Presentation Skills

There is a mistake a lot of professionals make when they give presentations. They get up in front of the room, whether it is in a boardroom, at a conference, or over a Zoom call, and they speak to “the audience.” They prepare for “the team,” or “the clients,” or “the stakeholders.” They speak in general terms. They organize their message around what a group needs to hear, and they overlook something very simple but very powerful.

Have you been finding it challenging to close sales recently? Well, you are not alone. I’ve spoken to many sales people and business owners who have identified a key issue when presenting their sales pitch or conducting a sales meeting. Whether it was the initial contact or a follow-up, they all said the same thing. At the end of the discussion…nothing happened. No action on the part of the prospective client was taken to pursue business. Why does this often occur?

When you're presenting your business at a trade show, your presentation skills can make all the difference. The truth is, you could have the best product or service on the floor, but if you don’t know how to communicate your value clearly and confidently, people will walk right past you. This isn’t just about having a great booth setup. It’s about how you talk to people, how you carry yourself, and how you make your message stick.

Crafting a great 45-second elevator pitch isn’t about cramming your entire resume or business plan into a half-minute speech. It’s about capturing attention, sparking curiosity, and giving someone a reason to say, “Tell me more.” And doing all of that without sounding like you're delivering a sales pitch or reading off a script.

Most people treat PowerPoint presentations as something to get through. Put together some slides, jot down your main points, maybe throw...

Let’s say you want to get better at giving presentations. You pick up a book on the subject, maybe binge a few TED Talks, and scroll through a couple of articles with catchy headlines like “10 Tips to Become a Confident Public Speaker.” Feels productive, right? It is. To a point. But here’s the catch: just learning about a skill isn’t the same as developing that skill.

If you’ve ever sat through a presentation and found yourself thinking, “Why am I even listening to this?” then you already understand how critical it is for a speaker to communicate the value of their information. It’s not enough to simply share facts or walk through a series of slides. If your audience doesn’t immediately grasp why what you’re saying matters—to them, specifically—they’ll mentally check out. And once you’ve lost their attention, it’s incredibly hard to get it

Let’s face it. Presenting in front of a group, whether it’s a boardroom of colleagues or a classroom of students, can feel daunting. You might spend hours crafting your slides, rehearsing your timing, and trying to anticipate questions. But here’s the thing: real improvement doesn’t begin with your slides or your script. It begins with you. More specifically, with understanding what kind of communicator you are.

Well, here’s my rant of the week. After being approached by so many, telling me to automate what I do on an app and seeing so many posts on what business system is now “Dead,” I would like to share a few thoughts when it comes to communication in business and in the workplace.

Are you feeling nervous about an upcoming presentation? You're not alone! Most people feel a wave of nerves when they have an important presentation coming up. It’s completely natural. With the right support, preparing for a presentation can become an opportunity not just to survive, but to thrive.

The best elevator pitches don’t feel like a pitch at all. They feel like the start of a real, human conversation.

There’s something uniquely powerful about the moment you finish a business presentation and look out at a room full of people who are nodding, smiling, or even just sitting up a little straighter.

Whether you’re pitching a product, leading a team, or simply networking, strong communication skills can make people remember you for all the right reasons.

Most people are really good at what they do, however, when it comes to conveying that knowledge, that rapport with their audience needs to be strengthened.

Improving your presentation skills isn’t just a bonus—it’s a necessity for standing out in today’s competitive market.

A well-delivered presentation is only half the battle. The real challenge often comes when the floor opens to questions.

There is a common and often overlooked gap—being good at what we do does not automatically mean we are good at conveying what we do.

I would say that the most important aspect is remembering that a presentation is not about you, but rather about your audience.

Without a clear CTA, all the effort you put into crafting a persuasive, informative, and engaging presentation may go to waste.

On a recent trip to Paris, I had the opportunity to sit in cafés, sip my coffee, observe the street scenes in front of me and watch people