Published: 11/17/2025

Have you ever watched a colleague struggle through a presentation and thought, “How can I help them ace this next time?” Most people have had this experience, but few managers know how to guide their employees to communicate efficiently and effectively.

The good news: presentation skills can be dramatically improved with simple, structured guidance. Here's how to develop confident, effective communicators on your team.

Lead By Example

You can't coach what you don't demonstrate. If you ramble in meetings, read from slides, or deliver unclear updates, your team will mirror those habits.

Speak effectively in every interaction. Run tight meetings with clear agendas. When you present, face your audience, deliver a crisp key message, and stay on time. Your team watches how you communicate far more than they listen to your advice. Show them what good looks like.

Practice Before the Performance

Don't let team members deliver cold. Have them present for critique before the actual meeting. This could be as simple as practicing a 60-second weekly update one-on-one before delivering it in front of everyone.

Pre-meeting practice builds confidence, catches unclear messaging, and prevents wasting time hearing someone stumble through an update that should have been simple. A few minutes upfront saves everyone's time later and sets your team up to succeed.

Demand the One-Sentence Takeaway

At every opportunity—one-minute updates, five-minute presentations, longer segments—ask: "What's the one thing you want people to remember?"

If they can't give it to you in one sentence, that's a sign to refine. If the speaker isn't clear on their core message, how will listeners crystallize the takeaway? Unclear thinking leads to unclear speaking, which leads to confused audiences.

In some cases there may be multiple key takeaways. That's fine—just make sure each one can be explained clearly in one sentence and that your team member doesn't drift or go over time.

Give Effective Feedback

Most managers either avoid giving presentation feedback or deliver it clumsily. Use the sandwich method: start positive, deliver constructive guidance, close with encouragement.

Begin with what worked. Be specific: "Your opening story grabbed everyone's attention." Let your appreciation for this person shine through in your tone and body language.

Then deliver constructive criticism without saying "but" or "however." Those words undercut everything positive you just said. Instead, use "now" or "next."

Instead of: "Your opening was great, but you lost me in the middle."

Try: "Your opening was great. Now let's tighten the middle section so it connects to your conclusion."

It's amazing the effect this has when you change just one word. The whole tone of your feedback levels up because of your positive energy. It's a subtle but effective psychological technique that transforms how people receive your guidance.

Close with encouragement: "I'm excited to see you deliver this. You've got this."

Use a Timer

Time management is non-negotiable. Set clear time limits and hold people to them. Make your team practice with a visible timer. If they have a clear one-sentence takeaway and it comes in under time, they're almost there. If they're going overtime, politely stop them.

"I'm going to pause you there. You've got 30 seconds left. What's the one thing we need to know?"

This isn't rude—it's training them for reality. Board meetings, client presentations, conference talks—none wait for people who can't manage their time. Teach this skill in low-stakes environments so they're ready when it matters, and they’ll make you look good for it.

Fix the Slides

If your team member is reading from slides, stop them immediately. The audience came to hear a person, not watch someone narrate a document.

Encourage presenters to face the audience and speak to them. They should only glance at slides to engage with an image—gesture to it, refer to it—or check that it appears properly. Keep text minimal. Nothing bores a team more than slides packed with words that someone reads aloud.

If the presentation can be read, it should be emailed. Slides should feature images, key data points, and minimal text. The speaker provides context and meaning.

Build a Culture of Strong Communicators

Developing communication skills isn't a one-time intervention. It's an ongoing investment in your team's effectiveness. Every update, every meeting, every presentation is an opportunity to improve.

Start small. Pick one upcoming presentation and work through these steps. Ask for their one-sentence takeaway. Practice with them beforehand. Give feedback using "now" and "next" instead of "but." Time their delivery. Fix their slides.

When they nail it, everyone notices. Standards rise. Communication improves across the board.

That's when you know your coaching is working.