4 Signs your presentation needs improvement

Presentations can make or break you when you are promoting your artistic business. You may need to create short videos, or speak publicly to potential clients to talk about the benefits your unique artistic business offers.

If your presentations are failing to capture your audience’s attention and convert prospects into sales, it could be caused by committing one of these 4 fatal mistakes that prove your presentation needs work.

Here are my…

4 signs that your presentation needs improvement

1. Blocking the screen with your body. Blocking any part of the visuals of a presentation is a pretty annoying experience for audience members. Whether it is a projector screen, a whiteboard or any other visual aide, your audience may feel frustration by having their view obstructed. Remember that the audience is expected to stay in one place during the presentation, so by blocking the visual part of the presentation, they cannot move to find a better vantage point as easily as the presenter could. Be aware of your physical presence while presenting.

2. Talking to the screen or looking off camera. This practice is one that usually results in low engagement from an audience. Chances are that if you are giving a presentation and not choosing to look at anyone in the room; you will have a difficult time connecting with anyone who might have been interested in buying your product. This is also true when presenting on video. As a video presenter it is important to stare-down the lens of the camera. Looking off camera to read notes, or to communicate with people who may be out of frame always looks unprofessional. It gives the impression that the audience is not being given the presenter’s undivided attention. This ultimately makes it impossible to form a connection with prospective clients for your artistic business.

3. Missing content, spelling mistakes, or blurry visuals. The details of a presentation can at times make or break your message. The benefits of having a well written presentation that is free from grammatical errors shows that the materials were created with an eye toward excellence. Ensure that photos are crystal clear, and are contextual to the subject matter. These small details may not seem like much, but they speak to the overall vibe of your work; something that potential clients will be paying attention to.

4. Moving on too quickly! There are times when you don’t have a lot of time to explain the nature of your artistic business to someone. The elevator pitch can at times seem more like a game of “explaining your entire life story in one sentence”. It’s difficult to condense an explanation of something that is uniquely personal to you into a few minutes, let alone a few seconds. As a result of this attempt to be concise, a presenter can often cut out the most important parts of a story by only touching on something that the audience wants to know more about. In order to avoid moving on too quickly, it is a good idea to highlight and target the key ideas you want your audience to take away from your presentation. The value your product adds to their lives, the emotional connection you felt to its creation, and even the process of creating it, are all examples of key ideas for an audience to take away from the presentation.

Have you ever been guilty of my four signs? Do you have other ideas you would like to share? Leave a comment in the section below or drop me a line at admin@artbykonu.com.

Thanks for reading.

Stephanie