So you want to learn presentation skills?
Great! I have good news and even “gooder” news!
The good news is public speaking and presentation skills are not talents. No one is born with particular abilities that make them better speakers or presenters. This is good news because it means anyone — me, you, your boss — can learn presentation skills and improve the way we communicate with others.
The “gooder” news is you don’t need to pay for expensive courses or training to improve your presentation skills. This blog is a free resource to help you learn and improve. Below I’m going to list some key links you can use to plan out, practice, and successfully deliver your next presentation.
All good? Here goes…
Table of Contents
FREE public speaking course
My free public speaking course is a complete start to finish guide on how to plan, practice, and deliver your presentation. You’ll discover the right way to create your PowerPoint slides, and when to do it. You’ll also learn how to handle questions so you look confident and credible (even if you don’t feel it). The course is supported by videos and worksheet downloads. Using the worksheets you can take what you’ve learned in the videos and make a presentation that is a perfect fit for you.
This course is completely free and no sign up is required.
Get started on my public speaking course now.
Planning your presentation
The planning of your presentation is the most important step. If you want to do a successful presentation you need to plan well. Planning involves the topic of the presentation, how it relates to the audience, and the objective. Check out the below posts for guidance on what and how to plan.
How to outline your presentation
How to improve your presentation skills fast
Memorizing your presentation
One of the toughest parts of your presentation will be remembering what you have to say. Do you make cue cards, write out a script, take notes on the back of your hand? Actually, none of those things will help. The best thing to do is use strategies to remember what to say without having too many visual prompts. Use the three articles below to guide you on how to remember your presentation.
3 Simple steps to remember your speech
Easy way to memorize the main points in your speech
The exact steps to remember your speech and become a memory genius
Practicing your presentation
It’s important that you get enough presentation practice so you know how you’re going to handle yourself on stage. This doesn’t mean that you need to be practiced word-perfect. It means you need to have a good knowledge of your whole presentation before you stand up to talk. Use the articles below to give you important help about your practice.
Why you should practice your presentation before creating your slides
9 Visual communication mistakes that make you look stupid
Designing your PowerPoint slides
It’s important that slide design is one of the last things you do. Make it one of the first things and you’ll end up wasting a lot of time on things that don’t matter very much in the overall picture of your presentation. Focus on your planning and practice and then think about your slides last. Here are some useful articles on slide design.
How to add impact to your presentation slides
How to build a company PowerPoint template for free
Delivering your presentation
No matter how much preparation you’ve done it will still be nerve-wracking standing on stage. Here are some useful articles on how to reduce stress and anxiety and look confident.
Public speaking anxiety treatment
Overcoming public speaking anxiety
I wish you all the best with your next presentation. Bookmark this learn presentation skills article so you can return any time. If you have any comments or questions please let me know if the comments section below.
Gregg says
Amazing information and content as always Sensei Dave. Appreciate your supreme guidance and mentorship