In the modern era of work, a great presentation is more than simply a ‘nice to have.’ They can be the primary vehicle for training employees, pitching to potential customers and partners, and even collaborating on projects across teams. Employees likewise agree that when presentations are done right, they can have a transformative effect on both company culture and individual employee experience. According to the Superstar Presenter Spotlight, a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. professionals, 49% believe better presentations would spark their motivation to deepen their knowledge at work, 48% would feel more inspired to share knowledge with their coworkers, and 43% would look forward to presentations rather than dreading them.
Presenters are still stumped by audience engagement and more
While employees and business leaders alike may understand the importance of an effective presentation, many presenters still encounter a range of challenges. Keeping the audience engaged ranks as employees’ top presentation obstacle (53%), with nerves and lack of confidence coming in second at 46%, followed by the difficulty of breaking the ice and connecting with the audience at 44%. With these presentation woes so widespread, it may be unsurprising that only 9% of employees surveyed feel totally confident in their presenting skills, and 42% admit feeling some uncertainty of whether their message is resonating with the audience. Furthermore, 96% say they would be interested in dedicated training for presenting skills at their workplace.
Another key reason for presenters’ uncertainty of their own skills is what they’re judging them against: 86% would describe TED Talks as the gold standard for presentations. While the world-class presenters of TED Talks have inspired many, they have also established a presenter-centered template that relies on pro-level public speaking skills.
The challenges presenters face today underscore a clear need for strategies to transform presentations from isolating info-dumps to conversations that involve and energize everyone, without years of public speaking experience. How can organizations achieve this? Get started with these four actionable tips:
1. Ask the audience
Whether alone onstage under the harsh spotlights, or simply filling up dozens of computer screens, presenting can feel frighteningly dependent on one’s own performance. However, while TED Talk-esque storytelling skills still rank as the top quality of a great presenter (27%), nearly as many employees (25%) say the ability to make presentations interactive is the most critical factor. By making interactivity the target goal, presenters can tackle their greatest challenge of audience engagement, while also strengthening their connection to the audience and lessening their nerves by shifting focus to the whole group. Start simply by asking your audience questions: quiz them regularly on what they’ve learned, invite them to vote in polls, and challenge them to get creative and brainstorm ideas!
2. Leverage the latest tech
Technology is another key element putting superstar presenter skills within any employee’s reach. With tech tools, presenters can easily add interactive activities throughout the experience, without needing to reinvent the wheel each time. The audience can likewise engage with the presentation digitally, lowering the barrier to entry and making it easier for everyone to participate, not only extroverts who don’t mind speaking up.
Companies may also want to explore how employees can leverage generative AI for presentations, such as leveling up design and creating interactive elements. While 48% of employees surveyed say they see the potential for AI to be a presentation game changer, only 17% of professionals actually use AI to create or deliver presentations. To close this gap, businesses can offer training on how to use specific AI tools to create engaging presentations that fit the brand and company’s needs.
3. Listen and learn from real-time feedback
Another powerful outcome of tech-enabled interactivity in presentations is guaranteed audience feedback. This isn’t always the case in presentations today. In fact, 98% of employees surveyed say they value audience feedback on their presentations, but only 13% say they receive it each time. Moreover, while 83% of employees who say they have top-level presentation skills report getting audience feedback always or often, only 59% of presenters who report feeling uncertain in their delivery can say the same. This suggests that feedback could be key to boosting presenters’ confidence and strengthening their skills. Fortunately, many interactive elements—such as quiz questions, polls, and brainstorms—can serve double-duty as both audience engagement and instant feedback. These experiences can reveal how well the audience is retaining information, where they may need more explanation, and what they respond to best. Through this, presenters can determine how effectively they’re communicating, without explicitly asking, and gain confidence from knowing their audience is tuned in and engaged.
4. Turn presenters into workplace heroes
No matter how interesting the subject matter, simply reading from a slide deck is likely to bore the audience, and few people actually want to bore their coworkers. To inspire more employees to share their knowledge, flip the script on the familiar presentation experience. Invite employees to instead host a gamified challenge, harnessing friendly competition to boost motivation for learning. Employees are much more likely to volunteer to lead these sessions when they see that their coworkers are not only learning, but truly enjoying the experience.
With these strategies, businesses can equip anyone in their workforce to be a superstar presenter. This can be the critical first step to creating a culture of knowledge sharing, continuous learning, and leadership that sets the company up for success.
James Micklethwait is VP of Kahoot! at work at global learning and engagement platform company Kahoot!
Engagement stock image by Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock
