10 Presentation Challenges for the New Year

For many people, the new year means setting new goals and challenging themselves to be even better than the year before. Here at Big Fish Presentations, we believe challenging yourself to step out of your comfort zone is one of the best ways to create presentations that not only inform your audience, but captivate them as well.

So, this year we decided to help you get creative by compiling 10 challenges from our latest book, “The Big Fish Experience,” in the list below.

1. When citing statistics, show how the statistic relates directly to the audience and why it should matter to them.

2. Distill the big idea of your presentation into a “tweetable line” (140 characters long)

*The “big idea” is the basis for the content of your entire presentation

3. Deliver a presentation without a slideshow. For example, deliver a 20 minute presentation while drawing all of your points on a whiteboard.

4. Visualize your data beyond a traditional chart. Replace an important data set with a custom designed infographic (can use a program like Piktochart for help).

5. Create a presentation with no more than five words to a slide

6. Record yourself rehearsing and note your verbal disfluencies, body language, and energy level

7. Give a presentation with no more than three verbal disfluencies 

8. Before your next presentation, connect with audience members and ask them what they would like to learn from your talk 

9. Upload your next presentation on YouTube and SlideShare to promote yourself and to request feedback.

10. Find a way to incorporate audience interaction every 10 minutes, whether it’s through a live demo of your technology, activities, or questions.

Incorporating these challenges into your presentation routine will help you create a more memorable experience for your audience. They are meant to take you out of your comfort zone, and challenge you to craft innovative presentation content, design, and delivery.

You can find more challenges like these, as well as an in depth guide to creating experiences for your audience, in our latest book, “The Big Fish Experience.” If you found these challenges helpful, or have anything to add, please let us know in the comments below!

And, as always, thanks for reading!

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