7 tips to present your work like a boss
So you can drop the mic in the end.
It’s that time again. You’ve worked hard, collaborated, and iterated your work based on feedback. Now it’s time to show it off to a larger audience.
The thing is, though, that no matter how great the work is, a poor presentation can send all the hours you’ve spent right down the drain. To help with that, here are some tips on how to present your work, culled from my own experience.
1. Don't apologize.
How would you feel if someone was trying to sell you something, but before they even started, they apologized for some defect in the product?
Would you buy it?
In my experience, most people who do this do because they want to lower the bar. Maybe they didn’t have as much prep time, or aren’t as satisfied with their product as they thought they would be. Either way, the impression that comes across is they either half-arsed the presentation and they’re about to waste everyone’s time, or they’re being falsely modest, which can get pretty annoying.
If you actually had only a little time to put something together, there’s even less of a reason to apologize. Whatever you have by the time of your presentation is what you should have — and if you feel like you need more time, just ask for it.
You can avoid the need to apologize by preparing for the presentation. That includes not only knowing what you’re going to say, but also making sure you have all technical things required for your presentation to run smoothly.
That can include everything from installing drivers that allow you to connect your computer to the screen or projector, having an adaptor if you are going need one, having a backup PDF in case Keynote decides to bail on you, or even knowing where to find the screen-sharing button. After years seeing and doing presentations, the same routine happens on a regular basis. It’s perfectly understandable in the first time, but when it’s your 10th time, it starts to look bad.
In short, if you’ve done your job right, there’s nothing to apologize for. And, if you half-arsed the work, well… apologizing isn’t going to help.
2. Set the rules in the beginning.
One tactic I appreciate from others, and also try to do before starting any presentation, is setting ground rules.
If I don’t want to be interrupted during the presentation, I’ll ask for everybody to save their questions and comments to the end. If I want there to be a discussion during the presentation, I’ll also mentioned that in the beginning, so people can feel free to interject. This helps you take control of how your presentation goes.
Don’t assume, though, that people will just follow the rules. Be prepared to repeat what you’ve asked in the beginning if someone interrupts with a question, even if it’s something that you could address straight away. Sometimes, if you give them an inch, they’re going to take a mile, and with it the control of your presentation.
Asking for no interruptions won’t just help you avoid a derail — it’ll also help you keep track of your presentation duration. Plus, it puts people in “listening mode,” which is really useful, especially because some people feel like they have to say something to appear engaged.
3. Show & Tell, don’t write.
For me, there aren’t many things that bother me as much as seeing a presentation slide with a big block of text.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind reading, but that’s just not what a presentation is for.
A presentation should be the place where you’re telling someone about something, using some visuals to help you paint a better picture. If you’re planning to read straight from the presentation, just send it to the people who might be interested, so they can read at their leisure. There’s no point in sitting in a room watching you read.
Now, if you just want to have some notes to make sure you don’t forget anything, make use of “presenter notes.” This is something that only you should see, but even then, try to avoid reading straight from your computer so you can keep eye contact with your attendees.
4. Keep it clean.
The focus of the presentation should be on the content that is being presented, not what’s around it. For that reason, avoid using or creating graphic heavy templates with a lot of visual distractions. Why? It’s just not worth your time — focus your efforts on the content, creating sharp imagery, proofreading for typos, and most importantly, forming a cohesive storyline.
Try to stay away from decorative elements and flashy transition effects, unless they have a purpose for your story, and when picking a font be mindful of your audience, the content, and the tone you want to transmit.
The key, in my opinion, is restraint. Your presentation’s layout is just a vessel — it should be all about the work.
Why will this help on your presentation? Keeping it as clean as possible will help you avoid comments on it, for one. I would also strongly advise against using your working file in Sketch, Illustrator, or whatever tool you’re using. It might be handy, because everything is there, but those tools were not made for presentations. You’ll be zooming in and out, dragging left and right while you’re trying to show and explain something, and, as you can probably imagine, it becomes really hard to follow. Clean is best.
5. Be playful.
If appropriate, add a little humor here and there throughout your presentation. The goal is to help your break the ice and disarm people.
When you’re presenting something new, you may encounter some resistance. A little humor might help you tear down some walls and keep people engaged.
However, be aware of your audience and the tone that is appropriate for each case. If you use a meme for an audience that doesn’t get them, the slide will just look out of place and do the opposite of what was intended.
One tactic I employ, which is usually pretty safe, is starting off with some humor on the very first slide. Usually I just use something that is somehow connected with the topic, but that contains some kind of comedic character in it, and use it as a cover image.
Plus, if your presentation is long, adding humor as a way to create a few breaks for your audience is also a good way to keep people engaged, or to grab attention from someone who got distracted.
6. Make it memorable.
You’re going to spend something like an hour in a meeting room with your audience. How would you like them to leave the meeting? Do you want people to remember what you’ve shown? Then, present it in a way that sticks with them for a while.
The best way to achieve this is to tell a compelling story that connects every piece of the work from top to bottom. Just think about it — what’s the thing that keeps people watching movies and TV shows for hours and even pay for them? It’s all about story.
You can even follow one of the 7 traditional storyline structure as a way to guide you, but at the end of the day, it’s your story and you know the best way to tell it.
The objective with this is not only to keep an engaged audience during the presentation, but also have them remember it later on. And, if people like your story, it will be easier to understand the intent behind your work.
Something to avoid is to rambling on geeky things that only designers will care about, like typefaces, golden ratios and stuff like that… unless your audience is a bunch of guys like me, that is!
7. Start strong, end even stronger.
Even when your story is engaging, people have a limited memory, and they tend to lose a bit of focus in the middle of the presentation. They’re naturally more inclined to remember the beginning and the end.
So, make sure that you don’t waste those moments. You can, for instance, start with a bold statement that promises something that comes back in the end of the presentation. I think of it as the beginning as the set-up and the end as the delivery.
If you do it right, connecting those two moments will unlock the rest of the story, and your presentation will stick in people’s minds for a while.
One other thing I like to do in the beginning is to mention what the presentation is going to be about and what’s its purpose. This way, people know what’s the goal of the presentation from the very beginning, and that hopefully helps get everybody on board of the same train.
Bonus: Feedback is precious.
After we’re done presenting, sometimes we just take it as “mission accomplished” and forget the whole reason why we were presenting in the first place: feedback. This is a mistake.
Pay close attention to all the comments that are given to you, and take notes if you don’t have a good memory. Also, try to forget people’s specialities for a minute — sometimes a non-designer might have a really good suggestion that will improve your design.
One final piece of advice: You’re not on trial, so don’t feel like you have to defend yourself from all the comments, or even that you have to address them right away. Take the feedback and address it at your convenience if it fits your project’s goal.
Now, it’s time to fire-up your Keynote or Powerpoint and get started on that presentation. Good luck! :-)
If you have any questions or any tips that you’d like to share, feel free to drop a comment below. Thanks for reading! ♡
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