5 Steps to Preparing an Engaging Industry Presentation

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5 Steps to Preparing an Engaging Industry Presentation

By Cyrus Claffey | Edited by Chelsea Brown | Entrepreneur Magazine |May 28, 2024

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Industry events are a chance to network with your colleagues and impress distributors — but to really make the most of your time at a conference, you need to learn how to prepare a presentation that engages, informs and leaves an impact.  The author has presented at some of the most important real estate and property technology events in USA as the founder of ButterflyMX. Here are a few tricks he shared as a way to wow any audience.

1. Getting comfortable with the stage.  Take a walk around the stage before your presentation. By familiarizing yourself with your environment, you can prepare yourself better.  And while you’re on stage, a relaxed, comfortable presence goes a long way in keeping your audience engaged. Whether you want to play your presentation casually or more formally, audiences can sense discomfort, which prevents them from fully connecting with your message.  To project your sense of comfortability, focus on your body language. You can project confidence by speaking slowly and clearly and by walking across the stage to keep the audience’s attention.
2. Familiarity with industry statistics.  An audience that doesn’t know the presenter might be wondering why they should be taking his or her advice.  If you can back up your claims with hard data, your presentation will ring true with listeners. You can cite industry-wide statistics or establish your own bona fides by citing stats that buttress your own credibility by establishing your company’s success.
3. Knowing your audience.  Depending on who your audience is, you’ll have to adjust your game plan and prepare for different things.  Nevertheless, at conferences where the audiences are different — a presentation that wows one crowd might have no information that’s applicable to another.  Depending on your audience, you need to strike the right balance between talking about various aspects you think the various segments among the audience would be interested.
4. Designing your slides carefully.  Slides are a good opportunity to share the aesthetics, tone and values of your company — but you’ve got to make sure you use them effectively.  A slide with too much text looks busy, and it’ll distract your audience and draw focus away from you. Instead, consider putting that information into your notes and speaking it aloud. Slides should focus on one or two visual elements, like bullet points, charts and graphs.  As for the actual design of your slides, you should ensure that you adhere to your company’s brand guidelines.
5. Asking for audience participation.  Asking for audience participation is the ultimate way to ensure everybody is locked in and paying attention — but it’s also a double-edged sword. You also need to be prepared in case asking the audience to participate doesn’t necessarily go your way.  For example, you might generally ask if an audience has any questions at the end of your presentation. But you run the risk of running into a hostile, bad-faith question — or you might even be met with silence.  That’s why one of the recommendation is give the audience questions and tasks that have a little more structure. You could do things like asking for a show of hands, asking for specific anecdotes or taking a poll.

2 key takeaways from the article

1. Industry events are a chance to network with your colleagues and impress distributors — but to really make the most of your time at a conference, you need to learn how to prepare a presentation that engages, informs and leaves an impact.  
2. Five tricks as a way to wow any audience are:  getting comfortable with the stage, familiarity with industry statistics, knowing your audience, designing your slides carefully, and asking for audience participation.

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Topics:  Marketing, Communication, Presentation