6 Strategies to Make Any Presentation Your Own

Have you ever found yourself in the position of delivering a presentation that you didn’t create?

In the world of business, we are often handed a PowerPoint® presentation and asked to deliver it – with confidence!  If the prospect of this makes your brow sweat, below are a few tips to quickly make this type of presentation your own. 

• Clarify your core message: Begin by crystallizing the single most important message you want to convey.  It will give you, and the slide deck, direction. 
   
• Plan your opening: Think about how you’ll engage your audience BEFORE you present slide one. Consider addressing these questions for your audience:
  
  • What message do you want them to remember (see your core message above)? 
  • Why should they care? 
  • What do you want them to do at the end of the presentation?
     
• Communicate the core message for each slide: Your gift as a presenter is to net out key messages. Spend time getting clear on what the message is for each slide and why it’s important to your audience.
   
• Use your own examples:  You most likely have been asked to present on this topic because of your depth of knowledge. Let your expertise shine through with the examples you share.
   
• Plan out your transitions between slides: The quickest way to make it look like you created the presentation is to find a way to link one slide to the next. Take this a step further by saying your transition before advancing to the next slide.
   
• Close like you opened: Black out the screen (hit the “B” button), move to the center of the room and conclude like you started:
  
  • Re-engage the audience
  • Restate the core message
  • Remind them why they should are
  • Reiterate what you would like them to do

Here is a tip sheet outlining these strategies plus a few others. Use these tips and, before you know it, the presentation will feel like your own. 

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