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Business presentations can be nerve-wracking. It is essentially selling…selling yourself, your company, your ideas, and your vision.

There are two major elements to success – how you deliver the information and the package the information comes in -- the actual presentation.

While the exact approach is subject to the company, the client and other individual factors, there are some core strategies that tend to apply across the board.

Getting the Right Flow

How you organize the information is a key to getting your message across.

Introduction: This is where you set the stage for what will follow.

Tell your audience what the presentation is going to be about.

Outline what is come, what they will gain from the information and why you are the one who is presenting it.

Background: Review the issue at hand and why it is important to your audience at this moment; if applicable, note research and references used for the information being presented.

Main Points: Discuss the main points of your presentation and the supporting material.

Supporting Information: After discussing the main points of your presentation, move onto supporting information and materials; show how this information relates to your primary message.

Conclusion: Give an overview of your main points.

Let your audience know what they need to do next, how to utilize the information to grow their business, meet a need, solve their problem or whatever else it is you are trying to persuade them to do.

Practicing Navigating the Presentation

Your audience may want to see certain piece of information again.

You’ll avoid fumbling around during the actual presentation if you practice moving back and forth between the different elements of the presentation so you can do this with ease during game time.

Make sure you are familiar with whatever business presentation programs you are using.

Mix Text and Graphics

To keep your audience engaged, have a good mix of graphics in the forms of pictures, charts, etc… and text.

Avoid overdoing it on the graphics, however, as excessive imagery may overshadow your message.

Whether it is best to make your presentation information- dense or use it to highlight key points while you fill in the blanks verbally is a matter of debate.

There is really no set answer and it will ultimately depend on the nature of the presentation and your audience, but generally, it is probably best to have slides contain the key components which you expand on.

Use a Remote Control to Navigate the Presentation

While nerves may make it tempting to navigate the presentation from the back of the room, hidden from your audience’s view, it will be more effective to manage slides with a remote control.

Getting in front of your audience and making eye contact will keep them better engaged.

Maximize Readability

Make your presentation easy on the client’s eyes. Light backgrounds and dark text is usually most pleasing to the eye.

Avoid white, however, and go for something like light beige. Stay away from patterned or textured backgrounds as well.

Avoid fancy or scripted fonts, they may look nice but they are not ideal in this situation.

Pick a color theme and stay consistent throughout the presentation.

Use two types of fonts, maximum; perhaps one for title headings and one for the content. Use at least 24 pt to make sure everyone in the room can see.

Avoid Slide Overload

Having to constantly change the slides may affect your rhythm and distract your audience. A good rule of thumb is one slide a minute max.

Giving a great presentation takes some hard work and preparation.

Follow the tips above to aid you in creating an engaging, professional presentation.

Do not forget to use your intuition as well and do what feels right as that often does not steer you wrong. Good luck!