The easiest way to take presentation skills training

Written by

Kristen Eskind

That great idea, that massive opportunity, that chance to get some face time with your leaders, or a moment to inspire and motivate your team … though vastly different, these scenarios all require presentation skills. You can have the best idea, the most innovative product, and an inspiring message to share, but if you don’t deliver your message well, you’re missing an opportunity to persuade, captivate, and inspire your audience.

Or worse, your message can fall flat. Presentation skills enhance and amplify your message not just by making it more engaging, but by making it clearer and more memorable. From seasoned speakers to developing professionals, from a virtual presentation to the keynote stage, everyone can benefit from presentation skills training.

Presentation courses and presentation skills workshops come in a variety of forms, like:

• Self-guided presentation courses online
• Live online (virtual) workshops
• In-person trainings
• 1:1 speaker coaching

And they each have the goal of teaching you how to be a good presenter. But the best presentation courses are the ones that live on beyond the class itself. They give you hands-on presentation skills training, practice, practical application, resources you can refer to even when the training is over, and the knowledge and skill set to continue to develop your skills. After all, good presentation skills are a muscle that you have to continually exercise. So, what are good presentation skills examples?

What are good presentation skills examples?

You don’t have to be an expert to be able to identify good presentation skills. You know it when you see it. Everyone can call out that inspiring talk they attended, that wildly persuasive pitch they heard, that communicator who can hold you in the palm of their hand, or that presenter who you’re always happy to see take the floor because you know they’ll breathe some life into the meeting, regardless of what they’re talking about.

So, what’s the secret sauce? The best presenters appear comfortable, dynamic, and empathetic. And we read them as such through the signs and traits of their delivery. They make eye contact, they take up space, their voice commands our attention, and they’re strategic with their pace and pauses. The way they deliver information helps us follow along and absorb their message. And we trust them because they deliver their message with us in mind, bringing us along, keying into what resonates, and taking notes and making adjustments when our attention wanes. The best presenters make us feel like they’re talking to us and with us, not at us.

Now maybe you don’t see yourself (yet) in this picture I’m painting of a comfortable, dynamic, and empathetic presenter. Maybe you’re thinking, “That’s just not me. I’m not Oprah. I’ll never be like Steve Jobs.” Well, I’ve got good news for you. Presentation courses aren’t about molding you in the image of the MLKs, Steve Jobs, Oprahs, and Brené Browns of the world.

Presentation skills training is about giving you the skills to show up as the best, most persuasive, most captivating, most confident version of yourself. Delivering a message well doesn’t have to come at the expense of authenticity. And that’s where presentation courses can help.

The benefits of a presentation skills workshop

While you can take self-guided courses online, presentation workshops that are delivered live online or in-person offer the best opportunity to hone your skills. A presentation skills workshop is a place to:

• Learn
• Practice
• Get feedback and coaching
• And stretch and test presentation skills in a low-stakes, supportive environment

Through the coaching you receive in a workshop setting, you also learn what to look for and notice in your delivery in general. This new knowledge makes it so you’re able to coach yourself (and willing colleagues) well beyond the workshop itself.

We often hear from our satisfied learners after they take our workshops that:

• Their desks are full of stickies reminding them about good delivery
• They hang workshop materials up to highlight best practices
• And – for those who take the workshop as a team – they leave with a shared language to coach each other and hold each other accountable as they continue to practice being better presenters

Whether you’re taking a presentation skills workshop to prepare for an upcoming talk or because you want to improve, the benefits and application are long-lasting, as long as you continue to use the tools you learn. So where can you go to step up your skills and deliver big in your next presentation?

The 5 presentation courses you need to ace your next presentation

For presentation delivery

Presentation course #1: Captivate™

So, you’re ready to become a more comfortable, dynamic, and empathetic presenter. Duarte’s Captivate™ is the perfect presentation course to take your delivery skills to the next level. This highly participatory presentation skills workshop uses a mix of:

• Live instruction
• Examples
• Live coaching sessions

This blend of instruction and practice lets you immediately put your skills into practice. And because the Captivate™ presentation course is focused on delivery, it allows you to elevate your message and helps you to overcome bad habits, conquer fears, and increase your confidence in any speaking setting.

You’ll walk away with a new set of skills, customized feedback on what you can continue to work on, and new resources that will help you apply what you learned well beyond the workshop.

For presentation writing

We’ve talked quite a bit about delivery here, but that’s just one type of presentation course. If you’re wondering how to be a good presenter, you’ll also want to make sure to keep presentation writing and slide design in mind.

In these workshops, you’ll learn to structure your ideas to create persuasive, impactful presentations using storytelling principles.

Presentation course #2: Resonate®

Our Resonate® workshop helps you shape your ideas into persuasive narratives using the power of story to move your audiences. This course will help you rethink the way you develop content. You’ll walk away knowing how to powerfully express your ideas by applying the principles of empathy, contrast, and variety, and you’ll learn how to make your presentations more persuasive and compelling.

Presentation course #3: Duarte DataStory®

Duarte DataStory® is another presentation course focused on helping you distill key insights from data using storytelling techniques. This course helps you clarify, explain, and maximize the potential of your data. Participants walk away with a story structure that helps them create clear executive summaries that fuel understanding, support decision-making, and drive action.

For presentation design

Another key element of learning how to be a good presenter is all about the slides. Slides have the power to amplify your ideas and help make your message clear and memorable.

Presentation course #4: VisualStory®

Our VisualStory® workshop combines the best of writing and slide design to help you become a better visual storyteller. This workshop teaches the core ideas of good presentation writing while also helping you identify what makes for good slide design. Participants in this workshop learn to transform content into visual concepts and build a storyboard for their presentations.

Presentation course #5: Slide:ology®

And if it’s just slides you’re looking to improve, Slide:ology® is the perfect presentation course to help you think like a designer. Participants learn how to identify and design compelling content and learn the methods to overcome common slide design challenges.

Presentation delivery, presentation writing, and slide design — a focus on these presentation skills will allow you to uplevel your next talk through comfortable, dynamic, and empathetic delivery, persuasive storytelling, and compelling visuals.

How to be a good presenter?

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Those presenters you admire, the ones who make it seem so easy and natural … there’s a strong possibility that even they have benefitted from presentation skills training. The best, most engaging presenters work on their presentation skills, practice them, hone them, and tweak them based on the audience they’re speaking to.

So, whether you’re good and want to be great, you know you’ve got room to grow, or you have an important presentation you want to invest in, presentation skills courses can benefit you. Here are 3 steps on how to become a better presenter.

Step 1: Take presentation skills training

Taking a public speaking and/or presentation skills training is the perfect place to start. Remember:

• Our Captivate™ course will elevate your delivery
• If better storytelling is your focus, Resonate® and Duarte DataStory® may be what you’re looking for
• And if your slides can benefit from visual thinking and a design eye, consider VisualStory® or Slide:ology®

Step 2: Find a public speaking coach

You need feedback to improve! Either ask a colleague, or better, find a public speaking coach. And finding a public speaking coach doesn’t have to be hard or a time-intensive process. The right public speaking coaching for your next big presentation is a great way to develop your skills over time. Whatever your need, our one-on-one coaching packages give you hands-on practice and feedback to help you improve.

Step 3: Take a group workshop

If you prefer a group setting, our presentation skills workshops are a great place to test the waters and get personalized public speaking coaching.

And if you’re preparing for a high-stakes keynote and want to make sure the content, design, and delivery are best-in-class (like this Dreamforce talk), you need our Agency services. Chat with our team today about how we can help you not only improve your public speaking skills, but we can help with every step of your keynote or presentation at a high-touch level.