Presentation Skills and Principles of Making an Effective Presentation

               A presentation is a speech on a serious topic; its purpose is to inform, to explain, and to persuade the audience or to present a point of view. It may introduce a product or explain a process or narrate an experience; it is delivered to a small, knowledgeable audience at a conference, a seminar, or a business meeting. It is followed by questions from the audience.

               Presentation skills can be cultivated and developed with some knowledge of the formal aspects and with practice. You don’t have to be a brilliant speaker to make a good presentation, but you have to make a careful presentation.

Principles of Making an Effective Presentation

        1. Plan Your Presentation Well:

• Plan a topic well beforehand particularly if the presentation is before a large audience.


• Choose an appropriate style of presentation.


• Define the main idea in a simple statement and think about how you will approach the subject.


• The body of the presentation should have the what, when, where, which, and how of the subject.

        2. Interact with Your Audience:

• Make an audience analysis and profile.


• Grab the attention of the audience with an interesting opening, an anecdote, a quote, some relevant information, or current news items.


• Keep the audience interested throughout. You could narrate some experience or incident, thus keeping it involved.


• Treat people with respect and create a two-way process so that their questions and answered clearly and concisely.

        3. Make Proper Use of Body Language:

• Maintain good eye contact. The eye should move easily from section to section of the audience and the speaker should try to establish eye-contact with members of the audience.


• Make proper use of facial expressions. Right hand and body movements contribute a lot to a good presentation.


• Silence is essential. Don’t talk non-stop.


• See that speech is not monotonous in tone or pitch. Modulate your voice.

        4. Use Powerful Aids:

• Visual aids should be well designed to achieve a perfect balance of visual appeal.


• PowerPoint slides, transparencies, whiteboard, handouts are some of the visual aids that can be used while giving presentations to make them more interesting.


• Do not speak while the audience is studying the visual material.


• A good rule for presenters is to use visuals for the complex and difficult part of the message and to recapitulate from the beginning to the end of the presentation.