Whether you’re delivering a pitch, hosting a webinar, or speaking in a team meeting, possessing strong presentation skills is essential in today’s professional world. At Actors in Industry (Aii), we draw on professional performance techniques to help you present with clarity, confidence, and charisma. These ten tips will help you speak with real impact.
1. Understand your audience
Effective communication starts with knowing who you’re speaking to. Before you speak, ask: What does my audience care about? What are their challenges? Tailoring your message to their needs makes your presentation more relevant and compelling.
2. Be clear in your messaging
Before creating slides or notes, define the main points you want your audience to remember. Keeping that focus will make it easy to follow, and this clarity will shape the entire structure of your presentation.
3. Structure is key
Structure gives your presentation flow and direction. Your presentation needs a beginning, middle, and end:
- Hook: Grab attention with a bold statement or question.
- Build: Develop your ideas with rhythm and variation.
- Climax: End with a powerful takeaway or call to action.
4. Practise aloud
Don’t just go through your notes in your mind, practise speaking them out loud. This helps improve your fluency, reduce nervousness, and make your delivery feel more natural and polished. Bonus points if you record yourself or get feedback from a colleague.
5. Use confident body language
Your non-verbal communication is very important. Things like posture, gestures, and eye contact play a major role in how you’re perceived. Aii training emphasizes embodied presence—standing tall, grounding your stance, and using gestures with intention.
6. Modulate your voice
Voice is a powerful tool. Use pitch, pace, and pause to create emphasis and emotion. Vary your tone, pause for emphasis, and speak with energy. Voice modulation keeps your audience engaged and helps emphasize key points.
7. Make the presentation interactive
Interaction helps in connecting with the audience. Ask questions, use real-life examples, or invite participation through polls. Engaging audiences increases the likelihood of them retaining your presentation.
8. Manage your nerves
Nervousness is normal even for professionals. The trick is to manage it by taking deep breaths, preparing well, and keeping a positive mindset to help you stay calm and in control.
9. Make it visually simple and clean
Your slides should support, and not replace your words. Avoid cluttered slides and long blocks of text. Stick to key phrases, bullet points, visuals, and clean layouts that help your audience stay focused.
10. Finish strong
Your closing moments are often what people remember most. Reiterate your key message, deliver a strong call to action, or leave your audience with a compelling thought or challenge.
Looking to Level Up Your Presentation Skills?
Join our Presenting with Impact course, designed for professionals who want to speak with confidence, clarity and credibility. Learn the techniques used by great communicators and apply them in any setting, from boardrooms to conferences.
