How to Take Your Professional Presentation to the Next Level

When you find yourself in possession of a great deal of industry knowledge and insight, you might decide to start serving as a speaker at corporate events. You might even find it possible to conduct training sessions for those looking to develop professionally in your field.

That being said, the world of professional speakers can be a competitive one. If you hope to be successful at booking speaking engagements, you will need to look for ways of setting yourself apart from the competition. Your professional experience and insights into your industry will be able to get you far, but those who are looking to hire speakers for events and the like will be looking for someone with charisma and enthusiasm.

There are a number of ways in which you can set yourself apart, but one thing that you will certainly want to address is your professional presentation itself. With an excellent presentation ready to go, you will be able to take your career as a speaker in your industry even further.

With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you to take your professional presentation to the next level.

Be Inclusive

In this day and age, it is important to be as inclusive as possible when it comes to the professional world. For this reason, there are several things that professional speakers can do. For instance, you should consider the colors and font you are using. Using the wrong theme, color scheme, or layout can impact how easy it is to read for those with visual disabilities. Fortunately, you can easily find out which are the most accessible templates to use.

In addition, you should add alternative text to images so that those reading the screen can easily convey to others what the image is. Furthermore, aim to include captions in your presentations. Real-time captioning software will allow you to have captions displayed throughout your live presentation. Such software can provide you with a precise transcript of your presentation that can be useful for your own personal review and for those who have come to benefit from your knowledge and insight.

Finally, if you are hosting your presentation online and require each attendee to open the presentation to follow along, consider whether the tool you are using is suitable. While some of the new presentation tools may look fancy, for example, some of them are not built for accessibility. Also, make sure to share this in advance so that people can prepare properly.

Use Humor Wisely

When it comes to being a professional speaker, there is something to be said for having charisma and an endearing way about you. One tool that many speakers use for these purposes is humor.

Humor can be a great way to keep the attention of your audience and come across as likable. However, it is important to remember that you are speaking to an audience of professionals, meaning that humor needs to be used wisely.

As you prepare your presentation, look to strike a good balance with the humor you use. Make sure that it doesn’t overshadow or water down your message in any way, as this will only serve to distract from your overarching purpose.

Ask Questions of Your Audience

Another great way to keep your audience engaged with your presentation is to actively involve them by asking questions. Whether you are looking to gauge the level of knowledge concerning the topic at hand or if you are simply trying to hold their attention, a question here and there throughout your presentation can be very useful. 

As you write your questions, though, make sure that you don’t make the mistake of challenging your audience too much. Your questions should allow them to think without going over their heads.