Earlier this year, I worked with a doctor who was preparing to deliver a presentation to fellow healthcare professionals.
Before our session, I assumed we would spend most of our time working on the content. Perhaps the structure would need tightening. Maybe there would be too much information. Perhaps the central argument would need to become clearer.
Instead, within a few minutes, I realised that the presentation itself was not the problem.
The content was excellent.
More importantly, she cared deeply about it.
As she spoke, I was not simply hearing research, facts and statistics. I could hear why she had devoted years of her life to this work. The patient stories mattered to her. The outcomes mattered to her. The people behind the data mattered to her.
That sense of personal connection was what made the presentation so compelling.
It is also something many presenters accidentally train out of themselves.
People connect with people
When professionals prepare for an important presentation, they often focus almost entirely on the words.
They refine the script. They adjust the slides. They add another statistic, bullet point or diagram.
But communication begins long before the words arrive.
It begins in the body.
It is present in your posture, your breathing, your facial expression and your energy. It can be seen in the way you occupy the space, whether you allow yourself to gesture and whether you appear genuinely connected to what you are saying.
An audience does not only listen to your information. It reads you.
In this particular session, my client already had a powerful connection to her subject. My job was not to manufacture passion or make the content more dramatic. It was to help her trust what was already there and remove anything that distracted from it.
Your slides are not the presentation
Many professionals assume that their slides are the most important part of a presentation.
They are not.
You are the presentation.
The slides are there to support you.
They should make an idea easier to understand, provide a useful visual reference or help the audience follow the structure of your argument. They should not compete for attention while you are speaking.
During the session, we simplified several slides by:
- Reducing the number of bullet points.
- Replacing clusters of small images with one large, clear visual.
- Removing unnecessary information.
- Making quotations shorter and more impactful.
- Asking whether every slide was genuinely helping the audience.
One useful test is to look at each slide and ask:
Could someone understand the purpose of this slide within three seconds?
Could they grasp its purpose immediately, without needing you to explain where to look?
If the answer is no, the slide may be trying to do too much.
Not every idea needs a visual aid. Sometimes the most powerful choice is to allow the audience to look at you and listen.
Presence is practical
“Presence” can sound like a vague or mysterious quality, but much of it is practical.
Because this presentation was being delivered online, we worked on how my client appeared within the camera frame. We adjusted her position so that she looked balanced and connected to the audience, ensured her gestures remained visible and found a supportive sitting position with both feet firmly on the floor.
When your body feels supported, your voice has a stronger foundation. When your gestures can be seen, the audience receives more of your meaning. When you are positioned well within the frame, it becomes easier for people to connect with you.
Warm up more than your voice
Before an important presentation, many people read through their notes one final time and hope for the best.
A more effective preparation begins with the body.
Before speaking, try:
- Jogging on the spot or shaking out your whole body to raise your energy.
- Making a gentle “brrr” sound through relaxed lips, moving your voice comfortably up and down.
- Reciting a tongue twister to awaken the lips, tongue and facial muscles.
- Taking a moment to feel both feet on the floor and release unnecessary tension.
The aim is not to become artificially energetic. It is to make sure that your voice, face and body are awake enough to communicate what your mind already understands.
The words should be the last thing to arrive.
Start with why it matters
The most memorable moment in a presentation is rarely a perfectly designed graph or a beautifully animated PowerPoint slide.
It is the moment the audience feels the person behind the information.
So, before your next presentation, do not only ask:
What do I need to say?
Ask:
Why does this matter to me?
Your answer does not need to become an emotional speech or a personal confession. It simply needs to reconnect you with the purpose underneath the information.
Once you understand why the subject matters to you, your delivery becomes clearer, more specific and more alive.
The presentation stops feeling like something you have to perform correctly.
It becomes something you genuinely want another person to understand.
And that is where powerful communication begins.
Ready to strengthen your next presentation?
If you are preparing for an important presentation, interview or professional conversation, one-to-one coaching can help you trust your expertise, communicate your ideas with clarity and present yourself with greater confidence.
Explore one-to-one coaching for professionals
See how personalised coaching supported lasting change in Sora’s story.
