Joining a conference can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you are tasked with making a presentation. The beauty about conferences is that they draw people from the same or similar industries together, particularly experts in that industry, and when you make a presentation, you have the perfect opportunity to make an impact. But not everyone is gifted with great presentation skills, and often, it has a lot to do with how you connect with your audience rather than what you really have to say. So how can you properly and effectively prepare for a presentation at a conference? Let’s find out.
- Keep this in mind: your audience is not made up of alien creatures. It may be funny to think that way, but it’s true. Your audience is simply made up of individual people who all have different interests, different schedules, and different places to go and people to meet. This is why it’s important to engage them in a special discussion that makes use of the right supplements and visuals (such as a PowerPoint presentation or a specially-designed and printed presentation folder – such as a well-printed A4 conference folder from Better Printing) so they can better appreciate what you have to say and have a greater idea of your main message.
- It’s always better to keep it simple. With this, we mean choosing your words carefully. Saying less is better than saying too much, and you can always make it a point to answer everyone’s questions afterwards, or when you are given the opportunity to have one-on-one discussions or interactions.
- Focus on your three most important points and then make sure to build your presentation around these points. Of course, if you are set to present for a longer time, you can choose more than 3 points, but 5 key points are the maximum.
- Don’t forget to optimise the pause. Pausing during your presentation is also important; it gives your audience some time to think and breathe and take your information in. If you are finding it hard to pause during your presentation, drink some water – this will also give you a chance to smoothly transition from one topic to another.
- To help you along, you can also try writing down your bullet points in your paper’s margins rather than trying to view it on your presentation You may be more drawn to your handwriting than to text on the slide or board.
- Another way to feel less anxious or nervous when you are doing a presentation in a conference is to do a ‘power pose’. These kinds of poses take up a certain amount of space, allowing you to feel a bit more confident and dominant and reducing certain hormones such as cortisol, which can cause undue stress as well as increased testosterone and other chemicals in your own body. A great ‘power pose’ can decrease your body’s level of stress, and it’s a good idea to do it right before you start. One typical ‘power pose’ is the ‘victory’ stance, where you simply stand and stretch your arms to form the letter Y.
Image attributed to Pixabay.com
