In today’s climate more than ever, such opportunities are incredibly valuable, and require careful planning to make sure you do yourself, your brand or your product justice. Below are some tips and advice on making sure your presentation is as interactive, informative, effective and impressive as it can be.

Self-indulgence remains one of the greatest pitfalls, and the reason why so many presentations fall flat. Remember that a presentation is not about you. Your role is simply to convey the benefits of a product/campaign/idea/brand, and to do so in an interesting, succinct way.

Know your topic. This may sound obvious, but nothing will undermine your presentation and lose the trust of your audience faster than them suspecting a lack of knowledge on your behalf. A classic trap to fall into is to memorise the presentation, then as soon as someone asks a question, panic sets in.

Presentation, believe it or not, plays an incredibly important role in the success of a presentation! Put yourself in the shoes of your audience, especially if you are pitching for new business. How many similarly monotonous PowerPoint presentations have they sat through so far? Make yours stand out through interaction, relevant video and images, mood boards, vox pops as well as samples and mock-ups.

Too many slides, or too much information is another classic problem. Think of all the times you’ve sat through friends and relatives holiday photos…! Research has shown that your audience are only ever likely to remember three main points from your presentation, so keep it short, concise and focused.

Hardware malfunctions, and ‘death-by-PowerPoint’! Most people have unfortunately experienced this nightmare. You’re prepped and ready to give the presentation of a lifetime, when the PowerPoint file corrupts/isn’t on the memory stick, or the projector breaks or <insert one of many possible technological disasters>. Test all of the equipment before you begin, and bring your presentation with you, along with a couple of back-ups in different formats. You can never completely rely on any equipment, but simple checks do negate the risks. And if all else fails, revert to your pre-prepared hard copy.

To give some idea of how these ideals can be best and worst put into practice (and for a few cheap laughs), we have included two different videos of speakers in action. See if you can tell which is good, and which is bad!

Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple Inc, introducing the iPhone.

Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corporation, jumping around like a lunatic!