Comprehensive Report on Business Presentation Skills and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of a business presentation experience, detailing the preparation, execution, and learning outcomes. The student reflects on the process of creating a presentation, emphasizing the importance of thorough research, strategic planning, and effective content selection. The report highlights the acquisition of essential business skills, such as understanding business strategies, leadership structures, and the impact of impactful presentations. A SWOT analysis is conducted to identify personal strengths in articulation, gestures, and visual aids, while also recognizing weaknesses in audience engagement and slide design. Strategies for improvement include advanced planning, practice, and incorporating feedback, ultimately leading to enhanced presentation skills and confidence. The report concludes with recommendations for future presentations, focusing on concise content and the use of supporting notes.

BUILD A BUSINESS 1
BUILD A BUSINESS
Student’s Name
Student’s Course
Course Instructor
City
Date of Submission

BUILD A BUSINESS 2
Introduction
Successful businesses have clear strategies that are well understood by all members of the
organization. This makes implementation easy when the members of the organization understand
what drives their actions. From the presentation, this was made clear.
Body
The presentation was a good learning experience. The preparations that went into it and
the final presentation had not been experienced in a long time. It was the first proper presentation
over a couple of years thus a lot of time was dedicated to the preparations. The preparations
helped in learning various things on creating a successful business. For instance, it helped in
understanding how to create a proper business strategy and how it influences the growth and
sustainability of the business (Bradbury, 2006.47).
From the presentation, proper management structures for different organizations were
also learned. Business leaders in the organizations are the ones that set the organization's agenda.
They come up with the main objectives of the organization in cooperation with other members of
the organization. Proper leadership in the organizations is paramount to their success.
Before doing the presentation, one could assume that coming up with one was a simple
task that could take, maybe, twenty minutes. The presentation has taught that this is not realistic
and a good presentation requires ample preparations. A lot of time goes into research that helped
to look for the main points. The points also require explanation to other members of the class and
the group. The presentation also requires proper selection of the details that will go into it. These
are the main points and media such as pictures that help to elaborate the points. Not all the

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details can fit into the presentation and that is the reason proper selection of the main points is
necessary (Rotondo, 2001.21).
The presentation taught that success in making an impactful presentation requires the
presenter to have good knowledge and interest in the topic chosen. I had a great interest in the
topic I chose, and this contributed to effective delivery. The knowledge gap was covered by
making extensive research both online and offline. Interaction and observation of fellow students
contributed in acquiring more knowledge on the topic. Future presentations would call for more
extensive research into the topic given especially when the knowledge about the topic is little.
When visual aid is used in a presentation, it is important to have a summarized notes in
the presentation and also have other comprehensive notes separately. This is especially so when
visual aid is used. It would be too involving and impractical to have all the notes in the visual
aid.
The alternative is to have some reference materials alongside with you when making the
presentation. This would be helpful in making reference to points that requires more explanation
to the audience. It is also important to test the presentation before the due date. This will help in
making any adjustments on the areas that have shown weaknesses. The presentation could also
fail to work well on a certain type of medial. Thus prior testing would assist in making requisite
adjustments.
From the presentation, it was easy to learn content and mastery of the different topics
presented. Different people had different perspectives on the topics discussed, and this enriched
the content mastery. The topic assigned was also researched further, and this improved the
knowledge base on it. Presentation skills were also honed in the process.

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SWOT
Personal strengths and weaknesses were also learned in the presentation practice. The
strengths highlighted includes; proper articulation of words. This helped in making clarity on the
points discussed. Words were well inflated to ensure that everyone in the room would hear them
clearly. This ensured that they remained engaged in the presentation throughout.
Another strength in the presentation was the use of gestures and movements to emphasize
points. Hand and body movements are important when making presentations. They go hand in
hand with the speech and are used to create emphasis where necessary. The movements were
limited so as not to create the distraction in the process. Over usage of the body movements may
make the audience focus too much on them and forget the speech. Important points were
repeated to ensure retention by the audience.
The slides used in the presentation were informative and clear in reading. They were also
enriched with pictures that emphasized on the main ideas and points. Pictures are an important
communication media as they are eye-catching and easy to remember (Theobald, 2011.12).
They create a longer lasting impression on the minds of the audience. They also help in making
clarity on points raised as they are better to understand. Pictures were used on almost all the
slides, and this helped in enriching the content. This was a major strength in the presentation
process.
The presentation required that relevant information is highlighted as key points. This
ensures that all important parts of the topic are covered. Any irrelevant information was excluded
from the presentation to ensure that it is not tedious to the audience. The tone used was also in

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line with the nature of the audience. Jargons were avoided as this would create confusion or
misunderstandings by the audience.
During the presentation, transitional terms were well used. This helped in creating the
transition from one point to another. The slide also had topics and subtopics that helped in the
transition from one point to another. This ensures that points do not override each other and thus
prevents any chances of confusing the audience. The use of a proper structure is also important
because it ensures that the audience can follow and understand.
Some weaknesses were also observed from the presentation. First, the audience
engagement was minimal. This could have led to the loss of interest by some of the people in the
audience. Proper engagement is important as it ensures that points are clarified in the case of lack
of clarity. They can ask questions whenever a point is not clear.
Secondly, the slides and the pictures were too many. This could have cluttered the
presentation and caused distraction among the audience. Some of the slides also had too many
details. A good presentation should only highlight the main points so that the audience is not
tired.
Some of the strategies used in overcoming the weaknesses included; proper planning and
practicing the presentation in advance. This helped in highlighting the major weaknesses in
advance and created room for adjustment. It also helped to reduce the anxiety and improved on
the confidence levels. The presentation was practiced in front of some friends and hence it was a
simulation of the real presentation. Questions were encouraged at the end, and constructive
feedback was given. This process helped in highlighting the weaknesses in the presentation and
preparing for the questions that might be asked on the due date.

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Nervousness during the presentation could cause leaving out of some of the important
points during the presentation (Alessandra, 2005.101). This problem is solved through
practicing the presentation with friends and in different audiences. At the end of the presentation
process, more experience had been gained and nervousness reduced to a great extent. The
strategies were helpful in improving my presentation skills and making the audience more
engaged.
Feedback was also obtained from the different audiences. The lecturers, fellow students,
and the friends presented to during the practice. Some commented on the length of the
presentation, and this helped in reducing the final draft to fewer slides. Another comment was on
the number of pictures. Too many pictures were used, and some did not relate to specific points
in the presentation. This helped in reducing some pictures, but future presentations require even
less use. Some members of the audience said that the pictures cluttered the presentation.
Conclusion
Fearing to make mistakes in college, home and work can limit the exploration of
solutions to challenges faced. Mistakes are a learning process, and they help in making future
adjustments. During the exercise, fearing to make mistakes contributed to too many details been
included in the presentation. I was afraid of leaving out any point and slides ended up been too
many and with too many details.
Recommendation
Going forward, I have learned a better way is to highlight only the main points and have
some notes on the side to help in detailed explanations. The notes could also be helpful in case

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the presentation does not work out well. For instance, when using a projector, the presentation
could be disrupted by power loss, and this may hamper the exercise. However, with some points
on the side, one can continue with the presentation before the power is restored.

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References
Alessandra, Anthony J., and Phillip L. Hunsaker. Presentation Skills.
Carlsbad, Calif: T. Alessandra, 2005. Pg. 101
Bradbury, Andrew. Successful Presentation Skills. London: Kogan,
2006. Pg. 47
Rotondo, Jennifer, and Mike Rotondo. Presentation Skills for Managers.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2001. Pg. 21
Theobald, Theo. Develop Your Presentation Skills. London: Kogan,
2011. Pg. 12