How to ace a presentation?

Presentations are something I look forward to. I like having that command in a room. However, I was not always someone who was confident enough to speak publically. I always tried to swerve. I only have two expectations when I am part of an audience listening to a presentation — don't be boring and make it fun. And that's the standard I set out for myself. I was terrified that when I would go out there to speak, people would find every word out of my mouth boring and would keep looking at the clock. So, being a big-time people pleaser, I came up with a foolproof plan to ace every presentation.

Breaking The Monotony

If you're someone whose name starts with an "S", you're already at the disadvantage of people not paying attention to you anymore. That's why I always begin my presentations with a question and ask them to answer it with a show of hands. It always breaks the monotony and brings the energy back. For instance, I was presenting on the growth of OTT platforms in India. I asked the audience if they had watched Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma. I knew it was a popular and beloved sitcom, which the majority of the audience had been watching since they were kids, bringing the nostalgia factor. It immediately got everyone's attention and gave me a head start.

Becoming Rohit Sharma

If you're a cricket fan, you know that in 2018, Rohit Sharma was a beast as an opener, and that's what you need to incorporate as a presenter — being an excellent opener when you're on the field. A good opening for me is sharing an experience related to the presentation topic that the audience can connect with easily. For example, I once wanted to talk about Online Reputation Management. To make this talk more engaging, I began my presentation by talking about the outrage Rising Pune Supergiants faced after sacking MS Dhoni as the captain. I mentioned how I was also part of the online hate tweeting, which made Harsh Goenka block me on Twitter. This made the audience laugh uproariously. I used that instance to talk about how outrage and trolling on social media can negatively impact a brand's image and then brought up the importance of online reputation management.

The Ah! Factor

In 2021, I signed up for an online course (Communication Strategies for a Virtual Age). In that course, the speaker, Ivan Wanis Ruiz, talks about the Ah! Factor. It means mentioning an unfamiliar instance, phrase, or word and not providing any further context about it. This element of suspense leaves the audience hooked throughout your presentation as they try to figure out what it means. And the moment you do the big reveal, and it finally clicks, it creates the "Ah! Now I understand" moment. For instance, I was talking about how to ace a presentation in class. Before I started talking, I wrote the three points on the board, making people curious. As I proceeded with my presentation and covered each point, those three points finally started making sense. I could see the smile on everyone's faces, and that's how I aced the presentation that day.