Guidelines for Creating High-Impact Presentations

Guidelines for Creating High-Impact Presentations: You need to be able to communicate ideas clearly and effectively if you want to be a high-performing auditor.

Auditors are frequently needed to communicate with tact, diplomacy, and conviction in a variety of settings, including kickoff meetings, status reports, internal training sessions, executive committee reports, and even routine staff meetings.

Some of us have no trouble in a presentation atmosphere. Others find the thought of delivering even the most positive message in front of a gathering terrifying.

Speak on a subject you are knowledgeable about; if not, spend time learning more. As a general guideline, give preparation at least twice as much time as delivery. For instance, if you are a subject matter expert and your presentation has a 15-minute time limit, allocate at least 30 minutes to message organization. If you are not knowledgeable with the subject, expect on spending a lot more time on the planning.

Recognize your audience’s receptivity to your message.

It is possible that your audience has some background in and awareness of technical matters if they are already inclined to agree with your message.

As a result, you don’t need to waste time trying to establish your trustworthiness. As a result, you can focus more on your message without taking too long to establish a common ground.

Additionally, you have more power to influence this audience to take some sort of action. If they lack knowledge, you must inform them by providing them with persuasive analogies, instances, and demonstrations.

Since your subject is technical, they can already have preconceived notions about it that include trepidation, bewilderment, or frustration.

Spend some time imagining how they would respond before you speak to an audience who might be hostile to or indifferent to your message. Then, decide how you will reply.

Creating High-Impact Presentations: Basic Guidelines

Avoiding fillers like “uh,” “okay,” and “at the end of the day,” as well as audible pauses.

As an alternative, purposefully slow down your speech rate and add a pause and a breath after each statement.
Remember that your audience needs time to consider what you are saying.
They have time to do this because of your silences rather than vocal calls.

Put page numbers on the handouts you distribute.

To ensure that everyone is actually on the same page throughout your presentation, refer to them frequently.
It’s usually a sign that at least one person doesn’t understand what page you’re referring to when there is a persistent rustling of papers while you are speaking.
As you debate the page’s content, keep things under control by giving the page number and the page’s title so that people can catch up.

Create an easy-to-remember structure for your message.

To reduce your dependency on notes, use a chronology (past, present, future) or adhere to a process (input, processing, and output).
Your audience won’t be able to follow if you, the message’s author, can’t recall how your thoughts developed.

Consider every change carefully.

To ensure that your transitions from one topic to another are seamless, decide how you will phrase the question you will pose or the statement you will make in advance.
To keep yourself informed about impending material and maintain the appearance of topic mastery, write down these phrases at the bottom of each page.

Stand up if your health or physical condition permits so that everyone can see and hear you well.

In case the room is big, use a microphone.
Depending on how the space is set up, it could be challenging for your audience to hear and see you if you’re sitting on a chair, behind a desk, or on the desk.
Give your audience the best chance to see you so that they don’t have to crane their necks or ask other participants to repeat what you said.

Don’t forget to include a beginning, middle, and end to your presentation.

Setting expectations for your audience and providing context for your message should come first (i.e., what happened in the past that precipitated the need for this meeting).
The aim of your presentation should be briefly stated in your opening remarks, and your message should be delivered in the middle.
If getting approval to implement your proposal is your aim, the conclusion should include a summary of the main points and the next actions as well as a clear call to action.

Also Read: What Is an Evaluation of Customer Needs?