Elevate Your Presentation Skills With 7 Expert-Backed Tips

Are you looking to boost your formal presentation skills? Recently, I sat down with fellow Inc. columnist and communication coach Carmine Gallo on my podcast, Talk About Talk to discuss what separates exceptional communicators from everyone else.  

I started my interview with Gallo with a thoughtful question: “Based on your research, who stands out as the most exceptional communicator?”  Gallo would know. If you’ve read Gallo’s books and articles on TEDTalks, Taylor Swift, Tim Cook, and Warren Buffett, you know he’s a master at researching real-world patterns in communication excellence. “In my opinion, still, the world’s greatest brand storyteller was Steve Jobs,” Gallo replied.  

If you haven’t watched Jobs’s 2008 unveiling of the iPhone, Gallo and I both encourage you to do so. Note the storytelling, the power pauses, the simple slides, the dramatic black backdrop, and, of course, the iconic black turtleneck. Certainly, Jobs’s communication skills are something everyone can aspire to. But where do you to start? Whether you’re delivering a speech or leading an important meeting, here are five key tips from my interview with Gallo that you can use right now to elevate your formal presentation skills. 

1. Be generous by being selective. 

Gallo spoke a lot about the power of minimalism and focus. This is about precision and brevity. Gallo’s shorthand for why this works is that great communicators have the courage to leave things out. “They all had the courage to keep it simple,” he said. 

When coaching my executive clients, I often reference the irony here. While many people believe generosity means sharing everything they know, ironically, it’s the shorter, tighter messages that are most generous. This is about being courageous and being a minimalist. Think of Jobs’s slides with few or no words. 

The TED ethos is instructive. Audiences don’t want everything. Rather, they want the one big thing that matters and will make an impact. When you cut volume, you improve the value of your message. That’s respect for your audience. 

2. Start at 30,000 feet. Then, drill down. 

Gallo’s point here was a new one for me, and it’s something critical for anyone who communicates about complicated products or processes. A typical example could be in the tech space, a complex financial transaction, or introducing a new product. Consider again Jobs’s unveiling of the iPhone. According to Gallo, most leaders suffer the “curse of knowledge.” They start in the middle, wrongly assuming shared context. Gallo’s fix is to earn the right to go deep by framing the big picture first. 

“People tend to make things far more complicated than they should be. Because you’re not starting from the big picture, you’re starting in the middle,” he explained. “Instead, start at the top, at the 30,000-foot level. Then, drill down.” Try this and you’ll notice immediate benefits such as fewer clarifying questions, faster decisions, and a calmer room. 

3. Make it familiar with analogies. 

When ideas are new or complex, analogies are a leader’s shortcut to clarity. Jeff Bezos popularized the flywheel. Buffett’s letters created the moat. A crisp comparison lets people get it and remember it. For example: “It’s like X, but Y.” Test for accuracy and resonance. One strong metaphor can do more work than five charts. 

“It’s like a castle and moat. That means it’s hard to enter,” Gallo explained further. “That came from Warren Buffett. He first wrote that in a shareholder letter about 20 years ago and now everybody uses it. It’s shorthand, ‘We like that stock. There’s a moat there.’”  

Gallo’s message is simple: If you have an idea that’s new, unfamiliar, and somewhat complicated, find a familiar comparison to make it more relatable. “We can call it an analogy or a metaphor,” he added. “I don’t care what you call it, but find a familiar comparison because that’s how people will remember it.” 

4. Let slides support your story—not the other way around. 

Jobs’s presence onstage when he launched the iPhone showcased him as an orator and storyteller. The slides supported his story. Bezos went even further in meetings, as I learned when I read Gallo’s book, The Bezos Blueprint. Bezos made a rule for meetings at Amazon. He outright banned slides in favor of pre-issued narrative memos. 

As Gallo put it, “If you are using slides or visual material, have the confidence to tell the story and then let your slides complement the story.” When you give a presentation, you are the storyteller, not the slides. Try minimalist slides and watch attention snap back to you, the presenter and storyteller. 

5. Build confidence the way athletes do. 

When I asked Gallo if he had any hacks for building confidence for formal presentations, I thought he’d talk about the benefits of deep breathing and positive self-talk. Instead, he highlighted the one thing that consistently reduces anxiety.  

“There’s only one tactic that I’ve come across that works to alleviate stress, and it’s the same tactic that professional athletes use before the big game, that law enforcement or military use, or that anyone who must execute something under high pressure uses,” Gallo explained. “They practice that skill thousands of times.” 

It’s not just about rehearsing out loud before your speech. It’s also about adding mild stressors and practicing being nervous. Timer on, two colleagues watching, a tough first question. 

Go out of your way to put yourself into situations that make you feel anxious. Raise your hand to lead every meeting and present every talk. That’s what high-performance athletes do. They practice hard until competition day comes, and muscle memory sets in. Practice does make perfect. 

Minimalism is key in communication. 

Based on the insights he shared from Jobs’s stagecraft, Bezos’s memos, and Buffett’s analogies, Gallo’s message was clear. In terms of the message, if you want to be an exceptional communicator, you need to be a minimalist. Highlight a focused takeaway, provide context at 30,000 feet before drilling down, and use analogies to make unfamiliar concepts feel familiar. In terms of delivery, let slides support, not tell, your story, and fuel your confidence through practice, just like an elite athlete.