7 Tips to Emphasize Your Key Presentation Points

George Torok April 4, 2020Communication skills, Insights, Intended Message, Presentation Tips, Public Speaking, Ten Tips Leave a Comment

How to Emphasize the Key Points of Your Presentation

Your audience won’t remember everything you say. Most likely, they won’t listen to everything you say because they might be distracted, uninterested or confused.

You know that every word you say isn’t equally important. Would you be delighted if the audience remembered only the important points of your presentation?

First, clarify your most important points.

What do they need to remember to do what you want them to do? They don’t need to hear or remember everything you want to say. Park your ego. Ask yourself, “What is the one point or what are the three points that are critical?”

Once you have prioritized your messages, you can use one or more of these seven techniques to emphasize your key points.

Pause immediately before and after the key words. The pause before creates anticipation and the trailing pause allows time to reflect. Think, “May I have the envelope please”.

Announce “This is important”. This is a simple technique that works. It’s the equivalent to teachers announcing, “This will be on the exam”. Do you remember those days?

Move immediately before, then stand still while delivering the key point. The movement grabs attention, while the contrast of standing still emphasizes the importance of the message.

Deepen your tone on the key words. This might feel too theatrical for you, yet it works because the deeper tone conveys the feeling of more weight to these words. The easiest way to deepen your tone is to slow down your speaking pace on those key words.

Smile right before to demonstrate your confidence with this important message. The smile also captures attention for what comes next.

Tell a story that supports this message. Keep it short. Tell a tale of discovery that illustrates and reinforces your key points. An effective story is both visual and emotional.

Repeat the key words during the presentation. You might state your key point three times during a presentation. Did you know that Martin Luther King stated “I have a dream” eleven times during his famous speech?

You don’t need to yell, stomp your feet or beat your chest to be heard.

Simply use these tips to deliver your key points with more power.

These are subtle techniques to reinforce your key messages.

Emphasize your key points so your audience hears, remembers and acts on them.