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6 presentation skills and how to improve them

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What are presentation skills?

The importance of presentation skills, 6 presentation skills examples, how to improve presentation skills.

Tips for dealing with presentation anxiety

Learn how to captivate an audience with ease

Capturing an audience’s attention takes practice. 

Over time, great presenters learn how to organize their speeches and captivate an audience from start to finish. They spark curiosity, know how to read a room , and understand what their audience needs to walk away feeling like they learned something valuable.

Regardless of your profession, you most likely use presentation skills on a monthly or even weekly basis. Maybe you lead brainstorming sessions or host client calls. 

Developing effective presentation skills makes it easier to contribute ideas with confidence and show others you’re someone to trust. Although speaking in front of a crowd sometimes brings nerves and anxiety , it also sparks new opportunities.

Presentation skills are the qualities and abilities you need to communicate ideas effectively and deliver a compelling speech. They influence how you structure a presentation and how an audience receives it. Understanding body language , creating impactful visual aids, and projecting your voice all fall under this umbrella.

A great presentation depends on more than what you say. It’s about how you say it. Storytelling , stage presence, and voice projection all shape how well you express your ideas and connect with the audience. These skills do take practice, but they’re worth developing — especially if public speaking makes you nervous. 

Engaging a crowd isn’t easy. You may feel anxious to step in front of an audience and have all eyes and ears on you.

But feeling that anxiety doesn’t mean your ideas aren’t worth sharing. Whether you’re giving an inspiring speech or delivering a monthly recap at work, your audience is there to listen to you. Harness that nervous energy and turn it into progress.

Strong presentation skills make it easier to convey your thoughts to audiences of all sizes. They can help you tell a compelling story, convince people of a pitch , or teach a group something entirely new to them. And when it comes to the workplace, the strength of your presentation skills could play a part in getting a promotion or contributing to a new initiative.

To fully understand the impact these skills have on creating a successful presentation, it’s helpful to look at each one individually. Here are six valuable skills you can develop:

1. Active listening

Active listening is an excellent communication skill for any professional to hone. When you have strong active listening skills, you can listen to others effectively and observe their nonverbal cues . This helps you assess whether or not your audience members are engaged in and understand what you’re sharing. 

Great public speakers use active listening to assess the audience’s reactions and adjust their speech if they find it lacks impact. Signs like slouching, negative facial expressions, and roaming eye contact are all signs to watch out for when giving a presentation.

2. Body language

If you’re researching presentation skills, chances are you’ve already watched a few notable speeches like TED Talks or industry seminars. And one thing you probably noticed is that speakers can capture attention with their body language. 

A mixture of eye contact, hand gestures , and purposeful pacing makes a presentation more interesting and engaging. If you stand in one spot and don’t move your body, the audience might zone out.

3. Stage presence

A great stage presence looks different for everyone. A comedian might aim for more movement and excitement, and a conference speaker might focus their energy on the content of their speech. Although neither is better than the other, both understand their strengths and their audience’s needs. 

Developing a stage presence involves finding your own unique communication style . Lean into your strengths, whether that’s adding an injection of humor or asking questions to make it interactive . To give a great presentation, you might even incorporate relevant props or presentation slides.

4. Storytelling

According to Forbes, audiences typically pay attention for about 10 minutes before tuning out . But you can lengthen their attention span by offering a presentation that interests them for longer. Include a narrative they’ll want to listen to, and tell a story as you go along. 

Shaping your content to follow a clear narrative can spark your audience’s curiosity and entice them to pay careful attention. You can use anecdotes from your personal or professional life that take your audience along through relevant moments. If you’re pitching a product, you can start with a problem and lead your audience through the stages of how your product provides a solution.

5. Voice projection

Although this skill may be obvious, you need your audience to hear what you’re saying. This can be challenging if you’re naturally soft-spoken and struggle to project your voice.

Remember to straighten your posture and take deep breaths before speaking, which will help you speak louder and fill the room. If you’re talking into a microphone or participating in a virtual meeting, you can use your regular conversational voice, but you still want to sound confident and self-assured with a strong tone.

If you’re unsure whether everyone can hear you, you can always ask the audience at the beginning of your speech and wait for confirmation. That way, they won’t have to potentially interrupt you later.

Ensuring everyone can hear you also includes your speed and annunciation. It’s easy to speak quickly when nervous, but try to slow down and pronounce every word. Mumbling can make your presentation difficult to understand and pay attention to.

6. Verbal communication 

Although verbal communication involves your projection and tone, it also covers the language and pacing you use to get your point across. This includes where you choose to place pauses in your speech or the tone you use to emphasize important ideas.

If you’re giving a presentation on collaboration in the workplace , you might start your speech by saying, “There’s something every workplace needs to succeed: teamwork.” By placing emphasis on the word “ teamwork ,” you give your audience a hint on what ideas will follow.

To further connect with your audience through diction, pay careful attention to who you’re speaking to. The way you talk to your colleagues might be different from how you speak to a group of superiors, even if you’re discussing the same subject. You might use more humor and a conversational tone for the former and more serious, formal diction for the latter.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to presenting. Maybe you’re confident in your use of body language, but your voice projection needs work. Maybe you’re a great storyteller in small group settings, but need to work on your stage presence in front of larger crowds. 

The first step to improving presentation skills is pinpointing your gaps and determining which qualities to build upon first. Here are four tips for enhancing your presentation skills:

1. Build self-confidence

Confident people know how to speak with authority and share their ideas. Although feeling good about your presentation skills is easier said than done, building confidence is key to helping your audience believe in what you’re saying. Try practicing positive self-talk and continuously researching your topic's ins and outs.

If you don’t feel confident on the inside, fake it until you make it. Stand up straight, project your voice, and try your best to appear engaged and excited. Chances are, the audience doesn’t know you’re unsure of your skills — and they don’t need to.

Another tip is to lean into your slideshow, if you’re using one. Create something colorful and interesting so the audience’s eyes fall there instead of on you. And when you feel proud of your slideshow, you’ll be more eager to share it with others, bringing more energy to your presentation.

2. Watch other presentations

Developing the soft skills necessary for a good presentation can be challenging without seeing them in action. Watch as many as possible to become more familiar with public speaking skills and what makes a great presentation. You could attend events with keynote speakers or view past speeches on similar topics online.

Take a close look at how those presenters use verbal communication and body language to engage their audiences. Grab a notebook and jot down what you enjoyed and your main takeaways. Try to recall the techniques they used to emphasize their main points, whether they used pauses effectively, had interesting visual aids, or told a fascinating story.

3. Get in front of a crowd

You don’t need a large auditorium to practice public speaking. There are dozens of other ways to feel confident and develop good presentation skills.

If you’re a natural comedian, consider joining a small stand-up comedy club. If you’re an avid writer, participate in a public poetry reading. Even music and acting can help you feel more comfortable in front of a crowd.

If you’d rather keep it professional, you can still work on your presentation skills in the office. Challenge yourself to participate at least once in every team meeting, or plan and present a project to become more comfortable vocalizing your ideas. You could also speak to your manager about opportunities that flex your public speaking abilities.

4. Overcome fear

Many people experience feelings of fear before presenting in front of an audience, whether those feelings appear as a few butterflies or more severe anxiety. Try grounding yourself to shift your focus to the present moment. If you’re stuck dwelling on previous experiences that didn’t go well, use those mistakes as learning experiences and focus on what you can improve to do better in the future.

Tips for dealing with presentation anxiety 

It’s normal to feel nervous when sharing your ideas. In fact, according to a report from the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, public speaking anxiety is prevalent in 15–30% of the general population .

Even though having a fear of public speaking is common, it doesn’t make it easier. You might feel overwhelmed, become stiff, and forget what you were going to say. But although the moment might scare you, there are ways to overcome the fear and put mind over matter.

Use these tactics to reduce your stress when you have to make a presentation:

1. Practice breathing techniques

If you experience anxiety often, you’re probably familiar with breathing techniques for stress relief . Incorporating these exercises into your daily routine can help you stop worrying and regulate anxious feelings. 

Before a big presentation, take a moment alone to practice breathing techniques, ground yourself, and reduce tension. It’s also a good idea to take breaths throughout the presentation to speak slower and calm yourself down .

2. Get organized

The more organized you are, the more prepared you’ll feel. Carefully outline all of the critical information you want to use in your presentation, including your main talking points and visual aids, so you don’t forget anything. Use bullet points and visuals on each slide to remind you of what you want to talk about, and create handheld notes to help you stay on track.

3. Embrace moments of silence

It’s okay to lose your train of thought. It happens to even the most experienced public speakers once in a while. If your mind goes blank, don’t panic. Take a moment to breathe, gather your thoughts, and refer to your notes to see where you left off. You can drink some water or make a quick joke to ease the silence or regain your footing. And it’s okay to say, “Give me a moment while I find my notes.” Chances are, people understand the position you’re in.

4. Practice makes progress

Before presenting, rehearse in front of friends and family members you trust. This gives you the chance to work out any weak spots in your speech and become comfortable communicating out loud. If you want to go the extra mile, ask your makeshift audience to ask a surprise question. This tests your on-the-spot thinking and will prove that you can keep cool when things come up.

Whether you’re new to public speaking or are a seasoned presenter, you’re bound to make a few slip-ups. It happens to everyone. The most important thing is that you try your best, brush things off, and work on improving your skills to do better in your next presentation.

Although your job may require a different level of public speaking than your favorite TED Talk , developing presentation skills is handy in any profession. You can use presentation skills in a wide range of tasks in the workplace, whether you’re sharing your ideas with colleagues, expressing concerns to higher-ups, or pitching strategies to potential clients.

Remember to use active listening to read the room and engage your audience with an interesting narrative. Don’t forget to step outside your comfort zone once in a while and put your skills to practice in front of a crowd. After facing your fears, you’ll feel confident enough to put presentation skills on your resume.

If you’re trying to build your skills and become a better employee overall, try a communications coach with BetterUp. 

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Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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Ideas and insights from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning

Powerful and Effective Presentation Skills: More in Demand Now Than Ever

When we talk with our L&D colleagues from around the globe, we often hear that presentation skills training is one of the top opportunities they’re looking to provide their learners. And this holds true whether their learners are individual contributors, people managers, or senior leaders. This is not surprising.

Effective communications skills are a powerful career activator, and most of us are called upon to communicate in some type of formal presentation mode at some point along the way.

For instance, you might be asked to brief management on market research results, walk your team through a new process, lay out the new budget, or explain a new product to a client or prospect. Or you may want to build support for a new idea, bring a new employee into the fold, or even just present your achievements to your manager during your performance review.

And now, with so many employees working from home or in hybrid mode, and business travel in decline, there’s a growing need to find new ways to make effective presentations when the audience may be fully virtual or a combination of in person and remote attendees.

Whether you’re making a standup presentation to a large live audience, or a sit-down one-on-one, whether you’re delivering your presentation face to face or virtually, solid presentation skills matter.

Even the most seasoned and accomplished presenters may need to fine-tune or update their skills. Expectations have changed over the last decade or so. Yesterday’s PowerPoint which primarily relied on bulleted points, broken up by the occasional clip-art image, won’t cut it with today’s audience.

The digital revolution has revolutionized the way people want to receive information. People expect presentations that are more visually interesting. They expect to see data, metrics that support assertions. And now, with so many previously in-person meetings occurring virtually, there’s an entirely new level of technical preparedness required.

The leadership development tools and the individual learning opportunities you’re providing should include presentation skills training that covers both the evergreen fundamentals and the up-to-date capabilities that can make or break a presentation.

So, just what should be included in solid presentation skills training? Here’s what I think.

The fundamentals will always apply When it comes to making a powerful and effective presentation, the fundamentals will always apply. You need to understand your objective. Is it strictly to convey information, so that your audience’s knowledge is increased? Is it to persuade your audience to take some action? Is it to convince people to support your idea? Once you understand what your objective is, you need to define your central message. There may be a lot of things you want to share with your audience during your presentation, but find – and stick with – the core, the most important point you want them to walk away with. And make sure that your message is clear and compelling.

You also need to tailor your presentation to your audience. Who are they and what might they be expecting? Say you’re giving a product pitch to a client. A technical team may be interested in a lot of nitty-gritty product detail. The business side will no doubt be more interested in what returns they can expect on their investment.

Another consideration is the setting: is this a formal presentation to a large audience with questions reserved for the end, or a presentation in a smaller setting where there’s the possibility for conversation throughout? Is your presentation virtual or in-person? To be delivered individually or as a group? What time of the day will you be speaking? Will there be others speaking before you and might that impact how your message will be received?

Once these fundamentals are established, you’re in building mode. What are the specific points you want to share that will help you best meet your objective and get across your core message? Now figure out how to convey those points in the clearest, most straightforward, and succinct way. This doesn’t mean that your presentation has to be a series of clipped bullet points. No one wants to sit through a presentation in which the presenter reads through what’s on the slide. You can get your points across using stories, fact, diagrams, videos, props, and other types of media.

Visual design matters While you don’t want to clutter up your presentation with too many visual elements that don’t serve your objective and can be distracting, using a variety of visual formats to convey your core message will make your presentation more memorable than slides filled with text. A couple of tips: avoid images that are cliched and overdone. Be careful not to mix up too many different types of images. If you’re using photos, stick with photos. If you’re using drawn images, keep the style consistent. When data are presented, stay consistent with colors and fonts from one type of chart to the next. Keep things clear and simple, using data to support key points without overwhelming your audience with too much information. And don’t assume that your audience is composed of statisticians (unless, of course, it is).

When presenting qualitative data, brief videos provide a way to engage your audience and create emotional connection and impact. Word clouds are another way to get qualitative data across.

Practice makes perfect You’ve pulled together a perfect presentation. But it likely won’t be perfect unless it’s well delivered. So don’t forget to practice your presentation ahead of time. Pro tip: record yourself as you practice out loud. This will force you to think through what you’re going to say for each element of your presentation. And watching your recording will help you identify your mistakes—such as fidgeting, using too many fillers (such as “umm,” or “like”), or speaking too fast.

A key element of your preparation should involve anticipating any technical difficulties. If you’ve embedded videos, make sure they work. If you’re presenting virtually, make sure that the lighting is good, and that your speaker and camera are working. Whether presenting in person or virtually, get there early enough to work out any technical glitches before your presentation is scheduled to begin. Few things are a bigger audience turn-off than sitting there watching the presenter struggle with the delivery mechanisms!

Finally, be kind to yourself. Despite thorough preparation and practice, sometimes, things go wrong, and you need to recover in the moment, adapt, and carry on. It’s unlikely that you’ll have caused any lasting damage and the important thing is to learn from your experience, so your next presentation is stronger.

How are you providing presentation skills training for your learners?

Manika Gandhi is Senior Learning Design Manager at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. Email her at [email protected] .

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Home Blog Education Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Getting the perfect presentation design is just a step toward a successful presentation. For the experienced user, building presentation skills is the answer to elevating the power of your message and showing expertise on any subject. Still, one can ask: is it the same set of skills, or are they dependable on the type of presentation?

In this article, we will introduce the different types of presentations accompanied by the skillset required to master them. The purpose, as always, is to retain the audience’s interest for a long-lasting and convincing message.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Presentation Skills

Persuasive presentations, instructional presentations, informative presentations, inspirational presentations, basic presentation skills, what are the main difficulties when giving a presentation, recommendations to improve your presentation skills, closing statement.

Effective communication is the answer to reaching business and academic goals. The scenarios in which we can be required to deliver a presentation are as diverse as one can imagine. Still, some core concepts apply to all presentations.

 We define presentation skills as a compendium of soft skills that directly affect your presentation performance and contribute to creating a great presentation. These are not qualities acquired by birth but skills you ought to train and master to delve into professional environments.

You may ask: is it really that evident when a presenter is not prepared? Here are some common signs people can experience during presentations:

• Evasive body language: Not making eye contact with the audience, arms closed tightly to the body, hands in pockets all the time.
• Lack of interest in the presenter’s voice: dull tone, not putting an effort to articulate the topics.
• Doubting when asked to answer a question
• Irksome mood

The list can go on about common presenter mistakes , and most certainly, it will affect the performance of any presented data if the lack of interest by the presenter is blatantly obvious.  Another element to consider is anxiety, and according to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, 73% of the population in the USA is affected by glossophobia , which is the fear of public speaking, judgment, or negative evaluation by other people.

Therefore, presentation skills training is essential for any business professional who wants to achieve effective communication . It will remove the anxiety from presentation performance and help users effectively deliver their message and connect with the audience.

Archetypes of presentations

Persuasive presentations aim to convince the audience – often in short periods – to acquire a product or service, adhere to a cause, or invest in a company. For business entrepreneurs or politicians, persuasive presentations are their tool for the trade.

Unless you aim to be perceived as an imposter, a proper persuasive presentation has the elements of facts, empathy, and logic, balanced under a well-crafted narrative. The central pillar of these presentations is to identify the single factor that gathered your audience: it could be a market need, a social cause, or a revolutionary concept for today’s society. It has to be something with enough power to gather critiques – both good and bad.

That single factor has to be backed up by facts. Research that builds your hypothesis on how to solve that problem. A deep understanding of the target audience’s needs , concerns, and social position regarding the solution your means can offer. When those elements are in place, building a pitch becomes an easy task. 

Graphics can help you introduce information in a compelling format, lowering the need for lengthy presentations. Good presentation skills for persuasive presentations go by the hand of filtering relevant data and creating the visual cues that resonate with what your audience demands.

One powerful example of a persuasive presentation is the technique known as the elevator pitch . You must introduce your idea or product convincingly to the audience in a timeframe between 30 seconds and less than 2 minutes. You have to expose:

• What do you do 
• What’s the problem to solve
• Why is your solution different from others 
• Why should the audience care about your expertise

For that very purpose, using engaging graphics with contrasting colors elevates the potential power of your message. It speaks professionalism, care for details, and out-of-the-box thinking. Knowing how to end a presentation is also critical, as your CTAs should be placed with care.

Therefore, let’s resume the requirements of persuasive presentations in terms of good presentation skills:

• Identifying problems and needs
• Elaborating “the hook” (the element that grabs the audience’s attention)
• Knowing how to “tie” your audience (introducing a piece of information related to the hook that causes an emotional impact)
• Broad knowledge of body language and hand gestures to quickly convey your message
• Being prepared to argue a defense of your point of view
• Handling rejection
• Having a proactive attitude to convert opportunities into new projects
• Using humor, surprise, or personal anecdotes as elements to sympathize with the audience
• Having confidence
• Be able to summarize facts and information in visually appealing ways

You can learn more about persuasive presentation techniques by clicking here .

In the case of instructional presentations, we ought to differentiate two distinctive types:

• Lecture Presentations : Presentations being held at universities or any other educative institution. Those presentations cover, topic by topic, and the contents of a syllabus and are created by the team of teachers in charge of the course.
• Training Presentations : These presentations take place during in-company training sessions and usually comprise a good amount of content that is resumed into easy-to-take solutions. They are aimed to coach employees over certain topics relevant to their work performance. The 70-20-10 Model is frequently used to address these training situations.

Lecture presentations appeal to the gradual introduction of complex concepts, following a structure set in the course’s syllabus. These presentations often have a similar aesthetic as a group of professors or researchers created to share their knowledge about a topic. Personal experience does tell that course presentations often rely on factual data, adequately documented, and on the theoretical side.

An example of a presentation that lies under this concept is a Syllabus Presentation, used by the teaching team to introduce the subject to new students, evaluation methods, concepts to be learned, and expectations to pass the course.

On the other hand, training presentations are slide decks designed to meet an organization’s specific needs in the formal education of their personnel. Commonly known as “continuous education,” plenty of companies invest resources in coaching their employees to achieve higher performance results. These presentations have the trademark of being concise since their idea is to introduce the concepts that shall be applied in practice sessions. 

Ideally, the training presentations are introduced with little text and easy-to-recognize visual cues. Since the idea is to summarize as much as possible, these are visually appealing for the audience. They must be dynamic enough to allow the presenter to convey the message.

Those key takeaways remind employees when they revisit their learning resources and allow them to ruminate on questions that fellow workers raise. 

To sum up this point, building presentation skills for instructional presentations requires:

• Ability to put complex concepts into simpler words
• Patience and a constant learning mindset
• Voice training to deliver lengthy speeches without being too dense
• Ability to summarize points and note the key takeaways
• Empathizing with the audience to understand their challenges in the learning process

The informative presentations take place in business situations, such as when to present project reports from different departments to the management. Another potential usage of these presentations is in SCRUM or other Agile methodologies, when a sprint is completed, to discuss the advance of the project with the Product Owner.

As they are presentations heavily dependent on data insights, it’s common to see the usage of infographics and charts to express usually dense data in simpler terms and easy to remember. 

Informative presentations don’t just fall into the business category. Ph.D. Dissertation and Thesis presentations are topics that belong to the informative presentations category as they condense countless research hours into manageable reports for the academic jury. 

Since these informational presentations can be perceived as lengthy and data-filled, it is important to learn the following professional presentation skills:

• Attention to detail
• Be able to explain complex information in simpler terms
• Creative thinking
• Powerful diction
• Working on pauses and transitions
• Pacing the presentation, so not too much information is divulged per slide

The leading inspirational platform, TEDx, comes to mind when talking about inspirational presentations. This presentation format has the peculiarity of maximizing the engagement with the audience to divulge a message, and due to that, it has specific requirements any presenter must meet.

This presentation format usually involves a speaker on a stage, either sitting or better standing, in which the presenter engages with the audience with a storytelling format about a life experience, a job done that provided a remarkable improvement for society, etc.

Empathizing with the audience is the key ingredient for these inspirational presentations. Still, creativity is what shapes the outcome of your performance as people are constantly looking for different experiences – not the same recipe rephrased with personal touches. The human factor is what matters here, way above data and research. What has your experience to offer to others? How can it motivate another human being to pursue a similar path or discover their true calling?

To achieve success in terms of communication skills presentation, these inspirational presentations have the following requirements:

• Focus on the audience (engage, consider their interests, and make them a part of your story)
• Putting ego aside
• Creative communication skills
• Storytelling skills
• Body language knowledge to apply the correct gestures to accompany your story
• Voice training
• Using powerful words

After discussing the different kinds of presentations we can come across at any stage of our lives, a group of presentation skills is standard in any type of presentation. See below what makes a good presentation and which skills you must count on to succeed as a presenter.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a crucial aspect of giving an effective presentation. Nothing says more about respect for your audience and the organization you represent than delivering the presentation on time . Arriving last minute puts pressure on the tech team behind audiovisuals, as they don’t have enough preparation to test microphones, stage lights, and projector settings, which can lead to a less powerful presentation Even when discussing presentations hosted in small rooms for a reduced audience, testing the equipment becomes essential for an effective presentation.

A solution for this is to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Ideally, one hour is a sweet spot since the AV crew has time to check the gear and requirements for your presentation. Another benefit of this, for example, in inspirational presentations, is measuring the previous presenter’s impact on the audience. This gives insights about how to resonate with the public, and their interest, and how to accommodate your presentation for maximum impact.

Body Language

Our bodies can make emotions transparent for others, even when we are unaware of such a fact. Proper training for body language skills reduces performance anxiety, giving the audience a sense of expertise about the presented topic. 

Give your presentation and the audience the respect they deserve by watching over these potential mistakes:

• Turning your back to the audience for extended periods : It’s okay to do so when introducing an important piece of information or explaining a graph, but it is considered rude to give your back to the audience constantly.
• Fidgeting : We are all nervous in the presence of strangers, even more, if we are the center of attention for that moment. Instead of playing with your hair or making weird hand gestures, take a deep breath to center yourself before the presentation and remember that everything you could do to prepare is already done. Trust your instincts and give your best.
• Intense eye contact : Have you watched a video where the presenter stared at the camera the entire time? That’s the feeling you transmit to spectators through intense eye contact. It’s a practice often used by politicians to persuade.
• Swearing : This is a no-brainer. Even when you see influencers swearing on camera or in podcasts or live presentations, it is considered an informal and lousy practice for business and academic situations. If you have a habit to break when it comes to this point, find the humor in these situations and replace your swear words with funny alternatives (if the presentation allows for it). 

Voice Tone plays a crucial role in delivering effective presentations and knowing how to give a good presentation. Your voice is a powerful tool for exposing your ideas and feelings . Your voice can articulate the message you are telling, briefing the audience if you feel excited about what you are sharing or, in contrast, if you feel the presentation is a burden you ought to complete.

Remember, passion is a primary ingredient in convincing people. Therefore, transmitting such passion with a vibrant voice may help gather potential business partners’ interest.  

But what if you feel sick prior to the presentation? If, by chance, your throat is sore minutes before setting foot on the stage, try this: when introducing yourself, mention that you are feeling a bit under the weather. This resonates with the audience to pay more attention to your efforts. In case you don’t feel comfortable about that, ask the organizers for a cup of tea, as it will settle your throat and relax your nerves.

Tech Skills

Believe it or not, people still feel challenged by technology these days. Maybe that’s the reason why presentation giants like Tony Robbins opt not to use PowerPoint presentations . The reality is that there are plenty of elements involved in a presentation that can go wrong from the tech side:

• A PDF not opening
• Saving your presentation in a too-recent PowerPoint version
• A computer not booting up
• Mac laptops and their never-ending compatibility nightmare
• Not knowing how to change between slides
• Not knowing how to use a laser pointer
• Internet not working
• Audio not working

We can come up with a pretty long list of potential tech pitfalls, and yet more than half of them fall in presenters not being knowledgeable about technology.

If computers aren’t your thing, let the organization know about this beforehand. There is always a crew member available to help presenters switch between slides or configure the presentation for streaming. This takes the pressure off your shoulders, allowing you to concentrate on the content to present. Remember, even Bill Gates can get a BSOD during a presentation .

Presentations, while valuable for conveying information and ideas, can be daunting for many individuals. Here are some common difficulties people encounter when giving presentations:

Public Speaking Anxiety

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, affects a significant portion of the population. This anxiety can lead to nervousness, trembling, and forgetfulness during a presentation.

Lack of Confidence

Many presenters struggle with self-doubt, fearing that they may not be knowledgeable or skilled enough to engage their audience effectively.

Content Organization

Organizing information in a coherent and engaging manner can be challenging. Presenters often grapple with how to structure their content to make it easily digestible for the audience. Artificial Intelligence can help us significantly reduce the content arrangement time when you work with tools like our AI Presentation Maker (made for presenters by experts in presentation design). 

Audience Engagement

Keeping the audience’s attention and interest throughout the presentation can be difficult. Distractions, disengaged attendees, or lack of interaction can pose challenges.

Technical Issues

Technology glitches, such as malfunctioning equipment, incompatible file formats, or poor internet connectivity, can disrupt presentations and increase stress.

Time Management

Striking the right balance between providing enough information and staying within time limits is a common challenge. Going over or under the allotted time can affect the effectiveness of the presentation.

Handling Questions and Challenges

Responding to unexpected questions, criticism, or challenges from the audience can be difficult, especially when presenters are unprepared or lack confidence in their subject matter.

Visual Aids and Technology

Creating and effectively using visual aids like slides or multimedia can be a struggle for some presenters. Technical competence is essential in this aspect.

Language and Articulation

Poor language skills or unclear articulation can hinder effective communication. Presenters may worry about stumbling over words or failing to convey their message clearly.

Maintaining appropriate and confident body language can be challenging. Avoiding nervous habits, maintaining eye contact, and using gestures effectively requires practice.

Overcoming Impersonal Delivery

In virtual presentations, maintaining a personal connection with the audience can be difficult. The absence of face-to-face interaction can make it challenging to engage and read the audience.

Cultural and Diversity Awareness

Presenting to diverse audiences requires sensitivity to cultural differences and varying levels of familiarity with the topic.

In this section, we gathered some tips on how to improve presentation skills that can certainly make an impact if applied to your presentation skills. We believe these skills can be cultivated to transform into habits for your work routine.

Tip #1: Build a narrative

One memorable way to guarantee presentation success is by writing a story of all the points you desire to cover. This statement is based on the logic behind storytelling and its power to connect with people .

Don’t waste time memorizing slides or reading your presentation to the audience. It feels unnatural, and any question that diverts from the topic in discussion certainly puts you in jeopardy or, worse, exposes you as a fraud in the eyes of the audience. And before you ask, it is really evident when a presenter has a memorized speech. 

Build and rehearse the presentation as if telling a story to a group of interested people. Lower the language barrier by avoiding complex terms that maybe even you aren’t fully aware of their meaning. Consider the ramifications of that story, what it could lead to, and which are the opportunities to explore. Then, visualize yourself giving the presentation in a natural way.

Applying this technique makes the presentation feel like second nature to you. It broadens the spectrum in which you can show expertise over a topic or even build the basis for new interesting points of view about the project.

Tip #2: Don’t talk for more than 3 minutes per slide

It is a common practice of presenters to bombard the audience with facts and information whilst retaining the same slide on the screen. Why can this happen? It could be because the presenter condensed the talk into very few slides and preferred to talk. The reality is that your spectators won’t retain the information you are giving unless you give visual cues to help that process. 

Opt to prepare more slides and pace your speech to match the topics shown on each slide. Don’t spend more than 3 minutes per slide unless you have to introduce a complex piece of data. Use visual cues to direct the spectators about what you talk about, and summarize the principal concepts discussed at the end of each section.

Tip #3: Practice meditation daily

Anxiety is the number one enemy of professional presenters. It slowly builds without you being aware of your doubts and can hinder your performance in multiple ways: making you feel paralyzed, fidgeting, making you forget language skills or concepts, affecting your health, etc.

Meditation is an ancient practice taken from Buddhist teachings that train your mind to be here in the present. We often see the concepts of meditation and mindfulness as synonyms, whereas you should be aware that meditation is a practice that sets the blocks to reach a state of mindfulness. For presenters, being in the here and now is essential to retain focus, but meditation techniques also teach us to control our breathing and be in touch with our body signals when stress builds up. 

The customary practice of meditation has an impact on imagination and creativity but also helps to build patience – a skill much needed for connecting with your audience in instructional presentations.

Having the proper set of presentation skills can be quite subjective. It goes beyond presentation tips and deepens into how flexible we can be in our ability to communicate ideas.

Different presentations and different audiences shape the outcome of our efforts. Therefore, having a basic understanding of how to connect, raise awareness, and empathize with people can be key ingredients for your career as a presenter. A word of advice: success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes dedication and patience to build communication skills . Don’t condition your work to believe you will be ready “someday”; it’s best to practice and experience failure as part of the learning process.

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Most Important Presentation Skills (With Examples)

• Most Common Skills
• What Are Soft Skills?
• What Are Leadership Skills?
• What Are What Are Hybrid Skills?
• What Are Teamwork Skills?
• What Are Communication Skills?
• What Are Organizational Skills?
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• What Are Adaptability Skills?
• What Are Internal Analysis?
• What Are Multitasking Skills?
• What Is Professional Networking?
• What Is Nonverbal Communication?
• What Are Critical Thinking Skills?
• Presentation Skills
• What Is Accountability?
• What Is Emotional Intelligence?
• Verbal Communication Skills

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Presentation skills are important to your professional and personal life. Effective presentation skills can help you get ahead in your career. With the proper presentation skills, you’ll open up new doors for professional growth and be a more confident individual overall.

Whether you want to know the different types of presentation skills or improve your presentation skills, we’ll cover what presentation skills are, how to improve your ability to present, and showcase your new skills.

Key Takeaways:

Presentation skills are important in the workplace because they can be used for meetings, interviews, and conferences.

Some presentation skills examples include research, organization, and adaptability

Practice as much as possible before a presentation so that it becomes muscle memory, however, to engage the audience, be flexible with your presentation’s performance.

Good presentations are informative, engaging, and precise.

Different types of presentation skills

How to improve your presentation skills, examples of using presentation skills, presentation skills faq, final thoughts.

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Being a skilled presenter requires a constellation of hard and soft skills . Some different types of presentation skills include research, planning, and organization.

Below are more common types of presentation skills. As you read through this list, think about where you’re naturally strong and where you could do with some improvement:

Research. The first step of any successful presentation is the research and preparation phase. First and foremost, you have to become an expert on the content you hope to deliver. It’s also essential to research your audience to know which information is most pertinent for them.

Planning. Once you’ve completed your research, it’s time to develop a plan. During this phase, you’ll prioritize which information gets put front-and-center, and which is less vital for your ultimate goal.

Before you start drafting your presentation, it’s crucial to keep your goal at the forefront: what do you want the audience to do after listening to your presentation?

Organization . Audiences prefer presentations that are well-thought-out and delivered in a logical order. Before you even step foot in the room, you should know what you need to do to set up, have all your notes in order, and be aware of your allotted time.

Verbal communication. No surprises here, verbal communication skills are downright essential for an effective presentation. Even if you have very rigid notes to follow, being quick on your feet to answer questions or alter your content for the audience’s benefit will serve you well during presentations.

Nonverbal communication . Good body language means standing up straight, not fidgeting too much, and maintaining eye contact with your audience members.

Public speaking . Some people get nervous just thinking about speaking publicly. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is crucial to keep your nerves under wraps for delivering the most effective presentation possible. Audiences are less likely to trust presenters who don’t appear confident.

Memorization. We’ve all seen presentations where the presenter is just reading directly off his Powerpoint slides – we don’t need to tell you that those presentations are unequivocally bad. It’s fine to have notes as a reference, but the more time you can spend looking at your audience rather than the sheet in front of you, the better.

Writing. Being a good writer will help keep your presentation organized and give a boost to your credibility. Before you can commit your content to memory, you need to develop that content.

Story-telling. Not all presentations require story-telling, but it can be a very effective method of grabbing your listeners’ attention. It can be a hypothetical story that presents a question or problem, a real story that leads into your main argument, or a story that continues throughout to illustrate the duller facts your presentation covers.

Rhetorical skills . Rhetoric is all about persuasion: how are your words going to induce action from the listener(s)? Rhetorical appeals are classified under three headings: ethos, logos, and pathos.

Ethos establishes credibility in the speaker and trust in the listeners through confident delivery and expert testimony. Logos covers your presentation’s logical thrust through statistics, models, comparisons, analogies, etc. Pathos is your presentation’s emotional appeal, supported by vivid language and stories that promote certain values.

Active listening . Pay attention to which parts of your presentation are grabbing listeners and which are falling flat. If your audience’s eyes start glazing over or phones start coming out, you know you’re losing them.

Adaptability . Like the above point, being able to adapt on the fly sets top-tier presenters apart from merely good ones. For instance, if you can tell your presentation isn’t working, you can open up the floor and ask questions as a way of determining your audience’s priorities.

Delivery. We bet you’ve heard some of the same Dad jokes multiple times in your life. Sometimes they’re hilarious, and sometimes they induce an eye-roll. The difference? Delivery. Pace, timing, tone, and enunciation/inflection are all important elements of good delivery.

Technical skills . All right, you’re all set with the perfect presentation, you walk into the room, and the A/V setup isn’t what you were expecting. Well, if you followed our advice above, you showed up a bit early and had time to fix it.

Analysis . Phew, your presentation is done. Time to forget about presenting until the next one comes up, right? No siree – now is the time for you to take a step back and evaluate your performance.

To improve your presentation skills, you should watch and learn what works and doesn’t work from others and practice with an audience of friends. Here are more ways to improve your presentation skills:

Watch and learn. You’ve seen presentations before, but to prepare for your own, try watching presentations to learn what works and what doesn’t. If you’re presenting at a conference, attend other presentations and pay attention to how the audience responds. Your audience probably won’t be much different.

Practice. Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes. Rehearse what you want to say, either on your own or with an audience of friends. You can even record yourself speaking and pinpoint weak areas and strengths . The more you perform your presentation, the more comfortable you’ll be delivering the real thing.

Visualize success. What speakers often forget is that audiences want you to do well. They’re there (more or less) of their own volition, and they want to hear what you have to say. Take that nervousness you’re feeling and transform it into excitement.

Exercise/drink water beforehand. The human body responds to stressful situations with a whole host of unwelcome physical side effects. If you stay hydrated and get some light exercise in beforehand, you’ll flush the adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) right out of your body.

Adopt a power stance and smile. Just as exercise and hydration help keep your body regulated, so does powerful body language . Standing straight with shoulders squared and a smile on your face, and your body will be tricked into thinking you’re in a confident and commanding position.

Engage your audience. The best presenters are also first-class entertainers. Don’t go overboard and start practicing your comedy routine, but lightening the mood with a joke or two can go a long way. Be sure to greet your audience enthusiastically.

Don’t get defensive if you’re stumped. There might be moments when an audience member asks a question, and you don’t have an answer . Don’t try to equivocate or dodge the question because people will see what you’re doing. It’s okay not to know everything, but pretending you do will only deteriorate your listeners’ faith in you.

Keep it concise. People won’t be upset if you wrap up earlier than expected, but they might be a little peeved if you start running over your allotted time. Cut irrelevant information, and your audience will thank you .

Take your time. All right, so we just suggested keeping things short, and now we’re telling you to take your time. What gives? Well, you should always include a bit of padding in your presentation. For example, if your presentation is meant to be a half-hour, try to get it down to 25 minutes, so you have some wiggle room.

Presentation skills cover a range of abilities that allow one to effectively engage their audience and get information across in a clear way. In today’s world, the persuasive power of presentations is more important than ever.

There are many different example scenarios in which you might give a presentation:

Delivering a presentation to colleagues, employees, or subordinates about new technology, processes, goals, etc.

Drumming up investor interest, either for a new business or for your current business’s expansion.

Teaching your team a new skill.

Deciding between two or more alternative options or solving a problem with a current system.

Progress reports.

Selling a product or service to a client.

Motivational speech

Interviewing for a new job or promotion

Saying goodbye to a colleague (or introducing a new one )

Giving a speech at a family function, like a wedding.

What are the four types of presentation?

The four types of presentation are: informative, instructional, arousing, and persuasive. Informative presentations briefly educate your audience on a specific topic. Instructional presentations teach your audience more thoroughly and generally come with more details and/or directions.

Arousing presentations are meant to evoke some kind of emotion in the audience. Persuasive presentations are designed to convince the audience of a particular viewpoint.

What are the four P’s of presentation?

The four P’s of presentation are planning, preparation, practice, and performance. As the four P’s imply, you need to plan and prepare your presentation, as well as practice. Finally, you need to be aware of your performance during your presentation to make sure you use your skills in an engaging manner.

What is the 10-20-30 rule of presentation?

The 10-20-30 rule is for a slide presentation and means you should use no more than 10 slides, present no longer than 20 minutes, and use no less than 30-point font. Considering these factors helps make a presentation efficient with its time. Remember you want to take your time and be direct with your information. Using the 10-20-30 rule helps you find a balance between these needs.

What is the most important part of using presentation skills?

An important part of using presentation skills would be speaking the language of the audience. Knowing your audience helps you get your point across. To help speak the language of the audience, you can use appropriate analogies and anecdotes and avoid any foreign words.

For example, if you are presenting a topic to a group of college freshmen about a topic you’re an expert in, try to use language that they would understand. Using language the audience will understand helps you get your point across better.

Whether you’re a natural showman or a super-shy introvert , keep the above tips in mind to improve your presentation skills. Because the chances are, you’ll have to give a presentation at some point in your life. With a little practice, you’ll have audiences clamoring for more.

Johns Hopkins Carey Business School – Presentation Skills

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Matthew Zane is the lead editor of Zippia's How To Get A Job Guides. He is a teacher, writer, and world-traveler that wants to help people at every stage of the career life cycle. He completed his masters in American Literature from Trinity College Dublin and BA in English from the University of Connecticut.

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12 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills [for Work & Life]

According to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, around 75% of people list public speaking as their number one fear , even higher than their fear of death! 

At the same time, though, presentation skills are among the most in-demand skills for just about any job out there . 

Want to get over your fear of public speaking, improve your presentation skills, and give your career a huge boost?

You’re in the right place! This article is here to tell you everything you need to know about presentation skills from A to Z: 

• 9 Types of Presentations and Delivery Methods
• 12 Steps to Giving Better Presentations
• 5 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills

How to Add Your Presentation Skills to Your Resume

And more! Let’s dive in. 

What Are Presentation Skills?

Presentation skills are soft skills that allow you to present information clearly in front of an audience.

As such, these skills come in handy in all kinds of situations, including:

• Work. For example, giving a presentation in front of your team, pitching a new idea, etc.
• School or university. E.g., giving an oral presentation about a subject or presenting a master's thesis.
• Personal life. E.g. giving a speech at your best friend’s wedding or a toast at a restaurant.

No matter the situation, people with strong presentation skills typically possess the following skills:

• Body language
• Public speaking
• Communication skills
• Emotional intelligence

Why Are Presentation Skills Important?

But, what exactly makes presentation skills so important in basically every life area? 

Here are their most noteworthy benefits: 

• Increased employability. Presentation skills come in handy for many positions across all industries. 70% of respondents in a Prezi study said that presentation skills are critical for career success. As such, presentation skills are transferable skills that can instantly make you more employable.
• Higher academic performance. In the US, most university classes involve a presentation assignment or two. As such, being good at presenting is essential if you want to succeed academically.
• Effective networking. Having great presentation skills translates into great communication skills, which, in turn, helps you get better at professional networking .
• Improved confidence. Being able to speak in front of an audience can be a serious confidence booster, easily translating to other areas in life.

9 Types of Presentation and Delivery Methods

There are several types of presentations out there. 

Some presentations are meant to inspire the audience (such as motivational talks), while others are simply meant to instruct or inform (HR giving a presentation about company policies to new employees). 

Here are the five most common types of presentations, explained: 

• Persuasive presentations are meant to persuade the audience to make a decision, support a cause, side with a particular argument, and so on. A salesman pitching a product to a potential customer is an example of a persuasive presentation.
• Informative presentations aim to inform the audience about a topic, procedure, product, benefit, etc. An example of an informative presentation is a weatherman reading the weather report on TV.
• Inspirational presentations are meant to inspire the audience and potentially boost their confidence or morale. In a business setting, inspirational presentations are meant to motivate employees to perform better or get through tough times. In day-to-day life, on the other hand, an inspirational presentation could be trying to motivate a friend to do better at school.
• Educational presentations , just like the name implies, aim to educate the audience. Professors giving a lecture or tour guides speaking to museum visitors are examples of educational presentations.
• Instructional presentations are about instructing or guiding the audience on a set of guidelines, a new policy, a certain law, etc. An example of an instructional presentation is a flight attendant instructing passengers on what to do in case of an emergency.

On the same note, there are also 4 common ways presentations are delivered: 

• Extemporaneous presentations. These presentations are planned, but you deliver them without preparation.
• Manuscript presentations are presentations you deliver based on a script or notes.
• Impromptu presentations aren’t planned but rather delivered on the spot.
• Memorized presentations are those you learn by heart from start to finish.

11 Tips on How to Give Better Presentations

Looking to improve your presentation skills?

There’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that, with enough practice, you can get really good at delivering presentations.

The bad news, though, is that just like any other soft skill, in order to get good at delivering presentations, you’ll have to practice a lot.

To help get you started, below, we’re going to cover 12 of our best tips on how to improve your presentation skills, starting with:

#1. Prepare your presentation in advance

Impromptu presentations don’t happen that often in real life. Most times, you’ll have enough time to prepare for your presentation. 

Needless to say, you should use that time to your advantage. Don’t just make mental notes of what you’ll say during your presentation and call it a day, but actually plan it out from start to finish. 

When preparing your presentation in advance, make sure to consider the following points:

• What type of presentation are you making?
• What is your speech delivery method?
• How are you going to grab the audience’s attention from the get-go?
• What are the main points you need to cover?
• What is the best way to make the conclusion memorable?
• How much time do you have at your disposal?
• What visual aids and multimedia can you use?
• What does the audience expect to see/hear?

#2. Practice as much as possible

Just like with any other soft skill, the best way to hone your presentation skills is to practice as much as possible.

Some ways you can practice your presentation skills are:

• In front of a mirror or in front of your friends and family.
• Watch TED talks to get inspired and learn what good presentation skills look like.
• Read books on communication, presentation, and public speaking.
• Take extensive notes of what you need to improve. 
• Record and time yourself when doing presentations.
• Hire a public speaking coach on Fiverr or another platform.
• Take a public speaking course at your local community college.

The more you practice, the better your presentation skills are going to get.

Also, when practicing, make sure to pay attention to your tonality, body language, and whether you’re using a lot of crutch words .

#3. Exercise

Yes, really.

Exercise can help improve your presentation skills!

Some ways it does so are:

• It boosts the levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, all of which are known to improve your mood and regulate your anxiety. 
• It improves your ability to focus and pay attention, benefits which can last for up to two hours after your workout .
• It strengthens and protects your memory, making it easy to recall words. 

Now, when it comes to how much you should exercise, that can differ from one person to the next.

We say - find a golden mean that works best for you. If you’re not big on exercising, you can always start small with something casual like biking to work or playing a sport once or twice a week. 

#4. Arrive early

By arriving early for your presentation, you can deal with any possible setbacks (e.g. mic not working, USB failure, wardrobe malfunction, etc). 

This will give you plenty of time to start your presentation on your terms, instead of running around trying to fix things at the last minute. 

Not to mention, in certain situations arriving early can also help you to prepare mentally and emotionally for the upcoming presentation. 

Obviously, a casual presentation in front of coworkers won’t require much emotional preparation. But if you have to, say, pitch a marketing idea to your clients or address a room full of strangers, getting to exchange some words with them before the presentation could break the ice and make it easier to engage with them later on. 

#5. Know your audience

You should always keep your audience in mind when making (and delivering) a presentation. 

At the end of the day, if your message is not tailored to its audience, chances are, it’s going to fall flat.

If your audience is a group of 50-somethings, high-level executives, chances are they won’t get your Rick and Morty references or appreciate any attempts to keep the presentation light, casual, and humorous. 

Instead, stick to talking about facts and figures without any joking around, use straightforward language, and avoid over-the-top body language while delivering the presentation. 

If on the other hand, you’re delivering a presentation to your class of 20-somethings, then you’re a lot more likely to make an impact if you joke around, make references, and make the presentation more casual.

In short, if you want your presentation to carry as much impact as possible, make sure to think about who you’re presenting to. 

#6. Use Relaxation Techniques

Even the most seasoned public speakers experience some level of anxiety before giving a presentation.

To make sure nerves and anxiety don’t throw you off your A-game, you can take advantage of relaxation techniques. 

One of the simplest (and most effective) ways to relax before a presentation is to breathe.  

When we say breathing, though, we don’t mean the automatic in-and-out we do to stay alive. We mean taking deep, relaxing breaths from your stomach while being mindful of what you’re doing. 

Here’s how breathing mindfully before your presentation can help you give a better presentation: 

• Calms your nerves
• Reduces stress 
• Helps with anxiety 

To practice mindful breathing, focus on breathing from your stomach and push your stomach out each time you inhale. When you’re inhaling and exhaling, count to at least three for each breath. 

Keep doing this and you’ll soon start feeling more relaxed. 

#7. Acknowledge That You’re Nervous

People appreciate honesty. 

If you go on stage feeling extremely nervous, use this neat little trick:

Instead of trying to play it cool, simply acknowledge that you’re feeling nervous by straight-up saying it.

Chances are, a very large chunk of your audience feels exactly the same way about public speaking, and you’ll build up some rapport just like that!

This same exact tip even applies to job interviews. You can simply tell the recruiters that you’re feeling nervous and need a minute - that’s totally acceptable!

Unless you’re applying for a job in sales, the job interviewer is not going to be evaluating you on how good you are at passing interviews.

#8. Tell stories

Storytelling is a powerful presentation tool. According to the Guardian, 63% of presentation attendees remember stories , while only 5% remember statistics.

That’s because a good story can take the audience on a journey, intrigue them, inspire them, and motivate them. In turn, they’re much more likely to remember your presentation.

There are several ways you can go about incorporating stories into your presentation. 

One is to tie your own stories, along with what you experienced, learned, or observed, to make your argument more impactful and relatable. Alternatively, you can also create a story for the sake of the presentation that can be just as impactful in driving your point across. 

Keep in mind, though, that not every presentation requires storytelling. If your presentation is packed with data and stats showing how you managed to improve profits by 20% in the last quarter, for example, then you don’t really need to include a story in there to make it impactful. 

#9. Be humorous

This one’s quite self-explanatory; as much as you can, be humorous during your presentation. It helps ease tension, get the attention of everyone in the room, and connect with them more effectively. 

Now, some people are born with humor. If you’re one of them, cracking a joke here and there should come very naturally to you. 

Otherwise, you can practice your presentation in front of your friends and family and prepare your jokes in advance. If your mock audience laughs at your jokes, chances are, so will your real audience!

#10. Use visual aids and media

Using visuals and other media forms (e.g. music, videos, infographics, etc.), can make your presentation significantly more engaging, memorable, and striking. 

Say, for example, that your presentation consists entirely of numbers and data. You can use data visualization (e.g. charts, graphs, and maps), to make the data stick with your audience better. 

Or, if you’re a lecturer at a university, you’ll want to use as many pictures, videos, and even music to help your students remember the information you’re transmitting. 

Some of the most popular ways to make your presentations as visual as possible involve using:

• Whiteboards
• Presentation applications 

#11. Engage the audience

To give a truly memorable presentation, engage your audience as much as possible. 

Instead of speaking to your audience, try to speak with your audience.

What we mean by this is that you should be very proactive in getting your audience involved in your presentation. Ask questions, get them to share stories, and so on. 

Some examples of how you can effectively engage an audience are: 

• Asking a random audience member to share their experience on a topic.
• Doing a count of hands (e.g. “Has anyone done X? Can I see a count of hands?” or “Which one of you guys likes Y? Raise your hands.” )
• Do an on-the-spot poll (e.g. “How many of you guys do X?” or “how many of you guys think Y?” )
• Making time for a Q&A at the end of your presentation. 

6 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Just like any other skill, presentation skills can be learned and improved. So, if you’re looking to improve your presentation skills, follow the tips below: 

• Take every public speaking opportunity you get. The best way to learn presentation skills is by doing it. So, take every opportunity you get. E.g. volunteer to present a project, say a toast at your friend's wedding, etc.
• Check these TED talks. Is there anything TED talks haven’t covered? Check out these talks that can teach you how to give awesome presentations: “ Giving Presentations Worth Listening To ”, “ the secret structure of great talks ,” and “ the science of stage fright (and how to overcome it) ”. 
• Take public speaking classes. Udemy, Coursera, and LinkedIn all have great public speaking courses. Or, even better, take a class at your local college. This way, you’ll get a lot more practice than by taking an online class. 
• Attend other presentations. This one’s pretty self-explanatory. The more presentations you attend, the more you can learn from others’ successes or failures. 
• Grow your confidence. Speak in front of friends and family, film yourself, and accept constructive criticism. Soon enough, you’ll be confident enough to give excellent presentations!
• Ask for feedback. How can you improve your presentation skills if you don’t know where you’re lacking? After your presentation, ask one or two members of your audience for personal, one-on-one feedback on how you did. 

If you want to show a potential employer that you’ve got presentation skills, you’ll need to highlight them on your resume.

And in this section, we’ll teach you just how to do that!

Before you do that, though, make sure to grab one of our free resume templates!

#1. List Your Presentation Skills Under Your Soft Skills 

The first and most obvious place to list your presentation skills is under your skills section . 

This part is pretty straightforward. Your skills section should be divided into “soft skills” and “hard skills” and look something like this: 

Simply add “Presentation Skills” under the “Soft Skills” section, and you’re good to go.

#2. Mention Your Presentation Skills in Your Resume Summary 

If presentation skills are super important for the role you’re applying for, you can also include them in your resume summary : 

In a nutshell, the resume summary is a short paragraph on top of your resume that typically mentions: 

• Your title and years of experience 
• Your most noteworthy achievements
• Your top skills and qualifications

Done right, this section should highlight all your strong points right from the get-go and get the hiring manager to go through the rest of your resume in more detail. 

Here’s an example of a resume summary that effectively mentions the candidate’s presentation skills: 

• Sales professional with 7 years of experience in sales presentations and lead generation. Excellent public speaking skills. Track record of converting prospects into loyal customers.

#3. Prove Presentation Skills Through Your Work Experience 

Lastly (and most importantly), you should use your work experience section to prove that you’ve got the presentation skills you mentioned in your skills section.

Here’s exactly how you can do that: 

• Keep your work experience section relevant. List recent and relevant positions. Omit outdated and irrelevant ones. For example, if you’re applying for a customer service position, you can mention the time you worked, say, as a receptionist. Your teen job mowing lawns, on the other hand? Not as important. 
• Focus on achievements instead of responsibilities. Instead of telling the hiring manager what they already know (your responsibilities), focus on showing them how you made an impact with your achievements. A way to do that is to write down a couple of achievements for every presentation skill that you include under your soft skills. 
• Make your achievements quantifiable . Adding numbers to your achievements makes them significantly more impressive. “Delivered a presentation that closed a 6-figure client” is a lot more powerful than “Delivered client presentations,” right?
• Use action verbs and power words. Presentation skills are also about how you present yourself in your resume. Avoid dry and unimaginative language and go for these action verbs and power words instead.

Key Takeaways 

And that’s about all you need to know to improve your presentation skills!

Before you go, though, here’s a quick recap of everything we covered in this article:

• Presentation skills are soft skills that allow you to present information clearly and convey your message effectively. 
• Some important presentation skills include public speaking, communication, persuasion, creativity, humor, and emotional intelligence. 
• Presentation skills can increase your employability, improve your academic performance, make it easier to network, and help you grow professionally. 
• Some steps you can take to give better presentations are to prepare in advance, practice as much as possible, exercise regularly, be humorous, use visual aids and multimedia, engage the audience, and accept that you’re nervous. 
• To improve your presentation skills, watch videos that teach you how to give great presentations, attend public speaking classes and other presentations, and grow your confidence. 
• List your presentation skills under your skills section, mention them in your resume summary, and prove them with your achievements in the work experience section.

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• Presentation Skills
• Skills & Tools

Presentation skills can be defined as a set of abilities that enable an individual to: interact with the audience; transmit the messages with clarity; engage the audience in the presentation; and interpret and understand the mindsets of the listeners. These skills refine the way you put forward your messages and enhance your persuasive powers.

The present era places great emphasis on good presentation skills. This is because they play an important role in convincing the clients and customers. Internally, management with good presentation skills is better able to communicate the mission and vision of the organization to the employees.

Importance of Presentation Skills

Interaction with others is a routine job of businesses in today’s world. The importance of good presentation skills is established on the basis of following points:

• They help an individual in enhancing his own growth opportunities. In addition, it also grooms the personality of the presenter and elevates his levels of confidence.
• In case of striking deals and gaining clients, it is essential for the business professionals to understand the audience. Good presentation skills enable an individual to mold his message according to the traits of the audience. This increases the probability of successful transmission of messages.
• Lastly, business professionals have to arrange seminars and give presentations almost every day. Having good presentation skills not only increases an individual’s chances of success, but also enable him to add greatly to the organization.

How to Improve Presentation Skills

Development of good presentation skills requires efforts and hard work. To improve your presentation skills, you must:

• Research the Audience before Presenting: This will enable you to better understand the traits of the audience. You can then develop messages that can be better understood by your target audience. For instance, in case of an analytical audience, you can add more facts and figures in your presentation.
• Structure your Presentation Effectively: The best way to do this is to start with telling the audience, in the introduction, what you are going to present. Follow this by presenting the idea, and finish off the presentation by repeating the main points.
• Do a lot of Practice: Rehearse but do not go for memorizing the presentation. Rehearsals reduce your anxiety and enable you to look confident on the presentation day. Make sure you practice out loud, as it enables you to identify and eliminate errors more efficiently. Do not memorize anything as it will make your presentation look mechanical. This can reduce the degree of audience engagement.
• Take a Workshop: Most medium and large businesses allow their employees to take employee development courses and workshops, as well-trained employees are essential to the success of any company. You can use that opportunity to take a workshop on professional presentation skills such as those offered by Langevin Learning Services , which are useful for all business professionals, from employees to business trainers and managers.

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Hard skills vs. Soft skills

Ivan Andreev

Demand Generation & Capture Strategist, Valamis

November 27, 2021 · updated April 25, 2024

6 minute read

When seeking new recruits or considering internal promotions, it’s essential to identify the specific skills required for each role. Some of these skills are innate, while others may require formal training.

Hard skills should be outlined in the role specification, detailing the technical competencies needed. Soft skills, which encompass interpersonal and emotional intelligence, should be included in the person specification.

By reading this guide, you will gain the ability to clearly distinguish between the hard and soft skills necessary for your open positions. Additionally, this insight will prove invaluable for individuals aiming to enhance their resumes and effectively showcase their top skills.

What are hard skills?

What are soft skills, what’s the difference between hard skills and soft skills, list of hard and soft skills, how to develop hard and soft skills.

Hard skills are specific competencies, skills, knowledge, and abilities needed to perform a specific task or role. They can be learned through education and professional development. Usually, they are technical (but not always) and easily measurable.

Hard skills can be evidenced through educational certificates or practical demonstrations.

Take software development, for instance. It requires knowledge of programming languages, primarily aimed at writing computer programs. The proficiency level in this skill is readily measurable.

Consider the field of design as another example. While it varies—ranging from interior to web design—the fundamental requirement is a specific skill set tailored to perform precise tasks.

Knowledge of the Microsoft Suite is yet another hard skill. Learning to proficiently use tools like Microsoft Word and Excel is often crucial for specific job functions.

Therefore, each role demands a unique set of hard skills essential for performing designated tasks effectively.

Soft skills are personality traits, social competencies and skills, knowledge, and abilities used to perform interpersonal activities and unique tasks. Sometimes they are also called human skills.

Soft skills often stem from your inherent personality traits and social abilities, though they can be honed through practice and professional development.

Measuring soft skills, especially when you’re hiring new employees, can be tricky due to the limited information available. You really get to know a person’s soft skills through personal interactions.

While there are techniques and tests aimed at assessing these skills, be aware that their results can be imprecise and not always reflective of true ability. It’s only in real-life situations that you can accurately see how well someone handles these areas.

There are certain soft skills you’d likely want all your team members to possess, such as punctuality and the ability to collaborate effectively. Other skills, like leadership, communication, strategic thinking, and problem-solving, might be crucial for specific roles.

Soft skills don’t come certified, but you’ll recognize them as you work with someone. Natural leaders will instinctively take charge and guide others, while reliable timekeepers consistently show up on time or inform you ahead of any delays.

Skills matrix template

Efficiently assess, manage, and maximize your team’s potential and streamline your workflow.

The key difference lies in the nature of soft skills, which are closely intertwined with an individual’s personality and aren’t always teachable.

While you can enroll your team members in courses to enhance leadership, communication, and other soft skills, there’s always an innate aspect to consider. Some people are naturally more inclined to possess strong leadership qualities than others.

Hard skills, on the other hand, are rooted in what people learn. These skills are task-specific and easier to teach. You can send people to development courses to acquire new hard skills or to refine existing ones.

As careers progress, people often need to adapt and enhance their skill sets, especially when stepping into leadership roles. They’ll need practical knowledge specific to their positions along with interpersonal skills that allow them to excel.

It’s important to note that your best employees might not necessarily excel in both soft and hard skills. While versatility is a bonus, not all roles demand expertise in both areas.

There are many hard and soft skills, so that we will list only a few.

Now that you know the difference between soft and hard skills, it’s time to analyze which ones need to be added to your organization. And what to do next?

You can check our article about employee development methods , we have mentioned what methods work best for different skills sets and particular skills.

It will help you find ways to train your employees and improve your own skills.

Regarding leadership skills check our leadership development plan guide because it is a unique skill set and it requires specific training.

One way to map, manage, and track the required skills and skill gaps of your employees is to use a skills matrix .

How to conduct a skills gap analysis and what to do next

Start building your foundation for strategic workforce development.

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21 Ways To Improve Your Presentation Skills

Published: April 07, 2023

You know the feeling of sitting through a boring presentation. A text distracts you. A noise outside pulls your gaze. Your dog begs for attention. By the time the presentation ends, you question why you needed to sit and listen in the first place.

Effective presentation skills can stop you from boring an audience to oblivion. Delivering strong presentations can help you stand out as a leader, showcase your expertise, and build confidence.

Table of contents:

• Presentation skills definition
• Importance of presentation skills
• How to improve presentation skills
• Effective presentation skills
• Presentation skills for executives

Presentation Skills Definition

Presentation skills include anything you need to create and deliver clear, effective presentations to an audience. This includes creating a compelling set of slides , ensuring the information flows, and keeping your audience engaged.

Speakers with strong presentation skills can perform the following tasks:

• Bring together different sources of information to form a compelling narrative
• Hook audiences with a strong beginning and end
• Ensure audiences engage with their content through questions or surveys
• Understand what their audience wants and needs from their presentation

Importance of Presentation Skills

At some point in your career, you will present something. You might pitch a startup to a group of investors or show your research findings to your manager at work. Those in leading or executive roles often deliver presentations on a weekly or monthly basis.

Improving your presentation skills betters different aspects of your working life, including the following:

Communication: Improving your presentation skills can make you a better communicator with your co-workers and friends.

Confidence: 75% of people fear public speaking. By working on your presentation skills, you can gain confidence when speaking in front of a crowd.

Creativity: You learn to understand how to use imagery and examples to engage an audience.

Management: Presentations involve pulling together information to form a succinct summary, helping you build project and time management skills.

How To Improve Presentation Skills

1. create an outline.

Before designing slides and writing a script, outline your presentation. Start with your introduction, segue into key points you want to make, and finish with a conclusion.

2. Practice, Practice, Practice

Almost 8 in 10 professionals practice their presentations for at least an hour. So, practice your presentation in the mirror or to a close friend.

3. Start With a Hook

When presenting, grab your audience with a hook. Consider starting with a surprising statistic or a thoughtful question before diving into the core information.

4. Stay Focused on Your Topic

You might want to cover everything under the sun, but information overload can overwhelm your audience. Instead, stay focused on what you want to cover. Aim for key points and avoid including unnecessary details.

5. Remember To Introduce Yourself

At the beginning of the presentation, introduce yourself. Kill any tension in the room by mentioning your name, your role, and any other helpful details. You could even mention a fun fact about yourself, putting the audience at ease.

6. Work on Your Body Language

55% of people look to nonverbal communication when judging a presentation. Straighten your back, minimize unnecessary gestures, and keep your voice confident and calm. Remember to work on these aspects when practicing.

7. Memorize Structure, Not Words

You might feel better knowing exactly what you want to say. But skip the script and stick to memorizing the key points of your presentation. For example, consider picking three to four phrases or insights you want to mention for each part of your presentation rather than line-by-line memorization.

8. Learn Your Audience

Before crafting a killer outline and slide deck, research your audience. Find out what they likely already know, such as industry jargon, and where they might need additional information. Remember: You're presenting for them, not you.

9. Reframe Your Anxiety as Excitement

A study conducted by Harvard Business School demonstrates that reframing your anxiety as excitement can improve performance. For example, by saying simple phrases out loud, such as “I’m excited,” you then adopt an opportunity-oriented mentality.

10. Get Comfortable With the Setting

If you plan to present in person, explore the room. Find where you’re going to stand and deliver your presentation. Practice looking into the seats. By decreasing the number of unknowns, you can clear your head and focus on the job.

11. Get Familiar With Technology

Presenting online has unique challenges, such as microphone problems and background noise. Before a Zoom presentation, ensure your microphone works, clean up your background, test your slides, and consider any background noise.

12. Think Positively

Optimistic workers enjoy faster promotions and happier lives. By reminding yourself of the positives — for example, your manager found your last presentation impressive — you can shake off nerves and find joy in the process.

13. Tell a Story

To engage your audience, weave storytelling into your presentation — more than 5 in 10 people believe stories hold their focus during a presentation. Consider ways to connect different parts of your slides into a compelling narrative.

14. Prepare for Questions

At the end of your presentation, your audience will likely have questions. Brainstorm different questions and potential answers so you’re prepared.

15. Maintain Eye Contact

Eye contact signals honesty. When possible, maintain eye contact with your audience. For in-person presentations, pay attention to each audience member. For online ones, stare at your camera lens as you deliver.

16. Condense Your Presentation

After you finish the first draft of your outline, think about ways to condense it. Short and sweet often keeps people interested instead of checking their phones.

17. Use Videos

Keep your audience’s attention by incorporating video clips when relevant. For example, videos can help demonstrate examples or explain difficult concepts.

18. Engage With Your Audience

Almost 8 in 10 professionals view presentations as boring. Turn the tide by engaging with your audience. Encourage audience participation by asking questions or conducting a live survey.

19. Present Slowly and Pause Frequently

When you get nervous, you talk faster. To combat this, remember to slow yourself down when practicing. Place deep pauses throughout your presentation, especially when transitioning between slides, as it gives you time to breathe and your audience time to absorb.

20. Start and End With a Summary

A summary at the start of a presentation can pique your audience’s interest. One at the end brings everything together, highlighting key points your audience should take with them.

21. Ask for Feedback

You will never deliver the perfect presentation, so ask for feedback. Talk to your managers about where you could improve. Consider surveying your audience for an unbiased look into your presentation skills.

Effective Presentation Skills

Effective presentation skills include communicating clearly, presenting with structure, and engaging with the audience.

As an example, say a content manager is presenting a quarterly review to their team. They start off with a summary. Their introduction mentions an unprecedented 233% growth in organic traffic — numbers their team has not seen in years. Immediately, the presenter grabs their team’s attention. Now, everyone wants to know how they achieved that in one quarter.

Alternatively, think of an entrepreneur delivering their pitch to a group of investors. They start with a question: How many of you struggle to stay awake at work? They then segue into an exciting product designed to improve the sleep quality of working professionals. Their presentation includes videos demonstrating the science behind sleep and surprising statistics about the demand for their product.

Both examples demonstrate effective presentation skills. They incorporate strong attention grabbers, summaries, and attempts to engage the audience.

Think back to strong presentations you viewed as an audience member. Ask yourself: What made them so memorable, and how can I incorporate those elements into my presentations?

Presentation Skills for Executives

Presentations take up a significant portion of an executive’s workload. Executives regularly showcase key company initiatives, team changes, quarterly and annual reviews, and more. Improving your presentation skills as a leader can help with different parts of your job, such as:

Trust: Delivering great, effective presentations can build trust between you and your team.

Confidence: Most people dread presentations — so a strong presenter projects the confidence needed by a leader.

Emotional intelligence: A great presentation taps into the audience’s perspectives, helping executives improve their emotional intelligence .

Expertise: Presentations help executives display their subject-matter expertise, making employees safe in their hands.

Delegation: At times, executives might need to pull information from different sources for a presentation — improving their ability to delegate as managers.

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• Managing your Presentation Notes
• Working with Visual Aids
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How can you make a good presentation even more effective?

This page draws on published advice from expert presenters around the world, which will help to take your presentations from merely ‘good’ to ‘great’.

By bringing together advice from a wide range of people, the aim is to cover a whole range of areas.

Whether you are an experienced presenter, or just starting out, there should be ideas here to help you to improve.

1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience

It’s hard to be relaxed and be yourself when you’re nervous.

But time and again, the great presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience, and the best way to do that is to let your passion for the subject shine through.

Be honest with the audience about what is important to you and why it matters.

Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.

2. Focus on your Audience’s Needs

Your presentation needs to be built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation.

As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not what you can tell them.

While you’re giving the presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that.

You need to make it easy for your audience to understand and respond.

3. Keep it Simple: Concentrate on your Core Message

When planning your presentation, you should always keep in mind the question:

What is the key message (or three key points) for my audience to take away?

You should be able to communicate that key message very briefly.

Some experts recommend a 30-second ‘elevator summary’, others that you can write it on the back of a business card, or say it in no more than 15 words.

Whichever rule you choose, the important thing is to keep your core message focused and brief.

And if what you are planning to say doesn’t contribute to that core message, don’t say it.

4. Smile and Make Eye Contact with your Audience

This sounds very easy, but a surprisingly large number of presenters fail to do it.

If you smile and make eye contact, you are building rapport , which helps the audience to connect with you and your subject. It also helps you to feel less nervous, because you are talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people.

To help you with this, make sure that you don’t turn down all the lights so that only the slide screen is visible. Your audience needs to see you as well as your slides.

5. Start Strongly

The beginning of your presentation is crucial. You need to grab your audience’s attention and hold it.

They will give you a few minutes’ grace in which to entertain them, before they start to switch off if you’re dull. So don’t waste that on explaining who you are. Start by entertaining them.

Try a story (see tip 7 below), or an attention-grabbing (but useful) image on a slide.

6. Remember the 10-20-30 Rule for Slideshows

This is a tip from Guy Kawasaki of Apple. He suggests that slideshows should:

• Contain no more than 10 slides;
• Last no more than 20 minutes; and
• Use a font size of no less than 30 point.

This last is particularly important as it stops you trying to put too much information on any one slide. This whole approach avoids the dreaded ‘Death by PowerPoint’.

As a general rule, slides should be the sideshow to you, the presenter. A good set of slides should be no use without the presenter, and they should definitely contain less, rather than more, information, expressed simply.

If you need to provide more information, create a bespoke handout and give it out after your presentation.

7. Tell Stories

Human beings are programmed to respond to stories.

Stories help us to pay attention, and also to remember things. If you can use stories in your presentation, your audience is more likely to engage and to remember your points afterwards. It is a good idea to start with a story, but there is a wider point too: you need your presentation to act like a story.

Think about what story you are trying to tell your audience, and create your presentation to tell it.

Finding The Story Behind Your Presentation

To effectively tell a story, focus on using at least one of the two most basic storytelling mechanics in your presentation:

Focusing On Characters – People have stories; things, data, and objects do not. So ask yourself “who” is directly involved in your topic that you can use as the focal point of your story.

For example, instead of talking about cars (your company’s products), you could focus on specific characters like:

• The drivers the car is intended for – people looking for speed and adventure
• The engineers who went out of their way to design the most cost-effective car imaginable

A Changing Dynamic – A story needs something to change along the way. So ask yourself “What is not as it should be?” and answer with what you are going to do about it (or what you did about it).

For example…

• Did hazardous road conditions inspire you to build a rugged, all-terrain jeep that any family could afford?
• Did a complicated and confusing food labelling system lead you to establish a colour-coded nutritional index so that anybody could easily understand it?

To see 15 more actionable storytelling tips, see Nuts & Bolts Speed Training’s post on Storytelling Tips .

8. Use your Voice Effectively

The spoken word is actually a pretty inefficient means of communication, because it uses only one of your audience’s five senses. That’s why presenters tend to use visual aids, too. But you can help to make the spoken word better by using your voice effectively.

Varying the speed at which you talk, and emphasising changes in pitch and tone all help to make your voice more interesting and hold your audience’s attention.

For more about this, see our page on Effective Speaking .

9. Use your Body Too

It has been estimated that more than three quarters of communication is non-verbal.

That means that as well as your tone of voice, your body language is crucial to getting your message across. Make sure that you are giving the right messages: body language to avoid includes crossed arms, hands held behind your back or in your pockets, and pacing the stage.

Make your gestures open and confident, and move naturally around the stage, and among the audience too, if possible.

10. Relax, Breathe and Enjoy

If you find presenting difficult, it can be hard to be calm and relaxed about doing it.

One option is to start by concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down, and make sure that you’re breathing fully. Make sure that you continue to pause for breath occasionally during your presentation too.

For more ideas, see our page on Coping with Presentation Nerves .

If you can bring yourself to relax, you will almost certainly present better. If you can actually start to enjoy yourself, your audience will respond to that, and engage better. Your presentations will improve exponentially, and so will your confidence. It’s well worth a try.

Improve your Presentation Skills

Follow our guide to boost your presentation skills learning about preparation, delivery, questions and all other aspects of giving effective presentations.

Start with: What is a Presentation?

Continue to: How to Give a Speech Self Presentation

See also: Five Ways You Can Do Visual Marketing on a Budget Can Presentation Science Improve Your Presentation? Typography – It’s All About the Message in Your Slides

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Hard Skills: 50+ Examples (& Lists for a Resume)

From teaching to marketing, every job requires candidates to have a specific set of hard skills. Learn which skills to highlight and how to properly list hard skills on your resume with our in-depth guide.

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Putting together a job application? No matter what industry you’re applying for work in, you’ll need to demonstrate hard skills on your application materials to gain attention from hiring managers.

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What are hard skills?

Hard skills are job-specific abilities or knowledge learned through education, hands-on experience, or training. In practice, hard skills are either the technical skills needed to perform a certain job, or a general set of expertise (such as project management ).

When searching for a new job, emphasizing your hard skills is key to taking the next step in your career because your hard skills prove that you’re qualified and ready to take on the challenges of the position.

In fact, recent survey results show that most hiring managers specifically look for hard skills when scanning applicants’ resumes.

How do hard skills differ from soft skills?

One of the main differences between soft skills and hard skills is that most soft skills can’t be taught in a classroom, whereas hard skills can be.

There are plenty of classes to choose from if you want to learn programming or photography, but you’ll likely struggle to find courses teaching empathy or attention to detail.

List of 24 hard skills for resumes in 2024

Looking to learn new skills in 2024? Here’s a list of some highly-sought after hard skills that will enhance your resume:

• Copywriting
• Smart contract development
• Statistical analysis and data mining
• Cashier skills
• HTML/CSS/Javascript
• Video editing
• User interface design
• Language skills
• Social media
• Graphic design

Project management

• Computer troubleshooting
• Business and data analysis
• Patient care
• Macro/Micro economics
• Server maintenance
• Automotive services, parts, and design
• Marketing skills (SEO/SEM)
• Cloud and distributed computing
• Database management
• Electronic and electrical engineering
• Civil engineering
• Photo editing

51+ examples of hard skills for your resume

When making a resume for a job or preparing for an interview, having a list of your hard skills is essential. If you’re not sure what skills to highlight, here are some of the most valuable hard skills for resumes (and work) in 2024, broken down by category:

Computer technology

Today, job seekers generally possess at least a basic understanding of computer technology. And the number of jobs that require fluency with certain software and programming languages is increasing.

Show your prospective employer that you have the computer skills required for the job by highlighting some of these key computer hard skills:

Hard skills list

• Microsoft Office Suite and Google Drive Suite
• Pivot tables
• Machine learning
• Natural language processing
• HTML, Javascript, CSS
• Swift, Python, Perl, XML
• SAS, MySQL, Apache

Hard communication skills

While communication is often viewed as a soft skill, there are several ways that your strength as a communicator can be demonstrated as a hard skill. Effectively showcasing your hard communication skills can help you stand out from other candidates.

Here are some examples of hard communication skills you can put on your resume:

List of hard skills

• Foreign languages
• Digital communication
• Presentations
• Data analysis

Data analysis is a hard skill that’s highly valued across a wide variety of industries, especially in finance. Employees who are good at eliminating waste and can save a company money and time are sought after by business owners.

Here are some general data analysis hard skills to highlight on your resume:

• Data mining
• Data presentation
• Resource management
• Data engineering
• Data-driven decision making
• Diagnostics

Certifications and Licenses

While they may not be hard skills themselves, listing certifications and licenses in your resume’s skills section is a great way to demonstrate mastery of certain hard skills.

If you have any certifications that are specific to the job or industry you’re applying to, clearly showcase those certifications on your resume .

Some common types of certifications and licenses include:

• Learning management systems, such as Blackboard, Canvas, or Eagle
• Data management systems such as Colleague
• Healthcare related licenses
• Certificates, awards, badges, and industry-recognized credentials

The ability to convince people to purchase a company’s products or services will always be an invaluable skill to potential employers. After all, success in marketing directly correlates to an increase in revenue.

The following are some of the top marketing-related hard skills:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Search engine marketing (SEM)
• Marketing campaign management
• Google Analytics and Google Search Console
• Content management systems (CMS), such as WordPress
• A/B testing
• Ahrefs, SEMrush, PageOptimizer Pro

Project management is a hard skill applicable to a variety of industries, including information technology, health care, and construction. Because of this, project management skills have become extremely valuable to many employers.

Here are some hard project management skills to include on your resume :

• Agile methodologies such as Scrum
• Project management software such as Trello and Zoho
• PMP certification
• Risk management
• Strategic planning
• Project lifecycle management

Whether you’re a web designer or an illustrator, there are specific design techniques and software essential to doing your job.

Here are some examples of the hard skills that will help you succeed as a designer:

• User interface (UI) design
• User experience (UX) design
• Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign, etc.)
• Design software like Figma and Sketch
• Digital product design software such as InVision and Zeppelin
• Video production software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Corel VideoStudio Ultimate
• Print design
• Illustration
• Photo composition
• Color correction

Cloud computing

IT skills are predicted to become some of the most important skills in the future, and skills-based hiring is expected to become increasingly common because of technological advancements. As a result, practicing hard skills like cloud computing can help you get ahead in your career.

More and more businesses have turned to cloud computing as a convenient data storage and management solution, so people who have the skills to build and manage cloud networks are in high demand.

The following are some examples of the kind of cloud computing skills employers look for:

• Cloud Architecture
• Storage and Data Management
• Networking Communication
• Cloud Middleware Technologies
• Cloud Applications, such as JSON, Rest, and RPC

From writing blog articles to putting together presentations for clients, being able to write well is an essential hard skill for a huge number of industries.

Show off your ability to put pen to paper with these writing-related hard skills:

• Email writing
• Copyediting (grammar, flow, syntax, spelling, punctuation)
• Content management
• Grant writing
• Storytelling
• Storyboarding
• Writing press releases
• Report writing
• Formal presentations
• Investigative journalism
• SEO copywriting

Mobile & web development

With over 6,000 apps released per day on Android alone, the demand for web and mobile developers will continue to grow.  All of these websites and apps can only be created by people with the necessary mobile and web development hard skills.

Here are some examples of the kind of hard skills you need to become a successful developer:

• Software Revision Control Systems
• Android Development
• iOS App Development
• Web Architecture and Development Framework
• Angular and Node Apps
• Swift, C#, Java, Objective-C

Network structure & security

A company’s data is priceless – if sensitive data is leaked or stolen due to faulty network security, it could cost a company thousands, if not millions, of dollars. IT professionals who have the skills to protect that data are in higher demand than ever before.

Being a company’s data shield is no easy feat, however, and requires a strong set of hard skills such as:

• Encryption algorithms
• Authentication systems
• Risk assessment
• Cryptography
• Virtual and host-based firewalls
• Incident response
• Network monitoring software like Wireshark and Nagios
• Virus protection software like Ping Identity, Portswigger BurP Suite, and Symantec

How to develop hard skills

Do you want to acquire new hard skills or upgrade the ones you already have? There are numerous ways to develop hard skills, including:

Signing up for a course – Whether it’s online or in-person, signing up for a course can help you develop your hard skills. Websites like edX, Udemy, and Coursera offer courses on a range of subjects, from coding to grant writing.

Getting a new hobby – If you’re preparing to enter a new field and need to learn some hard skills so you can include them on your career change resume , consider getting a hobby relevant to your field of choice. For example, if you were vying for a position as a social media marketer, you could pick up photography or start learning about video editing in your free time.

Volunteering – Doing volunteer work is another great way to grow your skill set. Look up volunteer opportunities in your area and see if any of them will allow you to develop your hard skills.

Taking on challenges at work – If you want to develop your hard skills in the workplace, make sure to jump on any professional development opportunities offered by your employer. You can also accept assignments that will require you to learn how to use new tools or software.

How to showcase your hard skills

When it comes to job hunting, simply possessing the hard skills required for your target position isn’t enough. Companies mainly close skills gaps by hiring new employees with the right skills, so to advance your career, you need to show employers that you have the skills they’re looking for.

Here’s how to showcase your hard skills throughout the job application process:

On your resume

If you really want to highlight your expertise in a certain area, the best way to do it is by providing real-life examples of how your hard skills helped you achieve certain accomplishments .

To do this, include bullet points in your resume’s work experience section that demonstrate how you used your hard skills to accomplish key goals for your previous employers.

Here’s an example of how one candidate effectively used their experience section to demonstrate their hard programming skills:

Optimized performance using ASP.NET, C#.NET, and MS SQL, streamlining processes and saving the company $170k

You should also have a dedicated skills section on your resume that features your top job-relevant skills. Normally it should feature a mix of hard and soft skills, but if you’re applying for a technical role, focus on your hard skills.

Be sure to also list relevant skills on LinkedIn so you can show up in more recruiters’ searches and make your profile stand out.

In this video, our career expert Eva shows you everything you need to know about writing an impressive resume skills section that emphasizes your hard skills:

In your cover letter

Your cover letter is your chance to give employers a glimpse of your personality, but also to provide additional context for the hard skills you list on your resume.

To create a convincing cover letter, focus on hard skills required for the role you’re applying for. If you’re sending out multiple applications, you should customize each one to maximize your chances of getting invited for an interview.

You can easily find out what hard skills an employer is looking for by reading the job ad. Hard skills are necessary for most jobs, so hiring managers will state hard skills they want candidates to have in the “Requirements” section of the advertisement.

I’m excited to submit my application for the Video Editor position at Fragment Media which I found advertised on LinkedIn. As a video editor with over 5 years of experience, I strive to deliver high-quality video content that exceeds clients’ expectations. I’m confident my proficiency with industry-standard software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve combined with my understanding of motion graphics , audio mixing , and color grading will make me an excellent addition to your team.

During an interview

Interviews are another opportunity to showcase your hard skills. When answering interview questions such as “ What is your greatest professional achievement? ” or “ What is your greatest strength? ”, provide specific examples that highlight how your hard skills have led you to success in the past.

Additionally, for some industries, you might have to complete an on-site exam or task that tests your hard skills as part of the interview process. Writing tests and coding tasks are especially common, so if you’re applying for a job that requires these skills, be prepared to demonstrate them during your interview.

Frequently asked questions about hard skills

Got more hard skills-related queries? Here are answers to some of the most common questions about hard skills:

What are my hard skills?

Your hard skills are abilities you’ve acquired through training and that can be tested or measured, such as language skills, proficiency with certain software, or photo editing skills.

What are hard skills in the workplace?

Some common hard skills in the workplace are:

• Microsoft Office Suite
• Copyediting

However, remember to do your research to learn what hard skills are most sought after in your industry before you begin writing your job application.

Why are hard skills important?

Hard skills are important because they help you carry out job-specific responsibilities that require previous experience, knowledge, or training. Employers tend to look for well-rounded candidates with a mix of hard skills and soft skills that will help them excel at their job.

Which careers rely heavily on hard skills?

Careers that rely heavily on hard skills include:

• Software and web development
• Health care
• Engineering
• Digital marketing

If you’re looking for jobs in one of these fields, make sure you emphasize your hard skills at all stages of the application process.

More skills-related resources

Below are more skills-related resources to help you better demonstrate your abilities on your resume:

• What are secondary skills on a resume
• Is a skills section necessary on a resume
• How many skills should you list on a resume
• Skills-based resumes
• In-demand job skills
• Multitasking skills
• Transferable skills

Hard Skills

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Top Presentation Skills for Your Resume

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Presenting information clearly and compellingly is a required skill for most professions and one that employers seek in potential employees. In this article, we’ll show you the top presentation skills to add to your resume and how to convince employers your abilities are top-notch.

Whether presenting a proposal, briefing your client on research results or walking your supervisor through project timelines, we give you a comprehensive list of presentation skills with definitions to add to your resume. Follow our expert advice to learn how to effectively feature your presentation skills in your job application.

Want a stronger resume? Try our resume templates . Simply edit and download. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click using our Resume Builder .

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What Are Presentation Skills?

Presentation skills are holding an audience’s attention while speaking, giving slideshows or using visual demonstrations to convey information. Public speaking and presentation skills are very closely related abilities. Good presentation skills require that you feel confident and comfortable speaking in front of others, including work colleagues, management or potential employers.

These skills are the most critical for specific jobs involving, among others, teaching, public health, training, HR or leadership roles that may require you to be adept at explaining ideas to a group. Of course, there are reasons to give presentations now and then in many arenas, including company-wide training, financial reports and project development.

Someone well-versed in presentation knows how to effectively relay essential data, considerations, thoughts and strategies.

Top Presentation Skills Examples

Here are presentation skills examples to include when you write your resume .

Organization

Organization is the gatekeeper of the mind. So, to be good at presentation, you must know how to give a logical order to the information you feature.

Organization skills include:

• Time management
• Prioritization
• Attention to detail
• Strategic planning

Presentation software

A well-executed slideshow or video provides a visual multimedia component of your presentation that can reinforce, highlight and strengthen the information you cover. Producing a clean, professional slideshow can be critical to your presenting success!

Presentation software include:

• Google Slides

Good writing skills are essential for creating precise and persuasive content. Well-written content will grab the audience’s attention quickly and communicate the information.

Writing skills include:

• Storytelling
• Word choice

Public speaking

The effectiveness of your presentation relies on your confidence, presence and experience in addressing groups of people. It’s crucial to be precise with your word choice and understand how body language impacts your hold on your audience’s attention.

Public speaking skills include:

• Verbal communication
• Body language
• Active listening
• Speech writing

Data breakdown

Data breakdowns refer to the information you choose to include for your audience and how you explain its significance. It requires good analytical skills and the ability to select the most impactful information to make your case. Data breakdowns and analysis are fundamental in financial reporting or modeling.

Data breakdown skills include:

• Statistical knowledge
• Creating data visualizations
• Creating dashboards
• Problem-solving

Adaptability

A talented presenter can target and adapt their presentation to a specific audience.

Adaptability skills include:

• Creative thinking
• Feedback acceptance
• Resourcefulness
• Critical thinking

Nonverbal communication

Posture, body language and hand gestures can communicate a message on par with your words. If you want to convey yourself as a confident and fully mindful presenter, employing the soft skill of nonverbal communication is effective.

Nonverbal communication skills include:

• Facial expressions
• Tone of voice
• Hand gestures

10 Additional Presentation Skills

Basic presentation skills are always helpful to include in any job application. Consider adding these extra skills to your resume:

• Voice projection
• Stage presence
• Self-awareness
• Conciseness
• Multilingual writing
• Summarization
• Transitions

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We also provide dozens of resume examples to explore how other job searchers highlight their skills. Even better, check out our fully customizable resume templates for every industry!

Presentation Skills FAQ

How do you list presentation skills on a resume.

Pay very close attention to the skills and keywords the job post puts the most emphasis on. Highlight your skills based on the demands of this current job. Try to echo back phrases you see in the ad if applicable to your background.

There are two best places to feature presentation skills in your resume. The first is to have a skills section, list six to eight total skills, and ensure they include a balance of hard , soft and technical skills .

The other option is to include them in your work experience and achievements sections. For example, instead of just listing the skill “PowerPoint slideshows,” you could list it as a work experience like this, “Led PowerPoint slideshows for groups exceeding 50+ in all-hands company meetings.” Try to include numbers to make it easier to describe the significance of your presentations.

How to describe presentation skills on a cover letter?

If your ability to give a good presentation is central to the role that you’re applying to, you should tell a story in your cover letter that makes a convincing case for your claim.

Give an anecdote about your presentation skills that shows your mastery. Include it in a problem-action-resolution framework. You first identify an obstacle you had to confront, mention how you put your presentation skills into action, and then explain the outcome.

How do I highlight my presentation skills during an interview?

Much like how you can use your cover letter to tell a story, in your interview, you need to support your claims about possessing presentation skills with convincing details and stories about your experience.

So, if you know that presentation skills, such as a teacher, are central to your job, then be prepared to discuss them!

Why are presentation skills important?

Almost every job field requires presentation skills, whether for persuading clients or speaking to your colleagues. Strong presentation skills demonstrate the candidate is self-confident, a problem-solver, motivated and a compelling communicator . Effectively showcasing these abilities will convince the hiring manager that you are a leader and the right person for the job.

How to improve presentation skills?

There are plenty of ways to improve your presentation skills. Here are a few:

• Practice, practice, practice: Practice your presentation until it becomes second nature. This will help you stay quick on your feet and easily answer follow-up questions.
• Be passionate: Show your enthusiasm on the subject. The audience is likelier to engage with a presentation if the presenter is excited about sharing it.
• Become a storyteller: Being able to tell a story relevant to the information will make it more palpable and dynamic for the audience.
• Know your audience: Tailoring your message to your audience will ensure it resonates.
• Own your nerves: If you're nervous, being open about it will show you are authentic and relieve some of the tension.
• Use humor: Knowing when to insert a joke or funny comment is a skill that will help you gain attention if you lose it.
• Visual aids with intention: Be mindful of the visual aids you use. Make sure they complement the information.
• Focus on the bottom line: While making jokes and sharing stories can help with engagement, staying on topic is essential.
• Arrive extra early: Feeling out of the room and getting yourself in the right headspace will help your presentation run smoothly.
• Mingle beforehand: Small talk with the audience members will help you remember that they are people like you!

If you want courses on presentation skills, you have plenty of options, like self-help articles, books, videos and conferences that offer suggestions on being more effective, persuasive or informative when presenting.

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Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: What’s the Difference?

Each role requires a combination of hard and soft skills. Learn more about the difference between these valuable skill sets and how to feature them on your resume.

Every job requires a combination of hard and soft skills. Hard skills refer to technical skills , and represent the specialized knowledge you bring to particular roles. Soft skills , on the other hand, refer to workplace skills and represent how you approach your work.

In this article, we'll go over hard vs. soft skills and discuss how to leverage both to further your career.

Hard skills vs. soft skills

Technical skills and workplace skills are complementary in that you need a mix of both to perform almost any type of work. Employers typically look for candidates with a mix of technical and workplace skills because technical skills indicate that you are proficient in the practical aspects of your role, while workplace skills indicate that you can contribute to a positive and productive work environment.

Here's a breakdown:

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Workplace skills are on the rise

Business leaders state that workplace skills, such as networking, enthusiasm, professionalism, communication, and critical thinking, are even more important than technical skills, according to the US Department of Labor [ 1 ].

As work becomes increasingly automated, social and emotional skills have become more crucial. Nearly all of the top 10 most valuable skills for the 2030 market in the US and the UK are workplace skills, according to Pearson and Nester [ 2 ]. What's more, an estimated 87 percent of employers struggled to fill positions due to a lack of workplace skills in 2021, according to Monster [ 3 ]. Some jobs now require personality tests and other ways to evaluate workplace skills.

Read more: 7 High-Income Skills Worth Learning in 2022

What are hard skills?

Technical skills are the practical know-how you need to complete a specific task. For example, a nurse learns how to administer a vaccine, or a graphic designer uses a software program to complete a task. They can range from learning a foreign language to using forecasting analysis to predict the stock market.

Hard skills examples

Technical skills describe what you know how to do. Some examples include:

Computer programming languages

Data analysis

Engineering

Financial management

Speaking a foreign language

Web development

Writing and editing

What are soft skills?

Workplace skills relate to how you work and tend to be described qualitatively. These are the attributes that make you a good employee, colleague, and overall human regardless of your job title. For this reason, they are often good transferable skills . LinkedIn’s top five in-demand workplace skills in 2020 were creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence [ 4 ].

Soft skills examples

Workplace skills describe your approach to or attributes of your work. Some examples include:

Adaptability

Collaboration

Critical thinking

Organization

Problem-solving

Strategic thinking

How to leverage your skills for career success

Both technical and workplace skills are necessary for career success, and one of the best places to develop skills—technical and workplace alike—is on the job.

Approach each role as a potential learning experience. You might ask yourself, how can this data analysis be done faster or more accurately? Or you might design an innovative system for collecting marketing stories within the company. These are ways that you can build your problem-solving and critical-thinking skills alongside your technical skills.

As a colleague, you may improve your teamwork and organizational skills by working with cross-functional teams. You can organize an outing or team-building activity to foster a positive spirit. As a manager or leader, you can enhance your workplace skills by taking the time to get to know your team members. This might include active listening and providing mentorship or support to create a culture of belonging.

Then, be sure to highlight your complete skill set on your resume, on a job application, and during an interview.

Highlighting skills on your resume

It is considered good practice to tailor your resume to each job you apply for. Match specific technical and workplace skills from the job description to those from your list when describing your previous responsibilities. Learn more about adding key skills to your resume .

Here’s an example. We've used italics to show you technical skills and underline to show you workplace skills :

Waiter at Longhorn Grill, Houston, TX / October 2019-Present

Completed comprehensive training for proper food handling , including equipment cleaning, proper freezer temperatures and placement , and executing employee handwashing rules

Developed a new reward system for employees, resulting in improved attendance and increased employee satisfaction

Assisted in training five new waiters , demonstrating strong attention to detail , leadership , and conflict resolution techniques

Read more: Important Skills to Put on Your Resume

Demonstrating your skills in a job application

Some job applications require a cover letter , which is a great place to expand on your skills and offer more detail, like the impact you had at previous companies thanks to your skill set.

For instance, if you are applying for a marketing manager position, you might describe a project in which you curated a team of Instagram and TikTok influencers to launch a new product that resulted in five times the projected sales in the first week. This example shows you can be innovative and are proficient in using platforms to measure data.

Showing your skills in a job interview

While you'll likely talk about your technical skills during an interview , you can also use it as an opportunity to demonstrate some workplace skills, like good communication and attention to detail. Polite etiquette, such as accepting a calendar invite and sending thank-you emails, makes a good first impression. The same goes for being on time, whether it is an in-person or Zoom interview .

During the interview, you may find the STAR method helpful for providing thorough responses. STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result.

Here’s an example of an answer that uses the STAR method. Once again, we've noted technical skills in italics and workplace skills in underline:

Situation: At my former job as a sales associate, a coworker resigned just before a big deadline for their project.

Task: I was asked to take over the project and complete weeks of work in just a few days .  

Action: I asked my manager to dial back my responsibilities for the week and delegated the work to other members of the sales team . Then, I spent two days learning about the project and brushing up on Excel . My intern and I devised a strategy to finish the assignment within five days.

Result: By dedicating time to the special project, I finished on time and with accuracy . My manager appreciated my dedication and I was trusted with more projects after that.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Which is more important: technical or workplace skills ‎.

Both technical skills and workplace skills are important to nearly every job. Although some jobs will emphasize technical skills and others require more workplace skills, both are equally important. ‎

What are the most important workplace skills? ‎

The importance of a workplace skill depends on the employee and the job. McKinsey has a helpful chart of what they call “ foundational skills ,” divided into four broad categories: cognitive, digital, interpersonal, and self-leadership. Each category features 13 skills, such as communication and mental flexibility in the cognitive category, and teamwork belonging to the interpersonal category. ‎

What types of technical skills are most attractive to job recruiters? ‎

Different skills are attractive to different job recruiters. Technical skills often depend on the job. It might be helpful to check job listings for those most relevant to the career you are seeking. In 2020, LinkedIn cited the following as the top 10 in-demand hard skills [ 4 ]:

• Cloud computing
• Analytical reasoning
• Artificial intelligence
• Business analysis
• Affiliate marketing
• Scientific computing
• Video production ‎

Can I learn workplace skills at home? ‎

Yes, workplace skills can be learned at home. This set of skills are learned through living, experiencing, and interacting with other people, so they are constantly being developed through personal interactions. They can also be learned through Coursera’s collection of courses that focus on workplace skills . ‎

Article sources

US Department of Labor. “ Soft Skills: The Competitive Edge , https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/publications/fact-sheets/soft-skills-the-competitive-edge.” Accessed May 18, 2023.

Pearson, Nesta, and The Oxford Martin School. “ The Future of Skills Employment 2020 , https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/the_future_of_skills_employment_in_2030_0.pdf.” Accessed May 18, 2023.

Monster. “ The Future of Work 2021: Global Hiring Outlook , https://hiring.monster.com/employer-resources/blog/labor-statistics/future-of-work-2021-summary/.” Accessed May 18, 2023.

LinkedIn. “ The Most In-Demand Hard and Soft Skills of 2020 , https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-strategy/linkedin-most-in-demand-hard-and-soft-skills.” Accessed May 18, 2023.

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This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

The Ultimate Guide to Hard Skills for the Workplace and Your Resume

Your car is making that weird noise again and you want to get it fixed. What are you going to look for in a mechanic? Someone who knows how to diagnose and fix the type of issue you’re facing and has some good reviews showing their past performance, right? You’re not going to leave your car at a computer repair shop, or at a place that only does tire changes, or with a mechanic who says they don’t know what they’re doing but they promise they’re really nice. 

Now apply that to your own job search—employers are looking for people who have the skills to complete the job duties for the role and who can show how they’ve used these skills in the past. These black-and-white, objective skills are known as hard skills, and they’re one of the most important pieces of your background to show off in any job search. 

What are hard skills?

Most in-demand hard skills for 2023, 80+ hard skills to add to your resume, how to put hard skills on your resume.

Simply put, hard skills are the specific knowledge or abilities needed to do a job, says Muse career coach Jennifer Smith , founder of Flourish Careers . Hard skills can include knowing how to use specific tools, platforms, or computer programs as well as how to perform certain tasks and processes needed to do your job.

For example, a designer might need to know how to use Photoshop and design infographics; a financial analyst may be expected to know how to use Microsoft Excel as well as analyze, visualize, and present data; and a music teacher might need to know how to play piano and be familiar with certain teaching methods.

Hard skills are often contrasted with soft skills , which are the qualities and abilities that speak to how a person will do their job and relate to others in their workplace, such as strong work ethic, dependability, empathy, creativity, and communication with coworkers and clients. (Read more about the differences between hard and soft skills .)

So what hard skills are the most important? Which will make it easiest for you to get hired? The answers change all the time and are very specific to the job you’re applying for, but as of May 2022, ZipRecruiter identified these 10 hard skills as the most commonly mentioned across all their job descriptions:

• Customer relationship management (CRM) software
• Management skills
• Sales experience
• Software development
• Software engineering
• Computer science
• Basic life support
• Budget management
• Advanced cardiac life support

An important subset of hard skills are technical skills , which are hard skills that require you to use a specific piece of technology or particular technique. According to O*Net , a site from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), these are currently the most in-demand technical skills across all employer job postings:

• Microsoft Office software (Microsoft Excel ranks first, followed by all Office software, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word)
• Oracle Java
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) software
• SAP software
• Microsoft Azure software
• Microsoft Access
• Atlassian JIRA

If you don’t have any of these in-demand skills, though, that doesn’t mean you’re destined for permanent unemployment. With the exception of Microsoft Word, hard skills are often very specific to your career or job function, so the most in-demand ones at any given time are going to be either very broad (like Microsoft Office or management skills) or reflective of the most in-demand jobs or careers at the time (software development and engineering or healthcare at the moment).

Here’s a longer list of hard skills that you might need in your job divided into categories. Note that many skills could fit into more than one category and that this is far from exhaustive. But it should help you get started thinking about what types of hard skills might be relevant for the kind of job you have or want. 

Read More:  The Right Way to Add Skills to Your Resume in 2023 (With 250+ Example Skills)

Data and analytical skills

Data and analytical skills might be the core of your ability to do your job if you’re in a field like research, data science, or financial analysis. Or they might be how you quantify and evaluate your success and plan for the future if you work in marketing, sales, or any other field where processing information is important.

Some examples are:

• Business analysis
• Customer analysis
• Data analysis
• Data engineering
• Data mining
• Data reporting
• Data presentation
• Data visualization
• Financial analysis
• Forecasting
• Market analysis
• Statistical tests
• SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis
• Web analytics

Read More: No, Analytical Skills Aren’t Just for Analysts—Here’s How to Show Yours Off in a Job Search  

Hard communication skills

Communication skills might be the first thing you think of when naming soft skills—maybe because I mentioned them earlier in the article. But communication skills can be hard skills when they’re very specific tasks and/or require a knowledge base to do them, says Muse career coach Emily Liou , founder of Cultivitae . The ability to speak another language is also considered a hard skill, and it’s one of the few skills you might consider listing no matter what job you apply for.

Some examples of hard communication skills are:

• Academic writing
• Blog writing
• Content writing
• Copywriting
• Editing and proofreading
• Grant writing
• Press Release writing
• Proposal writing
• Research and reporting
• Technical report writing
• Translation
• Transcription

Read More: Why Writing Skills Are Important for Every Job—and How to Improve Yours

Task-oriented skills

These skills describe the tasks you know how to do to fulfill the responsibilities, or perform the function, of your job. Every job requires task-oriented (a.k.a., functional) skills, but which ones you need vary widely.

• A/B testing
• Ability/license to drive a certain type or class of vehicle
• Account management
• Calendaring
• Classroom management
• Conversion rate optimization
• Creating slide decks
• Database administration
• IV insertion
• Lead generation
• Market research
• Recruitment
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media management
• Tax preparation
• User experience (UX) research
• Website design

Methodologies

Methodologies are set processes for completing tasks, or a series of tasks, within a job. If a job description mentions that the organization uses a certain methodology, framework, strategy, style, or other set standards or principles to accomplish tasks, it’s worth noting when you have experience in it, even if it’s not one of the job requirements.

• Account-based marketing (ABM)
• Design sprint
• Inbound marketing
• Inquiry-based learning
• Kinesthetic learning
• Project management or software development methodologies (such as Agile, Kanban, Scrum, or Waterfall)
• Style guides—such as AP (Associated Press), APA (American Psychological Association), Chicago, Merriam-Webster, or USGPO (United States Government Publishing Office)

Programming skills/languages

Programming skills—including coding languages—help you build new pieces of technology. They’re a must for anyone in software or web development and related fields, but can also be useful in jobs where you work with tech. For example, if you use a content management system (CMS), knowing HTML might be useful.

• ADA accessible development
• API development
• Application development and scaling
• Version Control

Programs/tools/software-related skills

This category encompasses the programs and applications you have experience using to accomplish tasks or any part of your job (including communicating with colleagues).  Some examples are:

• Accounting software (such as Sage 50 Accounting or QuickBooks)
• Adobe Creative Cloud (After Effects, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop)
• CMSs (such as WordPress, Drupal, or Squarespace)
• Customer relationship management (CRM) software (such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or NetSuite)
• Data software (such as Looker, QlikView, or Tableau)
• Google Analytics or Search Console
• Google Workspace (Docs, Drive, Forms, Meet, Sheets, Slides)
• Learning management systems (such as Blackboard, Canvas, or Google Classroom)
• Microsoft365 (Excel, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, Word)
• Project management and collaboration software (such as Airtable, Asana, Jira, or Trello)
• Social media platforms (such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, or Twitter)
• Video and remote meeting software (such as Zoom, Google Meet, GoToMeeting, or Microsoft Teams)

The goal of your resume is simple: to show potential employers that you’re the right person for a job. And to be the right person, you have to have the right hard skills and show them off on your resume.

1. Choose which hard skills to highlight.

First, you need to figure out which hard skills are most important for a given role. You should always tailor your resume for each job application and emphasize the relevant experiences and abilities for that position. The ultimate source of truth here is always the job description. So give it a very close read. 

“Generally speaking, when analyzing a job description, you will have a sense of what technical skills or domain knowledge is required or preferred in the role,” Liou says. As you read through the job posting, you should highlight any technologies, tasks, or methodologies you come across. They often appear as “required” or “preferred” skills, qualifications, or experience, but you should also note any hard skills you’d need to perform the job duties or responsibilities listed.

If you want additional ideas, you can also talk with or research the LinkedIn profiles of people who have done the job you want and see which hard skills they mention, Smith says. This is especially valuable if you can find people who have held the position you want at the company you want to work for.

When listing software or other technologies, whatever the company mentions in the job description or is widely used in your field is most helpful. But you can also list similar software to show that you have a basis to learn a tool you’ll need. For example, if a company uses Trello for project management and you have experience with Airtable, you can include Airtable on your resume. 

If a program has a wide variety of uses, consider highlighting the specific tasks you can do within it. For example, if a job listing mentions building pivot tables in Excel as a job duty, simply writing “Microsoft Excel” on your resume isn’t enough.

Once you have the list of hard skills a company is looking for when hiring for a given job, note which ones you have: These are the hard skills that you should highlight on your resume. But be honest with yourself. If you can’t talk about how you’ve used a skill and/or how you learned it, you probably shouldn’t list it.

2. Add your hard skills to a skills section. 

Putting your hard skills in a skills section will ensure they’re easily seen by anyone reading your resume. You might place your skills section at the bottom of the page or you might put it before your work experience, depending on your situation. If you’re an entry-level candidate or you’re changing careers, for example, leading with your skills might make it more clear how you’re qualified for the job in question. And in some fields—like product management —skills sections are more often placed at the top of the page.

Most people use a chronological format in which you simply list your skills in your skills section without explanation, though you might consider dividing your skills into categories like “design” or “writing” to make them easier to read.

Here’s an example of how a skills section might look for someone applying for an in-house accounting and payroll position:

• Accounting skills: Budget analysis, cash flow analysis, tax preparation, payroll management, invoice processing
• Technical skills: ADP Workforce Now, QuickBooks, Oracle ERP, Salesforce, Microsoft Excel (VLOOKUP, pivot tables, formulas)
• Language skills: Native Spanish speaker (written and verbal)

3. Show how you’ve used your hard skills.

W ork your hard skills into the bullet points that describe your past experiences—previous jobs, volunteer positions , activities , projects , and more—and highlight the outcomes, Smith says. You should also quantify the use and results of your skills by incorporating numbers whenever possible.

For example, if you wanted to show your experience with SEO and related hard skills, you might write a bullet point like this:

• Updated up to 5 old articles a month per SEO best practices using Google Analytics, Search Console, and SEMrush, resulting in an average UV increase of 25% MoM and approximately 50% of updated articles appearing in the top 5 results for targeted keywords.

You might also list related certifications or online courses and, particularly if you’re early in your career, you could work your hard skills into your education section . 

If a certain hard skill is emphasized in the job description or otherwise seems especially valuable to an employer, you might consider including it in a resume summary or headline as well, Smith says.

4. Don’t forget about the ATS .

As you add hard skills to your resume, keep in mind that it will likely need to pass through an applicant tracking system (ATS) , a program that scans and organizes applications. These systems also make it possible to search large batches of resumes for keywords, and “recruiters will type in specific hard skills to find the best qualified matches,” Liou says. So be sure to phrase your hard skills the same way the job description does—don’t just say you’ve managed social media for a company if they’re looking for someone who’s run a Twitter account, for example.

Whatever field or industry you’re in, hard skills are key to landing your next gig. After all, they show employers that you can actually do the job they’re hiring for.

What Are Hard Skills? (112 Examples Included)

Jeff Gillis 0 Comments

By Jeff Gillis

As a job seeker, your hard skills matter. By having the right ones on your resume, you increase your odds of standing out from the sea of other candidates dramatically.

But what are hard skills? And how do you choose the right hard skills for a resume?

If you’ve ever asked those questions, you’re in luck. We have your back. Come with us as we take a journey into the exciting world of hard skills.

What Are Hard Skills?

Before we get into the hard skills examples, let’s focus a bit on what hard skills are.

The hard skills definition is pretty straightforward. In the most basic sense, hard skills are your technical ability. In most cases, they relate to your prowess with equipment, tools, software, and certain formal processes. It’s specialized knowledge that you can apply in a set way.

Generally, hard skills are the foundation of your career. They are the abilities that let you tackle your assigned duties, ensuring you know how to approach common tasks in a way that meets industry standards.

Additionally, hard skills are typically teachable. They are capabilities that you can learn through traditional education, on-the-job training, and other more formal approaches.

Yes, that might feel a little ambiguous. The thing is, once you take a look at the hard skills list, it’ll become abundantly clear; we promise.

How Are Hard Skills Relevant to a Job Search?

Alright, let’s take another quick pit stop. You may be wondering how hard skills are relevant to your job search. Well, we’re going to tell you.

Your hard skills impact your ability to conduct a job search. For example, your research technique determines how easily you can find opportunities that match your capabilities, needs, and preferences, and your resume-writing skills affect the quality of your application.

Additionally, your hard skills will play a role in how successful your job search ultimately is. Hiring managers are looking for specific hard skills when they fill positions. If you don’t have the right degree of prowess, you might not be able to handle the job’s responsibilities. For hiring managers, that would be a big problem.

It’s also important to understand that when people talk about skill gaps, they are usually referring to hard skills. About 80 percent of Americans believe that there’s a skills gap, and around 35 percent say that they’re personally affected by the shortage in some form or fashion. That means that a candidate’s lack of hard skills isn’t just impacting them, but also those working around them and the company as a whole. Wow, right?

So, what hard skills are hiring managers trying to find? Well, that depends a lot on the position they are trying to fill.

Think about it this way; coding is a hard skill. But, while software developer candidates need it, physical therapist candidates don’t. That doesn’t mean coding isn’t valuable in general; it’s just more valuable career-wise to people who work in specific roles.

Now, that doesn’t mean that some hard skills don’t look good on most resumes. For instance, business writing, productivity suites, and collaboration software are relevant in a ton of industries.

The ability to use technologies that support remote work is also widely sought. Even if you aren’t in a tech role, knowing how to use a VPN is valuable in 2022 if you’ll be spending at least part of your time working from home.

How do you figure out which ones will boost your job search? Well, in the vast majority of cases, it’s spelled out in black and white.

Hiring managers usually discuss any required hard skills in the vacancy announcement. In some cases, they add them to a “must-haves” list. In others, they are mentioned in the job description.

If you’re trying to figure out if you have the right hard skills for a position, use the job description as your starting guide. That’ll get you moving down the right path and also gives you a chance to make sure an opportunity is actually a great fit.

But what if you don’t see a lot of hard skills in the job ad? What then?

While most candidates hope that the job add will spell it all out, that doesn’t always happen. But that doesn’t mean you can’t figure out what you should discuss; you’ll just need to do some extra digging.

Start by looking at competitor’s job descriptions for the same positions. See what they ask for, and use that information as a supplement.

You can also explore deep dives into various jobs. The job descriptions you find there talk about what any employer might be looking for, so it’ll give you some more ideas.

So, when do you discuss your hard skills during a job search? Well, it’s best to do it during every part of it. Mention them in your resume, cover letter, and interview. That way, you’ll look like an incredibly strong match.

How to Highlight Hard Skills for Job Searches

Now that you have a solid answer to the question “What are hard skills?” it’s time to talk about how highlighting them during your job search. Luckily, it’s pretty simple.

In most cases, your hard skills play a big role in your professional accomplishments. That means they’ll naturally make an appearance all throughout your cover letter and resume, as well as many of your interview answers.

When it comes to your resume, you want to reference your key technical abilities in the professional summary, skills section, and work history portion.

You can also sprinkle a few into your cover letter, allowing you to craft a compelling narrative that showcases what you have to offer.

When you talk about your hard skills, you need to do more than just say, “I have [hard skill]” more times than not. Outside of your skills section, which is usually a bullet point list, you want to be achievement-focused.

When you connect a hard skill to an accomplishment, you’re showing the hiring manager that your capabilities drive amazing results. It’s a way to give them valuable context about what you can do, showcasing how your skills are real difference-makers.

But how do you pick the right skills to feature? By using the right strategy! If you really want the content of your resume to shine, get to know the Tailoring Method .

With the Tailoring Method, you align your application with the exact job you want to land, making your resume as relevant as possible. It’s a great way to make sure you stand out from other candidates, increasing the odds that you’ll land an interview and, hopefully, the position.

When you craft your resume, should you be focusing on hard skills over soft skills? Not necessarily.

When it comes to hard skills vs. soft skills, both are incredibly important. In fact, 62 percent of hiring managers consider it important to hire for soft and hard skills, not one over the other.

If you’re wondering what soft skills are , we’ve actually taken a deep dive into the topic before. But, if you’re looking for a quick overview, your soft skills are a reflection of your traits, personality, and mindset. Soft skills are still capabilities; they just aren’t overly technical in nature. Instead, they are attributes that help you excel professionally.

By highlighting your hard and soft skills together, you make yourself a stronger candidate. It’s really is that simple.

List of Hard Skills

Alright, do you feel like you have a good grip on hard skills? Or would you like to see a little more? Well, if you’re in the latter group, you’re in luck. By reviewing some hard skills examples, you can get a better idea of what they are, ensuring you cover them properly in your resume.

So, without further ado, here’s a handy-dandy hard skills list, broken down into categories.

Technology skills are a must for tech professionals as well as many people working in other fields. Here are some technology-related hard skills that you may want to include on your resume:

• Data analysis
• Data visualization
• Programming languages
• Productivity software
• Collaboration software
• POS systems
• Systems analysis
• IT security
• Troubleshooting
• Data mining
• Diagnostics

Accounting and Finance

Financial skills aren’t just for finance and accounting professionals. Many roles rely on them, at least on occasion. Here are some skills that fall in this category:

• Bookkeeping
• Reconciliation
• Account auditing
• Profit forecasting
• Mathematics
• Predictive modeling

Industrial and Manufacturing

Many industrial jobs require strong skillsets. Here are some common capabilities that many hiring managers want to find:

• Forklift driving
• Picking and packing
• Inventory management
• Machine operation
• Vehicle repair
• Equipment maintenance
• Mechanical engineering

Advertising and Marketing

Marketing and advertising can be incredibly technical. Here are some must-have hard skills for professionals in this niche:

• Google analytics
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media advertising
• Copywriting
• Email automation
• Sales funnel management
• Campaign management
• Market analysis
• Content creation
• A/B testing
• Graphic design

Human Resources and Personnel Management

The management of people can be harder than many professionals would expect. Without the right hard skills, keeping everyone’s activities aligned isn’t easy. Here are some crucial capabilities that may need to be on your resume:

• Interviewing
• Performance management
• Policy creation
• Disciplinary action
• Training and skill development

Construction

The construction industry relies heavily on specialized hard skills. Here are a few that many hiring managers seek out:

• Engineering
• Heavy equipment
• Blueprint reading

Medicine and Healthcare

The healthcare landscape is incredibly varied, so hiring managers might look for a wide selection of soft skills, depending on the role. If you want a general idea, here are some hard skills for resumes for medical professionals:

• Medical coding
• Medical billing
• Patient records
• Patient vitals
• Massage therapy
• Prescription filling
• Patient histories

Administration and Office

Most jobs require at least a little bit of office work, while others focus on administrative support. Here is a quick hard skills list for capabilities in that vein:

• Report generation
• Presentation creation
• Minute taking
• Business writing

Sales-oriented skills help professionals secure new customers and keep existing customers coming back for more. Here are some hard skills in this niche:

• CRM platforms
• Business communication
• Relationship building
• Product knowledge
• Lead generation
• Lead qualification
• Contracting
• Revenue cycles
• Territory management
• Sales pitches

Foreign Language

The ability to speak or write in a foreign language is a hard skill. If you reference one in your resume, you can leave it general or add a note about your proficiency. Here are a few ways you might present foreign language-related skills on your application:

• Speaking a foreign language
• Writing in and reading a foreign language
• Translation
• Multilingual customer support

Being a manager required a specific set of capabilities. Here are some management hard skills examples.

• Project planning
• Strategy planning
• Performance tracking
• Project lifecycle management
• Financial modeling

Still want more? No problem, we’ve taken a close look at skills to put on a resume before, so check it out if you’re looking for more options.

Putting It All Together

Ultimately, hard skills are usually a foundation of any career. Now that you have the answer to “What are hard skills?” use the information above to your advantage. It’ll help you position yourself as an exceptional candidate, increasing the odds that your job search will yield results.

Thanks for reading!

Co-founder and CTO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Jeff is a featured contributor delivering advice on job search, job interviews and career advancement, having published more than 50 pieces of unique content on the site , with his work being featured in top publications such as INC , ZDnet , MSN and more.

Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

About The Author

Jeff gillis.

Co-founder and CTO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Jeff is a featured contributor delivering advice on job search, job interviews and career advancement, having published more than 50 pieces of unique content on the site , with his work being featured in top publications such as INC , ZDnet , MSN and more. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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hard skills

• Alexander S. Gillis, Technical Writer and Editor
• Mary K. Pratt

What are hard skills?

Hard skills are specific abilities, capabilities and skill sets that an individual can possess and demonstrate in a measured way. Hard skills are learnable skills that enable individuals to perform job-specific tasks, or that may be required for a specific job.

While looking for new employees, employers will look at a candidate's hard skills listed in their resume. While job-specific hard skills are sought after, so can proficiency in more general hard skills -- such as fluency in a second language.

Hard skills typically focus on specific tasks needed to complete a job, like the use of specific software, tools or other equipment. They can be gained from experience or learned through training, schooling, apprenticeships, online courses and certification programs . Certifications, degrees and licenses can show a potential new hire has these skills.

As an example, a cloud engineer may want the hard skills shown in Figure 1.

Types of hard skills

There are many types of hard skills, as they are skill sets that pair with any profession. Some examples of hard skills fall under specific categories, such as the following:

Analytical skills

• Data analysis.
• Data and metric interpreting.
• Data mining .
• Google Analytics or Google Search Console.

Computer skills

• Computer software knowledge.
• Communication and collaboration tools .
• Microsoft Office Suite.
• Presentation software.

Communication skills

• Academic writing.
• Blog writing.
• Copywriting.
• Foreign language speaking.
• Proposal writing.

Marketing skills

• Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
• Email marketing .
• Pay per click (PPC) advertising.
• Search engine optimization ( SEO ).
• Social media.

Technical skills

• Computer-aided design ( CAD ).
• Machine learning ( ML ).
• Natural language processing ( NLP ).
• Programming languages.
• User interface design.

Additional skill examples

• Automotive services and design.
• Graphic design.
• Photo and video editing.
• Project management.

How to acquire hard skills

Although some individuals can have innate abilities that make it easier for them to learn a hard skill either through formal lessons or in informal ways, most people develop hard skills through some sort of educational process.

For example, some people have a natural sense of numbers that makes it easier for them to learn basic as well as complex math, yet they -- as well as others -- learn math through a series of lessons.

Individuals learn hard skills in various ways, including learning them in traditional schools, colleges and vocational education programs. Individuals can also learn hard skills through apprenticeships, mentoring, on-the-job training and hands-on training. Individuals can teach themselves hard skills, too, through books, online platforms and even through trial and error.

Certificates, diplomas, licenses and test scores are often used as proof that an individual has achieved a certain level of proficiency for a particular hard skill or set of hard skills.

A driver's license, for instance, demonstrates that an individual has demonstrated a minimum level of proficiency as determined by the government agency issuing the driver's license. A commercial driver's license shows that an individual has achieved another, higher level of proficiency.

Hard skills can also be considered technical skills.

Hard skills vs. soft skills

Soft skills , unlike hard skills, are characteristics or capabilities that are nearly impossible to quantify or measure in an objective way. So, judging one's soft skills is a subjective exercise.

Some soft skills are described as intangible; for example, being a good listener is a capacity that describes an individual's ability to hear a speaker's words and understand and empathize with the speaker. Although someone could measure the ability to correctly hear the speaker's words, the soft skill comes in the listener's capacity to understand and empathize -- a skill that's practically impossible to quantify, measure and compare against someone else using objective standards.

Soft skills are often called interpersonal or people skills .

Additionally, soft skills can describe an individual's own characteristics; examples of such soft skills include having a good work ethic or working well with others.

Individuals generally have a disposition that favors the expression of specific soft skills, but there is an element of nature vs. nurture as well. There aren't traditional degree programs or vocational programs focused on soft skills, but colleges, schools, organizations and even companies do indeed invest in developing soft skills in individuals.

Individuals can seek out learning opportunities and activities on their own to cultivate soft skills within themselves as well.

Why hard skills are important

Nearly all jobs today, including most professional positions, require hard skills.

Job descriptions frequently list a series of hard skills needed to be hired, and they also often list the preferred proof of those skills, such as degrees or certificates , that each job applicant needs in order to be considered for the position.

Possessing specific hard skills demonstrates one's ability to successfully perform the job and fulfill its duties.

For many professions in many companies, the possession of hard skills is important to ensure a company's financial success; however, in some instances, the worker's hard skills are critical to preventing catastrophic results. A surgeon, for example, must have very specific hard skills to ensure against unnecessary harm to a patient; a pipefitter must also be exacting in his or her application of hard skills to ensure against something like a gas leak.

Furthermore, many employers seek out soft skills, finding that interpersonal skills are needed -- sometimes in equal measure to their hard skills -- for individuals to successfully complete the jobs they're assigned to do.

Measuring hard skills

Hard skills are demonstrable and quantifiable; individuals who possess hard skills can be tested to prove their capacity in each hard skill they possess.

There are objective metrics that can be applied to the hard skill, not just subjective judgment.

Furthermore, an individual's proficiency in any particular hard skill can be measured against the proficiency of other individuals who possess that same hard skill.

Typing, for example, is a hard skill. Two individuals with the ability to type can be tested for speed and accuracy, with their scores determining which individual is more proficient in the skill.

Certifications, degrees and licenses can also show an individual has a certain aptitude for a hard skill. Hiring managers can measure an individual's hard skills by giving them a test during the interview process.

Hard skills to include on a resume and where to list them

Some of the most in-demand hard skills include the following:

• Business and data analytics .
• Cloud and distributed computing.
• Data presentation.
• Digital marketing.
• Google Analytics.
• HTML/CSS/Javascript.
• Middleware and integration software.
• Machine learning.
• Mobile development.
• Network and information security.
• Software revision control systems.
• Structured Query Language ( SQL ).
• Statistical analysis and data mining.
• Web architecture and development framework.

On a resume, a list of an individual's most relevant skills should be placed in a skills section.

First, determine what hard skills employers in the applying industry are looking for, then place the most relevant skills in the skills section of the resume. To help create a list of skills, job seekers should find the most relevant hard skills by researching the general job position and the specific job ad.

Hard skills in a job ad will include work experience needed, along with a list of skills required. These will include a mix of soft skills, like personality traits or communication skills, and required hard skills.

The skills section should be placed near the top of the resume so employers can quickly see the experience of the interviewee. Hard skills can also be referenced by providing examples in an accomplishments section -- this helps show employers that an individual is able to use their hard skills to be successful in a job.

The cover letter is another place to show an individual's hard skills. In a cover letter, hard skills can be mentioned as part of a story about work experience.

Learn more about valuable hard skills for cloud computing , must-have skills to succeed as an IT manager and IT skills required for e-commerce . Explore business intelligence skills to advance your career , technical skills required for human resources and 5 examples of VR's use in soft skills training .

Continue Reading About hard skills

• What skills will IT ops professionals need going forward?
• 14 most in-demand data science skills you need to succeed
• 7 must-have skills for customer experience professionals
• 10 must-have cybersecurity skills for career success
• Top most in-demand tech jobs today

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100+ Hard Skills for Your Resume - A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

3 key takeaways

• What hard skills are
• 100+ examples of hard skills across industries, roles, and seniority levels
• Adding hard skills for resume sections using the free Teal AI Resume Builder

Your hard skills deserve to be seen.

After all, they're clear, quantifiable representations of what you're professionally capable of.

But what's the most strategic way to make sure they stand out in an increasingly competitive job market? And how do you know the best hard skills for a resume that'll leave a lasting impression?

Decoding hard skills: More than just technical know-how

In today's evolving job market, the conversation around hard skills for your resume (another word for a “hard” skills resume would be a “technical” skills resume) has become increasingly important.

Traditionally, skills are categorized into two types: hard skills and soft skills. And while your soft skills highlight the more abstract or interpersonal skills, hard skills are more tangible, quantifiable, and directly related to job functions or tasks.

An in-depth look at hard skills

Hard skills refer to your practical abilities. They're directly linked to your ability to perform a specific job or task. These skills are typically concrete and measurable. And you can acquire them through education, training, certifications, or on-the-job experience. When it comes to required skills for a role, the particular hard skills are found in the job description—described with very specific language.

Hard skills can encompass a variety of areas depending on your industry and role. For instance, some hard skills examples could be:

• Python programming language skills
• Statistical data analysis
• CNC machine operation
• Quickbooks accounting software

What sets these skills apart is that they're both teachable and testable, often acquired through formal education, online courses, training programs, and similar, more structured, structured learning. They're also objective in that typically, you either have a specific skill, or you don't (and unlike soft skills, your level of expertise or your proficiency level can be measured).

But understanding hard skills goes beyond recognizing them.

Hard skills are continuously evolving, with new ones emerging in response to technological advancements (hello, AI!) and changing industry demands. Most industries are adopting new technologies, methodologies, and tools. And because of this, continuous learning and "upskilling" to acquire and update hard skills is now a key component of professional growth.

Hard skill or soft skill: Which matters most?

While hard skills differ in that they are typically associated with technical competencies, your resume soft skills (or transferable skills) are personal attributes and interpersonal skills that determine how effectively you work or interact with others across most jobs, industries, or career paths. 

Soft skills often include abilities like:

• Communication skills
• Emotional intelligence (EQ)
• Problem-solving skills
• Adaptability

And as companies (especially across industries like tech, industrial, and engineering) rely more and more on automation and technology, the importance of more human-centered soft skills is often emphasized similarly to hard skills. 

However different they may be, these two types of skills are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they're complementary. Most roles or positions require a blend of soft and hard skills for employees to succeed. 

For example, data analysis requires not only statistical knowledge but also critical thinking and storytelling to transform raw data into actionable insights. Similarly, the rise of remote work emphasizes the need for self-management and effective online communication (think platforms like Zoom and Slack), illustrating the codependence of technical hard skills and soft skills.

Crucial hard skills to include on a resume

Now that you have some insight into hard skills and why they're so important, let's look at lists of hard skills examples across industries, roles, and seniority levels that can help you enhance your resume.

General hard skills for a resume 

If you're worried you don’t have very specific technical skills that measure up to a particular role, don't get discouraged just yet. There are some general hard skills for your resume that still pack a punch.  

• Data Analysis : In today's era of big data, the ability to interpret and use information to make informed business decisions is invaluable. Including any knowledge of data analytics tools such as SQL, Python, and Tableau is also beneficial. 
• Project Management Skills : These skills are about overseeing projects to ensure they're completed on time and within budget. Proficiency in project management software like MS Project, JIRA, or Asana can be a definite plus.
• Foreign Language Proficiency : In an increasingly globalized (and remote!) world, being multilingual can be a significant advantage, opening up opportunities in international business and communication.
• Software Development : This hard skill involves designing, implementing, and testing software (as well as indicating strong computer skills). Knowledge of languages like Java, Python, or C++, and an understanding of software development methodologies can make you a valuable asset across various industries.
• Digital Marketing : This encompasses SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and PPC advertising. A deep understanding of tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, or SEMrush is also a great companion to this skill.
• Machine Learning/AI : With businesses increasingly leveraging AI and ML for decision-making and operations, having this skill can place you on a short list of those candidates with hard skills in tech innovation.
• Technical Writing : The ability to communicate complex information in an easy-to-understand way is critical in many fields. Proficiency in tools like Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and MadCap Flare could increase your appeal to recruiters and hiring managers.
• Cloud Computing : As more businesses move to the cloud, knowledge of cloud service platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud can help boost your prospects.
• Salesforce Proficiency : Salesforce is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) tool. Expertise in this platform can be a significant advantage, particularly in sales and marketing roles. (Other CRM platforms include Hubspot, Zendesk, ClickUp, and Active Campaign). 
• Cybersecurity : With cyber threats on the rise, knowing how to protect and recover systems, networks, and data from cyber-attacks is crucial. Command of tools like Nessus, Wireshark, or Metasploit can strengthen your credentials.

Add hard skills to your resume with Teal

In one click, the Teal AI Resume Builder can help you add all or a selection of your hard skills to a resume without the frustration of rewriting them every time you apply for a specific role. 

You can also categorize your hard skills however you'd like, making them easy for hiring managers to find—maximizing their impact and visibility. 

Technical skills for a resume

Technical skills are abilities learned through training or education that apply to specific work, particularly in fields like IT, engineering, or science. These skills often require the use of complex tools and technologies.

So what are some resume technical skills examples that could strengthen your resume?

• Adobe Creative Suite
• Application Development
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Big Data Management
• CAD Software
• Computational Design
• Computer Programming
• Cybersecurity Analysis
• Database Management
• Information Security
• IoT (Internet of Things)
• Network Structure & Design
• R Programming
• Ruby on Rails
• Statistical Analysis System (SAS)
• Web Development

A look at industry-specific and job-specific hard skills examples

Industry and job-specific hard skills pertain to a particular role or field. And they can help you stand out as a qualified candidate, which mean it is essential to showcase your hard skills on a resume.

While positions like software engineer, sales rep, and graphic designer might have overlapping soft skills, the hard skills they require are much more specific and specialized.

So let's go over some of the best hard skills for a resume across different roles across a few industries.

Essential resume hard skills for tech-savvy roles

These hard skills are often sought after in roles that require a high degree of technological knowledge or expertise.

Hard skills for Software Engineers

• Algorithm Design
• Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
• Database Design
• Mobile Application Development
• Quality Assurance (QA)
• Scripting Languages
• Version Control Systems (VCS)

Find more software engineer resume skills .

Hard skills for Data Analysts and Data Scientists

• Advanced Excel
• Apache Hadoop
• Data Mining
• Data Visualization
• Deep Learning
• Predictive Analytics
• Regression Analysis

Explore over a dozen data analyst resumes for additional hard skill inspiration.

Hard skills for IT professionals and analysts

• Active Directory
• Cloud Security
• Ethical Hacking
• Malware Analysis
• Network Security
• Risk Management
• Server Administration
• System Administration
• Virtualization

Review the skill sections of these IT analyst resumes

Hard skills for creative roles

In creative roles, hard skills often relate to the ability to produce tangible outputs or work with specific tools or technologies.

Hard skills for Marketing resumes

• A/B Testing
• Affiliate Marketing Skills
• Content Management Systems (CMS)
• CRM Software (be specific)
• Email Marketing Skills
• Google AdWords
• Inbound Marketing Skills
• Keyword Research (be clear about the tools you use)
• SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) 
• Video Editing

Hard skills for UX & Design resumes

• Adobe InDesign
• Information Architecture
• Interaction Design
• Prototype Design
• Technical Drawing
• User Interface (UI) Design
• Wireframing

Hard skills for Content and Copywriting resumes

• Content Strategy
• Google Suite 
• HTML/CSS for Writers
• Project Management Skills
• SEO Copywriting
• Technical Documentation
• Web Content Writing
• Writing skills

List of hard skills for managerial roles

Managerial roles often require a blend of technical and industry-specific hard skills. Your resume leadership skills (both hard and soft) can draw attention to positions you've held and offer a clear picture of career progression. 

Hard skills for Customer Success resumes

• Customer Lifecycle Management
• Customer Success Strategy
• Customer Success Operations
• Data Analysis
• Metrics and KPIs
• Project Management
• Revenue Expansion
• SaaS Knowledge
• Team Leadership

Hard skills for Project Management resumes

• Agile Methodologies
• Contract Management Skills
• Earned Value Management
• Gantt Charts
• Microsoft Project
• Process Improvement
• Risk Assessment

Hard skills for Sales Leadership resumes

• Cold Calling
• CRM Tools (be specific) 
• Direct Sales
• Leadership Skills
• Market Research
• Negotiation
• Presentation
• Product Knowledge
• Sales and Budget Forecasting
• Sales Strategy and Planning 

Hard skills for general leadership resumes

• Business Strategy
• Change Management
• Conflict Resolution
• Financial Management
• Human Resource Management
• Operations Management
• Organizational Development
• Strategic Planning
• Supply Chain Management
• Talent Management

Emerging hard skills to look for in 2024

With the rapid pace of tech advancement, emerging hard skills continue to shape the job market. To remain ahead in your field, stay updated on these skills.

• 3D Printing : The ability to design and print three-dimensional objects using specialized software.
• Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Development : The creation of immersive digital environments and experiences using AR and VR technology.
• Cryptocurrency Knowledge : Understanding the mechanisms of digital currencies like Bitcoin, including blockchain technology, mining, and trading strategies.
• Data Privacy : The ability to protect and manage personal and confidential data in compliance with evolving privacy laws and regulations.
• Drone Operation : Piloting uncrewed aerial vehicles, often used in cinematography, agriculture, or emergency services.
• Edge Computing : Processing and analyzing data where it is generated—reducing latency and increasing data processing speed.
• Genomics : The ability to sequence, interpret, and apply genome data, crucial in healthcare and biotech sectors.
• Green Energy Technologies : Skills in designing, implementing, or managing technologies that generate environmentally friendly energy (like solar or wind power systems).
• Quantum Computing : Understanding and working with computers and systems that use quantum bits (qubits) to perform complex calculations at unprecedented speeds.
• Robotics : The ability to design, construct, operate, and apply robots or robotic systems (increasingly in demand in manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics).

Mastering presentation: How to list hard skills on your resume

Mastering the art of hard-skill presentation on a resume isn't just about creating a bullet point list. It's about strategically adding hard skills throughout your resume to amplify your potential to leave a lasting impression on prospective employers.

Choosing the right hard skills 

Listing the right hard skills on a resume comes down to understanding what a hiring manager or recruiter is looking for and presenting your relevant hard skills to match these needs. 

So how do you choose the best hard skills for your resume?  

Create a master list of hard skills

Brainstorm all of your technical abilities, certifications, and education. What industry-specific knowledge and expertise do you have? What project management, analytical, or leadership methodologies and frameworks have you worked with? What software or tools are you proficient in within your field? Once you have your list, store it in one central location for easy access when it comes time to fill out an application. 

Pro Tip: The free Teal AI Resume Builder Skills Manager is a great place to do this.

Store all of your skills in one central location. Then, just check the box next to a specific skill to add it to your resume for any role you apply for.

Manage all of your hard skills in one place with Teal.   Sign up for free to get started .

Read the job description

A job description often offers insight into the relevant skills needed to perform in a specific role. Look for words or phrases that indicate tools and technical competencies like "Google Analytics," "process improvement," "project management," "Python," "content strategy," etc.

The Teal AI Resume Builder and Job Application Tracker highlight the most important hard skills from any job description so you can easily list them on your resume.

Match your skills to the role

Once you've identified the key skills required, you should match these with your own. Between hard skills, soft skills, and other requirements, you want to have at least 70% of the qualifications a company is looking for. (But remember, honesty is critical, so only incorporate your actual skills.)

How to demonstrate hard skills on a resume 

Demonstrating hard skills on a resume in various sections offers a high-level view of your technical abilities. Dispersing them adds depth and showcases your well-rounded skillset. 

So what sections should have examples of your hard skills? 

Professional Summary

Incorporate hard skills in your professional summary, or short professional bio , to complement your soft skills and most notable accomplishments. 

For example, if you're a software engineer, one sentence of your professional summary could look like this: "As a highly skilled software engineer with 10+ years of experience, I have expertise in Python development, database management, and a strong problem-solving mindset."

Work Experience

Include hard skills in your work experience achievements to complement your soft skills and illustrate how you effectively achieved impact. 

So, let's say you increased conversions by 3x through A/B testing and data analysis of landing page copy as an achievement; that would look like this: 

"Achieved a 3x increase in conversions through A/B testing, effectively utilizing data analysis to identify and implement data-driven solutions that optimized website performance and user experience."

Create a dedicated resume "Skills" section to highlight hard skills related to those in the job description.

A list draws attention to your diverse range of abilities and highlights the unique qualities you bring to the table as a professional. And using a dedicated section prominently showcases your technical expertise and interpersonal skills.

Highlighting hard skills with Teal's Resume Builder

The best practice for adding hard skills to your resume is choosing the ones that align with the job description of the role you're applying for. Then incorporate them in each section to elevate your entire professional profile—and you can do this with the free Teal AI Resume Builder. 

Step 1: Sign up for a free Teal account if you haven't yet.

Step 2: Click the "Resume Builder" icon in the left navigation panel. From here, you can choose an existing resume or click the "New Resume" button at the top right.

Step 3 : To add hard skills to your professional summary, scroll to Professional Summaries, click the drop-down button, then "Add Professional Summary." (Create one from scratch, or click the "Generate With AI" Button.)

Step 4:  To hard skills to your work experience, from the Resume Builder, scroll to Work Experience. Then, click the drop-down button. Click "Add Work Experience" to create a new section or "Add an Achievement" to incorporate hard skills into an existing work history.

Step 5: To add hard skills to your "Skills" section in the Resume Builder, scroll to Skills, click the drop-down button, then "Add Skills." Here you can list your skills individually in addition to incorporating them into a summary or achievements. 

Real examples of hard skills on resumes 

Check out some real-life examples of hard skills on resumes through various sections and across different position levels and roles.

Student resume examples of hard skills

Professional summary

Certifications

Entry-level experience resume examples of hard skills 

Entry-level social media manager 

Entry-level software developer

Entry-level data scientist 

Mid-level experience resume examples of hard skills 

Graphic designer 

Business analyst

Project manager 

Senior-level experience resume examples of hard skills  

VP of Sales

Chief administrative officer

Senior IT analyst  

How to tailor hard skills to fit job descriptions

By tailoring your resume to every role you apply for, you demonstrate how your skills align with the position's requirements. And this helps hiring managers evaluate how qualified you are.

Think of your hard skills as ingredients for a recipe and the job description as your cookbook. Creating a dish with delicious flavor requires specific ingredients, and so does the right candidate for a job.

To tailor your resume to a role, start by carefully reading the job description—this is your recipe. Pay attention to the skills the employer is looking for (these are the 'key ingredients'). Are they looking for proficiency in a particular language or expertise in a software tool?

Next, look at your own set of hard skills. (Think of this as your 'kitchen pantry.') Choose those skills that match the ones listed in the job description. And just like the perfect ingredients make a dish flourish, choosing the right hard skills makes you the ideal candidate for the role.

Compare your hard skills with Teal

Want to make sure you've got the best ingredients for every application? Use Matching Mode in Teal's free AI Resume Builder to quickly compare the skills and keywords in a job posting to those in your resume. Then receive a "Match Score." 

You want your Match Score to be as close to 80% as possible . You can incorporate more skills and other keywords from a job listing into your content to improve your score—creating a tailored resume. 

Try Teal's Matching Mode today .

The power of validation: Certifications to boost your hard skills

Certifications are instrumental in strengthening your career. They're a tangible testament to your skill set, expertise, and dedication to continuous learning. 

Certifications in your chosen field—whether in specialized expertise, methodologies, or tools—indicate you have the knowledge and practical capabilities to execute specific tasks. In addition, they offer job seekers a competitive edge in today's crowded market as they provide a platform for recognizing and validating hard skills (often quantifiable and directly linked to job performance).

Different industries value different certifications that highlight diverse hard skills. 

For example, certifications like the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, or Google Certified Professional Data Engineer hold weight in information technology. 

In finance, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations are highly valued. 

A Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is an excellent credential for project management professionals. 

Taking time to identify and pursue the right certification or continuing education program in your field that aligns with your career goals can immensely boost your hard skills, helping you stand out. And once you have the certifications, add them to your resume in a designated "Certification" section or include them in your "Education" section to showcase all you have to offer.

The future of hard skills and their implications for the job market

The future of hard skills is being rapidly shaped by the increase in cutting-edge technology development (particularly AI, machine learning, and data science). 

As tech progresses, traditional hard skills may need to be supplemented with expertise in newer technology. And the result could be a significant increase in opportunities for those with skill proficiency in these areas.

As hard skills become more intertwined with technological innovation, so does the importance of lifelong learning. Investing in education, training, and development will be key for job security, more opportunities, and a competitive edge.

Leverage your skills to stand out

Understanding and effectively leveraging your hard skills is crucial to standing out in today's job market. And it isn't just about providing a list of your skills; it's about offering a holistic view of your professional journey, demonstrating how those hard skills, with complementary soft skills, have amplified your impact. 

The Teal AI Resume Builder can help you present those skills with clarity and precision throughout different sections of your resume—highlighting them in a way that resonates with prospective employers.

Start leveraging your hard skills to their full potential. Sign up for Teal for free today.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can i identify which hard skills i already have.

You can identify which hard skills you already have by analyzing your past experiences, achievements, and hobbies or interests, focusing on the concrete abilities you utilized or developed in these areas.

Is it better to have a wider range of hard skills or to specialize in a few?

The choice between having a wide range of hard skills or specializing depends largely on the specific demands of your industry and your career aspirations. In rapidly changing fields, diversity in skills can be advantageous, while in highly specialized roles, depth of expertise is often more valuable.

How can I effectively demonstrate my hard skills in a job interview?

To effectively demonstrate your hard skills in a job interview, prepare stories from past experiences that highlight these skills in action.

Kayte Grady

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Presentation Skills Definition

A presentation is a form of communication in which a speaker delivers information to an audience. For instance, researchers often present their research to scholars in their field, while businessmen often present their company progress to colleagues.

• Presentation skills are the skills required to deliver engaging, effective presentations.

Developing strong presentation skills is important because presentations are vital to professional communication. Effective presentations can enhance a speaker's academic and professional credibility.

The 5 Ps of Presentation Skills

Remembering the "5 Ps of Presentation Skills" can help presenters plan an organized, compelling presentation.

First, it's crucial to identify the purpose of a presentation, which is its goal. For instance, the purpose might be convincing the audience to agree with your perspective on a debate, trying to secure a scholarship, or defending a thesis for a grade. To determine the purpose of a presentation, presenters can ask themselves questions like the following:

Why am I giving this presentation?

Who am I giving this presentation to?

What do I want the audience to learn from this presentation?

What do I want to get out of delivering this presentation?

Identifying the overall objective of giving the presentation is important because all parts of the presentation should support that purpose. Once you've identified the purpose, keep it in mind as you develop all aspects of the presentation.

Next, you should organize your presentation. Reflect on how you can achieve the goal you determined in the previous step. Often there are guidelines for presentations, like in school when teachers specify a required time limit or format. Make sure to follow those guidelines and plan out how you will meet your goal in following them. When planning a presentation, presenters can ask themselves the following questions:

What format should this presentation be delivered in?

How long should this presentation be?

How can the information be broken down into succinct sections?

Is it possible to include creative or comedic elements while staying organized and professional?

Presenters should also consider the context they are giving the presentation in when planning a presentation. How many people will be in the room? How will the room be set up? Will the presentation be over a video conferencing platform or face-to-face? All of these things can impact how the presenter should set up the presentation to keep the audience engaged and ensure they understand the material.

For example, in a face-to-face presentation to a small audience, a presenter can schedule a time for the audience to ask questions. However, in a recorded presentation emailed to the audience, the presenter should include an email or other form of contact for audience members to reach out with questions.

Preparation

After planning the presentation out, you can then prepare the details. Follow the plan you made in the previous step and bring all of your materials together. This step includes writing an outline or a script of what you will say and what details to include, such as texts or visual and auditory materials. Presenters can ask themselves the following questions when preparing their presentation:

Does this presentation accomplish the main goal?

Does this presentation address all of the important points of this topic?

Is this presentation organized, neat, and easy to follow?

Are there any distracting visual materials, or are they used sparingly?

It is often challenging to write a word-for-word script of what to say in a presentation. Contextual factors such as time constraints and questions from the audience can disrupt such a script and throw the presenter off. Instead, crafting a detailed outline of what topics to discuss is typically an easier approach to a presentation.

Once you have finished preparing the presentation, you must practice it. Giving yourself time to practice will allow you to note any parts of the presentation that should be tweaked or taken out. Practicing presentations also help you understand how much time it takes and whether you need to shorten or lengthen them.

When practicing a presentation, the presenter should have a clear voice, appropriate tone, and a confident attitude. Practicing these elements will help make them easier to come by on the day of the presentation, even if you are nervous.

Finally, you can deliver your presentation. If things do not go according to plan, the best approach is always to go with the flow. If you have sufficiently practiced your presentation, you should have an in-depth understanding of the material you are presenting. Distractions or challenges will not decrease your knowledge of the topic, so even when things go off-plan, speak confidently from the heart about what you know and your presentation will remain strong.

Presentation Skills Tips

The following tips and tricks can help presenters ensure effective, engaging presentations.

7 Presentation Skills

Practicing these seven presentation skills can help people polish their presentations.

Know Your Audience

When planning and delivering a presentation, remember who your audience is. For instance, are they experts in the field of study or beginners? This knowledge will determine what kind of vocabulary you can use and the level of detail with which you can discuss the topic. Knowing your audience is also connected to understanding the purpose of your presentation. For example, if the purpose of a presentation is to get a good grade in English class, then you should present with your English teacher's knowledge and expectations in mind.

Choose Your Tone of Voice

The tone of voice directly impacts the audience's levels of engagement in a presentation and can thus make or break a presentation. Presenters should speak confidently and persuasively when appropriate but always maintain a professional, respectable tone. They should avoid slang words and words with judgmental connotations, such as "duh" or "obviously." Instead, they should make their point through strong, well-explained evidence.

Pace Yourself

Alongside using an appropriate tone, presenters must also speak in a steady, even manner. Talking too fast or too slow will make it difficult for the audience to stay engaged. Instead, speak at a medium pace, just as you would if you were having a normal conversation.

People often start babbling when they get nervous. Speaking too fast during a presentation can confuse the audience and reduce the strength of the presentation. Practicing ahead of time will help you avoid this.

Watch Your Body Language

Engaging presenters appear strong and confident. To achieve this, you should check for the following body language before presenting:

Stand/sit up straight

Make eye contact with the audience

Use hand gestures when appropriate

Use various facial expressions

Proper body language can also mask nervousness when public speaking. Smile and stand up straight even if you're nervous and you will appear confident to your audience!

Be Succinct

To keep the audience's attention during a presentation, you should strive to get straight to the point. Visual aids should use short bullet points whenever possible and summarize the most important points of your ideas. You can go into more detail when speaking out loud, but still, try to stick to the most vital information.

Stay on Subject

A good way to keep your presentation to the point is by staying on topic. It can be tempting to go on tangents when public speaking by telling extra stories or going into too much detail about a topic. However, going down rabbit holes like that can distract your audience and cause them to lose focus. Instead, outline the most essential points you want to present and practice presenting just those ideas.

There's a reason practicing is mentioned more than once in this article. Practice entering the space you will present in, practice setting up your presentation if there are visual aids, and practice presenting the information all the way through. You should strive to reach a point where you can deliver the presentation without looking at many notes. Also, try to anticipate questions the audience will have and how you will address them.

Improving Presentation Skills

People can always improve their presentation skills, even if they think they have mastered them. To improve presentation skills, you can follow the following steps.

Be Interested

It is easier to give a compelling conversation when you are passionate about your presentation. If you have any input into what you present, try to select a topic you are genuinely interested in researching, writing, and talking about .

Know Your Topic

Do not try to present beyond your scope of understanding. Present information that you understand entirely and can thoroughly explain. This will increase your confidence and help ensure questions do not catch you off guard.

Take Deep Breaths

Giving a presentation can be overwhelming. Take a few deep breaths while you practice and before you present. This will calm any nerves and help ensure you speak calmly and steadily.

Taking care of your health can also improve your presentation! Drink water to stay hydrated and eat before you present!

Oftentimes, especially in school, people have to present in groups. Presenting with others can be challenging because each group member might have a different presentation style. It is extra important to practice a presentation several times with a group so everyone is on the same page about the purpose, what tone to use, how to pace the speech, and how to keep the audience engaged. Coordinating schedules with other group members to plan and practice the presentation can be tricky, so be sure to get started on the project long before the presentation date. Hence, everyone has time to contribute to and run through the presentation.

Benefits of Presentation Skills

Developing strong presentation skills can help in many areas of life. People have to give presentations in all kinds of scenarios, including when they are:

Completing assignments for school classes

Defending academic research

Applying for college scholarships

Explaining the results of a project at work

Trying to earn a promotion

Developing presentation skills can help people fearlessly approach the above situations and more. When strengthening presentation skills, people also strengthen their public speaking, professional communication, and writing and design skills. Mastering all of these makes people strong candidates for a variety of jobs and can make them more confident, capable people overall.

Presentation Skills Examples

Strong presentation skills can make or break a presentation. They can define the difference between letter grades, earning scholarships, and securing jobs. The following example demonstrates how presenters can apply the above skills in delivering an effective presentation.

Tony and Abigail are assigned to present the themes of Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847). They have to give a five-minute presentation to their English teacher and the other students in their English class. What are the first steps they should take?

First, they must coordinate their schedules to ensure they have sufficient time to work on the presentation. They have a month before the due date, so they decide to meet once a week to plan independent tasks and coordinate their work.

At the first meeting, they should decide the purpose of their presentation and plan how to address it. Their goal is to inform the class and their teacher about Jane Eyre 's themes and demonstrate their understanding of the novel. They decide that they can do this through a PowerPoint presentation, in which they devote one slide to each theme. They select four themes and decide to discuss two each.

Next, they begin preparing the presentation. They use a shared PowerPoint to work independently but contribute to the same project. They use concise bullet points on the slides about the themes and write a more detailed outline for what to discuss when projecting those slides. They also include some images to help their audience visualize their points. Since they are presenting in school, they select formal vocabulary and use a calm, steady, professional tone.

In the week leading up to the deadline, Tony and Abigail meet up a few times to practice the presentation. They pretend they are walking into the classroom they will present in, and they make sure they can pull up the display on their computers without any problems. Once they have run through the presentation several times, they feel ready to present. On presentation day, they eat a filling breakfast, drink lots of water, and take some deep breaths. They make a few jokes while presenting but stay professional and on topic. They successfully deliver an engaging presentation!

Presentation Skills - Key takeaways

• To develop a presentation, identify the purpose, plan how to address it, prepare the materials, and practice presenting it.
• Presenters should know their audience, use a professional, steady tone of voice, and make eye contact with listeners.
• Presents should be succinct and stay o topic to keep the audience focused.
• When delivering a group presentation, start far in advance to coordinate schedules and presentation styles.

Flashcards in Presentation Skills 10

John is preparing a presentation about the Krebs cycle. He identified his purpose, planned how he will address it, prepared a detailed presentation, and presented it to his entire science class. What did he do wrong?

He should have practiced his presentation before delivering it.  

Which of the following presentation skills impacts the audience’s engagement the most?

Choosing tone of voice  

Which of the following should presenters not do?

Frequently look down at their notes  

What is the best speed to speak when delivering a presentation?

What is the first step when developing a presentation?

Identifying the goal of the presentation  

Sam is reflecting on his presentation and asking himself how long it should be and if it can be broken down into succinct sections. Which of the 5Ps of presentations is he addressing?

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Frequently Asked Questions about Presentation Skills

What are the 7 presentation skills?

Know your audience, choose your tone of voice, pace yourself, watch your body language, be succinct, stay on subject, and practice. 

What are the 5 P's of presentation skills?

Purpose, Plan, Preparation, Practice, Present 

What are the qualities of a good presentation?

A good presentation is organized, succinct, and thoroughly practiced. The presenter should be enthusiastic and confident and speak with a professional tone at a steady pace. They should use some creative features and make eye contact with the audience. 

How can I give a good presentation?

To give a good presentation you should be knowledgeable about the topic and practice your presentation several times. You should know your audience and make consistent eye contact with them. You should also stand up straight, smile, and vary your facial expressions. 

What is the importance of presentation skills?

Developing strong presentation skills is important because presentations are a vital part of professional communication. Effective presentations can enhance a speaker’s academic and professional credibility. 

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Hard skills and soft skills

Hard skills are technical abilities that can be measured, such as programming abilities or software skills. They are acquired through education and experience. Soft skills are personality traits and interpersonal skills, such as communication skills, flexibility, and time management. Unlike hard skills, soft skills are difficult to quantify and are developed through interaction rather than formal education. Both hard and soft skills are important for jobs, but hard skills are more technical and job-specific, while soft skills define one's personality and ability to work with others. Read less

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• 1. HARD SKILLS AND SOFT SKILLS
• 2. HARD SKILLS Hard skills are technical abilities possessed by a human being which can be measured. It can be learned through education, expertise and experience. They are the skills we acquire through learning. It includes skills such as programming, typing, ability to use softwares, etc. Hard skills are often associated with one’s left brain or logic center.
• 3. Hard skills are part of the skill set that is required for a job. The are job- specific and are typically listed in job postings and job descriptions. They are acquired through formal education and training programs. These skills are defined, evaluated and measured. Hard skills involve rules which remains the same regardless of what business or circumstances a person is in at any given time.
• 4. SOFT SKILLS Soft skills are the attributes and personality traits owned by each and every human on earth. It depends on the inner self of the person. It is the integral part of one’s personality. It can also be called as people skills or interpersonal skills. Soft skills are typically formed in the right brain or emotional center.
• 5. Soft skills are more personality-oriented interpersonal skills, such as teamwork, flexibility, patience, problem solving and time management. They are difficult to quantify. These set of skills are not learned through education but by trial and error basis. Soft skills involve rules that change, depending on one’s culture and expectations.
• 6. HARD SKILLS SOFT SKILLS They define what we have or what we acquired. They define whom we are. They are the set of technical skills. They are the set of interpersonal skills. They are stored in left brain or logic center. They are stored in right brain or emotional center. They are measured using IQ (Intelligence Quotient). They are measured using EQ (Emotional Quotient). They are acquired through education, expertise and experience. They are acquired through interaction and influence. The rules related to hard skills remains the same irrespective of time and position. The rules to define soft skills varies based on one’s culture and expectations. They can be easily measured. They are hard to quantify.
• 7. Communication Skills  Communication skills forms basis of Soft Skills.  Four basic skills – LSRW  Listening  Speaking  Reading  Writing  Listening & Reading - Receptive Skills  Speaking and writing - Productive skills
• 8. LISTENING Patiently listening to others on their difficulties helps in better communication. It facilitates good relationship with the society. Listening enables to analyze situations in a broad perspective.
• 9. READING  Reading is the most rewarding receptive skill.  More we read, more knowledge we tend to acquire.  It improves our IQ.
• 10. WRITING Writing is much demanded skill. Professionals have to develop the skill of writing  Drafting official  Letters  Names  Technical reports  Publish articles  Guard plagiarism (copying)
• 11. SPEAKING Speaking is a vital Component of Soft Skills It helps scientists in presenting a proposal for financial assistance before funding agencies. It allows marketing executive to present a product & its merits to persuade to buy the product. Mode of speaking differs based on to whom we communicate.
• 12. THANK YOU

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Presentation Skills: 16 tips for effective presentations

A successful presentation requires good presentation skills and effective presentation techniques. Here we provide you with 15 presentation tips for effective presentations. Whether you are an experienced presenter, or just starting out, there should be ideas here to help you improve your presentation skills.

Presenting successfully: 16 tips to improve your presentation skills and give a killer presentation 

How do you give a good presentation this is how to succeed.

In order to be able to present successfully, not only the layout and the content of the presentation must be convincing. The decisive step is to convey the content of the presentation to the audience in the best possible way by presenting it correctly. The tips listed below should help you do this by improving your presentation skills. The most important thing to keep in mind is a healthy combination of the tips listed below. (The order of the tips does not give any information about their importance).

Not every tip will lead to a successful presentation. What is important in a presentation?

As mentioned earlier, you should try to implement a combination of the tips to give a successful presentation. It should be noted that not every one of these tips needs to fit in your own presentation. In addition, too many of these tips can make the presentation look overloaded and too "rehearsed". Therefore, think carefully in advance about what you want to pay particular attention to.

Here are 16 tips for killer presentations:

Tip 1: maintain eye contact while presenting and smile.

In order to give each of your listeners the feeling of being important and to make them feel personally addressed, it is particularly important to maintain eye contact with the audience during the presentation. Not only does this exude confidence, but it also helps your audience to connect with you and your subject. It also helps you feel less nervous.  Easier said than done right? Here's what can help:

Find someone in the audience who seems to be genuinely interested in the topic and is listening attentively (for example, your lecturer). Make eye contact with this person at the beginning of the presentation. Once you start feeling more calm and confident let your gaze drift over the audience to address the other listeners as well. Keep returning your gaze to the initial person to stay calm throughout the whole presentation.

Another alternative is to find a fixed point in the room (preferably on the wall behind the audience) which you fix at the beginning of the presentation. Similar to the first example, after you have achieved confidence, you can let your gaze wander over the audience and return to the previously selected fixed point again and again.

Don't look at the screen! Don't look at the floor! Don't just look at your index cards! Don't just look at the laptop!

Tip 2: Use of gestures and facial expressions

To emphasize the content of your presentation, it is advisable to use appropriate gestures and body language to get your message across. Avoid crossed arms, hands behind your back, or in your pockets during a presentation.  Always stand up straight, and try not to appear tense or stressed. You can do that by using your hands and arms to emphasize what you are saying and get your message across.  Your facial expressions should always be friendly and open. Smile and show that you enjoy the topic and you are confident in the information you are presenting.

Tip 3: Avoid distractions

Often you will not be able to avoid the use of aids. For example, you may need to use a laser pointer to show something on the screen, or you may need to use a pen to write something down on a flipchart. To avoid distractions for you and the audience, get into the habit of putting down tools you don't need! That way you will not be tempted to deal with them in the first place. You will also have your hands free for gestures.

Tip 4: Be prepared: Practice makes perfect

Practice makes perfect, right? If you prepare well before the presentation, you will feel more relaxed and confident while presenting and it will also improve your body language. 

Here are some ways to help you prepare for a presentation:

Rehearse in front of a crowd

Time yourself

Record yourself

Tip 5: Be confident

By appearing self-confident, you convey to the listener that you are confident in your topic and have prepared yourself sufficiently. Try to relax and not appear too stressed or nervous. Another tip for advanced speakers: Step out in front of the podium and walk around the room and get closer to the audience. This also exudes self-confidence and helps in attracting your audience's attention.

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Tip 6: Effective beginning/end

Good presentation skills can help you in captivating your audience straight away. In order to do that, you should start your presentation with a bang. Many studies show that if you can capture someone’s interest straight away, there’s a good chance they’ll listen to the rest of the presentation. Shock the audience, ask them to imagine something or think of a what-if situation, share a personal story, share a joke, u se a quote, or a video. You should also give an overview of the time and structure of your presentation. This outline should run through your presentation so that you can always assign the individual contents to an outline point. It is also helpful for your audience to have the outline displayed in a slimmed-down form during the whole presentation.

How you end the presentation is as important as how you start it. A weak ending will leave the audience uninspired. But a good ending will motivate them and help them walk away on a positive note. For example, include a call to action, end the presentation with a memorable quote, or a personal story, and don't forget to thank and acknowledge the audience. 

Tip 7: Speak freely

The headline speaks for itself. To make the presentation as lively and enjoyable as possible, you should avoid reading it off. Speak freely, slowly, and clearly. If you are not yet confident in what you are presenting, try using note cards. But keep in mind: No continuous text, but only short, concise bullet points! If you use note cards to support you, it is especially advisable at this point to memorize at least the beginning and end of your presentation, as eye contact is crucial at these points.

Tip 8: Avoid filler words

In order to make your presentation flow as smoothly and confidently as possible, you should avoid using filler words such as "um," "so," and so on. For your listeners, these words convey insecurity and inadequate preparation.

Tip 9: Bring along something to share

In addition to a handout, other small takeaways can also significantly improve your presentation. For example, if you are giving a presentation on gummy bears, why not offer some to your audience? If you are giving a presentation about your fishing hobby, why not show the audience your fishing equipment?

Tip 10: Use different types of media

A presentation can quickly become boring and monotonous. To avoid this, it is advisable to use different types of media. For example, combine videos and flipcharts, use the whiteboard, or show something practical on a model. This will increase the attention of your audience enormously and will help in keeping them engaged until the end.

Tip 11: Use effective pauses

When giving a presentation, you should keep in mind that you have already heard the content several times - your audience probably hasn't! Therefore, give your audience enough time to read and understand the content of your slides.

Effective use of speech pauses is a master technique. It is one of the most versatile tools in a presenter's toolbox. Yet very few people perform it well. A pause, if used correctly, can add a great deal to your presentation or speech. Pause before, during, or after saying something that you would like to emphasize. Pausing between two different parts of your presentation can indicate to the audience that something new is coming. A quick pause could also help you in remembering your next point, without the audience noticing that you forgot what to say.

Tip 12: Speak the language of the audience

When creating your presentation, you should already think about your target audience. This will help you present successfully later on. It is especially important that you speak the language of the audience. Use appropriate and relevant examples. Use "strong" and meaningful words in short sentences to avoid losing the audience. Make sure to use appropriate analogies and anecdotes and avoid foreign words, empty phrases, and clichés. If you have to use foreign words, explain them in a handout or footnote within the presentation.

Tip 13: Engage with the audience

Always try to keep the attention of your audience and keep them engaged during a presentation. To do this, it is advisable to regularly involve the audience. One way to do this is to ask questions. Deliberately ask "easy" questions so that can easily be answered by your audience. Another way to involve the audience in your presentation is by interacting with them. To make a point clearer, you can use an example to explain it in more detail, using a person (whose name you should know). You can address participants directly and refer to their work.

Tip 14: Don't fight the stage fright & take deep breaths

Stage fright is one of the biggest enemies of a presentation, yet you shouldn't let yourself be a victim of your feat. Do not fight it, rather address your fear and try and accept it, and transform it into positive enthusiasm. Don't let your stage fright get you all worked up and nervous. Take a couple of deep breaths to get oxygen to your brain and relax your body.

Tip 15: Choose the right angle on standing during a presentation

One of the most frequent questions that speakers ask themselves during a presentation is, how do I best position myself, and where do I stand in front of the audience?

You have a free stage without a podium

In many cases, you will be facing your audience in a "free space", without a podium. This gives you a lot of room to move, but at the same time, it creates uncertainty because you don't know how to position yourself properly or how to move. Avoid standing frontally in front of the audience! This frontal facing is unconsciously perceived negatively by the audience. It is perceived by the audience as a kind of frontal attack and causes stress in your audience. Make sure to stand slightly to the side of the audience. If you notice during the presentation that you are again standing frontally in front of your audience, simply move your right or left foot 20 cm forward.

You have a podium at your disposal

A podium makes it easier to decide how to position yourself and where to stand in front of the audience. In order not to make your presentation too monotonous, it is advisable to leave the "safe position" behind the lectern from time to time, e.g. to walk to the other side of the screen or to show something on the flipchart. This brings movement into your presentation and helps keep the connection with your audience.

Tip 16: Create something with the whiteboard during the lecture

PowerPoint is no longer the tool of choice for a successful presentation. Photo collages, company logos on every slide and flashing text boxes often distract from the essentials. A presentation convinces the audience especially when they witness how something is being created. In addition to the classic flipchart, the whiteboard is recommended for this purpose. This is because diagrams, keywords and the results of a brainstorming session are written in real time on a whiteboard. Board markers allow a wide range of colors and the magnetic property of pinning additional information. The result of the presentation produced in this way is remembered longer than ready-made slides.

Björn Rolleter

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Nonverbal Communication Skills That Affect Presentations

Published: Jan 24, 2019 Modified: Apr 09, 2024

Updated On: May 8, 2023

Effective communication is a vital skill for any manager, and nonverbal communication is an essential component of that skill set. Whether you're presenting to a group of colleagues, pitching a project to a potential client, or simply interacting with coworkers on a daily basis, your nonverbal cues can have a significant impact on how your message is received. By developing strong nonverbal communication skills, such as maintaining eye contact, using appropriate gestures, and projecting confidence through your posture and tone of voice, you can enhance the impact and  effectiveness of your presentations.  One effective way to develop these skills is through practice sessions that incorporate both verbal and nonverbal elements of presentations. By paying close attention to your nonverbal communication and practicing these skills regularly, you can improve the delivery of your message and become a more effective communicator overall.

Types of Nonverbal Communication

Communication isn’t just verbal expression. There’s also plenty of nonverbal communication types to be aware of.

• Facial Expressions

Eye contact

• Movements and Gestures

Paralinguistics

• Cultural Differences

Key Aspects of Nonverbal Communication for Effective Presentations

Use the following checklist to make your presentations a success:

Facial expressions

One of the key elements of nonverbal communication is your facial expressions. Here are a few points to keep in mind when presenting:

Smile appropriately

A genuine smile can help build rapport with your audience and convey warmth and friendliness. However, it's important to avoid over-smiling, which can come across as insincere or unprofessional.

Relax your face

Avoid tensing up or making tense facial expressions, as this can make you appear anxious or uncomfortable. Instead, try to keep your face relaxed and open.

Let your face add variety and punctuation to the message

Your facial expressions can help emphasize key points, convey emotions, and add nuance and depth to your message. For example, a raised eyebrow can signal surprise or disbelief, while a furrowed brow can indicate concern or seriousness.

Nod for emphasis or agreement

Nodding can be a powerful way to show agreement, understanding, or enthusiasm. However, be careful not to overdo it, as excessive nodding can be distracting or come across as insincere.

A necessary component of any successful presentation is eye contact, and understanding the right amount of eye contact is a key skill:

Look at the audience, not your notes or other distractions: 

Avoid looking down at your notes, the floor, or the ceiling, as this can make you appear disinterested or unprepared. Instead, make an effort to maintain eye contact with your audience throughout your presentation.

Establish eye contact around the room: 

Try to make eye contact with various people or sections of the audience, rather than just focusing on one person or area. This can help keep your audience engaged and create a sense of connection.

Hold eye contact for 3 to 5 seconds: 

When making eye contact with someone, try to hold their gaze for a few seconds before moving on to the next person. This can help establish rapport and show that you are present and engaged.

Make eye contact deliberate:

Be intentional about where and when you make eye contact, and use it to emphasize key points, convey emotion, and establish rapport. However, be careful not to overdo it or make your eye contact seem forced or uncomfortable.

Movements and gestures

Nonverbal communication is made up primarily of movements and gestures. Identify the right combination of the two to amplify your message:

• Face your audience whenever possible. Maintain open body language.
• Move with purpose and for effect, not just for the sake of moving. Move into the group—do not “hug the wall.”
• Make sure your posture is erect, poised, and balanced.
• Appear relaxed.
• Use your arms and hands to add clarity, emphasis, and energy.
• Keep your hands empty except for a few note cards.
• Keep your arms at about waist height, and do not lock your elbows against your ribcage.
• Do not get too busy with your hands and arms—this may create a sense of confusion and disorganization (“frenzied”).
• Use gestures if you are speaking from a lectern. Do not grasp the sides as if they have some sort of “magic powers.” Set the height of the lectern so that you can easily see your notes, gesture, and be seen from your midsection up to your head.
• If you are working with a lectern, walk away from it if possible to get closer to your audience and use the attention-getting power of action. If you can’t move away from the lectern, lean forward to create a sense of closeness, gesture effectively, and use a lot of facial expressions.

Paralinguistics refers to the nonverbal aspects of speech, such as tone of voice, pitch, volume, and inflection. These cues can convey a wealth of information about the speaker's emotional state, attitude, and intent, and can significantly impact how a message is received in your presentation. Here are some key points to keep in mind when it comes to paralinguistics:

Tone of voice: 

The tone of your voice can convey a range of emotions, from enthusiasm and confidence to sadness and frustration. Be mindful of your tone and adjust it as necessary to match the content and context of your message.

Pitch: 

The pitch of your voice can convey different meanings, such as excitement or urgency. Varying your pitch can also help keep your audience engaged and add emphasis to important points.

Volume: 

The volume of your voice can signal your level of confidence and authority, as well as your willingness to engage with your audience. Be sure to speak clearly and audibly, but avoid shouting or speaking too softly.

Inflection: 

Inflection refers to the rise and fall of your voice, and can add nuance and emphasis to your message. For example, raising your voice at the end of a sentence can signal a question or uncertainty, while a falling inflection can signal a statement or assertion.

Nonverbal communication across different cultures

• Nonverbal communication can vary significantly across different cultures and regions, and what may be considered appropriate or respectful in one culture may be viewed as inappropriate or offensive in another.
• Gestures, facial expressions, and body language can all convey different meanings and emotions depending on the cultural context.
• For example, sitting close to someone may indicate intimacy or attraction in some cultures, while in others it may be considered too close or intrusive.
• Similarly, a smile may be interpreted differently depending on the culture, with some cultures viewing it as friendly and inviting, while others may see it as rude or insincere.
• Gestures such as thumbs up or the OK sign may also have different meanings or connotations in different cultures, with some cultures viewing them as offensive or threatening.
• It's important to be mindful of cultural differences in nonverbal communication, especially when communicating with individuals or groups from different cultural backgrounds.

Beyond the Podium: Mastering Nonverbal Communication Through Space and Touch

• Touch is a powerful form of nonverbal communication that can convey a wide range of emotions, attitudes, and intentions.
• A lack of touch or unwanted touch can create discomfort or distrust, while thoughtful and appropriate touch can enhance connection and convey respect and empathy.
• Different types of touch, such as a firm handshake, a gentle pat on the back, or an aggressive hug, can communicate different messages and emotions.
• Physical space is an important aspect of nonverbal communication that can signal intimacy and affection, aggression or dominance, or respect and professionalism.
• Invading someone's personal space can create discomfort or even hostility, while standing too far away can signal disinterest or detachment.
• The amount of space required can vary depending on cultural and situational factors, so it's important to be mindful of the context when using physical space to communicate nonverbally.

The Importance of Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication can impact how your message is received and interpreted by your audience, even more so than your actual words. Facial expressions, gestures, posture, and eye contact can all enhance or detract from your message, and can signal your confidence, authority, or sincerity.

By being aware of your nonverbal cues and using them deliberately, you can enhance the impact and effectiveness of your presentations, and increase audience engagement.

Reading the nonverbal cues of your audience can also provide valuable feedback, allowing you to adjust your message or delivery as needed to ensure it is being received as intended. Paying attention to the nonverbal communication of your audience can also help you build rapport and connect with them, allowing you to build trust and credibility.

Nonverbal communication can also help you establish your presence and command attention, making your presentation more memorable and impactful. When delivering a presentation virtually, nonverbal communication becomes even more important as it can help you overcome the challenges of distance and lack of physical presence, and make your message more engaging and impactful.

As you deliver your presentation, the general rule of thumb is to engage in self-monitoring. Be aware of what you are presenting, the verbal and nonverbal elements, and your gestures and body language. Business leaders must make every presentation a compelling communication. Learn how to inject your style and energy into speeches and presentations. In  AMA’s Effective Executive Speaking seminar , we provide tools and techniques for building awareness of the nonverbal communication factors that impact presentations. 

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What is a skill? Types of skills and how to develop them

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Skill often takes center stage for employers. However, the term often seems to have different meanings or appears to refer to different attributes.  

To find a succinct definition of skill , we need to contrast it with knowledge. Knowledge represents theoretical information and facts, and skills involve using that knowledge to take action in the real world. In other words, skills enable you to perform tasks and solve problems effectively. Employers value specific skill sets that include both technical abilities as well as personal traits that ensure success in the workplace.  

It’s important to understand the various types of skills and know how to develop technical (hard) skills and personal (soft) skills. Here is an in-depth look at different skill types and ways to effectively develop them.  

Skills vs. talents vs. abilities 

In addition to the distinction between skills and knowledge, it’s also essential to understand the difference between skills, talent and ability. 

Talents are innate or naturally developed abilities. You are either born with them or develop them naturally without focused skill development efforts. On the other hand, ability is a broader term. It can refer to skills you develop through training and practice or innate talent that you have or develop naturally.  

Jobs require specific abilities. Employers may not be aware whether these abilities are learned skills or natural talents. If you have a natural aptitude in a certain area, you may be able to develop skills in it more quickly than others. However, most jobs require training to improve performance or help employees prepare for new opportunities. 

Imagine you want to become a professional chef. You have a natural talent for combining flavors to make delicious food. You have developed this talent naturally just by cooking for yourself at home. However, making a few dishes well is not enough to succeed as a professional chef. You need formal training to add skills. These might include food preparation techniques, menu planning skills and the ability to manage other kitchen staff.  

Most careers require some level of skill development to turn natural talent into professional success.  

The two types of skills taxonomy

You can break down skills in different ways. One of the most popular distinctions in the workplace is between hard skills and soft skills. These terms cover both technical skills and personal traits.  

Every career requires both hard and soft skills. It is important to understand how to identify and develop both types of ability.  

Hard skills  

Hard skills are also known as technical skills or job-specific skills. They are teachable, and you can prove your abilities with an exam or demonstration. 

Assessing hard skills is not a subjective process. You can either perform a task successfully, or you cannot. An example of a hard skill would be the ability to use a computer language to create a mobile app.  

In most cases, hard skills require training. For instance, you can have talent in math, but you need to study to learn the techniques and processes necessary to become an accountant.  

Here are five examples of hard skills. 

• Creating a computer program using a specific language 
• Operating a computer numerical control machine in a factory 
• Repairing an automobile in an auto repair garage 
• Building a mathematical model to make a sales forecast 
• Estimating the cost of a construction project using measurements and materials prices 

In all these examples, you need to follow a specific set of steps to complete the job. Even for people with specific talents, training is necessary to gain this technical knowledge.  

Soft skills 

Soft skills are personal attributes that you use in the workplace. These abilities are necessary for workplace interactions, and they support the use of hard skills.  

Common soft skills include communication, leadership and relationship building. These abilities are harder to quantify than hard skills, but they’re essential for building partnerships and managing or collaborating with other professionals.  

Here are some examples of soft skills commonly required in the workplace:  

• Communicating effectively with peers to collaborate on a project 
• Adapting to new requirements on a project 
• Delegating tasks to other employees and explaining the requirements for completion 
• Solving problems with available resources 
• Building relationships with suppliers to get the best prices  

Though you may learn techniques to support soft skills, you ultimately develop them through experiences in the classroom, the workplace or during other life experiences.  

The three types of acquired skills 

There are other ways to categorize skills. Hard and soft skills focus on the nature and application of skills. However, other distinctions are more focused on acquiring skills. As you prepare for a career, you will want to define skills by the way you obtain them.  

Students, those preparing for a career, and employees seeking career advancement can break skills down into personal traits, transferable skills and knowledge-based abilities. With these categories, you can find the best ways to develop or obtain each ability needed for a career.  

Transferable skills 

Transferable skills, also known as universal skills, are abilities you can apply across different job roles and industries. While hard and soft skills are often specific to certain job functions, transferable skills transcend job boundaries.  

Here are five examples of transferable skills:  

• Communication skills enhance collaboration and problem-solving in any role. 
• Leadership skills are valuable in various contexts, from leading a small team to making company-wide policies. 
• Problem-solving skills are valuable in any position, and they can help prepare you for opportunities within a company. 
• Adaptability allows you to change approaches and incorporate new concepts quickly. This skill is valuable in any industry that experiences changes.  
• Time management is essential for productivity and is valuable in any position where you have to operate under deadline pressures. 

As you may have noticed, most transferable skills are soft skills.  

Personal traits and attitudes 

Personal traits and attitudes refer to an individual’s inherent characteristics and the way they affect actions and interactions. These traits impact how you approach tasks, challenges and relationships. 

Here are some examples.  

• Optimism leads to a positive outlook in most circumstances. It can help with resilience in the face of setbacks and give you the ability to inspire others. 
• Conscientiousness leads to attention to detail, organization and a strong work ethic. It inspires you to take responsibility for completing tasks effectively.  
• Empathy gives you the heightened ability to understand and connect with others. It allows you to develop positive working relationships with other employees.  
• Open-mindedness encourages flexibility, creativity and a willingness to consider diverse perspectives. 
• Resilience reflects one’s capacity to bounce back from setbacks, learn from failures and maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity. 

Knowledge-based skills 

Knowledge-based skills develop through education, training or experience. These abilities come from your understanding of a particular field or specific techniques for completing tasks.  

Here are examples of knowledge-based skills.  

• Google Ads requires an understanding of marketing principles, including target audience identification, campaign objectives and budget allocation. 
• DEIB labor law  requires an understanding of employment laws and regulations related to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). This includes knowledge of federal, state, and local laws, as well as the ability to interpret and apply these laws to specific situations. 
• Scrum product ownership requires a thorough understanding of Scrum principles, values and practices. 
• Search engine optimization (SEO) requires an understanding of how search engines work, how to optimize websites and how to create high-quality content that will attract and engage visitors.  

How to develop skills 

Developing skills is a continuous process necessary for your professional growth. Company managers can facilitate this growth to ensure employees have the skills to excel at work and further their careers.  

Companies can conduct a skills gap analysis to decide what type of programs to offer to employees. 

Here are options for developing skills inside and outside of the workplace:

• On-the-job training pairs employees with mentors — such as through the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program — or experienced colleagues who can teach specific skills during regular work operations. This approach allows you to learn skills and apply them immediately in a practical setting.  
• Formal education can also help develop skills. This could include degree programs, but you can also consider professional development courses, certificate programs and micro-credentials.  
• Continuous feedback and assessment allow employees to acknowledge their strengths and identify areas where skill improvement is needed. Regular performance reviews can help focus professional development efforts and assess the effectiveness of these efforts.  
• Self-directed learning helps employees with independent skills development. The company can provide access to resources, such as online courses or educational materials. These allow employees to choose the skills they want to learn and the ability to pursue professional growth without cost barriers.  
• Upskilling initiatives can help employees grow professionally. These initiatives may include cross-training, exposure to new tools and technologies and opportunities to attend conferences or workshops related to trends or techniques. 

Professional development programs can also be implemented to provide employees with opportunities to acquire new skills. These opportunities often consist of workshops, courses and seminars inside the office or at industry conferences or training centers. 

These skills development options allow companies to take full advantage of their employees’ existing abilities while training them in new areas. 

The importance of upskilling 

Upskilling initiatives provide employees with the opportunities to enhance their careers and adapt to new trends and techniques in their field. In most companies, workers have developed a variety of soft and hard skills. Upskilling allows companies to continue taking advantage of these abilities while adding new ones.  

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Executive Assistant Hard Skills: Essential 10 Skills for Success

• Virtual Latinos
• March 31, 2024

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Are you struggling to manage your executive’s schedule, juggle multiple tasks, or handle complex projects?

The problem might not be your effort, but the lack of essential executive assistant skills that your executive assistant requires.

Executive assistants are the backbone of successful executives, ensuring smooth operations and efficient time management. Without these essential technical skills, both you and your executive team might encounter unexpected challenges, leading to missed opportunities and decreased productivity.

The solution lies in understanding and acquiring the top executive assistant hard skills. These skills are not just about answering phone calls or scheduling meetings but involve a thorough understanding of project management, effective communication, and strategic support. Keep reading to discover the top 10 hard skills that can transform you into a successful executive assistant and learn how to hire the right candidate for your organization.

Top 10 Hard Skills for Executive Assistants

1. project management.

Project management skills are critical for executive assistants. They often handle multiple projects simultaneously, requiring exceptional organizational skills and the ability to prioritize tasks.

Using project management tools like Asana or Trello can help in tracking progress, setting deadlines, and ensuring timely completion. Effective project management ensures that all tasks align with the executive’s goals and the organization’s strategic objectives.

2. Calendar Management

Managing an executive’s schedule requires precision and attention to detail. Calendar management involves scheduling meetings, personal appointments, and travel arrangements while avoiding scheduling conflicts. A great executive assistant must be proficient in using calendar tools like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook to keep the executive’s schedule organized and up-to-date.

3. Data Analysis

Data analysis is a crucial hard skill for executive assistants. They often need to gather, analyze, and present data to support decision-making processes. This includes using spreadsheets and databases to organize data, identifying trends, and generating reports.

Proficiency in tools like Microsoft Excel and data visualization software is essential. By effectively analyzing data, executive assistants provide valuable insights that help executives make informed decisions, improve efficiency, and drive strategic initiatives within the organization.

This skill ensures that all data-related tasks are handled accurately and efficiently, contributing to the overall success of the company.

4. Event Planning

Event planning is another vital skill for executive assistants. Organizing successful meetings, conferences, or corporate events requires meticulous planning and coordination.

From selecting venues to managing logistics, an executive assistant must ensure that every detail is taken care of. This skill is crucial for maintaining the executive’s reputation and ensuring successful events.

5. Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite is a fundamental skill for any executive assistant. This includes extensive knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

These tools are essential for creating reports, managing emails, preparing presentations, and handling other administrative tasks. A successful executive assistant must be adept at using these tools to enhance productivity and efficiency.

6. Financial Reporting

Handling financial reporting is a critical responsibility for executive assistants. This involves managing budgets, preparing financial reports, and tracking expenses.

An executive assistant with strong financial reporting skills can help in strategic planning and decision-making by providing accurate financial data. This skill is particularly important for maintaining transparency and ensuring the organization’s financial health.

7. Social Media Management

In today’s digital age, social media management has become an essential skill for executive assistants. This involves managing the executive’s social media accounts, creating engaging content, and monitoring online presence. A great executive assistant must be familiar with various social media platforms and possess the ability to use them effectively to enhance the executive’s online reputation.

8. Presentation Skills

Creating and delivering presentations is a common task for executive assistants. This requires not only technical proficiency in tools like PowerPoint, but also the ability to design visually appealing and informative presentations. Strong presentation skills ensure that the executive’s ideas are communicated clearly and effectively to stakeholders.

Additionally, excellent communication skills are essential for executive assistants when presenting. They serve as the primary point of contact between the executive and other stakeholders. Effective communication involves not only conveying information clearly but also understanding and interpreting messages accurately. This skill ensures smooth interactions and helps in maintaining professional relationships, making presentations more impactful and engaging.

By combining technical expertise in presentation tools with strong communication skills, executive assistants can create presentations that convey important information clearly and resonate with the audience, effectively supporting the executive’s goals and initiatives.

9. Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving is a key skill for executive assistants, who often need to address unexpected challenges and find effective solutions. This involves strategic thinking, creativity, and the ability to remain calm under pressure. A good executive assistant must be proactive in identifying potential issues and resolving them efficiently to prevent disruptions.

10. File Management

Effective file management is crucial for maintaining organized and accessible records. This includes both physical and digital file management, ensuring that documents are properly labeled, stored, and easily retrievable.

An executive assistant with strong file management skills can enhance efficiency by reducing the time spent searching for important documents.

How to Hire the Right Executive Assistant

Hiring executive assistants involves more than just evaluating their resume. Here are some steps to ensure you find the best candidate for the role:

Define the Job Description

Start by creating a detailed EA job description that outlines the specific skills and responsibilities required for the executive assistant role. This includes the essential hard skills mentioned above, as well as any additional requirements unique to your organization.

Use Targeted Recruitment Strategies

Utilize targeted recruitment strategies to attract qualified candidates. This includes posting the job on relevant job boards, using applicant tracking software, and leveraging professional networks. Consider working with recruitment agencies that specialize in executive assistant roles to find top talent.

Conduct Thorough Interviews

During the executive assistant interview process , focus on assessing the candidate’s hard skills through practical tests and situational questions. For example, you can ask them to demonstrate their proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite or present a mock project plan. This will give you a clear idea of their capabilities and how they would perform in the role.

Check References and Background

Checking references and conducting background checks are crucial steps in the hiring process . This ensures that the candidate has a proven track record of success and can be trusted with sensitive information. Contact previous employers and colleagues to gain insights into the candidate’s work ethic and performance.

Offer Competitive Compensation

Offering competitive compensation is essential to attract and retain top executive assistants. This includes a fair base salary, employee benefits, and opportunities for professional development. Consider the cost per employee and ensure that the total employee costs align with your budget.

Final Thoughts

Mastering executive assistant hard skills is crucial for ensuring the smooth operation and success of an executive’s daily activities. From project management and calendar management to financial reporting and problem-solving, these skills are indispensable for any effective executive assistant. Understanding and acquiring these skills can significantly enhance productivity and contribute to the overall success of the organization.

At Virtual Latinos, we provide top-tier virtual executive assistants from Latin America . Our rigorous vetting process ensures that only the best candidates make it to our pool, saving you time and effort in the hiring process. Partnering with Virtual Latinos means you get access to highly skilled professionals who can handle your administrative tasks, manage your schedule, and support your strategic initiatives.

Ready to experience the benefits of working with a virtual executive assistant? Contact Virtual Latinos today and let us help you find the perfect fit for your organization. Start hiring smarter and elevate your executive support with Virtual Latinos.

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Jobscan > Resume Formats

Resume Formats That Help Get You Job Interviews

Find out how to choose the best resume format to showcase your skills, experience, and achievements.

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A good resume format organizes your skills, experience, and achievements. It tells hiring managers what they need to know.

Having a good resume format is important for another reason. It helps applicant tracking systems (ATS) read and understand your resume.

ATS is a computer software that most companies use today to help them hire employees. One of the main jobs of ATS is to screen the hundreds of resumes that come in for every job opening.

If your resume isn’t formatted the right way, the ATS will have trouble reading it. This makes it far less likely that a hiring manager will see your resume.

Don’t worry! Choosing a resume format isn’t as hard as it sounds. This article will guide you through the process.

By the end of it, you’ll know which resume format is best for your situation.

The 3 basic resume formats

There are three basic resume formats to choose from. They are:

• Chronological – Lists your work history in order, starting with your most recent job first.
• Functional – Focuses on your skills and accomplishments instead of your work history.
• Hybrid – Places your skills and accomplishments at the top, before your work history.

It’s important to understand the pros and cons of each format. This allows you to choose the one that best suits your specific situation and career goals.

After choosing a format, consider using a resume template to help create your resume. A template is a pre-designed layout that provides a structured framework for presenting your skills and experience. All you have to do is fill in your information.

Jobscan has a variety of free resume templates you can use. Our templates come in all three resume formats and each one is ATS-friendly.

Chronological

The chronological resume format

Also known as the “reverse chronological” resume, this is the most common type of format. You’re most likely already familiar with it.

As the name suggests, this format lists your most recent job first. Then your second-most recent job, your third-most recent job, etc…

Why do hiring managers like the chronological resume?

Hiring managers often prefer the chronological resume format for several reasons:

• It’s easy to follow – Recruiters can scan through your resume. It’s easy for them to find the companies you’ve worked for and the positions you’ve held.
• It’s the most traditional – Hiring managers are very familiar with this format. It won’t confuse them.
• It shows your career growth – Your work history makes it easy for recruiters to see how your career is going.

Who should use the chronological resume format?

Because this resume format focuses on work experience, it’s often used by job seekers who:

Have a strong work history

This format is ideal for job seekers who have lots of relevant work experience. It allows recruiters to see your career trajectory at a glance. They can get a good sense of the breadth and depth of your expertise.

Work in traditional industries

Many traditional industries prefer the chronological format. These industries include finance, engineering, healthcare, and legal professions. These sectors generally place a strong emphasis on a candidate’s work history.

Have a stable career path

The chronological resume is good at showing steady career growth within an industry. Hiring managers like to see this because it shows commitment.

How to set up a chronological resume

The reverse chronological resume contains the following sections, from top to bottom:

• Contact Information : Begin your resume with your name, phone number, and email address. You can also include a professional website or LinkedIn profile (if applicable).
• Resume Summary : This is a short statement about your goals, qualifications, and experience. It should provide a snapshot of your professional profile.
• Work Experience : This is the heart of the chronological resume. List your jobs in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position. Include the company name, job title, and dates of employment. Add a brief description of your responsibilities and accomplishments for each role.
• Education : This section should also be in reverse chronological order. List degrees earned, school names, and graduation dates. You may also want to list academic honors or certifications relevant to your field.
• Skills : This section allows you to highlight relevant skills. Include both hard and soft skills.
• Additional Sections : Depending on your background, you may choose to include more sections. These could include volunteer work, hobbies, publications, or foreign languages.

You don’t have to create your resume from scratch. You can use a resume template. This is a pre-designed layout that includes all the sections listed above. All you have to do is fill in your information.

Jobscan has free resume templates . Each one is ATS-friendly and can be easily customized to suit your needs.

Pros and cons of the chronological resume format

• Draws attention to employment gaps – Shows if you’ve had periods of unemployment or job breaks.
• Not ideal for career changers – Does not highlight your transferable skills. These are important if you are making a significant career change.
• Less focus on skills – Does not immediately highlight your specific skills. These are listed later in a separate skills section.
• Emphasizes career progression – Highlights promotions, increased responsibilities, and relevant experience.
• Preferred by recruiters – This makes it easy for them to assess your work history.
• Shows career stability – A stable career shows commitment to a job or industry.
• ATS-friendly – Applicant tracking systems are familiar with this format. They should have no problem reading and understanding your information.

Functional resume format

This is also known as the skills-based resume format. It’s quite different from the chronological resume format.

The chronological format focuses on your work history. The functional format focuses on your skills and achievements. It minimizes your work experience.

This has several advantages:

• Focusing on your skills helps recruiters see if you can do the job.
• This format downplays negatives like employment gaps, career changes, and limited work experience. Instead, it focuses on positives, such as your transferable skills.
• This format also focuses on achievements that are relevant to the job you’re applying to. This makes it easier for recruiters to assess your capabilities.

Why do hiring managers like the functional format?

Actually, hiring managers don’t like the functional resume format!

This is because the lack of work experience makes it hard for them to understand your career. The functional format can also hide periods of unemployment. Hiring managers prefer transparency.

Another big reason why you shouldn’t use the functional resume format is that it’s not ATS-friendly.

ATS scan resumes for specific keywords, job titles, and dates. They use this information to assess an applicant’s qualifications for a specific job.

But functional resumes don’t focus on job titles and dates. So the ATS might have trouble reading and understanding them. As a result, functional resumes may not receive high rankings from an ATS.

Who should use the functional resume format?

While we don’t recommend using a functional resume, it can help certain job seekers. Especially those who:

Have transferable skills

Are you considering a career change? The functional format might be for you. It emphasizes your transferable skills that are relevant to the desired role.

Transferable skills are abilities that you can use in any job in any field or industry. They include things like communication, problem-solving, leadership, time management, organization, and adaptability.

Have limited work experience

The functional resume is for recent graduates or people with limited work experience. This is because it highlights things like your school achievements, hobbies, and volunteering.

Have employment gaps

The functional format downplays gaps in your work history. It redirects the focus of hiring managers toward your skills.

How to set up a functional resume

When creating a functional resume, follow this structure:

• Contact Information: This is the same regardless of which resume format you choose. Include your name, phone number, email address, and location.
• Resume Summary: The resume summary provides a concise snapshot of your qualifications. It should touch upon your unique skills, expertise, and accomplishments. The goal is to attract the reader’s interest.
• Skills Section : This is the heart of your functional (or skills-based) resume. This section should include a combination of hard skills (technical abilities specific to the job) and soft skills (transferable skills like communication , leadership , problem-solving , etc.).
• Use bullet points when creating your skills section. List your most relevant skills first. Whenever possible, try to include achievements that display relevant skills.
• Work Experience: Whatever work experience you have should come after your skills section. Don’t list detailed job descriptions. Instead, focus on the accomplishments, projects, and experiences that show your skills.
• Education : Include information about your educational background. This includes degrees earned, institution names, and graduation dates. Also include relevant coursework, certifications , or academic achievements.

If you don’t want to build your functional resume from scratch, try Jobscan’s free resume templates . They’re easy to customize and each one is ATS-friendly.

Pros and cons of the functional resume format

• Lack of detailed work history – Employers often want to see your work experience to see if you can do the job.
• No career timeline – Recruiters may find it hard to grasp the chronology of your work experience. This is because the focus is on your skills.
• Less suitable for established industries – Some industries focus more on work history.
• Highlights skills and achievements – This shows employers that you have what it takes to do the job.
• Good for career changers – This format focuses on your transferable skills. These give recruiters a good idea of your potential.
• Hides employment gaps – This format can lessen concerns about gaps in your work history.

Hybrid resume format

The hybrid resume format is becoming more popular. It combines the best aspects of the chronological and functional resume formats.

That’s why it’s called a hybrid .

The hybrid resume emphasizes both skills and work history. It features a dedicated skills section at the top of the resume. Below that is a chronological work experience section.

This format is especially helpful when you have lots of work experience but also want to show off your skills and accomplishments.

Why do hiring managers like the hybrid format?

Hiring managers appreciate the hybrid resume format for several reasons:

• It strikes a balance – Recruiters can see your skills and your work experience.
• It focuses on key skills – Sometimes recruiters want to make sure you have the skills to do the job. This resume format tells them immediately.
• It shows career progression – The hybrid resume provides a clear overview of your career path.

Who should use the hybrid resume format?

Anyone can use the hybrid resume format to great advantage. It’s especially suited to job seekers who:

Have a diverse skill set

You might have the perfect skills for the job. But your work experience is a little weak. This format allows you to feature your skills while downplaying your work experience.

Want to emphasize achievements

The hybrid format allows you to showcase achievements as well as skills at the top of your resume.

Are changing careers

The hybrid is good if you are transitioning to a new field. It focuses more on your transferable skills and slightly less on your work history.

How to set up a hybrid resume

When creating a hybrid resume, follow this structure:

• Contact Information : Begin with your name, contact details, phone number, and email address. You can also include your professional website or LinkedIn profile (if applicable).
• Resume Summary: Try to distill your entire resume into a short, easy-to-read blurb. Summaries can help career changers who need a place to explain a shift in career trajectory.
• Skills Section : Use bullet points to list your skills and achievements. Include both hard skills and soft skills.
• Work Experience: List your jobs in reverse chronological order. Start with your most recent or current position. Include the company name, job title, and dates of employment. Also, include a brief description of your responsibilities and accomplishments for each role.
• Education : List your education as you would on a chronological resume. Include degrees earned, school names, and graduation dates. You may also want to list academic honors or certifications relevant to your field.

If you don’t want to build your hybrid resume from scratch, try Jobscan’s free resume templates . They’re easy to customize and each one is ATS-friendly.

Pros and cons of the hybrid resume format

• Can result in a longer resume – The hybrid format may result in a longer resume. This is due to the inclusion of both a skills section and a detailed work history. But this shouldn’t be a problem as long as your resume isn’t more than two pages.
• Requires more thought – It can be hard to achieve the right balance between skills and work history. It requires thoughtful consideration and planning.
• Highlights your skills – By showing your skills first, this format captures the attention of hiring managers who are looking for them.
• Showcases your career progression – This format includes a chronological work experience section. This gives employers a good sense of your professional background and experience.
• Adaptable – The hybrid resume is flexible and easy to customize for specific jobs.
• ATS-friendly – ATS should have no problem reading this type of resume format.

If you’re still not sure which format to use for your resume, follow this flowchart to help you decide based on your situation.

How to format your resume so an ATS can read it

It’s important to choose the right resume format. But it’s also important to optimize your resume layout and content for an ATS.

If your resume is not optimized for an ATS, it’s less likely to make it into the hands of a hiring manager. Even if you have relevant skills and experience.

Here are some tips for creating a resume that will get past the initial screening of an ATS.

• Use standard fonts – Stick to common fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Avoid fancy or decorative fonts. The ATS may not recognize them.
• Keep it simple – Avoid excessive formattings, such as tables, images, or graphics, as they may confuse the ATS.
• Use simple headings – Use headings like “Work Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills”. The ATS can read these without a problem.
• Use plain text – Stick to basic formatting like bullet points and simple indentation. Avoid using headers or footers, text boxes, columns, or special characters.
• Use a font size that is easy to read – The recommended font size is 11-12 pt for regular text and 14-16 pt for section titles.
• Use the right margin – Make sure that the margins on all sides of your resume are 1 inch so that it doesn’t look too crowded.
• Include relevant keywords – Read the job description and pick out prominent keywords. Incorporate these keywords throughout your resume. This helps the ATS recognize your qualifications. It will then rank your resume higher in the search results.
• Use standard file formats – Save your resume as a .docx or .pdf file. These formats are widely compatible with most ATS systems.
• Avoid abbreviations and acronyms – Spell out acronyms and avoid excessive abbreviations. The ATS may not recognize uncommon abbreviations.
• Keep the file name simple – When saving your resume, use a simple file name. You could use the word “resume” for example. This makes it easier for the ATS and hiring managers to identify and organize your file.

Pro Tip : Use Jobscan’s free resume templates to start building your resume. All our templates are ATS-friendly and easy to customize.

5 tips for writing a resume that will get you interviews

Here are some additional tips that will help you create an effective resume:

Tailor each resume to the job you are applying for

Don’t make the mistake of sending out the exact same resume with every application. Yes, it’s easy. It’s also ineffective.

Instead, read the job description to find out which skills and qualifications are most important. Then try to include those skills on your resume.

When you use the same language on your resume that’s found in the job description, you increase your chances of getting an interview.

Highlight achievements as well as responsibilities

While it’s important to list your job responsibilities on your resume, you also want to highlight accomplishments .

Responsibilities are what you did. Accomplishments are how well you did it.

For example, if you increased sales or reduced costs, be sure to mention these accomplishments.

Use action verbs

Action verbs paint a clearer picture of your qualifications. They increase the overall impact of your resume.

Instead of simply stating that you were “responsible for” a certain task or project, explain how you took charge and made it happen.

For example, you could say that you “spearheaded a new initiative” or “coordinated a complex team effort.”

Use numbers

Try to use numbers whenever possible. Numbers show the true scope of your accomplishments to hiring managers.

Instead of saying that you “Created marketing campaigns” you could say that you “Created 10 successful marketing campaigns that generated a 20% increase in leads.”

Use active voice, not passive

Always try to use active voice instead of passive voice when writing your resume. Active voice is more direct, concise, and easier to read.

In active voice, the subject of the sentence is doing the verb. In passive voice, the subject is being acted upon by the verb.

If you’re not sure whether your resume is using active or passive voice, try running it through the Hemingway editor . It’s free and will tell you if you’re using passive voice.

Additional resume resources

Selecting the right resume format is the first step to creating an impactful resume. To learn more about how to create a resume that will stand out, check out these additional resources:

• How to Write a Resume That Recruiters Will Really Love – This step-by-step resume guide will teach you how to write a resume that stands out.
• How to Add Work Experience to Your Resume – Learn how to create a work experience section that will grab the attention of hiring managers.
• 8 Things You Need to Know About Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) – Here’s everything you need to know about ATS. What they are, how they work, and especially how you can “beat” them!
• How to Write a Strong Resume Skills Section – Here are the top resume skills employers are looking for. Learn how to list them on your resume.
• Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills – Learn the difference between hard and soft skills and why you need both on your resume.
• Free Professional Resume Templates – These ATS-friendly resume templates feature sleek, minimalist designs.

FAQs about resume formats

What does ats-friendly resume format mean.

An ATS-friendly resume format is one that can be read by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Employers use these systems to manage and filter large volumes of resumes.

When you use an ATS-friendly format , it increases the chances that a hiring manager will find your resume.

Is a resume format the same as a resume template?

No, they are two different things.

Resume format refers to the structure and organization of the content in a resume. A resume template refers to a pre-designed layout you can use to create a resume.

Is there a separate student resume format?

There isn’t a specific “student resume format” per se. Students generally use the same resume formats as other job seekers. But they may emphasize different sections or information.

A student’s resume highlights coursework, internships, part-time jobs, extracurricular activities, and academic achievements.

What is the best resume format for 2023?

The best resume format for you depends on your specific circumstances. This includes your work experience, career goals, and the industry you’re targeting.

Having said that, we like the hybrid resume format .

Employers are looking for job candidates who have the right skills. And the hybrid resume features skills right at the top of the resume. Employers also want to see a work experience section on a resume. The hybrid has that as well.

This powerful combination of skills and experiences makes the hybrid resume our top choice for 2023 and beyond.

Free Professional Resume Templates

Jobscan’s free Microsoft Word compatible resume templates feature sleek, minimalist designs and are formatted for the applicant tracking systems that virtually all major companies use.

Explore more resume resources

How to write a resume

Resume Templates

Resume Examples

Resume Builder

Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot – your copilot for work

Mar 16, 2023 | Jared Spataro - CVP, AI at Work

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Humans are hard-wired to dream, to create, to innovate. Each of us seeks to do work that gives us purpose — to write a great novel, to make a discovery, to build strong communities, to care for the sick. The urge to connect to the core of our work lives in all of us. But today, we spend too much time consumed by the drudgery of work on tasks that zap our time, creativity and energy. To reconnect to the soul of our work, we don’t just need a better way of doing the same things. We need a whole new way to work.

Today, we are bringing the power of next-generation AI to work. Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot — your copilot for work . It combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your data in the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet.

“Today marks the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with computing, which will fundamentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “With our new copilot for work, we’re giving people more agency and making technology more accessible through the most universal interface — natural language.”

Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 in two ways. It works alongside you, embedded in the Microsoft 365 apps you use every day — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and more — to unleash creativity, unlock productivity and uplevel skills. Today we’re also announcing an entirely new experience: Business Chat . Business Chat works across the LLM, the Microsoft 365 apps, and your data — your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings and contacts — to do things you’ve never been able to do before. You can give it natural language prompts like “Tell my team how we updated the product strategy,” and it will generate a status update based on the morning’s meetings, emails and chat threads.

With Copilot, you’re always in control. You decide what to keep, modify or discard. Now, you can be more creative in Word, more analytical in Excel, more expressive in PowerPoint, more productive in Outlook and more collaborative in Teams.

Microsoft 365 Copilot transforms work in three ways:

Unleash creativity. With Copilot in Word, you can jump-start the creative process so you never start with a blank slate again. Copilot gives you a first draft to edit and iterate on — saving hours in writing, sourcing, and editing time. Sometimes Copilot will be right, other times usefully wrong — but it will always put you further ahead. You’re always in control as the author, driving your unique ideas forward, prompting Copilot to shorten, rewrite or give feedback. Copilot in PowerPoint helps you create beautiful presentations with a simple prompt, adding relevant content from a document you made last week or last year. And with Copilot in Excel, you can analyze trends and create professional-looking data visualizations in seconds.

Unlock productivity. We all want to focus on the 20% of our work that really matters, but 80% of our time is consumed with busywork that bogs us down. Copilot lightens the load. From summarizing long email threads to quickly drafting suggested replies, Copilot in Outlook helps you clear your inbox in minutes, not hours. And every meeting is a productive meeting with Copilot in Teams. It can summarize key discussion points — including who said what and where people are aligned and where they disagree — and suggest action items, all in real time during a meeting. And with Copilot in Power Platform, anyone can automate repetitive tasks, create chatbots and go from idea to working app in minutes.

GitHub data shows that Copilot promises to unlock productivity for everyone. Among developers who use GitHub Copilot, 88% say they are more productive, 74% say that they can focus on more satisfying work, and 77% say it helps them spend less time searching for information or examples.

But Copilot doesn’t just supercharge individual productivity. It creates a new knowledge model for every organization — harnessing the massive reservoir of data and insights that lies largely inaccessible and untapped today. Business Chat works across all your business data and apps to surface the information and insights you need from a sea of data — so knowledge flows freely across the organization, saving you valuable time searching for answers. You will be able to access Business Chat from Microsoft 365.com, from Bing when you’re signed in with your work account, or from Teams.

Uplevel skills. Copilot makes you better at what you’re good at and lets you quickly master what you’ve yet to learn. The average person uses only a handful of commands — such as “animate a slide” or “insert a table” — from the thousands available across Microsoft 365. Now, all that rich functionality is unlocked using just natural language. And this is only the beginning.

Copilot will fundamentally change how people work with AI and how AI works with people. As with any new pattern of work, there’s a learning curve — but those who embrace this new way of working will quickly gain an edge.

The Copilot System: Enterprise-ready AI

Microsoft is uniquely positioned to deliver enterprise-ready AI with the Copilot System . Copilot is more than OpenAI’s ChatGPT embedded into Microsoft 365. It’s a sophisticated processing and orchestration engine working behind the scenes to combine the power of LLMs, including GPT-4, with the Microsoft 365 apps and your business data in the Microsoft Graph — now accessible to everyone through natural language.

Grounded in your business data. AI-powered LLMs are trained on a large but limited corpus of data. The key to unlocking productivity in business lies in connecting LLMs to your business data — in a secure, compliant, privacy-preserving way. Microsoft 365 Copilot has real-time access to both your content and context in the Microsoft Graph. This means it generates answers anchored in your business content — your documents, emails, calendar, chats, meetings, contacts and other business data — and combines them with your working context — the meeting you’re in now, the email exchanges you’ve had on a topic, the chat conversations you had last week — to deliver accurate, relevant, contextual responses.

Built on Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to security, compliance and privacy. Copilot is integrated into Microsoft 365 and automatically inherits all your company’s valuable security, compliance, and privacy policies and processes. Two-factor authentication, compliance boundaries, privacy protections, and more make Copilot the AI solution you can trust.

Architected to protect tenant, group and individual data. We know data leakage is a concern for customers. Copilot LLMs are not trained on your tenant data or your prompts. Within your tenant, our time-tested permissioning model ensures that data won’t leak across user groups. And on an individual level, Copilot presents only data you can access using the same technology that we’ve been using for years to secure customer data.

Integrated into the apps millions use every day. Microsoft 365 Copilot is integrated in the productivity apps millions of people use and rely on every day for work and life — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and more. An intuitive and consistent user experience ensures it looks, feels and behaves the same way in Teams as it does in Outlook, with a shared design language for prompts, refinements and commands.

Designed to learn new skills.  Microsoft 365 Copilot’s foundational skills are a game changer for productivity: It can already create, summarize, analyze, collaborate and automate using your specific business content and context. But it doesn’t stop there. Copilot knows how to command apps (e.g., “animate this slide”) and work across apps, translating a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation. And Copilot is designed to learn new skills. For example, with Viva Sales, Copilot can learn how to connect to CRM systems of record to pull customer data — like interaction and order histories — into communications. As Copilot learns about new domains and processes, it will be able to perform even more sophisticated tasks and queries.

Committed to building responsibly

At Microsoft, we are guided by our AI principles and Responsible AI Standard and decades of research on AI, grounding and privacy-preserving machine learning. A multidisciplinary team of researchers, engineers and policy experts reviews our AI systems for potential harms and mitigations — refining training data, filtering to limit harmful content, query- and result-blocking sensitive topics, and applying Microsoft technologies like InterpretML and Fairlearn to help detect and correct data bias. We make it clear how the system makes decisions by noting limitations, linking to sources, and prompting users to review, fact-check and adjust content based on subject-matter expertise.

Moving boldly as we learn  

In the months ahead, we’re bringing Copilot to all our productivity apps—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Viva, Power Platform, and more. We’ll share more on pricing and licensing soon. Earlier this month we announced Dynamics 365 Copilot as the world’s first AI Copilot in both CRM and ERP to bring the next-generation AI to every line of business.

Everyone deserves to find purpose and meaning in their work — and Microsoft 365 Copilot can help. To serve the unmet needs of our customers, we must move quickly and responsibly, learning as we go. We’re testing Copilot with a small group of customers to get feedback and improve our models as we scale, and we will expand to more soon.

Learn more on the Microsoft 365 blog and visit WorkLab to get expert insights on how AI will create a brighter future of work for everyone.

And for all the blogs, videos and assets related to today’s announcements, please visit our microsite .

Tags: AI , Microsoft 365 , Microsoft 365 Copilot

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