One of my connections was recently seeking some advice on presentation skills and this is what I shared. Please feel free to add your own tips at the end. Thank you.

1. If I can’t present something succinctly, I don’t know it well enough. I build my presentations believing that there would be fewer slides if I had more time.

2. Don’t create wordy slides and try to present too much information. And definitely don’t stand there just reading your slides.

3. Maintain a strong posture. It’s ok to move around a bit, but don’t pace. Present one part of the presentation from one side of the screen (i.e. the left side) and move to the opposite side (i.e. the right side) to present the other part.

4. Engage the audience, if possible. Ask questions, especially at the beginning. This usually helps to calm nerves and puts the accountability on everyone in the room.

5. Don’t go crazy with a laser pointer. Have one available in case you need it, but use it sparingly. People are smart and they can follow your slides without you pointing to all the words.

6. Save room at the end for questions and don’t worry if there are none. Nobody has ever been upset that a presentation ended early. In fact, many meetings tend to go longer than anticipated, so presenting the key concepts and getting to questions quicker could help to keep the entire itinerary on track. If you’re someone who keeps the meeting on track and you effectively cover your topic, there’s a better likelihood you’ll be invited back (this goes for customer meetings as well).

7. Don’t hand out any materials until that point in time when the audience needs the hand-out. Ideally, there would be no hand-out until the end. If you give people something to read or flip through, that’s exactly what they will do during your presentation if you provide something prematurely.

8. Try to avoid presenting immediately before or after lunch. People tend to look at the clock more as lunch is approaching and they usually return from lunch a bit sleepy. If your time slot happens to be right before lunch, demonstrate your self awareness (emotional intelligence) by acknowledging during the beginning of your presentation that lunch is coming up and you’re going to stop a few minutes short of that time to ensure you don’t take away from the break. If your time slot happens to be right after lunch, be cognizant of the fact that people will be slightly drowsy (post carb-load) and you’ll need to be extra energetic to keep them engaged.

9. Like an athlete prepares for a big game, you should consider the things you need to do before you walk into the meeting. This means getting enough sleep the night before, eating breakfast and exercising, if possible. All of these things will help you to calm your nerves and ensure you are physically ready for your presentation.

10. If you have the luxury of querying the audience before the meeting, you could use this as an opportunity to ensure you build your presentation around those topics that are most important to the audience.

Most important, be authentic. Be you.