Presentation Skills © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Presentation Skills Welcome Think about the best presentation you’ve ever made. What made it so successful? (Please chat in your response) © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 2 Presentation Skills Introductions NAME Title Company NAME Title Company © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 3 Presentation Skills Participation tips Limit electronic interruptions. Take part in the discussion. Listen carefully to what is being said. The chat panel is enabled for the session. Use raise hand to volunteer to speak. Mute yourself when not speaking. © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 4 Presentation Skills Setting the context Think about the best presentation you’ve ever made. What made it so successful? © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 5 Presentation Skills Today’s objectives Help you: 1 2 3 Focus on your audience Use data effectively Deliver your presentation with presence © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 6 Presentation Skills Focus on Your Audience © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 7 Presentation Skills Make your audience the hero • It’s up to your audience to accept or reject your ideas. • They’re the ones you hope will change over the course of your presentation, as a hero changes over the course of a story. © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 8 Presentation Skills “Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it ‘to whom it may concern.’” - Ken Haemer, former presentation research manager, AT&T © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 9 Presentation Skills Understand your audience 1. What are they like? 2. Why are they here? 3. What keeps them up at night? 4. How can you solve their problem? 5. What do you want them to do? 6. How might they resist your ideas? © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 10 Presentation Skills An unsure audience You’re pitching your company’s product—a customer support platform—to a group of executives. How might this information influence the way you plan your presentation? You learn that this audience has reviewed and declined to buy this product in the past. And yet, your company has been invited to make another pitch. © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 11 Presentation Skills Use Data Effectively © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 12 Presentation Skills Reflect and share Think back to presentations you’ve attended where the presenter has used data. What made the use of data effective? What, if anything, made it ineffective? © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 13 Presentation Skills The fundamentals of data visualization Focus each visual Declutter Know your data Make your data accessible © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 14 Presentation Skills Tell a story when presenting data • Structure your story around a setup, conflict, and resolution • Create surprise and suspense • Put data in a relatable context • Humanize your data © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 15 Presentation Skills Deliver With Presence © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 16 Presentation Skills What is “presence”? Think of a presenter whose delivery impressed you. What qualities did they show? What did their “presence” consist of? © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 17 Presentation Skills Presenting with presence – virtually or in person • Make eye contact • Adopt an open posture • Use gestures and expressions effectively • • • • Speak at an appropriate pace Use pauses deliberately Calm your nerves Be authentic © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 18 Presentation Skills Apply What You’ve Learned © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 19 Presentation Skills Today’s objectives What will you take away from today’s session and use in your next presentation? 1 2 3 Focus on your audience Use data effectively Deliver your presentation with presence © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 20 Presentation Skills Apply what you’ve learned Your next step is to complete the On-the-Job section of the Harvard ManageMentor Presentation Skills topic. © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. 21 Thank you! © 2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.
