5 tips to supercharge your presentation skills

Real-world tips to help open source pros and technical teams present with impact.

Presenting at work is one of those things that we all have to do at some point in our careers, and no one is really excited to do. It brings up memories of having to read out loud in class, and can trigger our fight or flight. What’s worse is that it can feel like everyone else knows what they’re doing.

I’ve worked in corporate communications for almost a decade, with advanced technical experts, people and humans resources professionals and sustainability experts, amongst others, and the challenges that people face when it comes to presentations and public speaking are more common than you’d think. I spoke at SUSECON 2025 about the importance of personal touch and storytelling in connecting technical and non-technical audiences, and I’ve collected five quick tips for you to remember the next time you’re trying to win over an audience.

Remember that no one gets it right the first time

It’s really easy to get in your own head and to think that everyone around you is a seasoned pro. The truth is that public speaking and presenting doesn’t come to anyone without deep reflection and practice. When you’re getting ready for an important presentation, practice really does make perfect. Try recording yourself, and if you’re presenting in-person, talk to the mirror so you can see how your body language looks. If you’re doing a virtual presentation, don’t be afraid to video record yourself and see where your main areas of improvement lie.

Keep it simple

The simple truth is that humans are incapable of multitasking, no matter what gender stereotypes tell us. Your slides shouldn’t be used to duplicate what you’re saying, but rather to support the message you’re trying to convey. If you’re speaking while expecting your audience to read slides, they’ll make an unconscious decision to either tune out from you or to ignore your slides.

There’s nothing wrong with taking some time to allow your audience to read something crucial on a slide, and to verbally say “I’m going to give you a couple of minutes to read this, and then I’ll tell you why this is so important.” I’ll often set myself the challenge of only using pictures on my slides to see if I can avoid using them as a prompt as much as possible. That’s what your speaker notes are for.

Read more: How to create engaging presentations

Avoid being overly technical

When you’re an expert in your field, and passionate about what you’re presenting, it’s easy to slide into jargon and acronyms that might be alienating to your audience, especially if they’re not as expert as you. As well as keeping your slides simple, you need to keep your language and content simple. The first question to ask yourself when creating a presentation is: What do you want them to know and what do you want them to do? This will inform how you tailor your content to be the most resonant to the audience.

Remember who you’re talking To

This point is connected to the previous one, because you can adjust your level of technical specificity depending on the people you’re speaking to. If you’re a technical expert speaking to an all-company audience, it makes sense to keep things very simple and high-level. If you’re trying to convince a group of senior executives to make a crucial decision, it’s important to not get bogged down in details that aren’t relevant to the choice they need to make. Try and put yourself in the shoes of the people you’re speaking to, and try to imagine what they want to see and hear from you. 

Be confident and be yourself

This last point is probably the most important one. When you’re being your authentic self, it’s easy for your natural passion for your subject to shine through. If you’re not someone who’s naturally corporate, don’t try to be! There’s nothing worse than trying to force yourself into a persona that doesn’t fit, and the mental headspace of doing that will distract you from your topic at hand.

If you’re a more fun-loving and playful person, don’t be afraid to make jokes. If you’re a more naturally serious person, don’t try and force a sense of levity that doesn’t feel right for you. Your audience will be more ready to be won over if they can get a sense of who you really are. 

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