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Presentation Skills   Icebreakers and Energisers

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Creatively Speaking

Aims: • To give participants an opportunity to practice speaking in front of others, with a particular emphasis on the skills needed to think quickly.

Time: This exercise will take about 15 minutes to run. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Group Size: This module can be used with groups of up to 20 participants.

You'll Need: • A set of the Creatively Speaking Cards (one card per participant). • Blu-tac. • A stopwatch.

Notes: The timings suggested are for a group of up to 10 participants. Larger groups will need more time.

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Just Beat It - Misinterpretations in Communication

Aims: • To demonstrate the dangers of making assumptions about others' knowledge when communicating. • To recognise situations where the recipient might not interpret our message in the way we intended.

Time: This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 30 minutes for completion.

Group Size: This module can be used with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need: • Nothing other than the materials provided.

Making Messages Memorable - The Rule of Three

Aims: • To explain the Rule of Three. • To demonstrate the impact of repeating three-word slogans during presentations or training. • To show the value of audience participation.

Time: This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Group Size: This module can be used with groups of up to 15 participants.

You'll Need: • A set of buzzers will add to the competitive atmosphere but are not essential.

One Man Brand - How Images Add Impact to Our Message

Aims: • To help participants get to know each other. • To encourage participants to think about their personal ‘brand’. • To understand the power of images to convey messages.

Time: This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 20 minutes for completion.

Group Size: This module can be used with groups of any size.

You'll Need: • Blank name tent cards and pens for your participants.

Notes: If using this icebreaker in very large groups ask participants to work in small teams and introduce themselves to those team members rather than the whole group.

Patsy’s Pie Making Challenge - Making the Message Memorable

Aims: • To explore ways to make messages memorable. • To understand why making messages memorable is essential to delivering a successful training session/presentation.

Time: This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Group Size: Suitable for use with groups of up to 20 participants.

You'll Need: • A collection of objects that your participants use as part of creating the story of Patsy’s Pie Making Challenge. • A soft ball.

Presentation Skills - Icebreaker

Aims: • To encourage participants to start thinking about what makes an effective presentation. • To identify the things to avoid in presentations.

Time: This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Group Size: This module is suitable for use with groups of up to 15 participants.

You'll Need: • Flipchart paper and pens.

Seeing Things Differently - When Messages get Lost in Translation

Aims: • To introduce different styles of information gathering. • To help participants recognise that we all have a different viewpoint or perspective. • To understand the importance for trainers/presenters to be aware of how their messages may be perceived.

You'll Need: • A single apple (or other type of fruit) for your participants to see.

Setting Up - Train the Trainer

Aims: • To help participants understand why it is important to arrive early to set up the training room. • To understand the impact of a well laid out and inviting training room on delegates. • To identify the key equipment they need to bring with them when running a training session.

Time: This exercise will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes for completion.

Group Size: Suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need: • Resources to create a stimulating learning environment. A recommended list of equipment is provided on Page 2 of the Trainer Notes.

The Paper Folding Exercise - Visual Communication

Aims: • To show the importance of giving information visually as well as orally. • To demonstrate how different people will interpret the same information differently.

Time: This exercise will take about 5 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 10 minutes to complete this module.

Group Size: This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need: • Two sheets of A4 paper for each participant (and for you too).

Notes: We’d like to thank Mick Duncan of CWT-Chamber Training for contributing the idea for this exercise.

True or False? - Persuasive Communication

Aims: • To identify techniques that can make our spoken communication more influential.

Group Size: This module can be used with groups of up to 10 participants.

Notes: This exercise can be run with more participants, but additional time will be needed.

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Exercises to Improve Presentation Skills | Become a Better Public Speaker

Exercises to Improve Presentation Skills

Before I begin, though, there is an important point that you really have to understand. Developing public speaking skills takes time. If you have a presentation tomorrow morning and you are just now looking for exercises to improve public speaking skills, guess what? You are probably too late.

Someone called our 800 number last week looking for help with an upcoming presentation. I asked him, “How long have you known about this fear?”

He replied, “Well, I guess all my life.”

So he knew he needed help a long time ago but waited until just a few weeks before his biggest presentation to try to do something about it. That would be like a teenager just starting to learn to drive a week before taking the driver’s test. You can probably do it. However, the teen would do much better if he or she practices an hour or two every week for an entire year. If you practice the public speaking tips below a little at a time on a regular basis, you will slowly become a great public speaker. If you try to do it in a week, you probably won’t improve a lot.

Don’t Do These Things. They Will Not Help You Become a Better Public Speaker.

Before I give you my go-to tips for an effective presentation, here are a few terrible ideas that get reposted on the internet. Don’t do these things! They will not help you become a better presenter. In fact, most of these things will actually make you more nervous.

Yup. Many of the things that friends and coworkers tell you to do to become a better speaker actually cause nervousness.

Never Try to Memorize a Speech Word-for-Word.

The first thing that most people do to practice a presentation is to write it out word-for-word. (That is a huge mistake, by the way.) The second thing they try to do is memorize the presentation. These two mistakes cause more people to experience the fear of public speaking than anything else that I have seen.

I’ll give you an example. The first time I got really nervous about a presentation was when I was in college. I worked for a huge company during a summer internship. At the end of the summer, I had to give a presentation about the experience. I wrote out my presentation and read it over and over until I had the delivery down to almost exactly 15 minutes. (That was the time that was given to me.)

However, the more that I read the speech, the more canned and boring it sounded to me. So, just like most people do, I decided to try to memorize the speech. Obviously, that will make me sound better, right? Well, not exactly. Keep in mind that I was nervous already, So by increasing the complexity of the presentation (trying to memorize it,) I just made myself even more nervous.

I flew through the presentation at break-neck speed and sat down humiliated at my performance. So don’t do what I did way back then. Don’t write the presentation word-for-word and don’t try to memorize it.

Don’t Practice in Front of a Mirror.

Don't Practice in Front of a Mirror

There is another big challenge with practicing this way. You don’t get any critical feedback. The good news is that there is a much better way to practice. Ask a coworker, friend, or family member to listen to your speech. As you communicate your ideas in front of an audience just watch how they react. When you say something clearly, you will see them nod slightly. This lets you know you are communicating well.

If you see confusion on the face of your listener, that means something you said wasn’t quite understood. This lets you alter your delivery. No one is going to create a perfect speech the first time they present it. However, if you improve the presentation every time you practice, you will get better and better at delivering it as well.

By the way, if you want to increase your nervousness even more use a video recording device (cellphone camera, etc.) to coach yourself. This type of practice takes the “practice in front of a mirror” mistake to an entirely new level. (Don’t do that.)

Filler Words Are Normal. Don’t Try to Totally Eliminate Them.

Anything you reinforce you will get more of. So, if you focus on trying to reduce filler words, you will most likely — at least in the short term — use more filler words. Plus, if you totally eliminate filler words altogether, you create a bigger problem.

Have you ever watched a politician give a speech and think, “Something is just not right about that person?” The delivery may seem mechanical. You may hear the words and think that the person just doesn’t seem that genuine. Interestingly, this happens from over practice and overtraining. The speech will sound canned and robotic.

A good example of this occurred in the 2016 presidential debates. The last two candidates in the Republican Primary were Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. After the last debate, the consensus among “experts” was that Cruz handily won the debates. Trump was often seen stumbling over words and not completing sentences. Cruz, though, was an expert debater. When all the votes were counted, though, Trump won the Primary by quite a lot. The same thing happened in the Trump and Clinton debates.

When we talk to coworkers at lunch or have drinks with friends, we naturally use filler words in conversations. They make us human. When all of those filler words go away, we sound mechanical. Don’t get me wrong, when people get nervous, they often over-use filler words. The filler words become annoying. The secret, though, is not to eliminate the filler words. The secret is to reduce the nervousness. Then the filler words are reduced automatically.

The Best Exercises to Improve Presentation Skills. These Things WILL Help You Become a Better Public Speaker.

If you really want to become an effective speaker, you want to practice speaking in front of a group as often as you can. In fact, the only way to reduce stage fright is to present more and have a series of successes. The reason why most people feel nervous when they present is just that they do this skill so infrequently. For instance, if you only drove a car once every two years, you will likely be terrified every time you got behind the wheel.

Think about developing public speaking skills like dating. Both people who go on a first date will likely be very nervous, In fact, the person asking for the date will probably be terrified just before the question is asked. The second date will be equally as terrifying. However, as both people enjoy each date, the nervousness is replaced by more positive emotions. Over time, both people become more comfortable on the dates than being alone.

However, what would happen if the dates only occur once every year or once every couple of years. The person will never feel that comfort level. He or she will be starting from the initial nervousness level every single time. So the best way to improve your presentation skills is to… well… get up and present more.

The following exercises will help, though.

Speak Up in Team Meetings.

Speak Up in Team Meetings

When others disagree, though, you also realize that this isn’t the end of the world. A little debate actually helps you improve your ideas. The best part about this type of presentation is that it is informal and fairly risk-free. Most ideas shared in team meetings are quickly forgotten once the meeting is over. So you get a chance to practice your presentation delivery without any long-term consequences.

If you want to lower the risk even more, try asking a simple question during the team meeting. Often, great speakers are not the people who have important things to say. Instead, they are the people who ask the right questions to get the audience thinking differently.

Obviously, don’t make the meetings drag on longer by constantly adding to the conversation. A little practice goes a long way. Your goal is to increase your comfort level speaking in front of people . That is why asking a question to get your team members talking more can help improve your speaking skills. It can also help improve your interpersonal communication as well.

Design a Better Speech.

All the exercises to improve presentation skills will fail if you create a terrible speech. If you try to tell your audience EVERYTHING you know about a topic, your speech will be terrible. Your audience will then see you as a terrible speaker.

This is why I mentioned not writing out your speech or trying to memorize the speech. Instead, try to put yourself in the shoes of the audience member. Ask yourself what you would want or need to know from listening to the presentation? Then jot down the most important points that come to mind. By starting with your audience in mind, you will be able to quickly identify just a few key points to cover in the presentation.

You can begin to practice thinking this way over time by making this a repeatable exercise.

Here is an example. Think about something you do every day at work. Pick something that you know inside and out. Because you do this all the time, you will think of it as being simple. However, someone who has never done this thing will likely have trouble doing it.

For instance, in my industry, I write a lot of articles. After writing for years, it is second nature to me. A new person may struggle with it, though.

My wife owns a bakery. She creates iced cookies that are works of art. My daughter worked at a clothing store for a while. She got really good at putting together outfits. Each of these skills can be broken down into a step-by-step process and taught to a new person.

This type of exercise can help you get practice creating compelling presentations. A simple step-by-step process is easy to remember.

The Best Public Speaking Exercise Is to Practice Personal Anecdotes.

Make Stories and Examples the Backbone of Your Next Presentation

For instance, if I am designing a presentation about how to write a blog post, one of my main points might be about creating a compelling title. I can ask myself, “How do I know this is important?” or “When did I learn the value of this tip?” The answer to that question is likely a good story.

In fact, years ago, I went to an ASTD (now ATD) convention in Atlanta, GA. The convention was HUGE. They had hundreds of different breakout meetings throughout the three days. Obviously, I couldn’t attend all of them. So, I went down the list first just looking at the titles. I quickly eliminated any title that didn’t sound interesting or informative. Then, with the titles that I had left, I crossed out a few more that didn’t match up to the quality of my high rankers. Only then did I take the time to look at the speaker bio and description.

Keep in mind, this was for breakout sessions. Your potential readers will do the same thing even more quickly when they scan your blog on a Google search. A compelling title will make them more likely to click on your post to read more.

Remember that your experience on a given topic is what your audience has come to hear. These personal stories are what peaks your audience’s attention. You can practice these anecdotes in conversations with friends or coworkers. In fact, this is an easy exercise to improve presentation skills that can become a daily task.

You Will Find a Lot of Effective Exercises in Public Speaking Classes.

If time is short and you don’t have a year or so to develop your public speaking skills, you might try a good public speaking class . The exercises in these classes break down the most important skills in presenting and give each participant the chance to master each component. For details about upcoming classes in your area, click the link above or complete the form below.

by Doug Staneart | Free Public Speaking Tips , Podcasts

View More Posts By Category: Free Public Speaking Tips | leadership tips | Online Courses | Past Fearless Presentations ® Classes | Podcasts | presentation skills | Uncategorized

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

  • Carmine Gallo

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Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

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  • Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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Ten Public Speaking Exercises to Help You to Practice for Presentations

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Public Speaking Exercise

They say that practice makes perfect, and that’s never more true than when it comes to public speaking. The challenge is that nothing can really make up for the time that you spend on stage, and there’s a limit to how much we’re able to get up there and talk to people.

The good news is that there’s still plenty that we can do at home to practice, and so it’s important for us to make the time to do just that. So what exactly are our options? Let’s jump in and take a closer look.

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1.  Vocal warmups

Vocal warmups are usually more associated with musicians, but public speakers can benefit from doing them too. The idea is to practice running up and down scales to loosen up your vocal cords to prepare you to perform at your best. Public speakers rarely need to hit certain notes, but it’s not a bad idea to loosen up before you go ahead and deliver your speeches. Get used to doing these warmups at home too so that you can do them at conferences without feeling uncomfortable.

2. Breathing exercises

Breathing exercises can help you to manage anxiety and prepare yourself for a presentation. You can carry out a simple breathing exercise by standing comfortably, relaxing your shoulders and torso and breathing slowly in and out. Breathe deeply through your nose while counting to four, then breathe out through your mouth while counting back down. Repeat as necessary.

3. Talk to the mirror

Talking to the mirror can help you to keep an eye on the way that your movements and your body language reflect what you’re talking about. When you’re talking and you’re watching yourself in the mirror, you’ll be able to get a feel for what your audience will see when you’re presenting to them. This has been a popular trick for public speakers for as long as public speaking has been a thing.

4. Film yourself and then watch it back

This is basically the 21st century equivalent of the last tip, and it’s made possible by the fact that we all carry around video cameras on our smartphones. Prop your camera up and start it recording, then film yourself giving your presentation. When you’re done, watch it back and take notes on what works and what doesn’t. Then use what you observe to improve your performances.

5. Practice tongue-twisters

Practicing tongue-twisters can help you to loosen up and wrap your mind and your tongue around a few difficult phrases before you take to the stage. It’s a good idea if you regularly have to use complicated words or phrases, and it can also help you stop from talking too quickly. You might be surprised by how useful it can be.

6.  Practice excerpts in a foreign language

This builds on from that last point and is another great way of focusing on the way that you talk, rather than the actual content of it. In fact, it’s a good idea to specifically choose a language that you have no prior experience of, otherwise you’ll start to focus on the meaning and that’s not what this technique is about. Instead, the goal is to take the context out of what you’re saying and to focus purely on the delivery.

7. Try going filler-free

When we talk about filler words, we’re talking about words like “um” and “ah” that don’t add any value to what you’re saying. The idea behind this exercise is to talk for as long as you can without using any of these filler words. Try to get used to not using them during your regular speech so that when you go ahead and take to the stage, it’s already second nature.

8. Practice ad libbing

Ad libbing is all about speaking “off the cuff”, and it’s basically what people do for improv shows. It’s an art form that takes a lot of practice to get right, but it’s definitely worth doing. It will help you get better at talking during panel discussions and Q&A sessions, and a lot of those skills will also carry over to your regular speaking engagements.

9. Practice playing devil’s advocate

The idea behind being devil’s advocate is to argue for something that you’d normally argue against. It’s generally a good idea to keep this to something non-controversial, so perhaps leave politics and religion off the table. Instead, try arguing that your favorite movie sucks or that a band that you hate is the greatest on the planet.

10. Pick up an object and talk about it

This is another one of those techniques that are designed to help you to get used to improvising and talking about things without any practice or forethought. Set up a timer and see how long you can keep going, and consider combining this with tip number seven and talk without fillers. It’s surprisingly difficult, especially when you pick up something mundane like an orange or a coffee cup.

Now that you know a few of our top tips for practicing public speaking, it’s over to you so that you can give each of these a try. Consider setting a ten-day challenge and working through each of these, one day at a time. You can then concentrate on whichever exercises you find the most useful.

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on what we’ve talked about today, so be sure to leave a comment to let us know which of these exercises works best for you. You can also follow us on your favorite social networking sites for further updates. We’ll see you soon!

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Alternatives to Raising Your Voice as a Public Speaker

14 Fun & Interactive Presentation Games for Teams and Students

14 Fun & Interactive Presentation Games for Teams and Students

So you've got an audience to energize, students to engage, or a team that needs a little extra fun — playing an interactive presentation game is an easy way to do just that.

We've done the research and found the best of these games for you: we looked specifically for games that are simple to set up, fun to play, and flexible enough to be used with a variety of presentations and audiences. Most of these activities work virtually with Zoom/PowerPoint and can also be used in person.

Which of these 14 presentation games do you like best? Take a look and let us know your favorites:

1. Live Trivia Competition

A great way to ramp up the excitement and engagement is to enable a little bit of friendly competition. Trivia is an easy way to do this—plus, it can be whole-group inclusive and large-audience friendly (if you use the right tools).

Here's a great trivia game you can run with your team, students, or any large audience. It's already created for you with questions and scoring built in to make it even easier:

Here's how to play:

  • Make a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
  • Click the slide deck and copy it. 
  • Launch the trivia game by clicking "Start Event."
  • Invite your group to join in and submit answers using their mobile devices (show the winners automatically).
  • Interact and play during your presentation!

This trivia game has questions on many topics to keep your audience's attention and appeal to everyone. It only takes 10-15 minutes to play, so it's a great game for long discussions! Also, this interactive activity is free for up to ten participants and is totally customizable.

2. Sing and Swing 

To really liven up your group, encourage your listeners to play Sing and Swing. This activity is best for long presentations because it boosts energy, creates a fun, light-hearted environment, and makes people laugh a lot. 

Here's how to play: 

  • Before your presentation, pick a well-known song and rewrite the chorus (replace parts of it with words and phrases from your presentation) 
  • When you're ready to play, show the song on your screen. 
  • Invite your audience to sing it with you!

If you have a fun group or a class of energetic students, consider adding choreography to engage your audience even more. 

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3. 20 Questions

If you want a presentation game that requires your listeners to talk more than you, 20 Questions is the one to play! A classic and simple activity, this game immediately boosts engagement and gets people laughing. 

Here's how to play: Have someone put an appropriate image or word on the screen behind you (this can be an audience member you trust or a colleague or co-presenter). To make things more fun, put on a blindfold so that everyone knows you can't cheat. From there, ask 20 "yes or no" questions to guess what's displayed on the screen. Your group should respond "yes" or "no" to guide you to the correct answer. 

4. Scavenger Hunt Challenge

To get your audience out of their seats, a scavenger hunt challenge is one of the best interactive games for presentations. It'll immediately energize your audience , team, or students while giving them a fun way to learn.  

There are tons of in-person and virtual scavenger hunt ideas you can use to dive deeper into your topic or help everyone learn about one another. But if you want a ready-to-play game that you can instantly launch without having any tech skills, here's a fun one to play: 

  • Use an email address and password to create a free account here: https://slideswith.com/ (a free account guarantees up to ten people can play at no charge). 
  • Click the game and press "Copy and use this slide deck." 
  • In the top right corner, click "Start Event."
  • Ask listeners to join the game by using their mobile devices to scan the QR code. Players should continue using their mobile devices to submit answers to questions.
  • Have everyone start hunting for items! 

This activity is a particularly fun game because it's a photo-hunt, show-and-tell challenge! That means your audience will not only get out of their seats to find items, but they'll also get to take pictures and share and discuss photos of what they find. This conversational element will help engage your group! 

5. Group Word Clouds

Whether you're speaking to team members, students, or conference-goers, this activity lets you ask questions and get your listeners' thoughts on specific topics. 

This game is the perfect way to start your presentation, especially if you're discussing something with a wide range of opinions or are unsure how much your listeners know about a certain subject. Group Word Clouds is also beneficial if you want to do a quick meeting pulse or know how your listeners feel going into your presentation—understanding their energy levels and mood can help you adjust (if necessary) to get maximum engagement and excitement.

To enjoy this activity, keep things simple by using a tool that already offers a ready-to-play Group Word Clouds game. Here's a popular one you can launch immediately: 

  • Create a free account by entering an email and password here: https://slideswith.com/  
  • Click the game and then copy it (the button to do so is right underneath the slide deck).
  • Press "Start Event" in the top right corner. 
  • Tell participants to play by scanning the QR code. 
  • Create word clouds and have fun!

This interactive game only takes 5-10 minutes to play, so it's a fast, fun way to engage your audience and feel out the room. Players can use their mobile devices to answer questions. This activity is also free for up to 10 people and is easy to personalize.

6. The Get to Know You Game

This activity is one of the best presentation games if you have a small group that doesn't really know each other. The Get to Know You Game is a creative way to do introductions, and it's really simple.

Here's how to play the game: Before the event, ask group members to bring a favorite song or item to the presentation (you can do this by emailing them). When you're ready to play, ask each person to introduce themself, present their song or item, and explain why they picked it. For those sharing a song, have them play it on their phones before they explain why it's their favorite. 

7. Live Poll Questions 

When you have a large group, it's not easy to find ways to boost engagement—but poll questions are the solutions, especially when they're live and interactive. With this unique setup, large groups engage by answering questions and seeing their answers displayed in a fun way. 

Your job is to make sure you actually find a game that showcases responses uniquely to captivate your group. For a quick and great option, here's a popular icebreaker activity that promises to display responses using fun formats like word clouds, donut charts, live graphs, and per-player: 

  • Create an account for free to access the game:  https://slideswith.com/  
  • Click the slide deck and press the button to copy it. 
  • Look in the top right corner of the deck and press "Start Event."
  • Invite your group to play the game. They only need to use their mobile devices to scan the QR code. 
  • Start polling your audience!

This activity is one of those fun presentation games everyone will want to enjoy, so invite all of your team members and students to participate. This game can accommodate up to 250 players and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. Tell your group to use their mobile devices to submit their responses. 

8. Assumptions 

This interactive game is a great way to break up your presentation to see who's paying attention and who can answer questions pertaining to your topic. 

  • Ask your audience to stand up (for virtual presentations, make sure everyone's video is on). 
  • Show true or false statements on the screen one by one. 
  • Tell people to raise a hand if they think the statement is correct and sit down if they think it's incorrect.
  • Continue until one person is left standing.
  • Award the winner. 

This activity can be as short and challenging as you want. Also, if your presentation is long, you can play multiple rounds to break up your speaking time and test your audience throughout your discussion.  

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9. Controversial Questions 

Want to see where your audience, students, or team lands on controversial topics? Then, energize your presentation with a fun, creative game called Controversial Questions. This activity has prompts that inspire lively debates, so it's a great way to get your group excited and chatty. 

However, to maintain a positive environment, make sure to find a tool that offers an office-friendly, classroom-friendly, and conference-friendly game. You don't want to sour the mood by creating uncomfortable division during your presentation. To make sure this game is fun and light-hearted, here's a popular one that's suitable for all audiences and ages: 

  • Sign up for a free account by inputting an email address and password here:  https://slideswith.com/pricing  
  • Click the game and press the button that says, "Copy and use this deck." 
  • Press "Start Event" (the button is in the top right corner). 
  • Have participants join the fun by asking them to scan the QR code with their mobile devices. 
  • Get controversial and play! 

This interactive game for presentations asks fun (but appropriate) questions like:

  • Does pineapple belong on pizza?
  • Does the person flying in the middle seat get both armrests?
  • Should the toilet roll go over or under? 

Players should use their mobile devices to submit answers. Up to ten people can play for free, and you can customize the game by updating the questions!

10. Word of the Day 

With this activity, you can keep your audience, team, or students engaged throughout your entire presentation. This  game requires listeners to be alert and recognize whenever you say the word of the day. 

Here's how to play: At the beginning of your presentation, tell your group the word of the day (it can also be a phrase if you'd prefer). Say that you'll weave the word into your presentation and that your audience must shout it out whenever you mention it. 

11. Mini Activity: Group Icebreaker

Whether you're doing an in-person or virtual presentation, you need to warm up your audience to get things started on a positive note. The best way to do that is with a quick icebreaker game. 

However, make sure your questions are fun, positive, and engaging. You can easily do this by finding a game that already has the best icebreaker questions included. Here's one that's ready to play (and requiring no tech skills to launch): 

  • Input an email address and password to make a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
  • Click the deck and copy it (press "Copy and use this deck). 
  • Click the button in the top right corner that says "Start Event."
  • Invite participants to play by asking them to scan the QR code. 
  • Break the ice to warm up your audience!

Your group should use their mobile devices to submit responses to poll questions. Also, this game accommodates up to 250 players, but only ten people can join for free.

12. Process of Elimination 

This activity is one of the best games for presentations because it's simple yet fun and great at helping listeners get to know each other. You can play it at the beginning of your presentation or in the middle to give your group a chance to stretch their legs. 

  • Before your event, create a list of "yes or no" questions. 
  • Once you're ready to play, tell your group to stand up (if you're doing a virtual presentation, make sure everyone's video is on). 
  • Ask each question one by one. 
  • Tell attendees to stand if their answer is "yes" and sit if their answer is "no." 

The questions can relate to your topic or be totally random. Also, if you'd prefer to thin out the number of people standing, you can take a creative twist and ask your questions by saying something like this: "Stay standing if (insert scenario)." When phrasing each question this way, the game will end with one person standing. To acknowledge the winner, you can give them a round of applause or award them a prize. 

13. Conference Opener Icebreaker 

If you're speaking at a big conference, you need an interactive game for presentations that can get everyone involved and ensure every voice is heard. To achieve these goals, you should create an icebreaker game that works for large groups . 

Using an easy, intuitive template is the best step to take. That way, you don't have to start from scratch or spend hours making your game. For a template that requires no code or tech-savviness to build on, here's the best option: 

  • Sign up by making a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
  • Click on the game. On the next page, click the button to copy and use the deck. 
  • Customize the template using the instructions HERE . 
  • During your presentation, press "Start Event" in the top right corner. 
  • Ask the group to use their mobile devices to scan the QR code and join the fun. (Also, make sure participants use their mobile devices to submit answers.) 
  • Play and engage your audience!  

This template has fun, interactive features built in to keep your large audience engaged. Those features include polls, word clouds, and ratings. Just make sure you sign up for a paid plan to accommodate the large number of people in your group—the free account only works for up to ten players. 

14. Two Truths and a Lie 

This classic game is a fun, energizing way to help your listeners get to know one another. It's perfect for small in-person or virtual groups and is an ideal activity for the beginning of your presentation. 

Here's how to play: Pick any topic (for the purposes of this article, the topic will be "movies"). In no particular order, say two movies you've really watched and one you haven't watched. Ask your audience to guess which statement is the lie. The winner picks the next topic and says two truths and a lie. 

Be Memorable With Presentation Games

Oftentimes, people forget presentations within a week or even days, and that's because the discussions are boring. But you don't work hard preparing a presentation for it to be forgotten. If you want your message to stick, all you have to do is make it enjoyable without being corny.  

If you want to be remembered and actually get people engaged, you need to make your presentation fun and enjoyable, without coming off as corny or desperate to please. Ivan Dimitrijevic, 10 Secrets of Making Every Presentation Fun, Engaging, and Enjoyable

Luckily, the interactive presentation games in this article are unique and exciting—they're far from corny. So, use them for your upcoming presentations to make your messages compelling and memorable. 

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10 interactive presentation games for large teams

for presentation exercise

“Welcome to Panel Island, one of my favorite sessions of all time. Not because I get to vote nice people off, but because you get to vote nice people off.” – Mark Fordham, iMeet Central

Four experts. Three rounds. One survivor. That was the wrinkle Mark Fordham, VP of Customer Success at iMeet Central, added to his company’s recurring panel discussions .

Each panelist answers specific questions related to his or her field. Then the audience votes for their favorite responses. The panelist with the fewest votes is voted off the “island.”

Discussions continue until only one panelist remains. Poll Everywhere handles the voting. Between talks, the audience selects their favorite speaker using their mobile devices, and the results appear in an animated chart in real time.

This is just one of many ways presenters and educators use interactive presentation games to keep the audience on its toes. Here are eight more ideas for your next class, workshop, or meeting.

1. Process of elimination

This presentation game for 10 or more players helps the audience get to know each other

Presenter facing large audience

This game provides valuable insights into your audience members, while also giving them a chance to stretch their legs.

Here’s how it works: Have everybody in your audience stand up. You’ll then pose prompts one at a time. Attendees’ responses to those prompts will dictate whether they stand or sit.

For example, let’s say that you’re speaking at a long-running and widely-respected conference in your industry. Once your whole audience is on their feet, you’d start by saying something like, “Sit down if this is your first time attending this conference.”

From there, you could keep thinning your crowd by saying, “Stay standing if you’ve attended this conference at least five times before,” and so on and so forth until only a few people – or only one person – remain on their feet. At that point, you could offer a prize or a round of applause.

Read more: When anonymous trumps public feedback in a presentation

2. Two truths and a lie

Welcome new team members, or reintroduce old ones, with this presentation game

Poll: Two truths and a lie: Bruce Wayne

This classic icebreaker game works great with a recent Poll Everywhere addition: instruction image . Now you can present a photo alongside that person’s two truths and a lie so everyone knows exactly who they’re voting on.

Here’s how it works: create a new multiple choice activity in Poll Everywhere. Enter the participant’s name as the title, and two truths and a lie as the responses. Select the checkmarks next to the two truths to do a big reveal after voting ends.

After you create this activity, add an instruction image depicting the person you’re talking about. Be sure to check the box next to ‘Show instructions image on bar chart’ so the image is always visible.

You can see in the image above that I changed the bar chart to a column chart. I find this improves readability on the presentation screen since the text isn’t sandwiched between chart and image. Try to make your two truths and lie as short as possible. Shorter responses are always easier to read in the chart.

3. Telephone

See just how jumbled a phrase can get when it’s passed one-by-one around the room

Happy audience

Do you remember the game of telephone that you played as a kid? It’s just as fun as an adult.

Here’s how it works: Telephone starts by whispering a sentence into someone’s ear. Then that person repeats what you said to the person next to them. The chain continues on until the final person states aloud what they heard. It’s often something totally different from the original — with hilarious results.

You can use this in your presentation in an educational way by starting with a question that the audience wants to know (i.e. “How did Company XYZ increase their sales by 45%?”). Then, whisper the answer to the first person. Make sure to speak in a complete sentence — rather than just a few words — to make it tougher for your participants.

Despite the fact that you started the chain by whispering, “Company XYZ used content marketing to engage prospects,” you’re sure to end up with something quite ridiculous by the end.

A little advice: If you want to make this game go faster, you can do this by individual audience rows, instead of involving the whole room. It can also be fun to compare the different end results. Just know that the more people you have involved, the more twisted (and funny) the result becomes.

Read more: 20 staff meeting ideas that keep employees alert and engaged

4. Riddle me this

Wake up the audience with a brain-teaser, then reveal everyone’s responses at once

Poll: The more you have of it, the less you see. what is it?

Riddles are a natural fit for Poll Everywhere word clouds . This activity transforms audience responses into a colorful, animated word cloud. Repeated words grow larger within the cloud.

Here’s how it works: create a new word cloud activity. Make the title a riddle that has a single-word answer (not a sentence or a list). Create the activity, and on the following screen locate the ‘Show results’ button. Click it so that a picture of two phones appears. Wait until everyone has responded to your riddle, then click ‘Show results’ again to reveal the finished word cloud. If the correct answer is the largest word in the cloud, that means most of the audience got it right.

By hiding the results and revealing them after everyone has voted, you prevent participants from submitting whatever seems like the most popular answer. When the results are hidden, there is a small counter in the lower left that shows you how many have responded. That way, you know when voting is finished.

5. 20 questions

Deduce a hidden image or photo by flying through 20 yes-or-no questions with the audience

College student in lecture hall

Who doesn’t love a good game of 20 questions? Fortunately, it’s incredibly easy to play with your presentation audience.

Here’s how it works: display a word or picture (it could be anything from a celebrity to an animal) on the screen behind you — so that you can’t see it but the audience can. You can even ask someone to blindfold you if you don’t want to run the risk of cheating.

Now, your entire audience can see what’s on the screen, and it’s up to you to ask twenty “yes or no” questions that will help you guess exactly what’s being displayed.

Invite audience members to just yell out their answers to your questions simultaneously to create a lively game that’s sure to give your audience’s enthusiasm a boost. Double down on this by setting a 60-second timer for the questions. When time runs out, it’s time to guess.

6. Would you rather?

Learn how the audience thinks with a tricky “Would you rather?” scenario that divides the group

Poll: Would you rather...

This presentation game is more of a conversation-starter than a traditional game. There should never be a right or wrong answer in a “Would you rather?” scenario. The winner is whoever best justifies their choice and why it’s the best one for them.

Here’s how it works: create a new multiple choice activity. Begin the title with “Would you rather…” and enter the two responses as the two scenarios. After you create this activity, locate the ‘ Visual settings ‘ button. Select it, then locate ‘ Donut chart ‘ and select that too. Doing so changes the look of your activity from a bar chart to a donut chart. Donuts are a great way to clearly visualize the audience’s preference between two choices.

To take this game a step further, start a discussion after the voting ends. Ask everyone who voted for one option to raise their hands. Then, go around the room and ask people to explain in a few words why they selected one option over the other. Save and email a copy of the donut chart afterwards as a memento.

7. Anagrams

Challenge the audience to come up with a unique solution to your anagram that on one else will guess

Poll: Solve the anagram...

The crux of this presentation game is solving an anagram: a jumble of letters that can be rearranged into many different words. This is a fun mental exercise for the audience, doubly so if you’re breaking up multiple, back-to-back presentations.

Here’s how it works: create a Poll Everywhere word cloud . Select an anagram that’s at least five or six characters long, such as the one above, so that the audience has plenty of possibilities. If you want to give this a competitive edge, challenge the audience to submit words no one else will think of. These words appear as the smallest words in the cloud. If you do this, be sure to hide responses while everyone responds. Otherwise participants will copy each other’s responses.

For added fun, set the number of submissions to unlimited. Doing so rewards players for coming up with multiple unique words (thereby increasing their chances of winning) or by strategically submitting the same word multiple times to inflate its size in the cloud. You can see who submitted what on the activity’s response history page .

8. Trivia competition

Quiz the audience with multiple choice questions. A leaderboard updates live with the scores.

Two people playing Poll Everywhere Competitions

Nothing hooks the audience’s attention faster than putting their pride on the line. Do this with a friendly trivia competition. Trivia questions are fun. But graded trivia questions are a contest. Poll Everywhere has the perfect activity for this scenario.

Here’s how it works: create a Poll Everywhere competition . This activity is a fully customizable trivia contest. You create the questions. The audience plays for points, and a leaderboard shows everyone who is in the lead. The audience earns points for responding correctly. They also earn bonus points for responding quickly. Expect to hear gasps and cheers each time the leaderboard reveals the new point totals.

Competitions is a great interactive presentation game for energizing the audience. People can compete individually or group into teams and respond from a single phone or device. A timer adds some extra pressure and keeps the competition moving. Don’t want the added stress? Switch off the timer. Either way, when you reach the end the winner gets a fun confetti surprise.

9. Choose your own adventure

Let the audience vote to control the flow of your presentation

Example choose-your-own-adventure poll

One of the best ways to reinforce new information is to give people the opportunity to use that information in some way. Poll Everywhere multiple choice activities are a simple, customizable way to create that opportunity for almost any topic.

Here’s how it works: Say you just finished presenting a lengthy seminar on how to sell vacuums door-to-door. Everyone in the audience has scribbled pages of notes on what to say to whom and when. But none of them has actually sold a vacuum, yet.

Create a choose-your-own-adventure style conversation using a series of multiple choice activities. Each activity is a different line from your fictional vacuum purchaser, and the audience votes on different replies. Whichever reply gets the most votes is the one that advances the conversation, for better or worse.

This style of questioning has plenty of applications besides vacuum salesmanship, but the core function should be constant: Giving the audience a simply way to reflect upon, and apply, what they just learned.

10. Fill in the blanks

A simple worksheet does double duty during presentations

woman preparing for meeting

Here’s how it works: Create a worksheet and print out several copies before your presentation. Each question on the worksheet should be an important line from your presentation – but there’s a word or phrase missing. Ask the audience to fill in those gaps as they listen.

This accomplishes two very important things for the audience. First, the questions on the worksheet make it obvious what the key points or takeaways are from your presentation. They know what to focus on and pay special attention to. Second, the completed worksheet doubles as a resource that summarizes what you just presented. Attendees can refer back to it later if they forget something.

You can gamify this exercise ever-so-slightly by entering everyone who completed the worksheet before the end of your presentation into a raffle. It’s up to you whether or not you announce this beforehand, or have it be a surprise at the end.

Related articles

  • Presentation Hacks

10 Public Speaking Games and Activities to Try

  • By: Kelly Allison

Public speaking is a skill like any other—to become great at it, you need to practice. But if you’re like most, then you probably don’t have a room full of people at the ready that you can speak in front of every day. Don’t let that stop you from practicing, though.

There are actually a ton of games and activities you can take advantage of that’ll help you hone your chops and become the best presenter you can be without the need for a formal audience.

for presentation exercise

Speak Nonsense According to research , an excellent presentation is 38% your voice, 55% non-verbal communication and just 7% your content. In other words, your delivery matters even more than what you say, and this exercise helps you refine it. Find a paragraph online in a language you don’t understand or simply write down a few lines of jibberish, and practice saying it aloud as though you’re giving a speech. Pay mind to your tone, inflections, and generally how you can use your voice to create more interest.

Learn From the Pros Look online for speeches that are widely accepted as exceptional. The most popular TED Talks of all time is a great place to start. Pick a talk that you’re interested in and watch it through a critical lens. Analyze the narrative structure the speaker uses, what makes their delivery effective, how their visuals enhance their talk and other components that make their speech extraordinary.

30 Seconds Filler-Free Filler words like “uh” “um” and “y’know” not only make your talk more difficult to listen to, but they also make you seem less prepared and authoritative. For this exercise, record yourself giving a talk on any topic for 30 seconds, taking care to omit all filler words. Whenever you use a filler word, start over and try again. Do this exercise ten times, filler-free.

One Minute Off-the-Cuff For this exercise, you’ll set a timer on your phone for one minute and record yourself giving an impromptu speech on any topic that interests you. The only rule is that you can’t prepare for it in any way. This is designed to get you more comfortable speaking off-the-cuff and minimize the anxiety that comes from being afraid you won’t have anything to say.

Tell a Photo Story Storytelling is critical to engaging your audience and helping them retain the information you’re sharing. To practice developing narratives, find an interesting photo online and record yourself presenting a story about it. Discuss what you think the backstory is, who the people are, their dreams, their motivations, and anything else that’ll tell a compelling story about them.

Make Up a Definition No matter what your presentation is about, you should always seem like you have authority over the topic. For this exercise, choose a word you don’t know the definition of and record yourself saying, with authority, what you think it means. Pay attention to how you can use your voice and intonations to have more command and seem more authoritative.

Q&A With an Expert You’ll need to find a friend for this one. Choose a topic or job that you don’t know much about. Ask your friend to interview you about it and answer their questions as though you’re a well-informed expert. This will help you with both your delivery and authority.

Gush About Something You Don’t Love Enthusiasm is contagious. If you want your audience to be excited about your topic, then you need to show enthusiasm for it. Choose something you’re indifferent about, say, a kitchen utensil, and practice speaking about it enthusiastically. Use your voice, emphasis, and body language to make it seem like the most exciting thing in the universe.

Make a Commercial Presentations are all about selling an idea, so you should practice the art of sales and persuasion to be the best you can be. Choose an item in your home and create a one-minute commercial about it. Record yourself saying what makes it special, how it can enhance lives, and why everyone needs that item in their corner.

Where Did That Name Come From? This is another exercise that’ll make you a better storyteller on stage. Pick an item in your home, like a stapler, and tell a story about how it got its name. The idea here isn’t to be accurate, so by all means, make something up; this is just to get you in the habit of finding and developing interesting stories from anything.

Looking for more ways to improve your presentation game? Then take Ethos3’s Badge Assessment to discover your unique presentation persona.

Kelly Allison

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Presentation Vocabulary Exercises

Below you will find listed all the different exercises that you can do to learn or improve your use of vocabulary in presentations on Blair English.

For each exercise there is a description of what it is about and what level of English you need to do it (from 'lower-intermediate' to 'advanced').

To do or look at an exercise, simply click on the box or the title of the exercise.

  • Vocabulary for Beginning a Presentation Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for opening a presentation and introducing its content in a clear and concise way.
  • Vocabulary for Describing Data & Charts in Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate How to describe graphs, charts and tables to an audience professionally.
  • Expressing Opinion and Referring in Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for expressing your opinion in a presentation and referring to earlier parts of the presentation.
  • Vocabulary for Summarizing & Finishing Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for summarizing, predicting the future and finishing in a presentation.
  • How to Answer Questions in Presentations Level: Upper-Intermediate Vocabulary for answering and dealing professionally with questions from the audience.

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This is me, Chris Clayton, the owner and main writer for Blair English. I'm also a part-time English teacher in sunny Spain. I have a love of history and the web. I hope you find the website useful.

Don't start your work presentations by simply saying 'hello.' Here's how to be more engaging in the conference room.

  • I'm a public-speaking expert, and I've trained many executives and senior teams.
  • I tell all of them to stop starting work presentations with a salutation or a "hello."
  • Instead, you should engage your audience by telling a story or asking a question.

Insider Today

I'm sure you've sat through plenty of presentations where the presenter starts with a polite salutation like, "Hello, thank you for having me here today," or, "I am so glad to be here" — often followed by their name and professional résumé . Sometimes, if it's an internal meeting, you get the same salutations followed by an agenda slide with bullet points and the presenter narrating it.

As a public-speaking coach who has worked with many executives and senior teams, I know how to make work presentations more engaging. Here's how you should change your approach.

If you stick to your old ways, you aren't leaving a memorable first impression

Your audience is thinking three things when you walk into that conference room or onto that stage: Who is this person, why should I care, and how are they going to solve my problem?

Let's face it: Most people are more interested in how you will solve their problem than in you and your professional résumé. So let's flip the script a bit. Start with the solution to their problem, briefly talk about yourself for credibility, and then give them a reason to care.

Instead, try to capture their attention

Begin your presentation with a hook or a story — something that grabs their attention right from the start. For instance, your hook might be, "Did you know this?" or "What if that?" It could also be a short story that humanizes your services or products.

Most presentations are predictable; wouldn't it be better for both your time and your audience if you could introduce an element of surprise?

Some might feel it rude not to thank the organizer or greet the audience, so I suggest finding another place in your presentation for this. Here's a good structure:

Intro: "What if you could be a more confident and credible presenter? What if you could engage with your audience so they remember your products or services?"

Credibility: "My name is Meridith, and I've been coaching entrepreneurs and executives on how to speak with spark for over a decade, and I am really excited to be here. I want to thank [insert name] for inviting me to share the afternoon with you."

Solution: "Today, I will give you three ways to make your audience remember your products and services, helping you stand out in a competitive market. Let's get this party started!"

You could also try to form a personal connection

Often, presentations lack a personal touch. Try sharing a relevant personal anecdote or experience that relates to your topic. This not only makes your work presentation more relatable but also helps to establish a deeper connection with your audience.

For example, you could say: "When I was younger, I often hid in the back of the classroom, hoping the teacher wouldn't call on me because I didn't want to sound stupid or have the wrong answer. Later in life, I discovered acting and improv comedy . It was through the practice of these two art forms that I developed my confidence and learned how to engage more courageously with others. Today, I will give you solutions for how you can also better engage your audience with spark."

Try to encourage interaction

At the very least, you should try to engage your audience from the beginning — whether in person or on virtual calls. You can ask a thought-provoking question or propose a challenge that involves them directly. This approach shifts the dynamic to more interactive and engaging sessions.

If you implement any of these suggestions, you can make your presentation memorable and impactful immediately. And you'll most likely get a larger return on your investment of time and energy.

In today's fast-paced world, where attention spans are increasingly shorter than ever, it's crucial to grab and hold your audience's attention from the very beginning. By doing so, you set the stage for a more engaging and productive interaction. So challenge yourself to break free from presentation norms and embrace a style that resonates deeply with your audience and leaves a lasting impression.

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Watch: A public speaking champion reveals 3 keys to nailing your business presentation

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Unlocking training excellence: Din Tai Fung’s Prezi journey

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Naba Ahmed

Naba Ahmed February 20, 2024

At the heart of restaurant group Din Tai Fung ‘s success lies a commitment to innovation. This ethos extends beyond their culinary expertise to every aspect of their operation, including employee training. Under the guidance of Ernie Zavaleta , Head of HR at Din Tai Fung, the company sought to improve its training approach with Prezi. What began as a rediscovery of Prezi quickly evolved into upgrading training modules and presentations across the organization. 

Articulating ideas better with Prezi

Ernie recently rediscovered Prezi and decided to use it to create a welcome Din Tai Fung training module competency series. That’s where he received an overwhelmingly positive response. Afterward, he urged the company to invest in the software because “Prezi helps him to articulate ideas”. This would provide the solution for what they were looking for. 

The Din Tai team was looking for a tool to:

1) support their creation and retention of training modules; 

2) create presentations for upper management and department meetings; 

3) elevate aesthetics on how they present to their restaurant managers, operation leaders, and prospective and new hires. 

Ultimately, Prezi was the answer to their question and offered the features and functionalities needed to easily create impactful presentations. “Especially with training, it’s helpful to start with the Prezi presentation overview to organize my thoughts and then break them down into topics and subtopics. It helps to organize content and present it in a straightforward fashion,” Ernie said 

for presentation exercise

Empowering presentation excellence

The company has taken to Prezi quickly, so much so that Justine Elloqui , Training Coordinator, and Lauren Ramirez , Risk Administrator, have become the unofficial Prezi experts. They both are responsible for creating training materials and presentations in Prezi. 

Justine shares they opted to move toward Prezi because “One, Prezi doesn’t require a huge learning curve while still looking very presentable and consistent across the board. And two, consistency was something that we desperately needed in our training department. It’s really nice we were able to introduce Prezi and use this from the ground to the corporate level.”

How Prezi improved Din Tai’s training process 

What was once a time-consuming process packed with extensive PDF documents and PowerPoint and Google Slides limiting presentations has now evolved into a dynamic, interactive experience that enhances engagement and understanding. 

Ernie simply expresses the unanimous sentiment among the team: “At this point, everyone’s pretty sold on Prezi.” Now, they’re using Prezi to create training presentations for onboarding, employee work injuries, and restaurant positions. 

Previously, their training materials were made up of documents that were overloaded with information or created on slide-based presentation tools that were limiting for collaboration and weren’t very intuitive, Lauren says. Now, she’s using Prezi to create and launch restaurant, manager, and team training on how to approach work injuries. 

On Justine’s end, she’s working on converting 150 pieces of training to Prezi for different restaurant positions to make them “more engaging and visually appealing.” Once these pieces of training are reviewed and finalized, they’re going to roll it out to their 200+ global locations.

Currently, she averages transitioning four presentations per week and says that it’s been easy to “learn on the fly without any prior training.”

Here’s how Justine approaches converting the current training material to a Prezi: 

  • Justine sifts through the PDF document to determine how she can break it down into topics. 
  • From there, she starts laying it out in Prezi to see how she visually wants to present it. 
  • She adds the rest of her content.
  • Final touches, updating text sizes, and adding intentional zooms.

Prezi’s impact on the Din Tai Fung team 

For their first inaugural Din Tai Fung conference, which brought together all general managers, executive kitchen managers, the operations team, and the corporate office, the executive team presented their vision for the future. With Prezi as their canvas, they painted a vivid picture of their purpose and mission, delivering a message that resonated deeply with every attendee. 

for presentation exercise

“We’ve had very, very positive responses in terms of the reception from people in the audience,” Ernie said. “Great presentations, great content, great visuals – resounding consensus from the crowd.” 

At the conference, they were able to leverage some of their new restaurant renderings as the backgrounds in Prezi which elevated the wow factor and made it even more impactful, Ernie says. 

Building on this success, Justine expanded the reach of her training initiatives by delivering captivating Prezi presentations on the takeout process to a broader audience of employees. The response was resoundingly positive, with many expressing admiration for the visually appealing and easily digestible content. “The reaction from most people was ‘Wow, that looks really nice, it’s really easy to read.’ I think the overall impact of it has been pretty positive,” noted Ernie.

From Lauren’s end, she has observed a significant improvement in collaboration and engagement since integrating Prezi presentations into meetings. Specifically, the use of topics makes it easy to pause and address any relevant questions. 

“In those transitions, it offers up natural places for conversations to be had which have really increased our engagement with presentations.”

Additionally, Lauren emphasized the versatility of Prezi in catering to diverse learning styles. “The visual aspect of it allows our audience to literally follow us down different thought processes. For this same reason, it has been really fun to collaborate with different managers on these presentations – it gives greater insight into what their thoughts look like.”

Prezi’s Team license benefits

The L&D department has been using Prezi the most, but also the recruitment team has been using it to develop some content to appeal to candidates and prospective hires. It’s making its way throughout the company, especially because they signed up for a Team license. 

A Teams license with Prezi allows their team to have access to: 

  • Powerful collaboration tools
  • Cloud-based access and convenience
  • Conversational presentations you can adapt on the fly
  • Real-time analytics to optimize your efforts
  • Account manager 
  • Personalized training + 24-hour support 
  • Brand kit + branded templates

Empowering engagement and efficiency: Prezi’s impact at Din Tai Fung

Prezi has not only empowered Din Tai Fung to deliver presentations more effectively and efficiently but has also facilitated its widespread adoption across multiple departments, including Compliance, Learning & Development, Risk, People Development, and segments of Marketing. With topics and subtopics, Prezi offers audiences a structured outline of presentations, fostering greater interactivity and engagement.

“I prefer Prezi because you can give your audience a preview of what’s coming by seeing the layout,” Ernie said. “The visuals allow you to connect the dots without having to say it.” 

With the added advantage of a Prezi Teams license, Din Tai Fung is well-equipped to elevate its organizational practices. Whether it’s for training sessions, weekly meetings, or presentations, creating and sharing content is easy and efficient. In fact, the team’s commitment to excellence is evident. The team has already created 50+ trainings and they’ve asked employees to rate the new trainings. Of the responses they’ve received, 80% have rated it a 5 out of 5. 

“Overall, Prezi has really enhanced our quality of work and level of engagement,” Lauren concluded. 

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Exercises to Warm up your Voice before a Speech

December 4, 2017 - Dom Barnard

Just like any other muscle, your vocal muscles need to be warmed up to work at their best. Vocal warm up is important for people whose career depends on their voice (singers, actors, TV and radio presenters), for occupational voice users (teachers, salespeople) and for anyone who is preparing to give a presentation or speech.

When you speak, you make sound in your  larynx  (voice box) with your  vocal folds . Warming up stretches the vocal folds and increases blood flow to the larynx and other body parts including your lungs, lips and tongue. This reduces vocal fatigue and hoarseness when using your voice over long periods. It also lets you reach a wider  range of pitch , which is important for elevating your speech.

In this article, we discuss why vocal warm up is important and explain several vocal exercises you can use before your speech or presentation. You should allow 15 minutes to perform a complete warm up and remember to keep well hydrated during the exercises.

Why is vocal warm up important for a speech?

Effective verbal communication  depends not only on what you say, but how you say it. The content of what you say will be lost on the audience with a dull, monotonic presentation.

When we undergo physical activity, a warm up can prevent injury and long term damage to our bodies. The same is true for your voice – a short vocal warm up improves performance of the individual muscles of the thorax (chest), larynx and upper vocal tract (throat, mouth).

This improves the quality of the sound you make and helps the tone flow more naturally. It also helps prevent vocal injury when using your voice extensively.

Diagram showing vocal cords and larynx

Diagram showing the location of the vocal cords and larynx. These need to be warmed up before extensive use.

A vocal warm up balances the air pressure you are sending to your vocal chords, which makes it easy to talk through your different  vocal registers  (chest voice, mixed voice, and head voice). It builds a bridge between these vocal registers, enabling you to reach a much wider range of pitches and tones when speaking.

Vocal warm up exercises

Pay attention to your posture while you do these exercises. A relaxed posture is important for full and easy range of motion of the muscles and to fully support your breathing.

Warm Up #1: Jaw release

Reduces tension in the mouth and jaw area during speaking.

  • Place your palms on the sides of your face and slowly massage the jaw and cheek muscles with slow small circular motions
  • Continue to massage while lowering and raising your jaw
  • Add the sound – “mamamama” with a very light lip contact for the “m”
  • Change to “wawawawa” with very light lip round for a slightly distorted “w”

Warm Up #2: Lip trills

Release lip tension and connects your breathing and speaking.

  • Place your lips loosely together and release air in a steady stream to create a trill or raspberry sound
  • First try it on an “h” sound. Then repeat on a “b” sound
  • Hold the sound steady and keep the air moving past the lips
  • Next try to repeat the b-trill going slowly up and down the scales
  • Don’t go beyond what is comfortable at the top or bottom of the scale

Warm Up #3: Tongue trill

Relaxes the tongue and engages your breathing and voice.

  • Lightly place your tongue tip behind your upper teeth and exhale while vibrating your tongue tip in a trill
  • Hold the sound steady and keep the breathing connected
  • Now try to vary the pitch up and down the scale while trilling
  • Again, don’t push beyond what is comfortable at the top or bottom of your scale

Warm Up #4: Two octave scales

Stretches your vocal folds.

  • Start in a low pitch and slowly go up the scale on an “aa” sound
  • Don’t push the top or bottom of your range but do try to increase the range gently each time you do the scales
  • Repeat a few times and then reverse direction, going from chest to head. Repeat using other vowels.

Vocal Warm-Up Exercises

A 5-minute strength training workout for your voice to get your ready for a presentation, singing, or any type of performance. Learn More

Warm Up #5: Lip buzzing

Improves the resonant focus of the sound and continues work with maximal stretch on the vocal folds.

  • Put you lips loosely together and exhale by vibrating your lips
  • Make sure to keep your tongue relaxed as you exhale
  • Repeat the inhaled yawn, and vocalize as you trill your lips
  • Repeat again, and sweep up in pitch then back down
  • If this begins to tickle your lips and nose, then you’re doing it correctly

Warm Up #6: Humming

Highlights different vibrations in your lips, teeth and facial bones.

  • Begin with your lips gently closed with jaw released
  • Take an easy breath in and exhale while humming “hmmmm”
  • Repeat and change the “hmmmm” to “ahhhhh” halfway through the exhaled breath
  • Try to change nothing but the opening of the mouth

Warm Up #7: Breath support system

  • After a slow deep inhalation, expel sharply by contracting the abdominal muscles hard with a loud “huh”
  • The larynx and throat should stay relaxed and open
  • This is a difficult exercise and excellent focus must be maintained on separating the contractions of the abdominals with the maintenance of relaxed upper airway
  • As you improve your ability to perform this correctly, increase the speed and repetitions

Warm Up #8: Low-flow

  • Maintain a correct posture with low, relaxed shoulders
  • Inhale slowly and deeply (but be careful NOT to lock your shoulders at the top of the inhalation)
  • On the exhaled breath, repeat “hello” slowly – there should be little expelled air each time
  • Place your palm in front of your lips so you can feel the expelled air
  • Do not try to control the pitch, do not force the breath to come out
  • Experiment with varying the pitch as you repeat the exercise

Warm Up #9: Cool down

Don’t forget your vocal cool down after a long speech or presentation. Humming is a great way to cool down the voice

  • Gently hum the sound “m”, focussing on the vibration and sound on the lips
  • Perform this for a couple of minutes to cool down

For additional exercises, visit  this article  on vocal warm ups.

Example of a vocal warm up

In this video, titled: ‘Here’s how to warm up your voice before you speak’, Virginia Tech Associate Professor  Greg Justice  gives some tips to warm up your voice and ace your presentation.

Using tongue twisters to improve articulation

Tongue twisters are a good way to extend your vocal range and warm up your tongue, mouth and lips. The aim is to say these sentences without extra tension in the tongue, lips, jaw or throat. Keep a good posture and full breath support when going through them.

Initially, do not try to control your pitch, but also make sure you do not get “locked in” to a narrow pitch range. As you warm up, vary the pitch and focus on different elements of your voice – for the three tongue twisters below, focus on either the tongue, lips or jaw for each one.

3 tongue twisters to use before a speech

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Denise sees the fleece, Denise sees the fleas. At least Denise could sneeze and feed and freeze the fleas.
One-one was a race horse. Two-two was one too. One-one won one race. Two-two won one too.

Breathing exercises to enhance your voice

Taking the time to breath correctly when giving a presentation will help support your voice. Speaking without taking deep breaths can cause you to talk too quickly and sound rushed. We often do this when we are nervous.

Follow these steps to help  improve your breathing :

  • Breathe deeply from your lower lungs – imagine a rubber ring around your waist (your diaphragm)
  • Breathe in and try to push the ring outwards
  • Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth
  • When breathing out, slowly hold an “s” sound link in a hiss
  • Repeat again, counting from 1 to 5 as you exhale and varying the pitch
  • Avoid raising your shoulders as you breathe in – keep them relaxed and level
  • Relax – tension will prevent you from making a good sound

To practice breathing well, try lying on the floor on your back with your hands on your stomach. Breath in (inhale) and your hands will rise. Now breathe out (exhale) and they will lower. In this position it is very hard to breathe incorrectly. Practice breathing exercises regularly to improve your technique and build your lung capacity.

TheGamer

The Presentation Experience Codes - Roblox

Roblox - game.

Roblox is enjoyed by millions. A sandbox game where you can play, create, and come together with people all over the world. Jump into any of the community experiences, or take advantage of promo codes for cool content. 

We checked for new codes on February 11th, 2024.

Unfortunately, they haven't added a new code in a while. However, we'll keep checking!

Finally, we have a game that allows us to do what we always wanted to do during a classroom presentation—create utter chaos! This Roblox game is designed to relieve the stress of presenting in front of class, as the player gets to choose the topic, and they get to indulge in their darkest impulses! Ultimately, all of this makes The Presentation Experience a funny roleplaying game where the players make it what they want it to be.

Roblox: 18 Best Roblox Horror Games

We check for new Presentation Experience codes daily, and new codes are usually added for updates and milestones. Come back soon to see if there are any more free rewards up for grabs.

The Presentation Experience Codes

Roblox codes are case-sensitive which means you need to input the code as it appears in the table above - copy and paste exactly, with matching numbers, capital letters, and punctuation.

Expired The Presentation Experience Codes

How to redeem codes in the presentation experience.

  • Load up the game and enter your first presentation
  • On the top left, there's a tiny Settings button that looks like a cog/gear
  • Click on that button, then enter the Codes into the box
  • Redeem, and enjoy! You will receive a message underneath that tells you what the code has given you

Codes not working? We always check that our codes are active and not expired, but we might have missed one going inactive. Also double-check that you have entered the code correctly.

15 Best Roblox Anime Games

What are the presentation experience codes.

The Presentation Experience codes are free rewards given out by the developer that can be redeemed for points and gems. These are the currencies that you let do fun stuff during the class, like shaking the whole place with an earthquake or turning into a helicopter. New codes are released alongside updates, events, and like milestones.

How To Get More Codes

New codes are usually posted on the community Discord server, but if you want an easy way to access all the old and new codes alike you can just check our list. We've got them all here.

Roblox: 13 Best Games To Play With Your Friends

The Presentation Experience Codes - Roblox

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  27. Exercises to Warm up your Voice before a Speech

    Vocal Warm-Up Exercises. A 5-minute strength training workout for your voice to get your ready for a presentation, singing, or any type of performance.Learn More. Warm Up #5: Lip buzzing. Improves the resonant focus of the sound and continues work with maximal stretch on the vocal folds. Put you lips loosely together and exhale by vibrating ...

  28. The Presentation Experience Codes

    The Presentation Experience codes are free rewards given out by the developer that can be redeemed for points and gems. These are the currencies that you let do fun stuff during the class, like ...