We want to ensure that you have everything you need to shine in your upcoming presentation. Remember your presentation is an opportunity for your fellow members and guests to get to know, like and trust you.
We want to help you get the most from this opportunity, so here are our top 10 Fresh Presentation Tips to get you started:
1. Remember that 90% of a successful presentation happens before you start speaking – it’s in the preparation and planning. The better prepared you are, the less you worry about you and the more you can focus on your audience. Don’t leave it to the last minute – preparation really is the key to a great presentation.
2. Before you start, think about what you would like to achieve. It can be helpful to think of this from the point of view of your audience. At the end of your presentation, what do you want them to:
3. Write the outline script for your presentation and make sure it flows logically and that the ideas are clear.
4. As your presentation is only 10 minutes long, keep the content simple. A good rule of thumb is to cover just three main topics in the main part of your presentation (part 3 in the suggested structure below).
5. Engage your audience from the start – good techniques include: make a bold statement, ask a question, tell a (short) story illustrating your main message.
6. People have different ways of absorbing information so go multi-media! Think about using slides with words, images and short video clips, or having physical props (but remember, large props might be difficult for your audience to see over zoom).
7. If you do use slides, remember to minimise your use of text. A good guideline is 5 x 5 – no more than five bullet points on a list, and five words per bullet.
8. PowerPoint is the recommended presentation tool as it works on most laptops and audio-visual equipment. If you’re in a café hub, check your computer works with the audio-visual equipment (maybe do this at the previous meeting) and as a back-up please ensure you also bring your presentation on a USB. Check with your facilitator if they will have a computer for you to use.
9. If you’re presenting on zoom, check that you know how to share your screen and ‘drive’ the slides. One of your hub members will be happy to do a short ‘technical rehearsal’ with you if you’re unsure.
10. If you haven’t done so already, book in for the Fresh Academy workshop ‘Make the most of your 10 minutes’, where you’ll learn some great tips for structuring a winning pitch.
11. Practice, practice, practice – remember, no-one presents better ‘off the cuff’ and the people who look most at ease and confident are the ones that have practiced the most. It’s also the only way to be confident that your presentation really does last 10 minutes and not half an hour!
An example of a simple 5-part presentation outline:
1. Attention grabber – capture your audience’s interest with a statement or question related to your topic.
2. Set the scene – what is the issue you’re addressing, why is your message important?
3. What’s the answer to the issue, or what do you offer? (This is the bulk of your presentation, and will account for 6-7 minutes of your total time. This is where you cover your three main points).
4. What are the outcomes? Or what is the evidence that your approach works? Here you could tell a customer success story.
5. Close – make your ‘call to action’, ask the audience to do something, and have a strong wrap up.
We hope those tips help you put together a great presentation that help you build the ‘know, like and trust’ that we’re aiming for in Fresh.
We look forward to seeing your information come through from the Fresh Speaker Form and enjoying your presentation.
Stay Fresh!