Different element of your professional oral presentation

Making an oral presentation that captures the public’s attention from beginning to end is a challenge, especially when it comes to complex or tedious issues. Before making a speech, analyze who is addressed and stick to it. Investigate your interests and motivations and include them, taking into account the main message, as well as the points you need to emphasize. Remember that the more you identify the listener with your exposure, the greater your influence will be.

The professionals usually make an oral presentation in the form of lectures, classes, work meetings and even investigation defenses. To get the best results and achieve a successful and memorable oral presentation for your audience, we give you a series of tips that you can apply the next time you transmit information to an audience.

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Think of the public

Knowing what type of audience you will address is essential to determine what content will be covered in your oral presentation. A conference for an oral professional in your sector admits technical terms that do not need explanation, but when it comes to students or other people who do not have your level of knowledge, you must adapt to them.

It is important to keep in mind that the public should not be underestimated, therefore the adaptation of contents refers to how attractive you can make them for that particular audience and which parts you should explain with greater emphasis.

I defined the central theme

At first glance this point is obvious, however, when the audience listened to you for an hour and can not title your oral presentation with a simple statement, you probably failed in the axis of the speech. A good exercise is to synthesize the subject in 140 characters as if it were a tweet and share it at the beginning of the oral presentation.

Use the 3-7 rule

Scientists tend to agree that the human mind can store between 3 and 7 points in the short-term memory, whether numbers, bullet points or supermarket items. I established a maximum of 7 important points in your speech and stick to them. An oral presentation will only be good if it is memorable to your audience.

Anticipate the questions of the audience

When you write the text that will guide your oral presentation, think about the possible questions that may arise among the public to frame the content that you will expose. It will be easier for everyone to digest the information if you start with the questions that naturally arise from the topic.

I chose an appropriate slide design

An oral presentation without slides is unthinkable today when technology can be exploited to make an issue that could be tedious appealing. However, a black and white slide full of text with a classic typography will play against you regardless of the rigidity of the subject.

In addition, the public would find themselves in the dilemma of listening to you or reading the text without being able to determine what information is most important. The traditional design is simple to digest: a good header, a brief or schematic main idea and two or three bullets that add supporting details in the form of keywords or short sentences.

I dispensed with the abuse of visual resources on the slides

Images should be used when appropriate because a presentation with well-organized information but loaded in its design, will have the same distracting effect as a dense text. Of course, exceptions are handled in the field of art when, for example, the photos on paintings of a given museum are the essence of the oral presentation.

Graphs, maps, and other resources are also appropriate for digesting information when used moderately. This item does not apply if you decide to make your oral presentation in the form of infographics, but for this, you must know how to handle this tool because you could fail to transmit the main message when it comes to an extensive presentation.

Highlight the importance of your oral presentation

You will attract the public more easily if you explain why your presentation is important to them, commenting, for example, on how your research affects the day-to-day life or the topic you will be discussing. Create connections between your exposure and the experiences that your audience has experienced, for which you should know them before.

This knowledge implies that if you are going to expose in front of students, it is appropriate to refer to exams, when it comes to professionals, to typical situations of work and thus to different publics, paying attention to those that are mixed.

Finally, I asked your audience to ask you questions, contribute an idea or make a comment to keep the attention and at the same time, arouse interest. Active participation is fundamental in concentration as well as motivation. You should take care that they do not interrupt you constantly, so it is recommended that you generate the spaces directly. And you can ask questions yours about oral presentation.