Presentation Tips

Your presentation needs to be a balance of content and creativity. Take a look at the YPI Judging Criteria to make sure you’re including all the necessary information about your charity, but then make your presentation your own! These 10 tips will help you create and deliver a powerful presentation that will leave an impression on the audience and/or judges:

1. Research. You need to know what you’re talking about. When you visit the charity, ask questions about the history, objectives, impact and future goals of the organization. Know how current challenges affect their work, how funding would help, and communicate this in your presentation.
2. Be passionate. Show you care, speak from your heart, and convince the audience why the charity is deserving of their support.
3. Tell a story. Everyone loves a good story! Personal stories help engage the audience and illustrate how your charity steps in to support people in need. Statistics can be part of telling a story, but put these numbers into context by relating them back to real people.
4. Speak clearly and confidently. You have an important message, so make sure you are heard and understood by everyone in the room. Project your voice, try not to rush, and speak with conviction.
5. Maintain eye contact and good body posture. Look out at your audience, meet their eyes, and speak directly to them. Keep your body language open and upright, which will help you look and feel confident.
6. Be creative. What are the unique talents in your group? Add a skit, recite poetry, sing a song, or use art to add some entertainment and further engage the audience.
7. Use interesting media. Reinforce what you have to say using audiovisuals like photos, videos, graphs or diagrams. If you’re using presentation software, keep the text short, and mix things up by alternating text with images or video.
8. Plan your flow of ideas. You have a limited amount of time, so use it wisely by ordering your presentation sections in a way that is easy to follow. Watch your pacing to ensure you don’t go over your allotted time.
9. Involve the entire group. Make sure everyone contributes to the presentation and the work that goes behind it. When in front of the audience, balance the time each group member is speaking to demonstrate that you are all equally invested, prepared and passionate.
10. Practice. It’s essential to rehearse your presentation several times before the big day. Not only will it help you with timing, and delivery, it will make you feel more confident. Remember to test any technology you’ll be using (like videos or slideshow presentations) beforehand so that everything runs smoothly once you begin.