4 Different Types of Presentations You Need to Know About
In every presentation, your goal is to try to engage your audience and have them walk away feeling generally more positive or more informed. Whatever presentation you have coming up, remember what your initial intent is and make it your mission to trigger an action from them. There are 4 different types of presentations I would like to discuss in this article: informative, demonstrative, persuasive and special occasions.
Different Types of Presentations
Informative
An informative presentation provides information about a topic and is for explanatory or educational purposes. Its not meant to persuade or influence a belief one way or the other, but rather provide sufficient relevant material, with reference to creditable facts, examples, studies and statistics for the audience to learn something. What the audience takes away from it after they've learned about it, is up to them. This type of presentation is mostly used for giving reports, lectures and for training purposes.
Examples
Financial reporting
Training seminars
Orientation
Conference
Tips for Presenting
Make sure your content is from creditable sources with references
Create a list of references for your audience to learn more about your topic
Create documents for the audience to walk away with so they reference later or let them download a PDF version of your presentation
If you need PowerPoint design ideas to make your presentation stand out more, I can help you out! Here are 10 Ways to Elevate Your PowerPoint Presentation
Demonstrative
A demonstrative presentation is an extension of an informative process presentation or essentially a “how to” presentation, combining informing with demonstrating. The process could either be demonstrated live, through videos, or using words to explain with visual aid.
The objective of the presentation is to demonstrate or teach a specific topic, and its found everywhere from corporate to institutions. These presentations may also be known as instructive for school classrooms and university lectures, or anywhere people are either updating their skills, or learning new ones.
Examples
Corporate training seminars
Skill training seminars
School classrooms
Educational lectures
Tips for Presenting
Practice demonstrating, your audience will greatly benefit from learning from well-prepared material
Create printable or downloadable blank documents to complete during the presentation
Provide step by step instructions or sequence guides
Do you need help increasing your audience’s engagement during your presentation? Here are 5 Ways to Engage Your Audience in a Presentation
Persuasive
The objective of a persuasive presentation is to convince an audience of what you have to say and consider your perspective. To achieve this, the presenter must skillfully combine facts, opinions, and reasons, with an understanding of how to engage an audience. Persuasive presentations are ideally presented as a sales pitch or issue-driven presentations.
Examples
Fundraiser
Sales pitch
Political debate
Ethical issues
Tips for Presenting
Set presentation goals, what kind of action do you want to take at the end?
Analyze your audience feelings and engagement throughout the presentation
Present a mix of qualitative and quantitative proof for your argument
Special Occasion
Special occasion presentations include a vast range of casual presentations to celebrate an event to delivering a formal address. These presentations mark awards, engagements, anniversaries, tributes, eulogies, commencement and much more. In essence, any presentation given to acknowledge a person, an achievement, or an event belongs in this category.
Examples
Eulogy or funeral presentation
Life celebrations, birthday milestones, retirement, etc.
Engagement party
Introduction for new members to a club
Welcome presentation for an event
Congratulatory or thank you
Tribute commemorative
Tips for Presenting
Keep the tone in mind –serious for a eulogy or a funeral, or light-hearted for celebrations
Create a theme for celebratory events
Ask for help presenting, usually multiple people are involved to make the occasion feel special
The different types of presentations often overlap because presenters and their content is unique, as well as, the purpose and the audience. For example, a presentation may be mainly informative but to add interest, the presenter has used persuasive language to keep the audience engaged.
Whatever your presentation is about, you want to provide a memorable one and have your audience take away an important message. If you require help with putting together a presentation, I specialize in PowerPoint presentation designs including all different types of presentations that can suit your occasion and help make it a successful one. In our first meeting, we will discuss your goals and timelines and I can answer any questions and doubts you may have.
