Practice Area

Management and Leadership

Presenting with Confidence and Clarity


  • Traditional Classroom: 1-day
  • Virtual Instructor-led: Two 3-3.5 hour sessions; Three 2-hour sessions

In today’s attention economy, being able to present information clearly and succinctly in a way that captures and sustains interest is critical to success in any role. While great presenters make their craft look effortless, in reality their prowess is the result of deliberate practice. Projecting confidence, commanding attention, and engaging an audience are skills that can be — and need to be — learned, polished, and refined.

Whether you are conducting a meeting, reporting progress, or delivering a speech, if you don’t engage your audience and convince them to willingly give you their attention, effective communication is not possible. Your ideas will fall flat, and your attempts to influence will fail. But if you DO engage your audience and move them to action, you have the ability to shape the future.

In this highly interactive workshop, we will demystify the process of becoming a more compelling and convincing presenter. Exploring key elements of both structure and delivery, you’ll have the opportunity to practice written, verbal, and physical techniques in a positive (and fun!) environment. By the end of the session, you’ll learn to create and deliver a presentation that incorporates both data and story; that appeals to logic and elicits emotion; and that resonates with an audience in a way that catalyzes action.

*This course can be tailored to apply to different delivery environments — i.e., in-person audiences, virtual or hybrid audiences, etc.


Target Audience

Participants who will benefit from this course include those at all levels who want to improve their ability to deliver presentations..

Learning Objectives

  • Construct an effective presentation goal statement.
  • Articulate how ordering and structuring ideas impacts message clarity.
  • Create an opening, body, and closing that connect with the audience.
  • Analyze an audience’s needs and style preferences.
  • Deliver a complete criteria-based presentation that will persuade others.
  • Align usage of visuals as well as verbal and nonverbal techniques to maximize the impact of your presentation.

Pre-Course Work

Read: “10 Tips for Giving a Great Presentation to an Audience” by Hanne Keiling

Course Outline

Getting Started
  • Introductions and Social Agreements
  • Course Structure, Goals, and Objectives
  • Opening Activities
Planning and Organizing Your Presentation
  • Video: “The Art of Misdirection”
  • Setting Your Presentation Goal
  • Writing a Goal Statement
  • Analyzing Your Audience
  • Applying the “Reality” Test
  • Creating and Strengthening Supports
  • Structuring Your Presentation
    • Five Components of an Effective Opening
    • Presentation Body
    • Presentation Closing
  • Write Your Presentation Opening
Analyzing Your Audience
  • Video: “How to Tie Your Shoes”
  • Personality Styles Introduction
  • Analyzing Your Audience
  • What Else Do We Need to Know? Further Audience Analysis
Preparation, Practice, and Delivery
  • Delivery Challenges: Virtual, Hybrid, and In-Person
  • Delivery Medium and Audience Engagement
  • Your Body as Your Instrument
    • Verbal/Paraverbal Elements
    • Body Stance and Nonverbal Communication
    • What Are Your “Tells?”
    • Controlling Nervousness
  • Staying Attuned to your Audience
  • Responding to Questions
  • Review and Edit Your Opening
  • Presentation Practice: Deliver Your Opening
Visuals and Enriching Elements
  • Using Images in Your Presentation
  • Guidelines for Visual Composition
  • Using Questions to Engage Your Audience
  • The Power of the Pause
Practicing and Applying What You’ve Learned
  • Preparation
  • Presentation Practice: Delivery
  • Feedback

MDI1481b Course Code


For more information on this topic, as well as how Corporate Education Group can help power your organization’s performance, contact us via email or call 1.800.288.7246 (US only) or +1.978.649.8200. You can also use our Information Request Form!


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