Ten Tips for Recording Killer Presentations

Killer presentations are the primary driving force of an event experience, they create the energy and enthusiasm that sustain the life and outcome of other event activities. If your presentation sucks or is just average, there will be low enthusiasm and audience apathy, and this will impact the overall event outcome.

Both presenters and event organizers need to do their best to ensure that the audiences are treated to intriguing experiences as far as presentations are concerned. This is even more important in the age of virtual and hybrid events where online audiences have reduced attention span and need to be engaged more.

If you want your event or presentation to turn out great and create excitement among attendees, here are ten tips that will help you spice things up.

1. Choose a professional background

When recording your presentation in your home or office, using a plain backdrop or background makes your presentation look professional. A wall of well-arranged bookcases also works well as a presentation background. When using a wall background, keep some distance between you and the backdrop. Sitting or standing too close to the background will appear a bit awkward.

Alternatively, use an event-themed virtual background if provided by the host and if you don’t have suitable backgrounds in your home or office. A word of caution on virtual backgrounds is that they can sometimes be unstable and cause minor distractions. Only use them when they are stable, sharp, and clear.

2. Position the camera rightly

Set your camera angle right. Ideally, it should be straight and aligned with your eyes. Viewers should never be able to see up your nose or down your chin. It’s also important to look directly at the camera lens, and not at the computer screen. If possible, close your thumbnail image on your presentation so you won’t be tempted to look at yourself. When you look straight at the camera, you are establishing contact with your viewers. For the period you are recording, assume your audience is inside that camera.

3. Make sure you have great lighting

Lighting is essential to great recordings, no matter the resolution of your camera, poor lighting will impact its output. Use a well-lit room for your recording and never have the light source hit from behind you. Ensure that the lighting is in front of you.

4. Have a crisp audio

While a good video is non-negotiable, audio comes at top ahead of other things. Being heard crisp and clear can compensate for other lapses in a presentation. Invest in a good quality microphone if you do record presentations often. Event organizers who have the means can provide standard presentation microphones to their presenters to achieve a near-uniform audio quality for their events.

Apart from microphone quality, background noise can also impact audio quality, therefore look for a quiet room to make your recording and put cellular devices on silent.

5. Dress up for the presentation

Dress appropriately for the presentation. Choose solid colors but avoid colors like white, black, or red as they can create illusions that can affect video quality negatively. Also, stripes, patterns, and clothes with writings and icons are not advised. Minimal use of jewelry is also advised. Avoid shiny or dangling jewelry that can disrupt video or sound.

6. Include attractive slides that support your message

The first thing that attracts the audience to your presentation is your slides if you’re using them. Slides should be prepared with colors with high contrast so they can be easily seen, and backgrounds should be carefully chosen or designed. A dark-themed background should have light text while dark text and bold accent colors should be used for light backgrounds.

You can have a color as a background, or use pattern, image, or video background. You can also add shapes and color overlays to your background image to make your slide elements come alive. You may also find it interesting to use geometric polygon backgrounds instead of images. Whatever your choice is, aim at adding texture to your presentation and making it look much more interesting to drive your audience into the conversation.

You can delight your audience with the right combination of background and foreground elements in your slides. Also, use event brand elements or company brand elements in your presentations. Event organizers can design a master slide to provide a uniform and consistent presentation theme to be used by all presenters.

7. Practice your presentation

Infuse your thoughts in your slides and vice-versa so you can own the presentation and avoid the temptation of reading your script. You can attain this by practicing your presentation a number of times before the event date. It is advisable to dress up the exact way you will appear on the recording in one of your practices. That will further boost your confidence level when you show up the same way on the recording.

8. Be audible

Speak slowly but clearly and audibly, let your words and sentences be distinct. Exude energy and confidence when speaking so that whatever you are saying can resonate with the audience. Record some of your practices and listen to the presentation, also send it to one or two persons who can provide some feedback.

9. Stick to time

Never use beyond the allotted time. Don’t dwell too long on the parts that are not essential to the keynotes of your presentation. You have an allotted time to make your points, so go straight to the points.

10. Enjoy the presentation

Be the first to be wowed and then extend the excitement to the audience. If your presentation doesn’t make you happy or excited, your audience will likely feel the same way. While you don’t want to fake excitement, you can consider how the presentation will impact the audience and what aspects of their lives or business will change as a result of listening to you. Then go to the presentation with the mindset of creating a positive influence, having fun while sharing with the community.

Conclusion

Making killer presentations is not rocket science. First, find a conducive, bright and quiet environment to record. Keep in touch with the audience by looking straight into the camera, ensure your audio kits are of presentation quality and use slides that will captivate the audiences’ attention. Internalize your presentation then appear smart and energetic. Exude confidence while you present and delight your audience as you share your thoughts.