How to Nail Interactive Presentations, According to HubSpot Experts I can distinctly remember being extremely excited to attend a presentation from a speaker whose book I had read and loved in class. Unfortunately, the speaker was not as engaging as I’d hoped, and I found myself getting bored and distracted. Marketers know better than anyone that capturing audience attention goes hand in hand with keeping people engaged. If people are bored, their thoughts will drift somewhere else, and you’ll miss out on the opportunity to impact their behavior. This is true regardless of the marketing medium, from advertisements to presentations. That being said, marketers need to create effective ways to gain audience attention during their presentations — one of those is interactivity. According to the Oxford Dictionary, interactivity is defined as how two people work together and influence each other. Therefore, creating interactive presentations means using strategies that will capture and hold audience attention. It makes it easier to leave lasting, meaningful impressions about the content you’re sharing with them. This post will outline the importance of interactive presentations and share tips from HubSpot experts for giving engaging, interactive presentations. Why are interactive presentations important? Interactive presentations are those where audience members and presenters feel like they’re in conversation with each other. It’s a pivot away from the lecture and listeners feel, as presenters entice audiences to participate and interact with them. The reason for creating interactive presentations is simple: marketers who make a connection with their audience are...

20 Tools for Creating and Delivering Amazing Presentations If you're in business, you need to know how to create captivating presentations. Whether you're trying to convince your boss to support a new campaign, talking with a prospect to close a deal, or building a new piece of marketing collateral, you need to know how craft a presentation that won't put people to sleep. The best (and easiest) way to do that? Use the right tools to create and deliver your presentation. If you're not sure which tools to use, look no further than this blog post. We’ve compiled our list of the top presentation tools for sales and marketing professionals. They’re listed below, in no particular order. But first ... Why You Should Use Business Presentation Templates Using a professional presentation design ensures your content is conveyed in a clear, creative, and visually appealing way. To make it stand out further, try using HubSpot’s custom-build templates rather than utilizing one of the existing templates in in your presentation software. You can download them for free here. Best Presentation Tools 1. Canva Canva makes design easy -- even for marketers and salespeople who feel like they're design-challenged. The platform gives you a bunch of presentation templates to use right away, and it's very easy to customize them to your organization and presentation objective. Plus, a variety of apps that integrate with Google Drive, Instagram, and YouTube, to name a few. Pricing: Free; Pro, $12.95/month for up to five people; Enterprise,...

Pro Speakers on How to Give a Perfect Keynote Presentation Two years ago, I was asked to give a presentation about my HubSpot article on emotional marketing. It was by far the both exhilarating and nerve wracking experience of my professional life. I don’t necessarily hate public speaking. However, leading up to the event, I felt the full responsibility of not only delivering a good presentation but also teaching the audience valuable, actionable information — and that was very intimidating. I wanted to do a good job, and I wanted to be a good teacher. Therein lies the importance of keynote presentations: to be effective, they should be educational and entertaining. Do you have a keynote presentation in your future? Read on for some advice from professional speakers. First, what is a keynote presentation? Glad you asked. You may also be tasked with a keynote presentation in order to secure funding, make a sale, or update stakeholders or executives. Whatever stage you find yourself on, delivering a keynote presentation is an important responsibility as a public speaker. How to Give a Perfect Keynote Presentation, According to the Experts I spoke with four professional speakers on how to deliver a near-perfect presentation. Here are five pieces of advice they shared. 1. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. When it comes to public speaking, practice quite literally makes perfect. Every expert I spoke with mentioned how frequently they rehearse their presentations. “However much you think you need to rehearse, rehearse 10 times more...

14 PowerPoint Presentation Tips to Make More Creative Slideshows  I like to think of Microsoft PowerPoint as a test of basic marketing skills. To create a passing presentation, I need to demonstrate design skills, technical literacy, and a sense of personal style. If the presentation has a problem (like an unintended font, a broken link, or unreadable text), then I’ve probably failed the test. Even if my spoken presentation is well rehearsed, a bad visual experience can ruin it for the audience. Expertise means nothing without a good presentation to back it up. For starters, grab your collection of free PowerPoint templates below, and use the tips that follow to perfect your next presentation. No matter your topic, successful PowerPoints depend on three main factors: your command of PowerPoint's design tools, your attention to presentation processes, and your devotion to consistent style. Here are some simple tips to help you start mastering each of those factors, and don't forget to check out the additional resources at the bottom of this post. How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation A presentation is made up of multiple slides, and now that you know how to make one, you can delve deeper into PowerPoint's capabilities. 1. Open a blank presentation again or start from one you've already created. If you've already created a presentation, double click the icon to open the existing file. Otherwise, open Microsoft PowerPoint, click "File" in the top left corner, and...