Business vs Individuals: How are the Presentations Different? [Guest Post]

This is a guest post by Jessica Davis.

You cannot shy away from presentations especially once you have started working. Being able to give presentation effectively is now a skill that any young professional covets. Presentation skills are so important that most interviewers check to see if candidates present well. However, most people use the same presentation style for all types of presentations. This can often be a mistake because presentations are all about catering to your audience.

If you want to get the best effect and maximum engagement from your audience, you need to change presentation styles depending on where and to whom you are giving the presentation too. Here are some differences between business and individual presentations that will help give presentations more effectively.

Business presentations are often group presentations

Business presentations are often presented by groups rather than individuals. This is why business presentations need to be structured properly so that everyone in the group presents in a cohesive manner. Without a proper structure, the different parts of the presentation will not flow properly and the whole presentation can seem very confusing to the listener. In business presentations you need to play up the strengths of each person presenting by ensuring that the parts that they are responsible for is something that they are passionate about. In individual presentations, the presenter often uses the slides only as a visual aid and makes up the presentation as he/she moves along. This does not work in business presentations as they need to be tight and informative.

Include more statistics in business presentations

Business presentations are meant to deliver information quickly and have less of an entertainment factor than say individual presentations. The audience for a business presentation is much more sophisticated and they already know a lot about the topic that is being presented. They want to be impressed with numbers and facts and would like such information to be presented to them in a clear manner. 

The best way to present numbers, facts and statistics in business presentations is to use graphs so that the audience understands the information and the presenter does not have to spend a lot of time explaining pertinent figures. Business presentation should not have any fluff and it is best if you keep the joking aside. If the facts are noteworthy and if the presentation is succinct, then you don’t need to add unnecessary humor to make the presentation interesting.

On the other hand, the audience for individual presentations are often not experts in the field and they require presentations to be simpler. Instead of using hard facts and numbers, it is best to use simple illustrations to explain the concepts easily and the use of multimedia elements are encouraged in individual presentations. Attractive slides, musical elements, videos and artwork are best used in individual presentations and not for the professional presentations in a business environment. 

Attire

Business presentations are given in formal environments in front of a very professional audience, this is why you need to be dressed formally if you are giving a business presentation. On the other hand, individual presentations are much more casual and you can be a bit laid-back with your attire. 

About the author

Jessica Davis is a Content Strategist at Godot Media, a leading content services company. She works with other writers to create targeted web content for businesses and individuals. She also writes about fashion, technology and social media related trends.