery of your presentation. These are the things you need to be practising over and over. Try to watch out for them in your recordings. Mastering these techniques will make you look comfortable, and ensure you deliver an effective presentation.

1. Friendly Faces

Most presenters will pick one friendly face in the room and talk to that person. This can help at first to calm your nerves. However, for that person, it can become awkward. Furthermore, the rest of the audience might feel left out. Make sure you start with a friendly face, but then give everyone eye contact as you look around.

Read our article on how to calm nerves before a presentation for more detail.

2. Eye Contact

If you struggle to make eye contact, the easiest tip is to divide the room into thirds (left, middle, and right or front, middle, and back). Then move your head to look at each third one after another. When practising, get into the habit of engaging one of the three areas with your eyes as you move to each new section or slide. This creates an easy flow that your body gets used to. If eye contact makes you really uncomfortable, you can look at people’s noses instead, they won’t be able to tell the difference, but it may put you more at ease.

3. Tone of Voice

It is really important that you engage the audience with your voice. Deep breathing before you start can help steady your voice. Also using pauses can help build anticipation in the audience.

4. Body Language

Everyone wants a silver bullet here and honestly, there isn’t one. You need to move with a purpose (to point at something or change your focus). You need to record yourself and understand what you do with your arms and legs. If you know you fiddle, make sure you have nothing around to pick up. Make sure you don’t have coins in your pocket.

If you can focus on moving for a reason and using your hands to emphasise your words then you are on to a winning formula. Always remember that doing anything that might be a distraction once or twice is fine. It is only once it becomes repetitive that people will become distracted by it.

Listening to someone speaking too fast is not a pleasant experience for your audience. They will feel rushed and uncomfortable. Practising your speech beforehand can help you pace yourself. Being nervous naturally makes us talk faster. We want to get it over as quickly as possible! When you practice your speech, think about the section you are on at set times. Try to know where you should be in your presentation on the day.

8) How to Improve Presentation Skills

Presentation training should cover the main areas of a presentation in enough detail and give you time to practice those skills.

Content Creation:

• How to create a storyboard plan.
• What questions to ask to check content understanding in the audience.
• How to include a story.
• How to grab the audience’s attention.

Medium Creation:

• Understanding how to create a PowerPoint, Flip charts, Wallboards, etc.
• Time to practice these skills with relevant software or materials.
• Time to practice. It should be recorded. Watch it back gain feedback and then practice again.

Most good presentation skills courses will run over two separate days with a break in the middle. This allows you the time to create a final presentation to bring back to the group and gain further feedback on your skills. Without doing this you might not have embedded the skills, therefore, this second day is vital to help make the learning stick.

A good course is also likely to ask you to arrive with a presentation prepared on the first day. This is to set a benchmark of the starting point and for the trainer to understand how to alter the day for the delegates in the room.

Take a look at our presentation skills infographic below and find out how to improve your presentation skills.

Click the image for a higher resolution:

9) The Top Five Tips for Presenting:

Finally, let us look at the list of the top 5 presentation skills tips to take away for your journey to better presentations:

• Know your audience.
• Structure your presentation so that it flows well.
• Choose the best medium to deliver the best result.
• Breathe and use your pausing effectively.
• Practice makes perfect – practice at least 10 times but more if you are able.

Final Thoughts

Thinking back to my early days of having to talk in front of my class in school, I was terrified. I was very bad at making eye contact or projecting my voice loud enough to be heard. So when I moved into business and needed to get better at this, I chose the sink-or-swim approach. I took an opportunity to train a group of 9 people over a 5-week period, which was part of the job that I did at the time. For the whole of the first week, I was red in the face, very nervous, and uncomfortable.

But as I practised the skillset day in and day out, it got easier and easier. Now, I own a training business and deliver to large and small groups of people within all levels of organisations. Like any skill set, you need to practice to make it work.

This Skill Will Change Your Life – It Has Mine

Skills for giving effective presentations are so important for helping us move through life, gaining the best opportunity, and showing the best of ourselves. Even if you don’t regularly need to talk in front of groups, it is a skill that will help in many aspects of your work and personal life.

From feeling more confident to be ready to say ‘yes’ when the opportunity presents itself, these skills will help you grow. Knowing how to give a good presentation and having good communication skills should be life skills everyone develops. In the wise words of Richard Branson:

If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”

You need to be ready to have the conversation and put yourself forward.

10) Further Reading and Resources on Presentation Skills

You can find further insight, detailed definitions, and clarification of all the key relevant terms mentioned in this guide in our Glossary for giving good presentations.

‘No audience ever complained about a presentation or speech being too short.’   – Stephen Keague 

‘[The] best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about.’   – Michael H Mescon

#2- Books All About Presenting

So many amazing authors and speakers have given their tips on presenting and dealing with nerves. I have included my favourite books below:

• ‘ Speak Up!: An Illustrated Guide to Public Speaking ‘  by Douglas M Fraleigh and Joseph S. Tuman. This is an illustrated introduction to public speaking and presentations.
• ‘ TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks ’  by Akash Karia. This will give you an insight into how to best use stories to engage your audience.
• ‘ Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal’  by Oren Klaff. An Investment banker now Author with over $400 million won in deals shares his secret winning formula.
• ‘ Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds ’  by Carmine Gallo. All the research shows the 9 points that make any presentation successful.
• ‘ Speak to Win: How to Present with Power in Any Situation ’   by Brian Tracy. This is a book of solid advice for newcomers to the world of presenting.
• ‘ Eloquence In Public Speaking ’   by Dr Kenneth McFarland. This is a dated book but the lessons learnt are so relevant and well-taught that it is well worth a read.

#3- Free Download

Click the image to access our ’10 Top Tips for How to Present Persuasively’:

#4- Must-watch Videos

Watch our playlist from our YouTube channel for effective presentation skills tips. Click the video below:

Chris Anderson, a TED Talks presentation skills curator, explains the secret to a TED Talk. The ability to place an idea or thought in a listener’s mind. It’s a very interesting concept:

#5- Relevant Articles You May Like:

• Presentation skills examples .
• Must-know presentation tricks .
• Do your online presentations lack oomph ?
• All about virtual presentations.
• Here’s how to start presenting with impact .

#6- Contact Us

Lastly, feel free to get in touch to find out how our presentation training can help you. Simply visit our contact us  page or email us at  [email protected] , and we will be happy to get back to you.

Remember, you are the presentation, not the slides. – Darren A. Smith .

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Mastering the five P’s of powerful public speaking

Public speaking can be intimidating for many people, but with the right techniques, anyone can become a confident and engaging speaker.

One effective approach, we learned from Alina Jenkins, Head of Communications at Body Talk , is to incorporate the five P’s – pitch, pace, pause, projection, and passion – into your speech. These five elements, when used skillfully, can captivate your audience and make your presentation memorable. This article will explore mastering the five P’s of powerful public speaking.

Embrace the natural variety in your voice. Your voice has a range of pitches, and using this natural undulation can add depth and nuance to your speech.

Avoid speaking too high or too low, as it may come across as cartoonish. Instead, find a comfortable middle range that suits the tone of your speech. For instance, higher notes can be used for positive or uplifting content, while lower notes can be employed for more serious or impactful messages. Experiment with different pitches to create a dynamic and engaging vocal performance.

Slow down and vary your speaking speed. When we’re nervous, we tend to speak too quickly, which can make it difficult for the audience to keep up with our message. Practice speaking at a moderate pace, allowing for pauses and moments of silence to gather your thoughts.

Vary your speed based on the content and tone of your speech. Sometimes, speaking a bit faster can add excitement or urgency, while speaking slower can convey thoughtfulness or emphasis. The key is to strike a balance and use pace strategically to enhance your message.

1:1 Meeting Template

The template you need to maximise the time spent with your Executive.

Minute-Taking Template

This powerful template is designed to help busy Assistants take effective minutes.

Embrace the power of silence . Pausing at strategic points in your speech can be incredibly effective in engaging your audience. It signals to them that something important is coming, and it gives you a moment to collect your thoughts.

Don’t be afraid of silence, and don’t feel the need to fill every moment with words. A well-timed pause can create anticipation, emphasise a point, or allow for a brief break to regroup. Just be mindful not to let the pause drag on for too long, as it may lose its impact.

Project energy through your voice. Good posture and proper breathing are essential for projecting your voice effectively. Stand tall with your shoulders back, and take deep breaths to support your vocal delivery.

Avoid slouching or restricting your airflow, as it can weaken your voice and make it difficult for your audience to hear you. Bring energy and enthusiasm to your voice, but be mindful not to shout, especially in virtual environments where microphones can amplify sounds. A well-projected voice conveys confidence and captivates your audience.

Let your passion shine through. When you genuinely care about your topic, it naturally comes through in your voice and delivery. Share your enthusiasm, belief, and emotion with your audience.

Let them see and feel your passion for your subject matter. It will help you connect with your audience on a deeper level and make your speech more engaging and memorable.

Incorporating these five P’s – pitch, pace, pause, projection, and passion – into your public speaking can significantly enhance your delivery and captivate your audience. Experiment with different techniques, practice regularly, and pay attention to your audience’s response to fine-tune your speaking skills. Remember, engaging public speaking is not about being perfect, but about being authentic and connecting with your audience. So, embrace your unique voice and let your passion shine through!

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And the big paperback book

Bryan Edwards

ABC Training Solutions

Read more from Bryan Edwards

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• September 28, 2015

The 5 Ps of Vocal Impact in Presentations

• By Bryan Edwards

• Tags: Behavioural Skills , Communication , Trainers' Tips

When delivering a presentation, voice projection is essential. The 5 P's is a way of maximising all the vocal aspects.

- Too loud a voice can be annoying particularly for those at the front of the audience

- Too quiet can say that the Presenter lacks confidence and others at the back can't hear

- Inject some energy into the voice to show enthusiasm for your message. The pitch or tone will vary more and the speech sounds more interesting to listen to

- Remember to inflect the voice i.e. stamp vocally on certain words. For example, saying 'Thank you very much' is less impactful than saying 'Thank YOU very much!'

- A good guide is an average of 120 words per minute in presentations

- Most people talk too fast (probably because they want to get it over with as quickly as possible!)

- Pausing is good for emphasis on key quality points. Pre-empting a quality point with a "Now this next point is very important", and a 3 second pause before making the point, is impactful

" The most precious thing in speech are the pauses"

SIR RALPH RICHARDSON

P ronunciation

- 'E's and 'P's ; 'B's and 'D's are very similar sounds, and need to be enunced clearly

- Slowing the pace can help the Pronunciation

"Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much"

View our fully designed, ready to deliver course material on Presentation Skills .

Bryan Edwards is Managing Director of ABC Training Solutions Ltd ( www.abctrainingsolutions.biz ) which delivers training throughout the U.K. and markets a range of fully-designed, ready to deliver workshops, self study packs and other training exercises for the busy trainer. He can be contacted on 07747 602215 or [email protected]

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The Three Ps for a Successful Presentation

In the world of health care public relations agencies, presentations take on many forms – sharing findings from environmental scans and landscape analyses, presenting patient education and awareness programs, and providing updates on thought leadership efforts to name a few. This can be a daunting task for those of us who aren’t natural public speakers, but it’s an essential skillset you can build and improve.

No matter what the presentation is – big or small, internal or external – proper preparation is the key to ensuring your ideas are conveyed in an effective and confident manner and that the presentation is ultimately a success.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

Outlined below are the three Ps for ensuring a successful presentation.

Preparation

First and foremost, always know precisely what is expected of you going into any presentation.

From a content perspective, will you be responsible for providing an update or two? Are you owning specific PowerPoint slides as part of a larger presentation? Are you leading the entire presentation?

From a logistical perspective, for an in-person meeting, do you need to ensure a specific document is up on the screen in the meeting room or materials are printed and laid out? If the meeting is virtual, does your backdrop showcase professionalism and do you have the necessary documents open, with any distractions minimized?

Regardless of your role, arriving or logging on a few minutes early for any presentation is always important. Make sure you have your notes ready and get yourself a glass of water. This may seem obvious but taking those extra few minutes will allow you time to collect yourself and prepare mentally before the presentation begins. It will also provide a cushion should any technical difficulties arise.

Outlining your presentation and associated talking points is another way to ensure your success. The purpose of this exercise is not to provide a finished document to read from. Writing out your talking points will help you gather and organize your thoughts, as well as help you highlight important points you want to hit home. It’s OK to glance at your notes periodically and use them to jog your memory and keep you on track during your presentation, but don’t use them as a crutch. Your audience can tell when you are reading, and it takes away your credibility as a presenter.

Don’t underestimate the importance of practicing your presentation ahead of time – both on your own and with a colleague. Even if you are completely confident on the topic and have developed your notes to guide you, actually speaking your thoughts out loud is a different ballgame. Practicing your presentation will help you identify any sections that are causing you to stumble and will ultimately help you convey confidence on the day of your presentation.

It’s also important to rehearse with any technology, such as advancing slides or playing video clips, that you plan to use during the real presentation. This will help you avoid any unexpected mishaps and will be one less thing for you to worry about during the presentation.

Remember, building your presentation skills takes time and won’t happen overnight. Ask your colleagues for feedback after each presentation so you can use each opportunity as a chance to learn and grow. And keep these three Ps – preparation, planning, and practice – top of mind to ensure your success!

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Lauren Musiol

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