From prep to delivery: 6 expert-backed steps that make presentations land

Have you ever given a presentation that felt like a marathon? We’ve all been there.

Maybe you’ve rushed through a deck, trying to cram in every possible detail, only to realize halfway through that your audience looks lost and disengaged. Or maybe you’ve been in the audience, wishing you at least had some popcorn. 

Nearly 79% of professionals agree that most presentations are dull and forgettable. Yet strong presentation skills can flip the script—turning a routine meeting into a career-defining moment. They can shape projects, build trust, and open doors. So the question is: how do you go from rushed and forgettable to clear and high-impact? 

This article brings together real-world insights from industry leaders and communication experts. Below, you’ll find practical strategies and actionable tips to help you create and deliver presentations that truly resonate. 

Start with your audience in mind 

The most successful presentations are crafted for the audience, not the presenter.

We spoke with Jamie Wheeler and YJ Oh from Edwards Lifesciences, who emphasized that authentic communication starts with empathy. Too often, presenters focus on what they want to say rather than what their audience needs to hear.

That’s the disconnect. To deliver persuasive business presentations, you need to pause and ask:

• Who’s in the room, and what matters most to them?
• What are their current challenges or expectations?
• What’s the outcome I want—alignment, a decision, or action?

When you truly understand what your target audience cares about, you can shape your message to meet them where they are.

Jamie and YJ shared a case study from Edwards Lifesciences. Rather than pushing products, their team listened to patients and understood their concerns. This empathetic approach built stronger partnerships and better healthcare outcomes, showing that authentic leadership drives results.

“If your audience doesn’t understand you, it’s not their problem—it’s your problem as a communicator.”
‍- YJ Oh

Dr. Tony Alessandra, a well-known author and communication expert, also emphasized the power of empathy in leadership communication. His advice is simple: treat people the way they want to be treated. He also shared helpful strategies for purposeful and impactful communication:

• Do your homework: Before an important presentation, learn about your audience. Understand their communication preferences so you can tailor your message to them.  If you're using Prezent, you can easily personalize your slides using Communication Fingerprints to make your message resonate with your audience. 
• Listen actively: Listening is often more powerful than speaking. As Dr. Tony explains, “When I talk, I only know what I know. But when I listen, I also learn what you know.”
• Adapt your style: Great leaders adjust how they communicate based on the audience. Recognizing and responding to different preferences helps build stronger connections and influence.

Use storytelling techniques to structure and engage

Professionals in healthcare and technology often struggle with data-driven presentations that fail to inspire. A 2023 Harris Poll found that 70% of physicians feel overwhelmed by the volume of data they must process, resulting in data fatigue, slower workflows, and increased burnout.

The core issue is that data alone rarely moves decision-makers. Storytelling is what can make facts memorable and actionable.

Hollywood story expert Michael Hauge walked us through business storytelling techniques that can make business presentations feel more engaging and persuasive. His insights help you emotionally connect with your audience, so you can create persuasive business presentations that move them to act.

Here are his tips for using storytelling to connect emotionally while still supporting business objectives. :

• Lead with emotion, support with data: Start with a story that captures your audience emotionally. Once they’re invested, bring in the data to substantiate the emotional narrative and reinforce credibility.
• Introduce an empathetic character: Vulnerability creates connection. Choose a relatable character, such as yourself, a customer, or a teammate, and highlight their genuine struggles to build trust and empathy.
• Conflict creates engagement: Every compelling story needs tension. Show the struggle or obstacle your character faced to keep your audience invested in how the problem gets solved.
• Keep it simple and vivid: The most memorable stories often shine in simplicity. Summarize your plot in a single clear sentence and use vivid language to stick in the audience’s mind.

“If you get mired in data and features, it’s not emotionally involving. But if you show someone who overcame obstacles using your process, that connects.”
- Michael Hauge

Design clear, visually impactful PowerPoint slides

Many slideshow presentations are overloaded with text and numbers. This makes it harder to get your message across and loses the attention of your audience members.

Patti Dobrowolski explains that visual communication for executives is a powerful way to bring clarity, build connection, and drive results. Our brains naturally process visuals faster and retain them better than words alone. Even simple drawings such as stick figures can help clarify ideas, improve understanding, and make messages more memorable.

Patti suggests a few easy ways to start using visual thinking in presentations:

• Be intentional with color and space: Use black for main points and add other colors to highlight key details. Leave enough white space so your slides look clean and are easy to read, even from the back of the room.
• Use simple visuals: Begin with basic shapes. Diagrams and icons often explain a concept faster and more clearly than long sentences.
• Break down complex ideas visually: Turning big or abstract ideas into smaller visual pieces makes them easier for your audience to understand and remember.

Patti also introduces the "Draw your future" framework, a simple method to show the current situation, the desired outcome, and three clear steps to reach it. These steps typically include one bold action, one practical improvement, and one mindset or behavior change. This approach makes the transformation easy to understand and inspiring to follow.

This framework helps turn abstract goals into a visual roadmap. Instead of vague ideas, you create a clear, actionable plan that is easier to communicate and execute.

A related discussion with Mayank Agarwal highlights the importance of focusing on one core message per slide. He points out that the real productivity in creating PowerPoint presentations lies in how concisely you can communicate. Using too many words often dilutes the message. Instead, stick to three bullet points or fewer. This forces you to be focused and clear.

Tip: Do not just dump information on your audience. Think about their context and focus on what they truly need to hear.

“Written communication should fit in three bullet points. If you can’t summarize your message concisely, it’s too complicated.” - Mayank Agrawal

Get in the right headspace before you present

Strong presentations aren’t just about visuals—they start with the presenter. David JP Phillips emphasizes that strong presentation skills go beyond the mechanics of slides. The real executive presentation skills begin with your mindset. How you feel on the inside has a big impact on how you communicate, and being intentional about your mental state can help you feel more confident and less anxious.

David shares practical "brain hacks" to help you feel and perform your best in high-stakes situations like meetings and presentations:

• Focus on your inner dialogue: As David says, "Our internal communication supersedes our external communication." What you tell yourself directly affects how you show up.
• Use breathing to manage anxiety: Breathing is at the core of confident speaking. Deep, steady breaths calm your nerves, slow your pace, and help you speak clearly.
• Create your own "Angel's Cocktail":
  
  • Increase Oxytocin: Spend two minutes looking at photos or videos of loved ones to feel grounded and present.
  • Increase Testosterone: Build confidence by power posing (standing tall with your chest out), listening to energizing music, practicing deep breathing, and engaging in positive self-talk.
  • Increase GABA: Meditate or practice mindfulness for five minutes to activate your brain’s “brake,” which reduces stress and nervousness.
• Avoid negative self-talk: Thoughts like “I’m terrible at this” or “This is going to go badly” increase stress hormones and worsen your anxiety. Replace them with positive affirmations about your abilities.

These public speaking tips help leaders stay calm, authentic, and persuasive in high-stakes settings like boardroom presentations or investor meetings.

“The best salesperson in the room can master mirroring, facial expressions, and micro-expressions. But if their internal communication sucks, the audience will feel it.”
‍- David JP Phillips

Don’t just talk – Engage and connect with your audience

Delivering a great presentation is not just about the words you say. It is also about how you present yourself and interact with your audience to keep them interested. Communication coach Rose Choi Marquez reminded us that confidence is not something you are born with; it is a skill that can be learned and built over time.

Here are some practical presentation tips for executives that Rose shared for your next presentation:

• Use vocal variety: Avoid speaking in a flat, monotone voice because it can lose the audience’s attention. Change your volume, pace, and tone to emphasize key points. Getting louder for impact or softer to draw people in are both effective techniques.
• Practice open body language: When people feel nervous, they often slouch, hunch their shoulders, or hide their hands. Instead, stand tall, keep your hands visible, and take up space. Open, confident body language helps you look and feel more self-assured.
• Find “anchors” in the room: Look for one or two people in the audience who are smiling or nodding. Glancing at them occasionally can give you a boost of encouragement and help you feel more connected.
• Be authentic: Show up as your true self. People relate more to real stories that include challenges and lessons learned, not just successes.
• Speak up: If you feel the urge to share a valuable thought or idea, go for it. The more you practice using your voice, the more confident and comfortable you will become over time.
• Practice regularly: Consistent practice is key. The more you practice, the more confident and relaxed you will feel on stage. Regular practice builds both effective presentation skills and credibility as a leader.

“Confidence is believing in yourself and believing in what you're saying. It's not something you're born with. It’s something you can build, just like any other skill.”
‍- Rose Choi Marquez

AI tips for smarter communication

AI is rapidly transforming how professionals create and deliver presentations. Drew Logan and Vivek Mukhatyar shared their thoughts on how modern technology, especially AI, can make work and communication more efficient. Both emphasized that when used the right way, technology can free professionals to focus on strategy, creativity, and authentic delivery instead of repetitive tasks.

• AI supports you, it does not replace you: AI is a powerful helper that handles repetitive tasks and boosts efficiency, so you can focus on the human elements like empathy, creativity, and decision-making.
• Use AI to communicate more efficiently: AI can summarize complex information, translate content into different languages, and even help create presentations more efficiently and creatively. A great example is Prezent’s Synthesis, which uses AI to turn complex decks into clear and insightful executive summaries in just a few minutes.
• Educate and upskill your team: Leaders should be open about the purpose of AI and invest in teaching their teams how to use it effectively and responsibly. This helps remove fear and encourages adoption.
• Adopt AI ethically: Make sure AI tools are trained on fair, unbiased data. Build strong governance processes and always keep a human involved to review AI outputs and make final decisions.

“The intent here is not to replace you. It’s to make us better.”
- Drew Logan

Conclusion: The future of powerful presentations

Modern enterprise presentations are dynamic, tech-powered, and people-oriented. When you combine strong executive presentation skills, like business storytelling techniques and visual communication, with AI-powered tools, you make impactful communication your competitive edge.

If you are ready to transform how your team presents and communicates, book a demo today and see how Prezent can help you deliver high-impact enterprise presentations in minutes.