Presentation Practice: How to Practise a Presentation Like a Pro

When you have an important presentation, you must have a proper presentation practice.  The better prepared you are, the more likely it is that your presentation will go well. 

But how should you practise your presentation?  What presentation rehearsal techniques work? What are effective ways to practise your presentation. This is what we have learnt over the last 15 years of coaching senior executives.

Meet the Author: Benjamin Ball

Ben is the founder of Benjamin Ball Associates and leads the presentation coaching and pitch deck creation teams. Formerly a corporate financier in the City of London, for 20+ years he’s helped businesses win with better pitches and presentations, particularly investor pitches. He is a regular speaker and a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and UCL London.  Follow Ben on LinkedIn or visit the contact page. 

Let’s review each question in turn:

1. Why should you practice your presentation?

You only get better by practising. You’d never play in a tennis match without practising.  You would not want your dentist to look at your teeth without practising.  It’s the same with presenting.  

Every time you practise your presentation you get better. Practice is a key part of preparing presentations. Most people underestimate how long it takes to practise a really good presentation. For example, when we coach Capital Market Days for large, quoted companies, the CEO and CFO will typically each spend at least 3 or 4 days practising and rehearsing their presentations.   How do you prepare for a board presentation? By practising.

To become a great presenter, work with a presentation coach in one of our presentation coaching courses. You’ll transform your presentation skills.

2. How many times should you practise your presentation?

This  is one of the most common questions we get asked.  Our answer: practise your presentation until it’s ready. Every person is different, and each presentation is different.  If you are a real expert, you may need just one or two run-throughs.  

But for most of us, who are not yet at the top of our game, you probably need to practise presentations 5 or 10 times.  You should keep practising until you are confident it can’t get better.  And if you are early in your career, then practise more.  Invest time now to build the skills you need later in your career. 

3. How to practise a presentation on Teams or Zoom

The good news about rehearsing a presentation on Teams or Zoom is that you can record yourself.  So record the first couple of minutes, then review.  Try it again, but this time for 4 minutes, then watch that back. 

Again, make any fixes and try it again for a bit longer.  Like this you keep building your skills and practising at the same time.  Spend an especially long time working on the start and the end of your presentations.  These are the most important parts. 

Why Pick Benjamin Ball Associates for Your Coaching

At Benjamin Ball Associates, we’ve been coaching business people to improve their business communication skills for over 15 years.  Our coaching is fast and effective.  We work with individuals and with companies, one-to-one and in groups.  Call us today to learn more.

“I honestly thought it was the most valuable 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone in a long time.”

Mick May, CEO, Blue Sky

Our most popular training courses include:

• Presentation Coaching
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4. Can you rehearse presentation too much?

It’s hard to practise too much!  If you, or the person you are practising with, is still finding mistakes, you know there’s more work to do. 

But what you don’t want to do is just keep running through the same script and making the same errors. The real art of practising an important presentation is to continually change and improve your script so that it sounds better each time. 

5. How do you practise a presentation? 5 Steps

Based on 15 years’ experience of coaching people to deliver brilliant presentations, we suggest the following 5-step plan to practise your presentation like a pro.

1.  Start your presentation practise early.  

Have you prepared just one part of your presentation?  Practise that. Do you have an early draft of your talk?  Start practising with that.  Do you want to know if an element of your talk works?  Practise it now.  Have you found a brilliant idea to finish your presentation?  Practise that. Don’t wait until you’ve finished everything. Instead practise each part of your presentation as you go along. 

2. Practise, don’t rehearse your presentation.  

A “rehearsal” suggests that you have finished writing your presentation and you just need to deliver it. On the other hand, “practise” allows you to change your script, your messages and everything that’s not right.  You want to be constantly changing and improving so that you know your content is as good as it can be.  

3. Introduce PowerPoint only after you’ve practised your talk.  

Only amateurs narrate slides.  A good presentation is more like an illustrated talk.  So prepare your talk and then introduce your slides later.  And make sure all your slides actually make it easier for your audience.  Read this article about creating great PowerPoint slides. 

4.  Use a critical audience for presentation practice – and get feedback. 

The real art of practising it to get feedback and learn from that feedback.  If you have an audience to present to, you will get better feedback than just running it though by yourself.  The process of taking feedback and changing your script or your performance is part of becoming a better presenter.   

5.  Use video feedback for a presentation practice. 

Recording and watching yourself is an important part of presentation practice. You need to learn how to watch yourself without cringing.  

6. What presentation practice mistakes to avoid?

These are some of the common mistakes we have seen when people rehearse their presentations.

1. Don’t be happy with the first draft.  

The biggest mistake people make is to rehearse a first draft over and over again.  Instead, we like Ernest Hemingway’s advice:  “The only type of writing is rewriting.”

2.  Don’t narrate slides 

A presentation is more than narrated slides.  A great presentation should be like an illustrated talk.  Create your talk first, then illustrate it with visual aids.  

3.  Don’t avoid presentation practice 

I’m always surprised how many people are happy to wing it in front of an audience but are reluctant to practise in front of their colleagues.  This is completely counter-intuitive.  You must always rehearse an important presentation so that you increase your chances of success.

4. Don’t just mumble it through 

To practise well you want to perform at the top of your game.  Get yourself in the mood to perform as if it was the real thing. Then you’ll start to see what works well and where changes are needed. 

5. Don’t avoid watching yourself on video

We all hate watching ourselves, but it’s a skill we need to learn.  Keep watching yourself until you no longer squirm and you start to observe what you are doing well and not doing well. That’s what the best people do to rehearse an important presentation. 

7. How to become a master presenter?

So to really become a great presenter, you need to practise.  You could practise by yourself, or you could call in one of our presentation coaching experts to help you.  

We’d love to help you. A professional presentation rehearsal may take just a few hours over video. It could be the best investment you ever make. Speak to Louise Angus on +44 20 7018 0922 or Click the link below to discuss.

Contact us to practise your next presentation

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We can help you present brilliantly. Thousands of people have benefitted from our tailored in-house coaching and advice – and we can help you too.

“I honestly thought it was the most valuable 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone in a long time.”

Mick May, CEO, Blue Sky

For 15+ years we’ve been the trusted choice for leading businesses and executives throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East. We’ll help you improve corporate presentations through presentation coaching, public speaking training and expert advice on pitching to investors.

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Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email info@benjaminball.com to transform your speeches, pitches and presentations.

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FAQ: How to Practise a Presentation Effectively

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