Presenting is listed in survey after survey as something people dread most. For many, it’s a one way ticket to sleepless nights and a dodgy tummy. For others, there’s a sense of simply going through the motions – reading bullets off the screen, answering questions without looking like an idiot, not fidgeting with pocket change.

There are now some fantastic books and sites on creating presentations that look a league above standard PowerPoint hell templates (I recommend Nancy Duarte’s Slide:ology book, Garr Reynolds’ Presentaion Zen site and Note & Point for inspiration). But while these will all help make your deck look better, getting up in front of an audience is a different matter.

Over the years I’ve presented thousands of times. Many of these were ad agency pitches where you typically have a couple of hours max to sell the thinking, the creative work and yourself (and come out ahead of another four agencies trying to do the same).

I’ve had some good training and have gradually got better at it – to the point where it doesn’t faze me anymore (even if I still tend to blush). There’s been a lot written about business presenting of course (over 5,000 books on Amazon for starters) but here are six things I’ve learnt that don’t typically pop up.

1: Know what you want to achieve

Why are you presenting? Is the reason the real reason or simply a sideshow?

Take an ad agency pitch for example. Yes, we’re there to show our dazzling strategic insight and some really pretty creative work. Sadly, however, all too often we forget that the client is, as much as anything else, buying a relationship. They will see three or four other agencies all but one of whom will probably do a competent job (the other will cock it up royally).

Deciding why you are really there and what the next steps are is essential to helping you cut out fluff and gain some focus.

2: Manage your emotions



If you don’t care about your subject, nor will your audience. The most compelling presenters give the impression that they just can’t wait to tell you about their product/service/ideas. One part of this is learning to manage your personal state.

We can all decide how we want to be at pretty much any given time. Try this: sit down and let your shoulders drop and hunch. Drop your chin and concentrate on the growing weight in your chest pulling your mood down. Sigh.

Now try this: stand up and shake out your limbs. Pull your shoulders back and open out your chest. Open your hands out so your palms face forward. Let a smile grow on your face, feel it rise up into your eyes. Look up slightly.

These two states are radically different and achieved only through your physiology. Practice this and you’ll be able to move from a state of sombre reflection through to there’s-a-bomb-in-the-room energy.

3: Be human

I blush easily when I present. If I’m honest, I can sweat a bit too. Every now and then I mess up my words. You know what? It’s fine.

It is far more important that you come across as a likeable human being than an overly polished automaton. You’ll be presenting to other humans (who are all acutely aware of how much they themselves hate presenting). They will want you to succeed and will probably either not notice where you slip up or not remember it five minutes after you leave. What they will remember is whether you are the kind of person they’d like to do business with.

One tip on the sweating thing. If this is you, wear black or thicker white shirts and consider keeping your jacket on.

4: Own the space

Wherever possible get to know the space you will be presenting in. Walk around it. Work out how much you can move around without your audience losing sight of you.

Never present sitting down.

Move around. Move toward and away from your audience – now and then engage an individual with good eye contact. Importantly, do not do the caged tiger pacing thing or focus on someone so intently that they think they’ve got something stuck in their teeth.

5: Hold ideas in space

You want your audience to remember what you say (or at least the core ideas). One way is to be single minded about what you present and kill anything that doesn’t support your objectives. Assuming you’ve done this, another way is to give ideas a physical space in the room.

Say I’m presenting to you. I’ve got three core ideas to get across. For the first idea I move to your left. I use my hands and body language to shape the idea in that area. For the second I move to the middle. For the third, I move to your right. Whenever I refer to any of the ideas or answer questions about them, I either move back to that idea’s area or point towards it.

I’ve found this an incredibly powerful way of helping audience’s remember ideas and see relationships between them.

6: Come in under time and become great at Q&A

I’m certain that many of the pitches I’ve won were won in the Q&A session. Assuming you know your stuff, this is where you can shine.

It gives you the opportunity to address any lingering doubts your audience has. It will show them what it will be like to work with you every day. Be flexible, don’t simply bang the party line, talk about the pros and cons of different approaches and ideas. Examine the thinking behind their question – what are they really asking?

Importantly, ask your audience questions too. Make sure these are open questions, you want dialogue not simply a multiple-choice test.

Of course to do this, you need time. I cannot emphasise this too strongly – do not overrun on your core presentation. Leave time for talk – that’s where the relationship will be built.

Good luck in your next presentation.