If you love listening to Ted Talks and podcasts on professional growth, you probably heard that working on your “presentation skills” can be a game-changer. But can you develop these skills overnight? Probably not. 

For you to be great at presentations, you must grab every opportunity to practice— not just in front of the mirror but also in real life.

There are several opportunities for you to deliver presentations in the workplace in order to hone your skills. These include internal meetings, sales pitches, client meetings, training, conferences, seminars, onboardings, events, and a lot more.

In this guide, I'll be discussing each of the opportunities I mentioned above, along with how important it is to work on your presentation skills. Let's get started!

Importance of presentation skills in the workplace

Believe it or not, every presentation delivered in your workplace impacts not just the company's success but also your growth as an employee.

If you have poor presentation skills, it could potentially jeopardize the project you're working on and make you less credible in the eyes of your boss or teammates. 

On the other hand, if you have "effective" presentation skills, you'll be considered an asset, and your team will really pay attention to what you have to say.

Still not convinced? Here are some other reasons why effective presentation skills matter in the workplace.

1. Promotes career growth

People who have great presentation skills often get better opportunities like being sent to conferences, representing the company in events, working on premium projects, and a lot more. Work promotion also comes easy. 

2. Reduces miscommunication

People often quit their jobs because of miscommunication with their teammates or bosses. While this cannot be 100% prevented, it can be reduced significantly if everyone knows how to present well.

When each team member is able to speak and get their point across "clearly" during meeting presentations and brainstorming, everybody will be on the same page, and no one will be left wondering what's what. Fewer communication problems, better results!

3. Saves time and energy

Presentations, when done correctly, only take a few minutes. It can save time as compared to messaging the whole team through Slack or WhatsApp and then answering their queries one by one. You also get real-time feedback, which is crucial, especially if a project is time-bound.

4. Improves leadership and outputs

A leader's ability to present can make or break a team. For instance, if a team leader weren't able to clearly present the goals, objectives, and quality standards of a project in the very beginning, the output would probably be mediocre.

Meanwhile, if a leader has laid out the expectations in a structured presentation without missing any points, then the deliverables would be way better. 

For more information on this topic, please check out the article, "Why Public Speaking Matters In the Workplace"

11 Workplace Opportunities Where You Can Deliver A Presentation

As mentioned earlier, there are several opportunities for you to develop your presentation skills in the workplace. Use these as your training ground to be a better communicator and have fun while you’re at it!

1. Internal meetings

Internal meetings are essential in ensuring that each employee’s goal is aligned to the company’s operating strategies and financial targets. 

Good presentations are helpful during these meetings because they provide structure to the meeting agenda and save a lot of time. Surely, no one would like to be stuck in a four-hour meeting with everyone talking all at once, nothing being resolved and nothing being accomplished.

2. Sales pitches

A sales pitch intends to convince potential clients or customers to choose the services of your company or business. 

Using this as an avenue to practice your presentation skills is a bit risky because your performance will directly (and immediately) affect the company’s revenue. However, it is also the most rewarding since you will make a positive impact on the company.

If you are assigned to deliver a sales pitch, you must dedicate time to prepare not only on how you project your voice but also on answering unscreened questions.

3. Client meetings

If you are a manager or a team leader, you’re probably an expert in dealing with clients— pitching your team’s ideas, asking for suggestions, mediating when something goes wrong, etc. 

Presentations work great for these meetings because you can share all your thoughts and opinions in an organized manner. Not to mention, it makes a good impression as opposed to sending tons of emails to the client or messaging them thru chat.

4. Training

Training is given to company employees from time to time to teach them new skills or update them with industry trends. 

If you are a training professional, you would agree that giving presentations during training can be a tough job, especially if you need to hold the attention of more than 50 people.

Nevertheless, it is also one of the most satisfying since you’ll get to work on different aspects of your presentation skills like dealing with a diverse audience, organizing the content of your thoughts, etc.

5. Conferences

Business conferences allow start-ups and giant companies to talk about economic performance, share new services and products, and a lot more. 

Presentations are vital during these conferences since there are often hundreds of delegates present. The only way to make them listen is to prove that you are worth hearing out. They'll gravitate towards you and may even show interest in your company if you are able to deliver an excellent presentation.

6. Seminars

Workplace seminars are often staged so teams can learn from experts through lectures and general discussions. There will be instances where an employee will be tapped to speak on a subject matter instead of inviting a resource from the outside. 

If you are ever asked to do this, you are quite fortunate because it is a good chance to deliver a presentation and show that you are, indeed, an expert at what you do.

7. New-hire onboarding

For those who work under the Human Resource department, onboarding new hires must be part of your day-to-day. But instead of handing out a printed sheet detailing everything they need to go through, try using a presentation.

Not only will you save time, but you’ll also be able to address their questions right away. Just make sure that you are really 100% prepared when you do this. 

You don't want to scare them off thinking that your business or company is not that established just because you missed a minor detail or you cannot provide them with answers to their pressing questions.

8. Project onboarding

When a company lands a new project, the team that will work on it obviously needs onboarding. If you are the team leader, manager, or customer success person, you'll find yourself facilitating this intimidating task.

To avoid missing any key points during onboarding, don't do it individually. Gather up the team and deliver a presentation covering everything about the client, the task, the time frame, and some other significant details. This will save you from a lot of stress and help you manage your time.

9. Meeting with suppliers

People who run a business know how important it is to communicate clearly with suppliers. This is especially true if a lot of materials are needed at a specific time, and there is no room for any mistake.

In meeting with suppliers, presenting everything needed, including the quantity and when it is expected, can improve their efficiency and accuracy in preparing what you need. This works so much better than calling them or ordering online. 

10. Events

Company events like product launches, expos, parties, retreats, and team buildings are also opportunities for you to deliver presentations— maybe not in a formal manner, but still in a way that will sharpen your communication skills and improve your confidence.

11. Asking for a raise or a promotion

While you won’t be able to ask for a raise or promotion every day, doing so when the time is right will also require you to deliver a presentation. 

You have to clearly state your reasons why you're asking for an increase, and while doing so, you must avoid sounding haughty or dissatisfied with your current salary or position. These take excellent presentation skills and will teach you a thing or two about communicating with people, especially those superior to you.

Best Opportunities To Deliver Presentations In The Workplace: Final thoughts

Presentation skills often determine individual success in the workplace; thus, you must seize every opportunity to improve. Here’s a recap of the 11 workplace opportunities I discussed above where you can deliver presentations:

1. Internal meetings

2. Sales pitches

3. Client meetings

4. Training

5. Conferences

6. Seminars

7. New-hire onboarding

8. Project onboarding

9. Meeting with suppliers

10. Events

11. Asking for a raise or a promotion

Remember that only by gaining experiences will you improve. Don’t get stuck in front of the mirror practicing. Sure, it is a great starting point, but if you want to grow your network and be promoted, go out there and impress people that matter.

For more resources to develop your public speaking skills while you are in the comforts of your own home, please check out the article ‘Online Resources for Public Speaking‘. If you would like to leverage the best presentation software for your next big speaking engagement please read the article 'Best Presentation Technology tools'.