How to Give the Best Presentation Ever

For me, the best presentation is not the one with:

• the best Powerpoint or Prezi.
• amazing, expensive library images.
• an hour duration.
• brilliantly crafted words.

It’s the one where:

• I like the presenter.

Pretty shallow of me, perhaps, but here’s the thing: if I like you, I’ll listen to everything you say. If I don’t, it’s going to severely hinder your effectiveness.

(If this lady was giving a talk – and you understood Japanese – you’d probably listen. She looks fun.)

Here’s what will make me like you. You appear* to:

• be interested in me and what I want to know.
• be adaptable and ready to improvise.
• have a sense of humour.
• know your subject.
• like your subject.
• be confident.
• be sincere.
• have flaws.

* (good speakers can fake these (including flaws). But that doesn’t matter, does it?)

Now, you don’t have to hit all of those for me to become a besotted audience member (like the student in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ with ‘Love You‘ written on her eyelids), but the more of them you achieve, the better. ‘Be confident’ may seem to be the big one, but I don’t think it’s more significant than any of the others. e.g. if you’re confident but don’t know your subject or don’t have a sense of humour, then for me you have little appeal. Confidence is indeed fantastic, but only in the presence of the other qualities.

Don’t waste time on details such as the presentation visuals or one line’s specific wording. Instead, invest time developing the most valuable asset in the whole thing:

You.