Presentation Skills

What are presentation skills?

When giving a presentation, it’s easy to lose an audience - especially if it’s a dry subject. Effective presentation skills bring life to any presentation, and grab and keep hold of the audience’s attention. If the presentation is a sales pitch, it’ll give your business a better chance at closing the deal.

To do this, there’s a range of skills that employees can develop to be as confident and engaging as possible:

• Communication
• Enthusiasm
• Body language
• Active listening
• Empathy
• Honesty
• Relatability
• Storytelling
• Reliability
• Leadership

How to give a confident presentation

As we’ve already highlighted, being a skilled and confident presenter isn’t something that comes naturally to most employees. It’s a skill that is developed through training and practice. Below are a few ways employees can become more confident when giving presentations:

• Know your audience - who are they, what do they do, what do they need to know?
• Prepare in advance - it’s impossible to give a strong presentation on the fly, so preparation is key.
• Practice makes perfect - practicing the presentation allows the employee to get more comfortable with the material they’re presenting.
• Be dynamic - keeping the audience guessing improves their engagement.
• Make the audience the focus - the audience should feel like the attention is on them, as you’re speaking to them directly.
• Use visual aids - using slideshows, videos, and graphics will take some of the pressure away from the presenter and help generate audience engagement.
• Show enthusiasm - showing nerves is understandable and often can’t be helped, but showing enthusiasm - even during “boring” presentations - is vital.
• Be honest - avoiding sweeping statements, exaggerations, and especially outright lies is important for keeping credibility.
• Get to the point - grab the attention of the audience early. Only tell them what is necessary.
• Be simple - don’t overcomplicate things or use complex language.
• Be relatable - don’t talk down to or patronize the audience in any way.
• Use humor - be funny, but only where appropriate.
• Show confidence - an employee giving a presentation may not feel confident, but the right body language can make them appear confident.
• Tell a story - a good storyteller will engage an audience about even the driest topics.

The above are just a few points that allow an employee to develop good presentation skills. There are many broad and specific skills that ensure employees grow their confidence in front of an audience, which can all be learned in presentation skills training courses.

How can you develop your presentation skills?

Improving presentation skills takes effort and dedication. As well as training, there are a number of ways employees can develop and grow their confidence:

• A good sense of self-awareness enables employees to see themselves as others may see them, such as understanding body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
• Recording and rewatching the footage allows employees to see themselves and work on aspects they don’t like.
• Employees can use techniques to psych themselves up, such as power-posing.
• Reappraise nervousness and anxiety as excitement.
• Watch others give presentations, including online presentations by confident public speakers.

Improving presentation skills takes time, but with training, practice, and some of the above techniques, employees can improve and develop. 

Can you learn presentation skills online?

A great way for employees to improve their presentation skills is through online training. eLearning courses are self-directed, so can be taken whenever employees have the time to learn. That means employees can learn without the pressure of interrupting their day-to-day responsibilities. Because eLearning courses have already been produced and can be accessed instantly. They’re also affordable and easily scalable.

How does training benefit your business?

When your employees take courses that improve their presentation skills, it has many benefits for your business, such as:

• Your employees give better, more engaging presentations
• It improves collaboration
• It improves communication across your organization
• Your business is more likely to close deals

Training also helps employees to feel valued, which improves morale and job satisfaction. This helps lower employee turnover, meaning your business spends less on time-consuming recruitment.

How does training benefit your employees?

As well as benefiting your business, your employees will also benefit from presentation skills training in many ways:

• They’ll be more confident
• They’ll be more efficient and productive
• They’ll feel less stress and pressure
• They’ll be able to develop and progress within your organization

What are the best online training courses for improving presentation skills?

Online presentation skills courses can cover a range of topics, from basic skills for those with little experience, to advanced topics for those who are looking to develop and upskill. Some of the best presentation skills training courses include:

• 10 Minute Presentation Skills
• Powerful Presentation Skills
• Presentation Skills
• Effective Presentation Skills
• Improve Your Presentation Skills
• The Art of Presentational Speaking: Advanced Skills (Part 1 of 8) -- Overcoming Presentation Nerves
• Powerful Presentation Skills: Module 1 -- Begin and End With a Bang!
• Public Speaking: A Complete Guide to Perfect Presenting with Alan Stevens
• Public Speaking Skills
• Planning an Effective Presentation

Train your employees today

Ready to train your employees and help them to improve their presentation skills? At Go1, we have a wide range of eLearning courses available to access right now. For more information on how we can support your organization’s learning and development strategy, book a demo with our team today.