How To Do a Presentation About Yourself (With Tips)

Updated February 16, 2023

If you want an audience to know you better, you may create and deliver a presentation about yourself. There are several components of an effective presentation about yourself, including engagement with the audience and the communication of relevant information. Understanding how to conduct a presentation about yourself can help you deliver a successful job interview or meeting.

In this article, we explain how to conduct a presentation about yourself and provide some tips for making it as effective and compelling as possible.

Why make a presentation about yourself?

Some reasons you may make a presentation about yourself are to:

Complete a portion of a job interview
Begin a staff meeting
Introduce yourself as a new employee to a group of veteran staff members
Introduce yourself to an audience at an event, conference or trade show

How to do a presentation about yourself

Here's a list of steps on how to do a presentation about yourself:

1. Consider the setting of your presentation

The first step to making a presentation is to consider the setting. Think about where you want to deliver your presentation. This can help you determine what kind of tone to assume and how long to make your presentation. If you're creating a presentation for a job interview, you may want to use a formal tone and confine the presentation to the time that your hiring manager suggests.

If you're making a presentation to use at an informal business event, you may assume a more casual tone and remain on stage for a longer period. Whatever presentation you're giving, try to make it reflect the company or organization's values, mission and communication style. While you can create your presentation to reflect your personality, be mindful of the company's brand and mission and try to emulate them in your delivery.

2. Choose a presentation format

Once you consider your presentation setting, you can choose an appropriate format. You may decide between multiple presentation programs to determine which one is the easiest for you to use and has the most relevant features. As you start building the outline of your presentation, consider how adaptable it is for different situations. You may want to make it easy to edit so that you can shorten or lengthen the presentation depending on the situation.

You may also decide if you want to pair your use of a presentation program with other presentation tools. For example, some presenters may want to refer to handwritten note cards to deliver information about themselves. Others may want to use props, like products they helped develop, for the audience to observe.

3. Create a short segment to engage the audience first

Before you begin talking about yourself in your presentation, you can first engage the audience with a short segment. There are several effective approaches you can try to recognize your audience and draw their attention. Some presenters may introduce a compelling quote or statistic and talk about how it relates to the audience members' workplace or organization. Others may tell a humorous story that relates to the creation of the presentation or invite a few audience members to briefly introduce themselves.

4. Offer basic information

After you engage with the audience, you can begin to deliver basic information about yourself. You can begin with your name, job title and the number of years you've been with your affiliated organization. Then, you can talk about your hard and soft skills, your educational background, your certifications and credentials and your most important professional accomplishments. If appropriate, you may also list some interesting facts that relate back to the main goal of your presentation.

5. Include a case study

The best way to tell people about yourself is to show them examples of what you can do. You can present a specific case study that explains a need a business had and how you helped solve it. As you introduce a case study, you can present information like what the situation was, what solutions you offered and what results you achieved. You may also include recommendations and testimonials from colleagues you've worked with in the past who can attest to your abilities.

6. Develop a section for frequently asked questions

This step is especially relevant if you're a frequent presenter. At the end of your slideshow, you can list four to five questions that you receive a lot. Anticipating what your audience wants to know can help your presentation go more smoothly. Be sure to allocate some time for your audience members to ask personalized questions. This can help you conclude your presentation and offer clarity to your audience about who you are and how you relate to the organization and its goals.

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Tips for delivering a presentation about yourself

Here are some tips for delivering a presentation about yourself:

Remain mindful of your nonverbal cues. Instead of reading directly off your presentation slides or looking down at your notes, try to look up frequently. Make an effort to face all sections of your audience at some point during your presentation.
Practice with a work colleague beforehand. While you can practice your presentation in front of a friend, it may be helpful to get help from a work colleague. No matter who you practice in front of, you can become more comfortable with speaking to others and delivering the information more clearly and efficiently.
Review data accuracy, grammar, spelling and formatting before you deliver your presentation. Review all the slides in your presentation before you present them to your audience by looking for mistakes like misspellings and incorrect dates. You can also ensure the formatting is visually appealing and uses elements like pictures, bullet points and timelines appropriately.