It’s time to get the basics right. Whether you’re here today to learn how to present confidently, or to present professionally, or if you are in our advanced class to present with presence, you will need the basics.
We should not underestimate basics. Each of us progresses in our careers and in our life by mastering basics. We changed the name of this training programme from ‘Effective Presentation Skills’ when it was first designed and delivered in 1994, to Presentations Alive!™ a couple of years later, because most learners, regardless of seniority or industry, were “coming alive” — transforming before our eyes, when they learned just the basics and put them in place for their presentations.
A presentation is distinctly different from a chat or a discussion which we all know how to do. Yes, it’s good and important for many presentations to feel and sound like a conversation, and yes, often there’s discussion. But it’s different because we have to take what we know, put it together, then communicate in a way that is clear and will be understood and digested quickly, easily.
A presentation is also different because of three small words: “to”, “for” and “alone”. You’re presenting to someone or a group. You’re presenting for a reason that matters to a person, a team, a department, or your organisation; more often than not, it matters to you. And you’re essentially alone when you are presenting, with your listeners depending on you. When someone depends on you, you need to be sure that your basics are in place.
What are the basics? Taking the content you know and structuring it so it’s clear. When required, using slides that are also clear. Being expressive. Being calm and confident. There are sub-skills within these, and there are other basics if you’re making a proposal or a presentation of data.
Presentations are everywhere now: conferences, TED talks, investor pitches, elevator pitches, product pitches, motivational speeches. When I look back over these decades, it is clear that presenting as a skill has risen in significance, becoming more needed, more valued. It is essential for our careers. It isn’t optional anymore — for anyone.
Presenting is the new communicating
What we need to acknowledge is this: the business presentation is a specialised format. It has evolved over time and it continues to do so. It is distinct. It is different from any other type of presentation.
The business presentation is not showing slides and reading off them. It is so much more. The organisation’s life depends on it. I know this sounds grandiose, but I don’t mean it in the usual way you might think. Let me tell you what I mean.
In every small or big presentation, someone is depending on you — whether it is to learn something, to understand something, or to get information that they can consider, that they can use in their work or a project that’s crucial to them. And remember, you might be depending on your presentation for something that is important to you.
When you listen to a good presentation at work, one that involves and engages you, it is like getting an injection of life, like having an unexpected light switched on when it’s been dark for a long time, like a gift you might have given up hope of receiving.
And so, if each of us masters the basics—and today we can partner with AI to make our content crystal clear and structured; if we then breathe life into it by being expressive, calm and confident—our managers, teams, departments, and organisations will become more vibrant and more alive.
A strong business presentation contains energy that can propel us forward. It’s time to do it very well.
Marianne Vincent
Director of Training Quality