If you work as a specialist contractor for various businesses or as an in-house user experience researcher for a major company, you may be looking for ways to more effectively present your research to your higher-ups. If you’ve got a big presentation coming up with makers and shakers, or if you just want to sharpen your skills, try these four tips to make your UX research presentation as effective as possible.
1. Avoid Technical Jargon and Make the Research Easy To Understand
One stumbling block that can sometimes impede effective communication is the excessive use of technical jargon. If you usually use loads of technical terms in your presentations, you may find that toning down the language can help you make your message clearer and more powerful. You may want to:
- Comb through your presentation to remove overly technical jargon
- Include brief explanations and definitions of industry terms where they’re necessary to use
- Avoid over-complication and get to the heart of the research in the presentation
- Consider your audience and design the presentation’s tone and style with the audience in mind
2. Make Sure You’ve Explored Every Relevant Question Before Presenting
Another factor to remember when reviewing how to present UX research is to make sure that you’ve anticipated your audience’s potential questions before beginning the presentation. Being extra prepared can help you appear more confident and project an aura of authority. Before your presentation time slot, you should:
- Try to preemptively predict the questions your audience might ask and prepare some answers
- Double-check your calculations and results and ensure your process was thorough and secure
- Get another researcher to review your study and verify your findings if possible
- Get the input of other experts to draw meaningful and relevant insights from the research
3. Prioritize Your Findings and Be Mindful of Your Time
Wasting too much time on small project details or accidentally going over your allotted presentation time are two presentation mistakes that can sometimes sink an otherwise strong presentation. To impress the decision-makers in the room and appear professional, it’s important to:
- Skip over irrelevant or minor details that your boss or other audience members may not be interested in
- Focus on the most important parts of the research that could benefit your audience
- Practice the presentation ahead of time so you don’t risk going over your time limit
- Practice core presentation skills such as projecting your voice and maintaining a confident tone to appeal to the decision makers in the room
4. Use Your New Insights To Make Relevant Business Recommendations
Lastly, it’s important to take your research and make it relevant to your audience. One way to do this is to offer insights and recommendations. For instance, you could:
- Explain the practical implications of your research findings
- Draw critical insights and make the research relevant to the audience’s interests
- Consult with experts to make relevant business recommendations to your audience
When presenting user experience research to important higher-ups and decision makers in your company, it’s important to sharpen up your presentation skills beforehand. Before your next presentation, use these four tips and prepare to make a big impression.
