At one point or another, whether in front of a client or colleagues, you’re going to have to give a presentation. While some people thrive on presenting, others dread it. Whichever camp you fall into, there is always room for improvement – both for your own presenting, and for delivering presentations that resonate with your audience.
 
Here are three tips for creating and delivering presentations that capture your audience’s attention and engagement with ease.
 
Remember VARK
Ever wonder why after a presentation, people ask questions that make you think that they weren’t listening at all? They aren’t trying to ignore you – you might just not be presenting in their language. There are four different ways people take in and process information – visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinaesthetic. If your presentation is entirely you talking at people, you are missing out on most of your audience. Try and hit as many modalities as possible in your presentation:

• Visual  Use different colours, icons, charts, graphs, and images to summarize, emphasize, or categorize your points.
• Auditory  Vary your tone of voice, and encourage group discussions and questions.
• Reading/Writing  Provide handouts with speaker notes, and give people enough time to write notes.
• Kinaesthetic  Let people stand for your presentation, make it experiential, encourage people to doodle, or provide fidget tools.

Present in Colour
Use colours strategically in your presentation to convey ideas and connections. Not only does colour improve comprehension, but it also helps boost memory of content when trying to remember it later.

​Prepare with a Mind Map
Mind maps are a great way to organize your thoughts when planning your presentation. They can help you categorize all the information that you need to cover, and to plan the flow of your presentation.

A mind map is also useful in place of notes while presenting. It will help you remember your points at a glance, so you can maintain eye contact with your audience instead of fumbling with papers. Research also shows that mind maps help you to memorize the content of your presentation.
​

Learning doesn’t stop when you leave school and enter the workforce. Wherever you are working – even if you are your own boss – there is always a need to learn something new. Beyond the office, learning new things keeps your brain active and healthy.
 
Of course, taking courses can be expensive, and that may not fit your budget.
 
If you are concerned about the cost of learning, there are resources you can turn to. We have found a number of places where you can learn just about anything for free. From math to economics to computer programming to nutrition, you can boost your skills and your knowledge without spending a dime.
 
Coursera
Coursera.org
Coursera partners with universities and other post-secondary institutions to offer courses online. There are hundreds of specializations and courses in business, data science, life sciences, languages, and more. This is a great place to go if you want to take a course in an area of special interest (such as History of Graphic Design created by the California Institute of the Arts) or if you would like to upgrade your skills for the workplace with courses like Strategic Management and Innovation from the Copenhagen Business School.
 
Harvard Online Learning
http://online-learning.harvard.edu/
Learn directly from Harvard professors and researchers with podcasts, lectures, and fully interactive courses and programs. There are paid options for credit courses, but there is also a large listing of free options. You can access research and dissertations from the Harvard schools of business, education, and law, or you can take individual courses that are created by the university and offered through edX.
 
edX
edx.org
Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX partners with universities, non-profits, and other institutions around the world to offer free online courses. A couple of fun courses we found include Dog Behaviour and Cognition from Arizona State University and Nutrition: Healthy Food for Better Living from Dutch university Wageningen. It also offers a number of courses in business management, data analysis, and computer sciences for all your upskilling needs. You can also search courses based on the institution that is offering them, allowing you to take a full suite of options from the likes of MIT or Harvard.
 
Khan Academy
Khanacademy.org
Khan Academy is an excellent resource of practice exercises and instructional videos to help you tackle math, science, computer programming, and more. If you want to learn the ins and outs of algebra, or if you just need a reminder on one aspect of it, this is the place to learn. Khan Academy also offers resources for teachers and parents to support children in their studies.
​

Remembering names, facts, and even new ideas is a skill that can be improved through practice and with tools like Mind Maps[1].
 
From medical students to children, researchers are finding that Mind Maps offer many benefits for memorizing information and encouraging a deeper level of processing. One study had children memorizing words either from lists or from Mind Maps. Those who used Mind Maps had a 32% higher retention rate.[2]
 
Another study found that those who used Mind Maps for learning and studying improved their long-term memory by 10%.[3]
 
Why is Mind Mapping such a powerful memory tool? The structure and features of mind maps – the imagery, the colours, and the radial exploration of thoughts – mirrors closely the way the brain functions. While typical note taking is linear, our brains actually create maps and webs of thoughts. The association and triggers that surface in a Mind Map also help to connect information in the brain into something visible and structured.
 
If you want your co-workers or a client group you are brainstorming with to remember more of the content you cover, use colour in your Mind Maps. One study found that 90% of people felt that colours in presentations and documents helped boost their retention of the content[4].

[1] Mind Mapping: Scientific Research and Studies, ThinkBuzan Ltd
[2] Toi, 2009
[3] Farrand, Hussain, Hennessey, 2002
[4] Xerox study, 2003

Audio read and recorded by RP Singh

In our day-to-day lives, we encounter and share information in a number of ways. Do you ever notice that some ways make it easier for you to take in information than others? Perhaps reading information is easier for you than simply hearing someone say it. Or maybe it's the opposite.

This is because there are different styles for communication. When we try to communicate with someone in a way that’s incongruent with their communication style, our message may not get across.
 
There are four styles for how we like to communicate:

• Visual
• Auditory
• Reading/Writing
• Kinesthetic

 
Some people are also multi-modal and understand and communicate best using more than one style at the same time.

Being aware of the preferred style of people you work with and clients you serve is the first step in improving communications with them. This awareness allows us to tailor how we are delivering the message to make sure that it’s being received.
 
Here are some ways that you can optimize your delivery for different communication styles. For times when you are communicating with a group or trying to reach as many people as possible, using a mix of strategies can help ensure that everyone in the audience understands what you’re saying.
 
Visual
Visual communicators understand best by seeing. Information presented in a visual form is more meaningful and more easily processed.

• Create simple illustrations (purposeful doodles) during meetings
• Create visual timelines for your projects
• Use diagrams, flowcharts, sketches, and pictures
• Use different colours to highlight and organize key ideas

 
Auditory
Auditory communicators prefer hearing information and sharing ideas out loud. They remember and understand best when they are told the information.

• Discuss/talk through ideas and information with a colleague
• Lead a round table discussion or Q&A
• Read important information aloud
• Repeat key ideas

 
Reading and Writing
Reading and Writing communicators prefer information in a written form and process it best when they can take notes.

• Offer a printed copy of notes and materials with space to take notes
• Email relevant information prior to meetings
• Make checklists for complex tasks
• Send meeting notes and summaries in an e-mail follow-up

 
Kinesthetic
Kinesthetic communicators understand and remember information best by doing. Those with this style of communication prefer hands-on experience and have trouble sitting still for long periods of time.

• Stand or walk during meetings
• Walk people through a scenario
• Offer examples and use stories
• Offer fidget toys in meetings
• Describe ideas based on application rather than theory