Engaging Presentation Skills For New Managers

Ever notice how some leaders seem to have a sixth sense for meeting dynamics while others plow through their agenda oblivious to glazed eyes, side conversations, or everyone needing several "bio breaks" over the course of an hour? Research tells us executives consider 67% of virtual meetings failures, and a staggering 92% of employees admit to multitasking during meetings. After facilitating hundreds of in-person, virtual, and hybrid sessions, I've developed my "6 E's Framework" to transform the abstract concept of "reading the room" into concrete skills anyone can master. (This is exactly what I teach leaders and teams who want to dramatically improve their meeting and presentation effectiveness.) Here's what to look for and what to do: 1. Eye Contact: Notice where people are looking (or not looking). Are they making eye contact with you or staring at their devices? Position yourself strategically, be inclusive with your gaze, and respectfully acknowledge what you observe: "I notice several people checking watches, so I'll pick up the pace." 2. Energy: Feel the vibe - is it friendly, tense, distracted? Conduct quick energy check-ins ("On a scale of 1-10, what's your energy right now?"), pivot to more engaging topics when needed, and don't hesitate to amplify your own energy through voice modulation and expressive gestures. 3. Expectations: Regularly check if you're delivering what people expected. Start with clear objectives, check in throughout ("Am I addressing what you hoped we'd cover?"), and make progress visible by acknowledging completed agenda items. 4. Extraneous Activities: What are people doing besides paying attention? Get curious about side conversations without defensiveness: "I see some of you discussing something - I'd love to address those thoughts." Break up presentations with interactive elements like polls or small group discussions. 5. Explicit Feedback: Listen when someone directly tells you "we're confused" or "this is exactly what we needed." Remember, one vocal participant often represents others' unspoken feelings. Thank people for honest feedback and actively solicit input from quieter participants. 6. Engagement: Monitor who's participating and how. Create varied opportunities for people to engage with you, the content, and each other. Proactively invite (but don't force) participation from those less likely to speak up. I've shared my complete framework in the article in the comments below. In my coaching and workshops with executives and teams worldwide, I've seen these skills transform even the most dysfunctional meeting cultures -- and I'd be thrilled to help your company's speakers and meeting leaders, too. What meeting dynamics challenge do you find most difficult to navigate? I'd love to hear your experiences in the comments! #presentationskills #virualmeetings #engagement

I have a confession to make. I have been guilty of putting people to sleep during my presentations. Unfortunately, not once, but many times. I could blame it on the complexities of tech topics or the dryness of the subject. I could always console myself by saying that at least it's not as sleep-inducing as financial presentations (sorry, my friends in Finance). Deep down, though, I knew that even the most complicated and dry topics could come alive. As with anything, it's a skill and can be improved upon. Thus, I turned to my friend Christopher Chin, Communication Coach for Tech Professionals, for some much-needed advice. He shared these 5 presentation tips guaranteed to leave a lasting impression: 1/ Speak to Their Needs, Not Your Wants Don’t just say what you like talking about or what your audience wants to hear. Say what your audience needs to hear based on their current priorities and pain points: that sets your presentation up to be maximally engaging 2/ Slides Support, You Lead Slides are not the presentation. You are the presentation. Your slides should support your story and act as visual reinforcement rather than as the main star of the show.  Consider holding off on making slides until you have your story clear. That way, you don’t end up making more slides than you need or making slides more verbose than you need 3/ Start with a Bang, Not a Whisper The beginning of a presentation is one of the most nerve-wracking parts for you as the speaker and one of the most attention-critical parts for your audience. If you don’t nail the beginning, there’s a good chance you lose the majority of people. Consider starting with something that intrigues your audience, surprises them, concerns them, or makes them want to learn more. 4/ Think Conversation, Not Presentation One-way presentations where the speaker just talks “at” the audience lead to dips in attention and poorer reception of the material. Consider integrating interactive elements like polls and Q&A throughout a presentation (rather than just at the very end) to make it feel more like a conversation. 5/ Finish Strong with a Clear CTA We go through all the effort of preparing, creating, and delivering a presentation to cause some change in behavior. End with a powerful call to action that reminds your audience why they were in attendance and what they should do as soon as they leave the room. By integrating these, you won't just present; you'll captivate. Say goodbye to snoozing attendees and hello to a gripped audience. 😴 Repost if you've ever accidentally put someone to sleep with a presentation. We've all been there!

Oral communication skills are underrated. Here’s how you can improve your game and deliver more impactful presentations: 1. Delivery is just as important as content. How you say something, and the way you say it, can fundamentally change how your audience engages with you. This includes pacing, pauses, and facial expressions - you can smile and joke! Your goal is to grab their attention, keep them engaged, and commit to being present. 2. Be clear about what you want. When you’re leading a review or giving a presentation, tell people what you want from them - set expectations from the start. “I’m going to share an update on X. I’m looking for feedback specifically on Y.” 3. Define success. One of my favorite things to do in presentations is to finish my agenda with, “if we’re successful, this is what we’ll achieve.” This allows leaders to anchor on the million dollar questions: “Why am I here?” “What is this person hoping to get out of this?” 4. Call out the tension. In any presentation, you’ll need to address points that may be at odds with each other. “Our goal is to achieve X, but in order to do that, we’ll need to solve Y. And Y is really hard.” You need to proactively demonstrate that you have a plan to address and solve it (and then tell them what that is). 5. Call out the experts. You’ll have people in the room that you want as allies, and who have expertise in areas where you may not; Proactively call them out. “We know that in order to do X, we will need to do Y. We will be sure to work with your team to help us understand our current gaps, pressure test our assumptions, and make sure their feedback is incorporated into our plan.” 6. Play back what you heard. You asked for feedback, and you got it. Summarize what you heard in the meeting and share how you’ll plan to incorporate the feedback. Ask if you missed anything and what the group can expect from you for next steps. I’ve been incredibly lucky to get to present to senior leaders like Jackie Pimentel, Brett Vogel, Justin Taylor, Monica Ea Chander, Chad Kimner, Sudeep Eldo Cherian and Neha Khanna who’ve shared feedback with me that have only improved my ability to lead effective reviews. Hopefully this can be helpful for you!

Since 2015, I have spoken to more than 15,000 people in 10+ countries including Singapore, The United States, Lithuania, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, Turkey, Sweden and so on. Here are 5 tips that helped me deliver engaging presentations and these tips can help you too. Come closer to the screen: 1. Master Storytelling: Always, always and always start with a story. Storytelling is the most important skill you may need to have. Regular presentations are boring. The stories are memorable. 2. Get the Audiences Involved: Meet and greet, and get the audiences involved from the second or third sentence. Ask a question or invite them to share some thoughts. Once they are involved, now you all are in the same wavelength. 3. Seeing is Believing: Colorful and easy to view slides are your friend but you gotta be ready to go. Seeing is believing which means people love to see good visuals but nobody wants to read too long texts. Keep that in mind for your next presentation. 4. Stay Hungry, Stay Humble: A presenter who is authentic and comes with humility, open-mind and with an intention to give and take is the best combination. Audiences love authentic presenters and this is the formula for a successful presentation and interaction. 5. LAST Method and Never Argue: Listen, Ask, Speak, and Thank but never argue with audience members. Arguing with someone from the audience is the worst way for any presenter to "prove a point." Also, never turn your back to the audiences to read from your slides. And, keep your hands out of your pocket. No matter who you are, learn to respect the audiences. That's the best way to deliver engaging presentations and be a memorable speaker.