How to Prepare for a Presentation: 12 Ways to Perform with Confidence

If you have a presentation coming up, it’s natural to feel a little unsure where to start. You might be doing your first high-stakes presentation, or maybe you’re nervous about repeating past mistakes.

Let’s go through 12 ways you can set yourself up for success, based on our 20+ years of experience helping organisations like Aldi and London Business School prepare for presentations.

Whether you’re delivering a sales pitch, leading a business meeting, or giving a keynote speech, our team at Body Talk is here to guide you every step of the way.

What are the benefits of strong preparation?

Preparing thoroughly for a presentation isn’t just about knowing your content, it directly impacts the results you achieve and how your audience responds.

Some of the benefits you gain from investing time in preparing for your presentation are:

• Confident delivery: When you prepare in advance, you walk into the room with a sense of control and self-assurance. This confidence is visible to your audience, helping you establish credibility from the first moment.
• Clear messaging: Preparation helps you structure your ideas logically. As a result, your audience understands your message quickly and retains the information for longer.
• Calm presence: When you anticipate challenges and prepare for them positively, you minimise surprises and reduce stress. This means you can respond smoothly to questions and maintain a composed, professional presence throughout.

12 ways to prepare for a presentation and perform with confidence

What does good preparation look like? Follow these steps to set yourself up for a successful presentation.

1. Know your audience

The first step in preparing a presentation that keeps your audience interested is understanding who you’re speaking to.

To get to know your audience, consider asking or researching the following:

• Their challenges: What obstacles or pain points are they trying to overcome?
• How they measure success: What outcomes matter to them?
• Ways to show understanding: How can you use examples, data, or stories that reflect their situation?

There’s another question that often gets overlooked in presentations. It’s not just about what you want your audience to know or do. It’s also about how you want them to feel.

People rarely remember every slide or statistic, but they do remember the emotional experience you created. Do you want them to feel reassured? Energised? Inspired? Confident enough to take action?

When you understand the emotional state your audience is currently in, and where you want to move them to by the end of your presentation, your message becomes far more impactful.

2. Set a clear goal

Before you create slides or rehearse your delivery, you need to know exactly what you want to accomplish and the action you want to inspire in your audience.

Are you aiming to inform, persuade, or motivate the client to take a specific next step? Defining this goal early ensures that every part of your presentation – your content, visuals, and examples – supports the outcome you’re seeking.

3. Structure your message with a logical flow

At Body Talk, we often encourage people to think about presentations as stories rather than information dumps. A strong structure helps an audience stay emotionally connected and follow your message more easily.

A simple storytelling approach which we use is to start with the challenge or tension your audience recognises, before showing what’s possible and guiding them towards a solution. This creates momentum and gives people a reason to care from the beginning. By the time you reach the conclusion, your audience sees not just the solution, but why it matters.

Another highly effective method is Simon Sinek’s Why, How, What framework, which helps businesses and ideas stand out. Many presentations focus on what a company does- its products or services. Some include how – what makes their approach or offering unique. But the “why” – the purpose, belief, or cause behind the work – is often missing. This is the most important element, because people are inspired by why you do what you do, not just what you do.

Simon Sinek uses Apple as an example in his original 2009 TED Talk, speaking about how we could buy computers from any company, but we choose Apple for their “why”. If you look at Steve Job’s introduction to the iPhone in 2007, he starts with the “why” of making revolutionary products, making his audience feel a part of Apple’s innovation.

4. Create your visual aids and script

When preparing professional presentations, it’s important to remember that your slides are a visual aid, not a script. Start by writing your script first – your slides should then support your story, highlighting key points rather than repeating everything you say.

Then, when designing slides, consider favouring images over words. As we talk about in our blog on improving your presentation slides, expert slide designer Garr Reynolds highlights that the picture superiority effect shows that images are far more memorable than text alone.

Avoid adding slides just for the sake of it – many of the best speakers, including those on TED Talks, rely on only a few impactful slides to visually reinforce their points.

5. Memorise your speech

You don’t need to memorise every single word of your presentation to deliver it confidently. Instead, focus on bullet points or key words – short, simple words or phrases that act as triggers for the ideas you want to convey. Remember, your audience doesn’t know what you’re going to say so if you miss something out only you will know! Some of the best presentations are ones which feel conversational and flow naturally.

Using a storytelling strcuture as mentioned above can also help you prepare and consolidate your message into key areas, avoid the temptation to wing it, as skipping preparation can lead to increased nerves, waffling and filler words – as we go into in our blog on how to memorise a speech.

6. Practice until it flows

Practicing out loud is essential for developing strong presentation skills and delivering a talk that keeps your audience engaged.

It can feel daunting, but recording yourself or asking for feedback is one of the best ways to prepare. This approach helps you notice whether you’re using confident body language, where you rely on filler words, and where you could vary your tone to make your actual presentation more dynamic. At Body Talk, we focus on the 5 P’s: Pitch, Pace, Pause, Projection, and Passion.

• Your pitch should match your message. A high pitch when delivering serious content can unintentionally add comedy, while a low pitch when sharing exciting news can confuse your audience.
• Pace works hand-in-hand with pitch. Speaking quickly can create excitement, while a slower pace adds gravitas. When used intentionally, pitch and pace amplify each other.
• Pause is a tool that signals importance. Use it sparingly – one or two well-placed pauses will make your points more memorable.
• Projection is about being heard, but not necessarily about volume alone. To ensure your voice reaches the back of the room without straining, imagine projecting to someone at the far end of the space. Use your breathing muscles and support your voice from deep within your body.
• Finally, passion brings everything together. Even the best techniques fall flat without genuine enthusiasm. Connect with what excites you about your message.

7. Manage your time

Remember, you don’t want to overwhelm your audience – focus on concise communication, giving enough context to make your points clear without going overboard. It’s easy to over-explain, which can cause people to switch off and make your presentation last longer than the time limit.

Before your actual presentation, review your content and assign approximate times to each section, leaving room for questions or audience interaction. Practicing with a timer helps you spot sections that consistently run long, giving you the opportunity to condense or reorganise them.

8. Prepare for questions

A lot of people are intimidated by presentation Q&As but with a little prep, they can become an asset to your credibility. You can predict some of the questions you might be asked by doing the following:

• Think about the points in your presentation that might raise eyebrows or spark curiosity – a claim you’re making, for instance. Is there anything your audience would be likely to push back on?
• Then, rehearse in a realistic way. Invite someone unfamiliar with your content to ask whatever comes to mind, even challenging or unexpected questions. This practice helps you find smooth ways to respond and spot any holes in your argument.

9. Master your mindset

Feeling nervous before a presentation is completely normal. But too much pressure and self-criticism can make the whole presentation feel harder to manage.

To master your mindset, start by slowing down and giving yourself a moment to breathe. Reflecting on past successes – ideally situations similar to this presentation – can give you confidence. If nothing exactly matches, think of any moment when you felt capable and in control. Recalling that feeling can help change your mindset into a positive, empowered state.

We’ve also written before about playing the next point. Don’t dwell on mistakes, focus on the present moment and the next thing you need to do.

Remember: your audience is human, and they know that you are, too. Small slip-ups are natural and forgivable.

10. Bring your own technology

Whenever possible, use your own presentation equipment. This ensures everything works the way you expect, from your clicker to your microphone, and helps you avoid technical issues that can disrupt an effective presentation.

If you’re presenting at an external venue, check in with the organisers ahead of time to confirm the equipment you’ll be bringing. For workplace presentations, take time to test connections, screen resolution, and audio before your audience arrives.

11. Arrive early

Whether it’s a huge auditorium or a small meeting room, take a few minutes to speak out loud, move around, and get comfortable with the environment you’ll be presenting in.

This will also help to settle your mind. You’ll know how your voice carries, where to stand, and how it feels to deliver your points. That early familiarity gives you a sense of control, so when people walk in, you can focus on your message instead of the unknown.

12. Warm up your voice

Just like athletes stretch before a game, your vocal cords and mouth need a little preparation to perform at their best. Spend the last five minutes before your presentation gently loosening your voice and mouth to avoid strain.

A simple way to start is with a “sirening” exercise. Make an “ng” sound, like the end of the word “sing,” and slide smoothly up and down your vocal range. This stretches your vocal cords and warms them up.

You can then move on to tongue twisters, which help to loosen your jaw and mouth. They can also give you a bit of much needed comic relief if you’re nervous as they tend to be very silly. The more you can over-enunciate and speak dramatically, the better!

Making your presentation interactive

Another important element to plan for is how you can make your presentation interactive. When your audience is actively involved, your message becomes far more memorable.

Interactivity can take many forms. In larger sessions, you might use live polls or demonstrations to get people involved. For smaller business presentations, it could be as simple as asking thought-provoking questions or encouraging discussion. You can even incorporate exercises that get the audience moving or working in pairs – anything that breaks the passive listening cycle.

Can anyone become a strong presenter?

“I can’t give presentations, I freeze up.”

“Giving presentations makes me so anxious I can’t focus.”

“I’ve tried giving presentations before, but they never work out.”

If any of those sound familiar, you’re far from alone.

Many people assume strong presenters are simply born naturally charismatic, but in reality, presentation skills are exactly that – skills. They can be learned and improved over time.

Transformational presentation skills training

What can you expect from a Body Talk presentation skills training course?

• Train with experienced communicators from backgrounds in storytelling, media, theatre, and film.
• Learn techniques developed over two decades of presentation experience and based in scientific research.
• Develop the kind of confidence that changes how you’re perceived. Through exercises and real-time feedback, you’ll learn how to use your voice, body language, and presence more effectively.

Let’s make your presentation unforgettable.

Find out more

Frequently asked questions

We’ve answered some of the questions we get asked most often below.

What does positive body language look like for presentations?

Positive body language tells your audience that you believe in what you’re saying. It looks like:

• A steady stance. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and weight evenly balanced. This not only gives you stability but also signals calm confidence.
• Confident gestures. Keep your hands at mid-height with elbows away from your body. Palms facing up communicate openness and welcome your audience in, while palms facing down can emphasise your authority.

To deliver a presentation effectively, it’s really important that your body language matches your words. We’ve written about this more, and how you can make sure your body language reinforces your message, in our blog on body language in presentations.

What is the best way to prep for a presentation?

The best way to prepare for a presentation is to focus on three key areas: your content, your practice, and your mindset.

• Start with your content: know what you want to say, structure your key points clearly, and anticipate questions.
• Next, practice out loud. Rehearse your delivery, notice where you can improve your pacing, tone, and gestures, and get comfortable with your material. If you’re giving a group presentation, make sure to rehearse together so everyone is aligned and confident in their parts.
• Finally, pay particular attention to your mindset. Remember that anxiety is just your brain imagining the worse case scenario, and you can actually flip this around and do the opposite. Visualise the best possible outcomes, imagine the audience engaged and responsive, and focus on what you can control. This mental preparation helps calm your mind and allows you to step into your presentation feeling grounded and ready.

What is the 10/20/30 rule in presentation?

The 10/20/30 rule is a simple guideline designed to keep presentations clear and concise. It suggests that your presentation should be:

• No more than 10 slides
• No longer than 20 minutes
• No smaller than 30-point font

Of course, every presentation is unique, and you may need to adapt these guidelines depending on your context. The main idea is to keep your presentation focused, readable, and engaging so your message lands effectively.

What is the 7×7 rule for presentations?

The 7×7 rule suggests keeping slides to no more than seven lines of text, with seven words per line. The idea is to avoid overcrowded slides and make information easier for an audience to process.

But in reality, less is often more.

At Body Talk, we encourage presenters to use as few words as possible and rely more on strong visuals and imagery. Research around the pictorial superiority effect shows that people remember images far more easily than text.

A good rule to follow is: if you’re going to say it, it probably doesn’t need to be written on the slide as well.

Your slides should support your message, not compete with you for attention.

What are the best breathing exercises to do to calm down?

When preparing for a presentation, people are often told to take a few deep breaths. While well-intentioned, just breathing in deeply can sometimes increase tension. Instead, focus on breathing out.

Just before entering the room or stepping on stage, exhale slowly for several seconds, gently pushing the air out of your body, and then allowing your lungs to refill naturally. Repeat this process for about two minutes to feel the full effect.

This simple exercise helps send oxygen to your brain and prepares you to deliver your presentation with a calm mind.

Should you maintain eye contact when giving a presentation?

Eye contact can help an audience feel included and connected to you as a speaker. It creates a sense of conversation rather than simply talking at people.

However, it’s important to recognise that not everyone is comfortable with direct eye contact. With greater awareness around neurodiversity, we understand that some people may find sustained eye contact distracting, overwhelming, or unnatural.

The goal is not to force eye contact, but to create connection. Looking around the room, engaging different sections of the audience, and showing genuine presence can be just as effective.

Audiences are far more interested in whether you feel authentic and engaged than whether you maintain constant eye contact.

How can you make a presentation more engaging?

The most important thing in creating a great presentation is ensuring your audience understands why your main points matter to them. Your key message should feel relevant, showing how it connects to their experiences, challenges, or goals.

One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by making yourself relatable. Sharing a personal story can bring your points to life, illustrating the ideas in a way that resonates with your audience. The story doesn’t need to be dramatic, it just needs to be relevant and authentic, helping your audience see the message through a real-world lens.