Some might groan at the mere mention of having to give an early morning presentation. However, there’s no better time than to set the agenda and lead thoughts right at the beginning of the working day. However, fail to deliver and you can end up driving both your audience and yourself to sleep. To that end, let’s look at a few of the tips that can help you keep your early morning presentations worth staying up for.

Take Time to Wake Up

You’re going to need more than a cup of coffee to get you ready for a really early presentation. If you come in with good energy, then you can make it easier for others to switch on and tune in, as well. To that end, you should warm up physically to wake up mentally, as well. A quick exercise in the morning (after your breakfast) can get the blood rushing. What’s more, it can help release those endorphins that get you awake, active, and in a good mood.

Be Light

If you’re coming in first thing in the morning, especially after the weekend, you shouldn’t strive to be all business right from the get-go. Don’t be afraid to start with a joke or a light-hearted anecdote to lead into the topic of the presentation. It can ease people into the conversation at hand and make them feel a little more at ease as they listen. A visual gag or meme in the presentation is an easy way to add a bit of levity to it, which can help people snap to attention.

Make It Visually Engaging

If your presentations are nothing more than bland text bullet-point lists on a white background with the most strait-laced title typography, you shouldn’t be surprised if people can muster the focus to actually engage with what’s on-screen. Freelance presentation design can help you establish a much more captivating slide deck. A bright, engaging style to the presentation will make it a lot easier to get engaged with the content that it’s delivering.

Stick to The Point

While you should try to keep things light, you should also try not to meander too much from the point once you actually get to make it. It’s best if you give presentations centered around a specific subject and then make sure you don’t get too far from that subject. The same goes for the aesthetics of the presentation. Make it vibrant and engaging, but not distracting or overly busy.

Welcome Participation

You can get the cogs turning if you ask an early question, prompting the audience to pay attention. For broader subjects, a more conversational approach to the whole presentation may work, allowing for interjections and exploring the topic from real-life examples that the audience can provide.

Giving a presentation first thing in the morning can be a challenge, but with the help of the tips above, you can make sure they’re engaging from beginning to end.