10 top tips for preparing and delivering interview presentations

Almost all marketing candidates are asked to put together a piece of work for the second stage of an interview process. It gives the employer a chance to see how candidates put content together, what their thought process is and how they deliver it.

Over the last 9 years working as a Recruitment Consultant in this market I have seen hundreds of presentations; the good ones, the bad ones and the downright ugly ones. As an ex marketer, I’ve even done a few myself so I thought I’d put a small guide together for preparing and delivering a successful, job-securing presentation.

10 top tips for preparing an interview presentation

1. Make it on brand. Use their logo, their colours and even font. If you can’t find them – ask!
2. Like any good story, there should be a beginning, a middle and an end.
3. Don’t be afraid to show some personality in your slides.
4. Know your audience. Tailor the presentation to the people you’re presenting to.
5. If you work on presenting 2 minutes per slide, you will fit your time limit.
6. Death by wordiness! Use a variety of content – copy, graphs, images, diagrams etc.
7. Don’t over complicate it – death by PowerPoint isn’t a nice way to go.
8. Make sure you answer everything on the brief.
9. Print out the presentation so you can leave copies behind afterwards.
10. Practice, practice, practice!

10 top tips for delivering an interview presentation

1. If you feel nervous, slow down. Don’t rush through it! You’ll make mistakes if you rush.
2. Stick to the plan.
3. Maintain good eye contact. Make them believe what you’re saying.
4. Don’t read off the slides – they can do that. Bring the presentation to life.
5. Project your voice.
6. Have fun with it – entertain them. It will relax you and the audience.
7. Be a storyteller! Everyone loves a story and involve personal experiences.
8. Speak English! Don’t overuse jargon, acronyms or complicated analogies.
9. Loosen up, walk around and be articulate. Don’t stand so still you start putting down roots!
10. Leave time for questions at the end.