1. How to get audience to pay attention? As a leader you surely have the audience hooked on at the start of your presentation, but as the talk progresses, attention has to be earned. There are two ways to get more attention. First, be brief and tell your audience that you will only be speaking for 5 minutes. When they know it is going to be a short talk, they will put aside everything and listen. Second, do something unusual . We expect most presentations to start and end a particular way. Why not break the mould with something new? A role play to highlight the problem you wanted to talk about? A short video to set the context before you begin? A co-presenter who dons the role of the audience and shares the stage with you? A little bit of humor to ease the tension or a powerful anecdote to emphasize the seriousness of the situation? 2. How to make them understand? Leaders are very often guilty of making complex jargon-laden speeches. How will the audience rememb...

1. Practice. Practice. Practice. The more you present, the better you get. There is no other way. You will fail quite a lot initially but keep going. 2. Learn to use software. I see many good managers who hardly know simple features of PowerPoint. You do not need mastery. Spend few hours on Google and learn some cool tips and tricks to help you save time and make the most of the software. 3. Entertain. Remember as a presenter, you are there to entertain people. Even in business presentations. Everyone wants to have a good time and no one wants to be bored. Add humor and add stories. 4. Go visual. Ditch wordy slides completely. Force yourself to write no more than 10 words on every slide. Use large images which cover the entire screen. Use professional stock images and avoid clip art. 5. Get inspired. Presenting is a creative skill and you need inspiration. Expose yourself to TED talks. Watch how these people communicate, share stories, make you laugh and car...