Capture Your Audience: How to Put Together the Perfect Conference Presentation

It's estimated that around 75% of people have a fear of public speaking.

If you belong to this group, the thought of giving a conference presentation might be enough to give you sleepless nights.

That said, if you know how to put together a great presentation, you'll find that public speaking becomes less of an issue.

Here are some tips on you can put create an outstanding conference presentation. If you currently doubt your ability to deliver an impactful presentation, these tips should help turn you into a public speaking pro.

Let's begin!

What's Your Core Message?

When developing your presentation, it's vital you concentrate your efforts around a core message. When you do this, it becomes easier to decide what you should and shouldn't include in the presentation.

Once you've defined your core message, you then want to consider how you can give it some validity.

To do this, you might need to find some case studies that support your argument. You may even need to find some stats that help add substance to the point you're trying to make.

It's also a good idea to spend some time thinking about the opposing viewpoint.

If you take some time to address some of the criticisms people might have about your message, you'll be able to make your presentation more credible.

Don't Rely Too Heavily on Your Slides

Powerpoint slides are a normal part of any presentation. However, it's important that you don't rely on them too much.

Your slides shouldn't act as a script, and they shouldn't contain every word you're going to say. If your slides are packed with text, you'll find that people give the slides more attention than they give you.

With that in mind, your slides should just contain bullet points that summarise certain parts of your presentation.

Though the content of your slides is important, it's worth noting that the design of your slides also holds some significance.

Thankfully, you can use a free slideshow maker to help you create some appealing slides. With such tools, you'll find that it's easy to create something that looks expertly designed, even if you're not a 'creative person.'

Rehearse as Much as You Can

90% of the anxiety people have about giving a presentation comes from lack of preparation. Thus, the more you rehearse your presentation, the less anxiety you'll probably feel during the conference.

Ideally, you should think about rehearsing your presentation in front of other people.

In doing so, you'll be able to request feedback on what you can do to make yourself more engaging. You should also ask if there are any holes in your core message and if there's anything you need to clarify.

You may even want to think about recording yourself so that you can do a little bit of self-criticism.

You should try to memorize your presentation as much as possible.

Though you'll have access to notes during the presentation, your confidence levels will be higher if you have everything memorized. Memorizing your notes will also make your performance more fluid, as you won't need to spend time checking your notes.

Do You Know How to Deliver a Great Conference Presentation?

With the help of the tips in this post, you should find it a lot easier to deliver a great conference presentation.

Yet, you may still have some doubts about your ability to perform on the big day. This is sometimes unavoidable, but if you put a lot of time into practicing, you'll find it easier to recover should you make mistakes.

Either way, remember that most people understand the pressures of delivering a presentation. Thus, if you make a mistake, it's not a big problem and you'll find that the crowd will be patient and ready to support you through the rough patches.

Is the thought of giving a presentation stressing you out? Read this post to learn some of the techniques you can use to lower your stress levels.