Presentation and public speaking skills can significantly impact how your resume stands out before hiring managers. While many people might have good or at least reasonable presentation skills, highlighting them through a resume can be confusing. However, adding this important bit can enable you to improve your chances of landing your desired job. Let us show you how!
How can Good Presentation Skills Improve Your Resume?
In 2014, a poll commissioned by Prezi revealed that 70% of employed Americans considered presentation skills critical for a successful career. A National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) survey showed that nearly 72% of employers sought candidates with strong written skills, and 67% preferred solid verbal skills. This is consistent with the requirements of a good presenter. Good presentation skills showcase the ability to present information before an audience and indicate other essential skills employers desire. In such a case, you might want to look into creative resume ideas or Resume PowerPoint templates if you need to present your resume during a job interview.
Communication Proficiency
By indicating that you are good at making presentations and public speaking, you also demonstrate proficiency in communication with internal and external audiences. This is a highly desired skill set for communications specialists and candidates for other positions such as project staff, HR, sales, marketing, procurement, etc.
Leadership Potential
People with good communication skills, particularly in writing and verbal speech, can be good potential leaders. Even if someone is hired at a junior level, this skill is desired because it indicates the prospect for career growth in an individual.
Stakeholder Management
If someone is a good public speaker, the chances are they will be good at stakeholder management, whether for internal or external stakeholders. People who can effectively engage and manage stakeholders are great for organizations. Such individuals also have the potential to resolve conflicts or avoid them through efficient management of other people and good communication.
Persuasiveness and Business Development
Anyone good at persuasiveness can be great for business development. Highlighting your presentation skills can enable you to showcase your ability to help in business development, satisfy customers, and engage the audience in sales. Even if you’re not directly involved with customers, investors, or donors, being reliable in managing people can be good for maintaining a business reputation. This is a valued skill that employers look for when scanning for candidates who can avoid tricky situations and create an environment where people find it comfortable to talk to them to resolve issues and avoid potential conflicts.
How to List Presentation Skills on a Resume
To list presentation skills description or presenting skills on your resume, you can include them in different sections. This might include the professional or career summary, area of expertise, skills, achievements, training, etc.
Professional Summary
Many people in their resumes have a professional or career summary highlighting key expertise, experience, and skills, usually in the form of a short descriptive paragraph or two. In such a summary, you can add references to presentation and public speaking skills. For example, you can mention your experience presenting project plans and proposals before potential investors or your public speaking skills to highlight your ability to interact with stakeholders.
Skills/Area of Expertise
Some people prefer adding a section highlighting skills or areas of expertise in a resume. This is a list of key expertise an individual might have, e.g., project management, budgeting, data analysis, etc. You can add public speaking, presentation design, and other related skills and expertise to this section.
Achievements
It is always a good idea to mention achievements on a resume. This can include achievements mentioned under each job experience or in a separate section. If you have any achievements tied to public speaking or presentations, they can be listed in such a section. Many times, this might not directly include making presentations or working on PowerPoint templates or Google Slides templates. If you have conducted training or capacity-building exercises, the chances are that you have had to use presentations. By highlighting the design of such modules and slide decks, you can highlight your skills as a presenter while alluding to an achievement, such as training a specific number of people during a project or assignment.
Certifications and Training
If you have received certifications or training that include improving public speaking or presentation skills, you can mention them to highlight presentation skills on your resume.
Mention Presentation Tools
In many resumes or online job application forms, there is a section to mention computer proficiency, tools, or skills that include the use of different software. In such a section, you can list tools like PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, etc. If it is a section that can accommodate both software proficiency and general skills, you can also mention public speaking, presentation design, presenting pitch deck, and other such skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, listing presentation skills on the resume can be helpful to highlight your ability as a public speaker, as well as other skills, such as written and verbal communication.
Presentation skills showcase not only your ability as a public speaker but also proficiency in verbal and written communication, leadership potential, stakeholder management ability, and other desired skills employers often seek.
There are different sections in a resume where presentation skills can be listed by referring to tools, training, and activities you might have been engaged in. Some examples include professional summary, skills, achievements, training, and job experience sections.
Many resumes and online job application forms allow adding software proficiency or skills where software like PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, and others can be mentioned.
Some examples of presentation skills that can be listed on a resume include the following:
Public speaking
Presentation design
Storytelling
Storyboarding
Pitch decks
Visual communication
Audience engagement
Coaching and mentoring
Event moderation
Training (e.g., mention a training you can deliver, such as research design training)
You can also learn more about highlighting key presentation skills on a resume from this tutorial about presentation skills guide and our tips on making about me slides.
Yes, you can create data-driven presentations by quantifying achievements related to delivering presentations, training, or engaging stakeholders.
Example: “Developed and delivered training on visual aids to 40% of sales staff at Company X, resulting in an increase of 10% in quarterly sales due to improved pitch decks”.
Yes, you can always mention skills, even when you might have little experience. You can mention group projects, volunteer activities, visual aids you might have designed, or informal training you might have delivered to help people improve their presentation or when your persuasive skills helped achieve desired results.
You can improve your presentation skills by practicing your presentation skills before friends and colleagues or through local events, taking training courses, seeking mentorship, and recording yourself presenting to assess and improve your skills.
Final Words
Presentation skills can help make your resume stand out. Your public speaking and presentation skills, not only highlight your written and verbal communication skills but also your confidence, leadership potential, ability to visualize information, and other valued skills that can make your resume stand out.
While you might not need to directly include such skills in a resume, adding subtle hints might be sufficient, such as the ability to use different presentation software, mentioning the types of training you might have delivered, the impact of presentations you might have delivered, your skills in visual communication, etc. This can be a much better approach than spelling out that you are a good presenter unless your job requires such a specific skill. Hence, presenting skills can enable your resume to shine regardless of whether you are a communications or public speaking specialist.
If you lack presentation and public speaking skills, you can look into methods to improve them, such as by learning how to make a presentation if you’re a beginner. It might also help to get expert advice on how to start a presentation and how to end a presentation to hone your skills as a public speaker.
