Having great presentation skills is a key element to developing your communication soft skills. And they will help you shine as an employee. During your internship, you’ll want to keep some key components in mind to help you hone your abilities.
So here are 3 tips that’ll help you deliver effective presentations for audiences around the world:
Tip 1: Determine the Cultural Background of your Audience
Believe it or not, the best way to structure a presentation is subjective depending on your cultural background.
Some cultures prefer that presentations lead with a thesis or main takeaway at the beginning. With a series of points to prove the thought process over the course of the talk. Other cultures might prefer presentations to lead with data and evidence before you reveal a solution or message.
So how do you know which structure to pick when you’re creating a presentation for a global audience?
Well, in global companies where you have a mix of people from different cultural backgrounds, it’s best to lean towards the structure that leads with a main thesis and has evidence and data along the way.
This is because the narrative is direct and clear. As a result, it enables people who prefer this presentation structure to not feel antsy. They are not left wondering where the presentation is heading.
And the people who require more detail can feel satisfied by the data. Offer them the opportunity to ask questions throughout the presentation.
Tip #2: Include Elements that Appeal to 4 Kinds of Learners
There are four different kinds of learners:
1 – those who engage through storytelling
2 – those who want to hear data and facts
3 – those who learn through activity
4 – those who like to ask questions as they process information
To give you an idea of how to put these elements into practice, structure your presentation so you lead with a story. This will help your audience connect with your presentation topic. Then give key data facts to intrigue them throughout. Next, provide them with an activity to solidify their understanding. Finally, offer a question and answer section at the end of your presentation.
Here’s a hypothetical example of a presentation on ‘How to give a great presentation’:
Lead with imagination: Have you ever given a presentation and wasn’t sure if your audience was engaging with your content?
Add data: Well, it turns out that 67% of people do not give effective presentations.
Educate: I will share with you 3 tips for making an effective presentation.
Do an activity: On this worksheet, there is a presentation topic. Use the next 5 minutes to apply what I’ve taught you to create a presentation outline.
End with Q&A: We have 10 minutes left, are there any questions?
Tip #3: Be Mindful of How Much Information You Put on Your Presentation Slides
When creating a slideshow presentation, you might feel compelled to put all of your speech onto the slides. You might feel this is better for people who like to read.
However, if you put too much information on your slides, your audience can become disengaged from your verbal speech. Because they will wind up spending their time reading the slides instead of listening to you talk.
An easy tip? Keep the amount of text on each slide simple.
If you really need to show more data. Or you feel it’s important to your audience to see a high quantity of text, then break down the information. You could do this by breaking it up over a series of extra slides to help your audience easily digest each piece of information.
Alternatively, you can leverage text animation to make each of your points appear on the slide as you are talking. The key point to keep in mind is to allow your audience to follow the text as you are speaking and to not let them read ahead or disengage with your speech.
So there you have it: 3 tips to structuring an effective presentation for a global audience. When you practice using these tips, you’ll be well-prepared for communicating successfully in international companies.
The best way to communicate globally and improve your soft skills is to get stuck in. Beyond Academy offers global internships in 14 different international cities. Why not make your next career step, a global one? Find out more about our locations, here.
