how to word presentation skills on resume

• Resume Tips

How to Include Public Speaking Skills on Your Resume (+ Examples)

While it might send you into a spin and get your knees knocking at the very thought of having to stand up in front of people and give a presentation, the skill of public speaking is considered a valuable asset within many professions. Public speaking on your resume is a great quality to add to your repertoire. Many employers place a premium value on public speaking skills. 

Candidates who possess polished and articulate public speaking skills are often placed in prominent roles within a company, with many finding themselves on a fast-track to securing leadership positions. This is because a leader often needs to speak and present to a roomful of people. You can’t ask someone who’s shy and retiring to do this. Or someone with a distinct lack of confidence. So you turn to the employees who have shown promise and know how to hold a crowd.

But what if you are angling for another role? How do you include public speaking skills on a resume?

No need to fret. You have come to the right place. We have the know-how you need to make employers aware of your valuable communication style by showing how to present public speaking on your resume.

What is public speaking?

First up, let’s quantify what public speaking actually is. It is the ability to stand up in front of an audience and deliver an oral speech or presentation. It works whether that is a live audience or a remote one, as you are still presenting to a large number of people in public.

It can be used to sell a product or a service to a client, galvanize your team, or pitch for a new contract. Presentations can incorporate many different topics and have many different goals – to entertain, educate, inform, or even influence listeners.

The presentation needs to be engaging, powerful, and memorable. You have got to hold the audience in the palm of your hand so as not to lose their interest. These are great assets to have throughout your career.

These types of presentations can be the difference between failure and success. So, presenting information effectively and clearly is key when connecting with your audience and getting your message out there.

Why do public speaking skills matter?

It’s important to understand why public speaking skills are in such high demand. For someone comfortable with communicating ideas effortlessly, public speaking skills might seem like something that everyone can do, at the drop of a hat. After all, we are communicating with other people every single day of the year.

However, lots of people are not that comfortable when speaking in a public setting. Many shrink from being called upon in class, business, or conference meetings, or other settings where there is a large group. Others are wary of being asked to make presentations, train up other employees, or take on a role that puts them under the spotlight.

Call it stage fright, if you will. The average professional just isn’t all that excited about being the center of attention in any training session or discussion. And employers understand that fact. Most organizations have dealt with employees who struggle to communicate ideas when they’re put in those types of settings. As a result, those employers recognize just how rare and important public speaking skills truly are--and really value those job candidates who possess them.

Read our experts' opinion on the best skills to put on your resume in 2023 .

Public speaking and communication skills list

Unlike some types of skills, public speaking is not a single skill that you can simply list on a resume. Instead, public speaking skills encompass a variety of skills that combine to make you come across as an effective public communicator on your resume . Moreover, you are unlikely to find too many job postings that specifically ask for public speaking skills.

Instead, many of these postings will mention relevant key skills that might make you an effective public speaker. By learning to recognize these communication capabilities, you can more effectively convey your public speaking ability to a potential employer.

They include:

The ability to read your audience

One of the most important public speaking skills is the ability to accurately read your audience, or “read the room” as this modern phrase sums it up, by picking up on subtle, nonverbal cues of your attendees. You should be able to determine what they need to hear, adjusting your communication during the speech to accommodate their reaction. Do they seem engaged? Are they visibly bored? Restless? Confused?

A speaker who can read the room well knows how to stay on the right track to get across their message.

An articulate presentation of ideas

Are you an articulate speaker? In this scenario, articulate doesn’t just mean the ability to speak clearly. It means being able to convey complex ideas in an easily understood manner. If your skills include being articulate, be sure to mention those attributes of public speaking in your resume.

An engaging presence and style

Do you command presence when you are on a stage, enter a room, or during a meeting? Have you got that certain je ne sais quoi or X factor? The best public speakers, trainers, and educators have an engaging way about them. They also have a style that captures and sustains the attention of any audience. Employers can always utilize employees with these types of public speaking skills.

The ability to write a speech or presentation

Whether you’re a solid writer or someone who composes presentations on the fly, based on something you scribbled on the back of an envelope 10 minutes ago, composition skills are critical. If your public speaking skills include the ability to compose presentations, be sure to convey that information on your resume. And don’t forget to include key composition skills like research ability, organization of ideas, and storytelling.

Knowledge of presentation technology

These days, no set of public speaking skills is complete without some sort of familiarity with technology. For example, skills in this area include the ability to create presentation slides and manage the functional operation of a presentation.

But it can strike horror into the heart of any audience member when a speaker stands up, declaring, “I’ve just got 100 slides to get through this morning.” While PowerPoint presentations are commonly used for seminars, meetings, and other public speaking engagements, keep these to a minimum, reduce the number of words, and pack them full of images.

Your slides should not make that much sense without you telling the story alongside. You want members of the audience to be focused on you speaking--not on the slides.

Key Takeaway

KEY TAKEAWAY

Don't just say that you have public speaking skills. Instead, describe those specific skills that demonstrate your oratory abilities.

Job descriptions might mention leading meetings, presenting information, or speaking at conferences. This can encompass many job titles, such as teachers and educators, managers, and sales and marketing positions.

Examples of public speaking skills on a resume

Now that you have a clearer idea of what public speaking skills are, let’s put it into practice by showing off some examples of how to include public speaking on your resume.

You can tailor the examples below to suit your own situations, positions, and responsibilities.

Showcases well-honed public speaking skills, developed over the course of a 10-year career as a sales trainer, marketing consultant, and seminar speaker.

Presented technical studies and project proposals on a regular rolling programme across the year at ABC Corp.

Created and led the mentor advisory board at XYZ Inc, training more than 100 corporate mentors.

Conducted client / employee workshops for ABC Corp on a bi-annual basis.

Skilled in presentation composition, communications technology including PowerPoint, and engaging, articulate audience presentations.

Final thoughts

Public speaking skills can be a quality that sets you apart from job search competitors. When you recognize that fact, and properly include them in your resume, those skills can be the key to landing you an interview and the great job that you deserve.

Best of luck with your ongoing job search.

Still not quite sure how to add public speaking onto your resume? Well, it’s your lucky day. Delve into a freebie by uploading your resume to ZipJob’s free resume review and see where it takes you.

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Elizabeth Openshaw, Editor & Content Writer, Elizabeth Openshaw, Editor & Content Writer

Elizabeth Openshaw is an Elite CV Consultant with over 12 years of experience based in Brighton, UK, with an English degree and an addiction to Wordle! She is a former Journalist of 17 years with the claim to fame that she interviewed three times Grand Slam winner and former World No.1 tennis player, Andy Murray, when he was just 14 years old. You can connect with her at Elizabeth Openshaw | LinkedIn .

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Public Speaking Skills and How to Describe them on Your Resume?

Here are the top ways to show your Public Speaking skills on your resume. Find out relevant Public Speaking keywords and phrases and build your resume today.

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In This Guide:

What is public speaking, why is public speaking important on your resume, what skills, activities, and accomplishments help you highlight your public speaking, public speaking skills: key takeaways for your resume.

Public speaking is the ability to deliver an oral presentation or speech to a live audience. Public speaking is an important skill for many professions. People who develop effective presentation skills can become the presenter everyone listens to.

Public speaking is a valuable ability whether you are trying to sell a client or energize a team, the power of your presentation skills makes the difference between success and failure. Presenting information clearly and effectively is a key skill to connecting with your audience and getting your message out.

Public speaking is the foremost ability in businesses, education, and the public arena. Public speeches can cover a wide range of topics and have many goals - to inform, educate, entertain, or influence the listeners. Over the years, public speaking in communication has played a major role in education, government, and business.

Many employers place an especially high value on public speaking skills. Candidates with public speaker skills are often placed in a higher position in the company. They present leadership and the ability to influence their coworkers and clients.

Companies always look for employees who can deliver clear and engaging presentations, no matter what department they will work in.

The spoken word can be even more powerful than the written word in the hands of the right speaker. Ideally, every employer should present a good level of communication and presentation skills, that’s why you should consider showcasing your public speaking skills on your resume.

You can do that by emphasizing some skills that can be associated with speaking in front of a small or large audience. To help you with that, we made a list of relevant skills that will help you highlight additionally your public speaking skills.

Including public speaking skills on your resume can be something that sets you apart from the rest of the candidates. Check out the public speaking skills, which can be the key to landing you the job you want:

Communication is the skillset that you should emphasize the most. Present your communication skills by saying that you can clearly explain complex concepts to a wide range of people, or how comfortable and confident you are in speaking to a small or large groups.

Analytical skills are necessary skills for public speaking. The ability to gather, understand, and break down data can help you more easily present and report the results of the analysis to a broad audience.

Planning skills are the key to a great presentation or public speech. Demonstrate your ability to accurately estimate the time and effort required to complete task/presentation. You need good planning skills to prepare, not only, your speech, but also your technical equipment.

Writing is an essential skill in the workplace. Strong writing skills help you prepare an outstanding presentation and write speeches that can sell, inspire or inform your audience.

Presentation skills are the ability to organize slides and content in a way your audiences can understand. It also includes some technical skills like knowledge of presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote and more.

How to demonstrate public speaking on your resume:

• Mention your good communication skills on your resume summery.
• Demonstrate your writing and presentational skills.
• Use specific details about your experience to show your achievements and skills.
• In the skill section, list your presentational software skills.

Example 1: Demonstrate public speaking in the experience section

• • Responsible for preparing over 10 statements per mount and addressing radio/TV media regarding the clients' current or upcoming events
• • Coordinate and host over 20 public speaking engagements
• • Conduct Product demonstration and application training for customers, new employees and freelancers
• • Prepare concepts for new clients that promote their brand via commercial spots

The resume experience section is the place to demonstrate best your public speaking skills. Ideally, you want the experience section of your resume to showcase the growth of your skillset.

In the provided example of the Client Relations Spokesperson, we can see first that a hint for a public speaking is in the job title, which shows that this candidate is comfortable speaking to a large audience and have the needed knowledge to do it.

They also demonstrated writing skills specifically for public speeches. In this section, they highlight their abilities and accomplishments in participating in the organizing of public speaking events. The provided examples show also their planing skills and presentational skills.

Example 2: Demonstrate public speaking in the resume summary section

This resume summary demonstrates public speaking without mentioning it. This is a good example of how you can demonstrate your communication abilities by emphasizing some skills associated with speaking in front of an audience.

From this example, the hiring manager can quickly understand that this job applicant can deliver an oral presentation or speech to a live audience

Example 3: Show your public speaking skills in your achievements sections

When listing your achievements on your resume, make sure that you include time frame, scale, or results.

This example demonstrate how good communication can earn the company money, a good name, or save resources. Public speaking is not only for special events, it is also about internal communication and the ability to present information to your team or more than one department in the company.

From this example, the recruiter can conclude that this applicant is comfortable to speak in front of coworkers or clients.

• Public speaking continues to be an important skill for many professions, and employers value candidates who possess those abilities.
• Demonstrating public speaking skills on your resume can set you apart from the rest of the candidates.
• Public speaking is not a single skill, it comprises a variety of skills, like communication, writing, planning, and even analytical skills.
• You can emphasize the skills associating with public speaking to display your confidence and abilities in delivering a successful oral presentation to the audience.

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Make a Splash With Presentations on Your Resume

A quick but detailed guide on how and when to include presentations on a resume, including resume templates and examples.

2 years ago   •   8 min read

Public speaking isn’t for everyone — which is why, if you have experience presenting in front of a crowd, you should definitely include it in your resume.

You can list presentations in your work experience section, resume summary, or in a separate ‘Presentations’ section, depending on how relevant they are to the job you’re applying for.

In this article, we’ll discuss what presentation skills to include on your resume, how and where to list presentations, and how to tailor your presentation skills to your desired industry.

How to add presentations to your resume

Let’s start with a few quick steps for adding presentations to your resume:

• Choose where you’re going to list presentations. This could be in your work experience , resume summary , or in their own section (more on this later).
• List the name or topic of the presentation.
• Specify where you presented or who you presented to.
• If it was an external presentation, include the name and date of the event.
• Add any relevant awards or publications .
• Use a clear action verb like “presented” so your presentation skills stand out to anyone quickly scanning your resume.
• Upload your resume to a free resume checker for personalized suggestions on making your presentations stand out to a hiring manager.

Now let’s take a look at some concrete examples of what presentations should look like on your resume.

What presentations to include on your resume

The types of presentations you can include on your resume include traditional styles like PowerPoint presentations, client briefings, and conference speaking, as well as digital and remote presentations, such as Zoom conferencing and Google Slide presentations. Both conventional and digital methods demonstrate your ability to convey information through the desired format and showcase both soft and hard skills.

The recent transition towards more remote work has brought digital presentation styles like webinars, online talks, virtual events, and social media live sessions to the forefront. These modern formats highlight both adaptability and remote/technical experience.

Whatever presentations you choose to include, ensure the skills you’re showcasing are targeted and relevant to your application.

Examples of how to put presentations on your resume

There are a couple of different ways of listing presentations on a resume:

• In your work experience bullet points
• In a ‘Presentations’ section of your resume
• (Optional) In your resume summary

Not sure which choice is best for you? Here’s a brief overview of the pros and cons of each option, including examples for you to follow.

Including presentations in your work experience bullet points

Include presentations in your work experience bullet points if you regularly presented to colleagues, clients, or external stakeholders as part of your job.

Include at least one bullet point detailing what you presented, who you presented it to, and, crucially, any quantifiable metrics . Emphasize the size of the audience, feedback scores, number of presentations, or tangible impact on the business to clearly demonstrate the scope and effectiveness of your presentations. Start your statements with powerful action verbs to make your bullet points memorable and impactful.

• Presented strategic changes in portfolio and marketing plan to C-suite executives, influencing key business decisions, as evidenced by a 15% increase in operational efficiency, and an expedited promotion within 12 months.
• Designed and delivered 10+ training workshops, presentations, and learning modules using a range of training aids and computer software.
• Presented keynote speech at a 200+ person conference on new and emerging technology.

Here is an example of a resume work experience section that highlights presentation skills:

Listing presentations in a separate resume section

You can create a separate resume presentations section if official presentations are a major part of the job you’re applying for and you have significant presentation experience.

Create a ‘Presentations’ subheading underneath your work experience and education . For each listed presentation, include not only the name, conference, and date, but also any measurable outcomes, such as audience size or notable feedback received, as shown in the resume screenshot below. If you have any related awards or publications, you can also list those.

• “The Evolution of Supply Chain Management,” Supply Chain Conference, Feb 2022.
• "Extended Structure in Globular Clusters with Gaia,” Astronomical Society Meeting, June 2022.
• “Community Management in Social Media Marketing,” B2B Marketing Expo, March 2021.
• Awards: Content Marketing Institute Award for Outstanding Community Engagement.

Here is an example of a resume that includes specific presentations in a separate Presentations section:

Highlighting presentations in a resume summary

Mention your experience with presenting in your resume summary if you’re applying for a role that involves regular public speaking and want to draw attention to a key accomplishment involving presentations.

At the top of your resume (beneath your contact information but above your work experience), include 3-5 lines briefly outlining your key presentation skills and experience.

Learning and Development Manager with more than 10 years of experience in creating and leading work-related training and development programs to help employees enhance their skills or the company's performance. Key accomplishment: Delivered lectures to over 70 employees on best practices, how to engage with the media in a crisis, and how to promote brands effectively to communications officers.

Here is an example of a resume summary that highlights presentation skills:

If you're not sure whether your presentation skills and experience should be included in your work experience section, summary, or a separate presentations section, upload your resume to the tool below . It'll evaluate your resume and give you feedback on how to improve each section.

Tailoring your presentation skills to different industries

When listing presentations on your resume, it's crucial to tailor them to the specific position or industry you're applying for. List the name, date, and location of the presentation, followed by a tailored explanation of the presentation's focus, so a recuiter can easily see why it’s relevant to your application. For example:

• Tech and engineering: Focus on technical expertise and innovation. For example: "Presented 'Emerging Trends in AI and Machine Learning' at the Tech Innovators Conference 2022, emphasizing practical applications in software development."
• Finance and business: highlight strategic insights and financial results. For example: "Delivered a presentation on 'Global Market Trends and Investment Strategies' to key stakeholders, resulting in a 15% increase in investor engagement."
• Education and training: Showcase your ability to educate and engage diverse audiences. For example: "Facilitated a series of educational workshops titled 'Innovative Teaching Methods in Digital Age' at the National Education Conference 2021."
• Marketing and communications: Focus on creativity, audience engagement, and brand development. For example: "Hosted a webinar on 'Effective Social Media Marketing Strategies' that attracted over 500 participants, enhancing brand visibility."
• Arts and culture: Emphasize creativity, industry knowledge, or critical analysis. For example: "Presented 'Modern Art Movements and Their Social Impact' at the City Art Museum Lecture Series, drawing a record number of attendees."

Keywords and phrases to use when discussing presentations

Incorporating specific keywords and phrases can significantly boost your resume’s impact and help you make it past ATS.

Here’s a list of keywords and phrases to use when discussing your presentation experience:

• Public speaking: Highlights your comfort and skill in addressing audiences.
• Audience engagement: Demonstrates your ability to connect with listeners and maintain their interest.
• Presentation design: Showcases your proficiency in creating visually appealing and informative presentation materials.
• Data presentation: Indicates your ability to present complex data in an understandable manner.
• Interactive workshops: Suggest an active, hands-on approach to presenting and training.
• Webinar hosting: Reflects skills in managing and delivering online presentations.
• Technical demonstrations: For those in technical fields, it highlights your ability to explain complex technical concepts.
• Conference speaking: Indicates experience with large, formal presentation settings.
• Training and development: Shows your role in educating and developing others through presentations.

When presentations do (and don’t) belong on your resume

Now that you know how and where to include presentation skills on your resume, only one question remains — should you?

The short answer is: It depends. Presentations are purely optional — no recruiter is going to pass you over if you don’t include them. Which means that, like anything else on your resume, you should include them if they’re relevant to the job you’re applying for and leave them off if not.

Not sure which category you belong to? Here are some considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether to list presentations on your resume.

You should list presentations on your resume if …

• The job you’re applying for involves giving a lot of presentations, training others , or public speaking.
• You want to showcase expertise in your field or specific subject matter.
• You presented at a well-known or prestigious event.
• You were a keynote speaker.
• You have significant publications or awards relating to a presentation.
• The content of your presentations is relevant to the job you’re applying for.
• You’re in an industry like academia where listing presentations is a common practice.

You shouldn’t list presentations on your resume if …

• You’re entry-level and don’t have significant professional presentations to list.
• Your presentations were in a completely different field.
• You attended a conference but didn’t speak at it.
• You have too many presentations to list — even if they’re all relevant, limit yourself to a few of the most recent or impressive examples.

Should I include presentation skills in my resume skills section?

Yes, including resume presentation skills in your skills section is highly beneficial, especially if the job role you're applying for involves communication or public speaking. This is particularly important if you're in fields such as sales, marketing, education, or leadership roles where presenting is a key part of the job.

How should I list presentations that may contain sensitive or confidential information?

When listing presentations that involve sensitive information, focus on the skills and context rather than specific details. Use phrases like "Presented on proprietary industry techniques to a select group of stakeholders" or "Led a confidential briefing on business strategy improvements." This approach showcases your experience while respecting confidentiality agreements and maintaining professionalism.

Should I list presentations on my LinkedIn profile as well as my resume?

Absolutely! Listing presentations on LinkedIn showcases your communication and expertise to a broader network, including recruiters and industry peers. On LinkedIn, you can add more details or even include links to presentation materials or videos. However, make sure you maintain consistency in how you present this information on your resume and LinkedIn profile.

How can I effectively demonstrate the impact of my presentations?

To effectively demonstrate the impact of your presentations, include quantifiable metrics. For instance, "Presented on market trends to an audience of 200+, leading to a 20% increase in post-event engagement" . This approach highlights your presentation skills and provides concrete evidence of your impact and effectiveness.

Spread the word

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Why Presentation Skills Are Vital on Your Resume and How to Include Them

Whether you’ve just entered the workforce and are drafting your resume, or you’re changing careers and updating your resume accordingly, it’s important not to overlook certain skills that could make you stand out among the competition when applying for jobs. For example, many job seekers don’t realize how valuable presentation skills can be.

The following guide will help you better understand why cultivating presentation skills can make you more attractive to a potential employer. It also offers tips for how to highlight these skills in your resume naturally.

Why Presentation Skills Are Important on a Resume in 2023

There are many potential reasons why an employer might be happy to see that you have presentation and public speaking skills. The following are just a few noteworthy examples:

Remote Work May Require Strong Communication

Someone with presentation skills is like someone who’s a strong communicator in general. They may have the ability to explain complex topics or generate enthusiasm among their fellow team members through their words, voice, and overall energy when delivering a presentation.

This is particularly important now that remote work is becoming increasingly common . In an age when employees may not be sharing the same office, it’s helpful to have workers who can communicate effectively, even when doing so through video chat.

Presentation Skills Overlap with Research Skills

Highlighting strong presentation skills on your resume is a good idea, even if you’re not necessarily applying to the types of jobs that will require you to deliver presentations very often. Quite simply, when employers see that someone is able to deliver impressive presentations and speeches, they might assume they have other skills that relate to public speaking.

For instance, creating and delivering a quality presentation often requires conducting thorough research. Even if you have a strong stage presence, a business presentation won’t make the right impression on your audience if it doesn’t contain valuable and practical information. Thus, if a potential employer looking at your resume sees that you have presentation experience, they might conclude that you also can thrive in a research role.

Growth Potential

When you begin working for a company, you may not have any responsibilities that involve firing up a team or attempting to attract investors. However, if you continue to grow in your career, you may end up in a role that requires you to be charismatic in front of an audience.

This is yet another reason why including presentation skills on your resume may be a wise idea. Again, these skills might not have much practical value right now. But, if you continue to move up within a company, they may become increasingly applicable and relevant. An employer who sees that you have presentation skills may, therefore, think you’re the type of candidate who has the potential to become a manager or team leader someday.

Presentation Skills Overlap with Organization Skills

Again, if you include presentation skills on your resume, you may be subtly indicating to a potential employer that you also have strong research skills. In addition, people with reliable presentation skills tend to be quite organized.

Putting together an impressive presentation is, in fact, a remarkable feat of organization. No matter what topic you’re presenting, you need to condense your material into a format that ensures your audience absorbs and retains the information. This isn’t necessarily an easy task. If it’s a task that you completed successfully on multiple occasions in the past, an employer can safely assume that you’re a fairly organized person.

Organizational skills are actually one of the best presentation skills to have. When you place too much emphasis on getting comfortable with public speaking, you may forget to emphasize developing quality presentation content.

Good Presenters Are Good Marketers

Keeping someone’s attention on you during a presentation is also challenging for many. In our digital age, we are more distracted than ever, and research confirms this .

If you’re able to capture the attention of an audience and maintain it long enough for them to absorb valuable information from a presentation, you have a unique skill that’s growing increasingly valuable. This skill can translate to strong marketing abilities. An employee who knows how to grab an audience’s attention during a presentation might have ideas for getting the attention of customers. An employer would likely find this quality appealing.

How to Highlight Presentation Skills on Your Resume

Ways you might indicate to an employer that you possess strong presentation skills include the following:

Highlight it in Your Skills Section

This is an obvious choice, but it can be effective. In the section of your resume where you may list special skills, include presentation skills as one of them. If a potential employer is looking for someone with presentation skills, the fact that you included them on your resume may prompt an employer to ask more about this topic during your interview. This may give you a chance to expand on the subject.

Describe Your Experience

You may consider this option if you worry that simply listing public speaking as one of your special skills isn’t enough to clearly demonstrate to an employer that this genuinely is a valuable skill you may bring to the table. Under the resume section, where you might describe relevant experience, describe in clear terms how you have experience with public speaking and why you think that experience will help you succeed in the job you’re seeking.

Include a Portfolio

Do you think presentation skills will actually play a vital role in your work if you get a job to which you’re applying? If so, consider submitting a portfolio including presentation materials (such as slideshows and videos) that you’ve developed in past roles. These materials can show that presenting in front of others is a responsibility with which you’re very comfortable.

All that said, even if your presentation skills are currently lacking, you can still learn to develop them by studying creative presentation ideas and reading guides on how to improve presentation skills . If you make this a priority, you’ll equip yourself with a skill set that can help your resume make the right impression on employers.

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Presentation skills: examples and solutions

Match the medium to the occasion

Keep your message clear, adopt a passionate tone, speak to your audience, embrace your inner storyteller, be ready to change your approach, retain the audience’s attention, be brave and incorporate humor, be aware of filler sounds, don’t run out of time, importance of images and visuals, embrace your anxiety.

Giving a presentation to an audience is the stuff of nightmares for more people than you think. You will have watched many presentations over the years, but you can’t truly know how the presenters were feeling inside. Surprisingly few presenters genuinely enjoy the task.

Why? Well, because presenting to others raises the possibility of rejection from the “tribe” – a primal fear that goes back to the first cave dwellers. Everyone’s heartbeat goes up a few notches when they stand up to be judged.

While there might be tribulations, presentations can be triumphant - if you master the right presentation skills. Let’s have a look at what this entails:

• What are presentation skills
• Different types of presentations

12 presentation skills to master

How to prepare for a presentation.

Why are presentation skills important?

While you would ideally be sharing your knowledge with each person in an individual chat, presenting to a larger audience enables you to maximize your impact.

Presentation skills come into their own when you need to speak in public on a set topic. It doesn’t matter whether you are presenting to three people or three hundred; the demands of presenting are identical. It is often tougher presenting to a small audience.

In this blog, we will explore twelve aspects of giving an effective presentation, as well as how to prepare and make the most of the moment. To start with, we need to bear in mind that there are many different types of presentations:

• Any work meeting between two people might involve an element of presentation.
• Making a speech at a conference, seminar, department meeting, or any other event.
• Sales, marketing, and investment pitches – to any number of external clients.
• Presentations can be persuasive, instructive, inspiring, or informative.
• Read from a script, memorized, or given impromptu.

No matter what the nature of your presentation, the following presentation skills will help you feel more confident in your message and ensure that your audience will retain more of what you need them to remember.

When you contemplate the need to give a presentation, the following key skills should steer you along the right path. There is no such thing as a perfect presentation (communication can always be improved) – you just need to reach most of your audience with the majority of what you have to say. Perfect is the enemy of good when you stand up to present.

Presenting at a conference or pitching to investors would be strange without an informative PowerPoint slide deck to back up your claims. You likely wouldn’t use PowerPoint in a wedding speech or in the weekly update slot during a Zoom team meeting. Choose your presentation medium to fit the occasion.

It is a fact of communication that you can always say more. Too many presentations contain too much content in the hope that the audience will get the message. Give your audience more credit. They likely understand more than you assume so keep your message clear and powerful. Don’t bombard them with content – trust them to fill in the gaps.

If you don’t feel excited by your subject matter, you cannot possibly expect your audience to engage. So, find something in the material to be excited about. And then tell the story with excitement in your voice – as if you have only just discovered the secrets and are bursting to tell people about them. 

This might sound obvious, but you should write your presentation for your audience rather than for yourself. Tailor its content toward their level of knowledge of the subject. Think about their perspective – why would they be interested in what you have to say? You will only engage them if you make them think and add to what they already know.

The best stories take the audience on a journey and connect with them on an emotional level. Think about whether your audience is going to be hanging on your every word. Will they be wondering what comes next? The best stories embrace mystery and ask difficult questions, whilst sticking to a couple of core messages.

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Sometimes presentations do not go as you intended. You lovingly prepare a 20-slide deck, but by slide five you see that you are losing your audience. Do you carry on for another fifteen or do something completely different to get people back in the room? Few people will know that you had another 15 slides. Change it up to win back a bored audience.

In most presentations, the audience is there because they want to hear from you. Even work colleagues invited to a presentation generally have a reason to be there. Such audiences start out hopeful of receiving some useful information presented in an engaging way. Work hard in those first few minutes to reassure them this will be the case.

There is nothing scarier than attempting a joke in front of an audience, but there it’s incredibly engaging when a few people laugh with you. Even a moderate attempt at humor can reinvigorate the audience and get them listening to you again. Keep the jokes simple, steer clear of any controversial topics and test the jokes before you speak.

“Um, er, well, you know.” There are many filler words and phrases that clutter up any speech or presentation and add no value whatsoever. If the speaker is nervous or unsure about their material, half of the presentation will be filled with these pauses. If you are going to take a mental breath, fine, but don’t say anything. Silence is powerful.

Time management is a critical presentation skill. If you feel that you are running out of time it means that you are not going to be able to convey the full extent of your messages. It also means that you may feel rushed to cram everything in. When you prepare a presentation, remember that less is more. Your audience is intelligent enough to fill in the gaps.

A picture tells a thousand words. The right picture in a presentation can spark all the right connections in your audience’s heads. A graph can hit home far harder than a couple of sentences of hyperbole. When a visual pops up on the presentation screen, people automatically sit up to take notice. Their first question: why is it there?

There is a fine line between anxiety and excitement. You often need some adrenaline flowing through your veins to wake up the audience at the start of a presentation, so embrace that nervous energy. Or would you rather retreat into your shell and walk out onto that stage with an apologetic and hesitant demeanor? Channel those energetic vibes. 

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Preparing for a presentation is not just about knowing your speech by heart.

While every presentation should be familiar, the ability to riff and explore tangents is central to any engaging speech. Your audience will sense when you are being spontaneous. When they don’t quite know what is coming next, they will keep listening. If your presentation is boring and predictable, they will start to scroll their socials.

When you come to writing the speech, do the groundwork to understand your audience and research your messages (with the wider issues around them). Back up your messages with stories, statistics, and imagery. People absorb information more effectively when it is presented in a different context. Don’t machine gun them with endless facts.

The third part of presentation preparation is visualization. Think about every aspect of the day in advance – your trip to the venue, your interactions with the organizers, and the moment of stepping out in front of the audience. Then picture yourself giving your speech in real-time from the point of view of someone in the audience. Be honest with yourself. What do you notice? What could you change? Do you make the audience feel comfortable?

The final skill of preparing for a presentation is knowing when you have prepared enough. You can exhaust your mind by practicing something too much, so draw a line when you know the speech well enough. That freshness and novelty will be transmitted to the audience – stay on the edge of not quite knowing it perfectly.

If you have prepared well enough, getting psyched up in those moments before the presentation will be easy. Come on, let’s go, you’ve got this.

Key takeaways

Those ten minutes (or however long) of presentation will require a whole lot more time, effort, and thought to make the most of the opportunity to share your message with a receptive audience. Here is a quick recap:

• Tailor your presentation to the occasion and the audience.
• Share your stories with clear messages and a passionate tone.
• Take your audience with you – be flexible to change tack if needed.
• Think carefully about how your audience will interpret your visuals
• Prepare for the stress – embrace your anxiety and present with energy
• Lastly, and maybe most importantly, enjoy it!

Presentation skills improve with practice. Seize any opportunity to present to an audience. You never know when this experience will be called upon again.

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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How to Highlight Your PowerPoint Skills on Your Resume

• December 27, 2022
• 20 Comments

A few decades ago, people thought PowerPoint would be a flash in the pan, but today, they’re considered the most effective tool for delivering key information in a cohesive and memorable manner.

PowerPoint enables you to include more content in your resume.

PowerPoint is a software program that allows users to create slideshows, presentations and spreadsheets that are shareable. You can create digital slideshows or printable display materials with it.

PowerPoint has become a very popular program for business professionals to prepare and present information in a format that is always changing with regards to the information.

There are many different versions of PowerPoint which offer people with different levels of ability to work with it, as well as give different things to enjoy such as free-form authoring, collaboration, creation of animations and more.

There are different styles of presentations that people can create with PowerPoint. Each style has its own touch screen software, animations, transitions and such formats.

If you’re applying for a role that requires extensive travel, it’s essential to include your various and extensive research methods on your resume. You’ll be able to quickly showcase your abilities as a problem solver and the experience you’ve gained from hundreds of tasks that will give your resume a more holistic look.

It’s all about the content. You want your resume to convey your interest, dedication, and passion for your work. Here’s why you should include your PowerPoint skills on your resume.

How To Make The Most Of Your PowerPoint Skills On Your Resume

First, take a moment to review these steps for effective PowerPoint presentations and use them in your own presentations.

Preparing for your presentation

Step 1: Research . Whether you plan to prepare a report or present a technical topic, prepare for a presentation by taking a moment to read and gather background information on the subject you’re going to speak about.

Step 2: Prepare. Learn as much as possible about your topic and prepare a few slides to support your main message.

What do you need to know about PowerPoint?

What the employer wants to see: Organize your information into lists and bullet points.

Organize your information into lists and bullet points. What the employer doesn’t want to see: Too many text boxes. (Overly long form can cause organizational issues.)

What you need to know: Make sure that the information is displayed using correct formatting, such as headings, subheadings, and bullet points.

How to make presentations: Use keywords and general keywords to search for the right information.

Presentation skills that will help you succeed

• Professional speaking is a crucial component of any job, and creating a persuasive and memorable presentation helps to stand out. That’s why hiring managers prefer skilled professionals who can communicate well in front of others, and for that reason, your ability to develop presentation skills should be considered a major part of your professional development.

Recognizing the demand for presentation skills, there are a few important strategies you can take to learn those skills, whether you’re looking for a new job or are an existing employee looking to expand your repertoire.

• Create three-minute, time-sensitive presentations –  Keeping your presentation crisp and concise ensures you present only the most important aspects to the audience during the meeting. Time check is a great way to ensure the presentation does not become verbose and yet the desired communication is achieved.

Plan your presentation

Keep a list of talking points handy and make sure they are spelled out in advance so you don’t get stuck on the fly. Make sure the presentation covers the three P’s: purpose, objectives, and priorities. (A PowerPoint presentation is always three pages in length, so you can decide the focus of your points as you go along.) Choose the main points you’ll include in your presentation.

Make sure your PowerPoint software has sufficient memory and/or storage. It may even help to increase it. If your slide deck is only 10 MB, that may be adequate for your small team of the three or four people you need to review it for content. But a 20 MB deck could be a problem for executives and any media organization.

Make sure that you have enough room on your slides.

Presentation Software

Without the right technology, you could miss a good idea because you did not have the right presentation software to get the data you need in the right format. You may need to spend a little more money to buy better software, but it will be worth it.

You do not want to make a decision during your presentation, because that could result in your having to send a tech guy out to your presentation that nobody can understand.

Critical Thinking

As you prepare your presentations, you need to have an eye for detail, being able to detect what is not working and fixing it. At the same time, you need to be able to talk in an easy, natural way. Many presenters who spend too much time rehearsing with slides do not make the connection between what is in their head and what comes out of their mouth.

Deliver with confidence

Follow up with evidence and data that shows you’ve done what you said you would do.

The three phases of the delivery are a set of skills that every great presentation expert should have.2 What follows are 10 critical presentation skills that will help you shine in any role that requires you to communicate.

1. Preparation.

Research your topic. Create the content. Write a script. Nail your resume and pitch.

2. Delivery.

Write a script. Use verbal and visual cues to enhance your delivery. Assess your level of knowledge.

3. Follow-up with evidence and data.

Learn more about the audience. Demonstrate how your message has influenced your audience.

4. Use visuals.

Design visual elements that support your message.

5. Be clear.

Follow up with a written summary

After the presentation, follow up with a written summary.

Getting good at PowerPoint

Most organizations use PowerPoint, so you’ll need to learn how to use it to your advantage if you want to make a good impression. The following is a handy primer to help you get started.

When creating your presentation, keep the following principles in mind.

1. When picking a format, pick one that works for you.

Most professionals prefer PowerPoint, as it allows you to easily show and explain information. As long as your presentation covers the basics, you don’t need to be too detailed. Although if your goal is to give a more complex explanation, including the subtleties of your subject, consider doing so on slides. It’s also easy to modify slides to show longer, more in-depth information.

How To Make The Most Of Your Skills

There are a few ways to highlight your powerful skills.

Place all of your accomplishments in your resume in the same order

The first thing a recruiter will want to see is how well you can answer the first question a recruiter has when doing an interview:

What are your top 5 skills and how have you used them in your work? Be able to demonstrate that you’ve used your skill set over and over again. For instance, if you were hired as a project manager, you’ll want to highlight any projects you’ve successfully completed with results.

Add a section at the end for showing your top 10 skills

This is typically the section that resumes use to showcase your unique talents and accomplishments. Add your top 10 skills.

Key Tips For Effective PowerPoint Skills On Your Resume

It’s easy to get lost in all the bells and whistles on a PowerPoint presentation , especially if you aren’t familiar with the software. Don’t panic, though! You don’t need to master it in order to be effective.

Next, we’ll go through how to write an effective resume that highlights your top-notch PowerPoint skills.

“Get your resume updated”.

Demonstrating Your Skills

Go through the list of your “skills” on your resume and highlight the skills that are most valuable to your target companies. You may be able to fit your career into a specific position, but not all companies will be looking for that particular skill set. If you find a skill on your list that’s not applicable to the role you’re applying for, check if there’s a tutorial online that explains how to do it. You can also test out a few different positions to see if you’ll be able to do the tasks that are required.

You can also bring a video with you to the interview or on your resume if you have the video skills for the position.

Listing your skills

Typically, a resume does not have an additional section that lists skills. If you have been working in a professional field, then your employer will have considered what skills you bring to the table already.

But, it’s always a good idea to make a special section for skills that you want to show off. For example, you might want to mention any other types of PowerPoint skills that you may have that are outside of what we just discussed. In this section you could discuss things like how you’ve designed a presentation to educate an executive about data in the cloud, or how you produced a video presentation for the company.

While talking to recruiters you can tell them a little bit about your expertise in your field. Here’s a quick exercise you can do to highlight your skills.

Formatting your skills list for readability

Don’t make your skills list too long — recruiters will likely spend less than two minutes on your resume, so keep your skills concise. Presentation skills are valuable, but too long of a list can turn readers off.

Make sure your skills are listed in an organized, chronological order to show that you were able to get the job done.

Remember: You want recruiters to click on your resume, not scroll through it.

The skill isn’t necessarily a flashy one. But it’s a part of any business professional’s skill set, and is a vital skill for many professionals today.

Including your design portfolio in your resume

Presentation design is an opportunity to display your personal creativity. While creating project presentations isn’t as complicated as designing software, it’s a skill that’s certainly worth highlighting. A short yet thoughtful proposal for one such project would showcase your attention to detail and attention to the end user. Your job responsibilities should align with this, or another similar job title, in addition to your experience.

You might already have developed a portfolio of design work, but you might not be showing it off to recruiters. For a quick way to jump start the process, include a recent portfolio, with examples of how you used your skills to address challenges and provide solutions to your clients’ challenges.

Tips for making the most of your resume

Share your stories: Find a way to show how you have been an asset to your company, not just your job title. That way, you have both a chance to stand out from the crowd and show what makes you a unique individual.

Write on a higher-level than your job title: In other words, don’t talk about the company in the first paragraph of your resume. Then write the information on a job-specific level. Use this general statement to find the highest level for your resume: “Manager, [insert company name here].”

Know your audience: Another reason to make your resume more comprehensive? Many employers use resume comparison services to scan for weak or inaccurate information. When you make your resume more comprehensive, there’s less room for those errors to creep in.

Making your presentation skills standout from the competition will help you rise up the career ladder. Using the power of presentation skills on your resume will add value to your profile and position you for leadership positions. Consider adding this type of skill to your interview wardrobe so that it isn’t a surprise at all when you find yourself seated in a decision-making position. You’ll have the right skills to make the best impressions, and you’ll walk away from your interview with a solid introduction to the company.

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Dive Into Expert Guides to Enhance your Resume

Why Presentation Skills Can Make the Difference on Your Resume

Giving a speech in front of people isn’t always everyone’s favorite task. However, having solid  workplace presentation skills  can serve you well in many different ways.

Of course, one of the most important reasons  being an accomplished presenter  can stand you in good stead is that it looks great on  your resume . Working information about your ability to give electrifying speeches always gives a positive impression.

We’re going to briefly look over some of the most  important reasons to hone your public speaking skills . As you’ll see these can be easily worked into your resume using a number of different methods.

How Do Presentation Skills Give You An Advantage in The Workplace?

There are lots of good reasons  why companies want and need good presenters . These essential team members can help to create a positive reaction and communicate the values of the business effectively.

This is not just practical for your employer but offers  many advantages for you as a candidate too . Generally speaking, learning how to be an accomplished presenter will help you in the following ways:

• You’ll find it easier to perform in interviews
• You’ll come across well when meeting clients
• You can communicate better with fellow employees
• You’ll be able to teach other staff on how to give presentations
• You can represent the company at conferences and events
• You’ll find it easier to respond to emergencies

Which Presentation Skills Have the Biggest Impact?

There are a number of abilities that a seasoned presenter can add to a resume’s  skills section . These will be gained from not only doing the task itself but also from doing the  work that goes into the preparation stages .

By knowing everything that goes into a good performance you can then  use examples  to show you’ve got the sorts of abilities a hiring manager is looking for. These might include:

• Organization
• Good people skills
• Timekeeping
• Expert Communication
• Flexibility
• Pre-preparation
• Visual data
• Improvisation
• Creating visuals and slides
• Preparing accompanying literature
• Working with an audience
• Ability to think quickly

How Can Presentation Skills Be Shown on My Resume?

A resume is a bit like a presentation itself, albeit expressed via the written word rather than the spoken form. It must be  structured effectively , be clear in its communication, and focused on its goals of getting you hired.

There a  few different sections  found on a resume that can allow you to show off your presentation ability.

Of course, your career history should be one of them. In the  work experience  segment of the resume, you can  highlight information such as :

• The size of audiences
• How many speeches you gave a year
• What level of technical knowledge you had to demonstrate
• How you made your talk effective

In addition to this and dropping in a few public speaking strengths in your skills section, you may consider adding another heading about any conferences or seminars where you have given  keynote addresses . This will help the recruiter gauge your level of expertise in presentations much more effectively.

Finally, if you’ve done any training that has helped make you an expert speaker, this should also find its way into your  education section . If you haven’t done  any courses in public speaking , don’t worry. As you’ll see below there are options available to upgrade your abilities.

How Can You Improve Your Presentation Skills?

If you want to start honing your presentation skills, a good place to start is  with a training course . This will be able to take you through all the key organizational and speaking considerations you’ll need when giving a speech.

Public speaking courses can be done at local education centers or online quite easily, allowing you to learn the ropes of this highly useful discipline.

However, if you don’t have the time or money to do a full coaching program, don’t worry. You can instead opt for a hands-on approach by volunteering for speaking opportunities in your current position or by getting some practice with interviews for new jobs. Like many abilities,  public speaking gets easier the more you do it .

Top Tips on Presenting Effectively

There are  so many ingredients  that go into a great presentation. Naturally not every speech is the same, but many of the same elements will come up. The main tips you should keep in mind before giving a speech are as follows:

• Keep your calm
• Be prepared
• Dress smart
• Measure the pace of your speech
• Show you care about the subject
• Engage with the whole audience
• Look and listen out for feedback
• Ask questions
• Stay flexible

Communication  is always a  highly prized skill in the workplace  and being an effective public speaker is a great way to demonstrate that. By making sure the details of your ability to give a mean presentation are present on your resume you’ll be able to put your skills to the test in your new better job.

Designing a resume with ResumeCoach  can take some of the time and effort out of creating a document that will showcase your public speaking skills. Our step-by-step resume building tools and easy to tweak templates are fully optimized so your professional profile can be submitted easily electronically and impress with their visuals.

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Presentation skills: Resume Summary Phrases Examples

Presentation skills: resume summary phrases to write a professional cv statements.

How to Improve Your Presentation Skills: 11 Practical Tips

• The Speaker Lab
• August 15, 2024

Table of Contents

Have you ever felt your heart racing just before stepping onto a stage? That’s presentation anxiety knocking. But how do you beat it? One solution is to improve your presentation skills . By honing your abilities, you achieve greater confidence in yourself. You see, great public speakers are made through practice, and lots of it. Knowing your subject inside out matters, as does understanding who you’re talking to.

This journey doesn’t start at the podium or end at the applause. It begins much earlier, in how we prepare our minds and material for that spotlight moment. To keep an audience hanging on every word requires more than good content alone. Body language speaks volumes too. So, it’s crucial to master both your verbal and nonverbal cues. This approach guarantees your message resonates deeply with all present.

Understanding the Importance of Presentation Skills

Presentation skills go beyond merely standing and speaking before an audience. They embody the essence of engaging and connecting with others. As it turns out, being able to connect with people in this way is an invaluable skill worth having. From convincing a potential new client to sharing knowledge with peers, presenting helps you get key ideas across. But here’s the kicker: it’s not only about what you say but how you say it that counts. While such finesse comes naturally to some, others need a bit of practice before they can nail it. But that’s why we’re here—to help you out.

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Mastering the Basics of Effective Presentations

Grasping the fundamentals can elevate a decent presentation to one that’s memorable. Let’s break it down.

Knowing Your Subject and Audience

Before you give your presentation, you first have to know who you’re talking to and what you’re talking about. It sounds simple because it is. But don’t let that simplicity fool you—it’s also where the magic happens. Dive deep into your topic and become the expert they expect you to be. As for your audience? Find a way to connect your presentation to them as individuals. Consider why your topic might be important to them. If you can get your topic to hit home with your audience, it’s much more likely that they’ll be impacted by what you say.

Using Open, Friendly Body Language

Our body language allows us to speak volumes without ever saying a word. So when you’re on stage, use open gestures, keep those arms uncrossed, and maintain a pleasant demeanor. Move around if space allows; make yourself bigger than just the spot behind the podium. Frequently make eye contact with the crowd instead of just looking at your notes or slides. Lastly, use gestures to complement your words, emphasizing key points.

Practicing for Perfection

When preparing for your presentation, rehearse until those nerves start feeling like excitement instead of sheer terror. Out of all presentation skills, this is perhaps one of the most important to improve. Even rehearsing in the outfit you’ll wear on presentation day can help you practice the right mindset you need. Whether or not you rewrite your script as bullet points, make sure you’re not reading off your notes. After all, you want to maintain a natural, conversational tone with your audience, not a robotic one. Before you begin your talk, breathe deeply. Not only does grounding yourself help calm your nerves, it actually improves your voice quality .

Designing Engaging Presentations

Every speaker wants to engage their audience. As a result, the ability to design engaging presentations is one skill that’s worth constantly improving. It’s all about balance, blending engaging content with sleek design.

Keeping Your Presentation Engaging and Structured

Every speaker would agree that maintaining audience interest is crucial. But how exactly do you do that? It takes a lot to focus on your presentation  and your audience at the same time. To get started, try some of these techniques.

• Tell a story: Weave your facts into a narrative because everyone loves a good tale.
• Vary the pace: Mix it up with videos, anecdotes, or jokes to keep things fresh.
• Pose questions: Asking rhetorical questions keeps minds ticking and engaged.

Maintaining structure is key. You want to guide your audience through smoothly, making sure they’re following along every step of the way. Think of it as taking them on a journey where each point builds upon the last until you reach a compelling conclusion together.

Simplicity in Slide Design

If there’s one thing you don’t want to impose on your audience, it’s a cluttered slide. So what should you to improve this presentation skill? Take a look at these tips:

• Keep it simple: A simple background with high contrast text can work wonders.
• Leverage visuals wisely: If you’re talking numbers, opt for an infographic instead of listing out stats one after another. Visuals should enhance understanding, not confuse further. Make sure they’re relevant.
• Use bullet points: Cover one idea per slide and use bullet points to break it down. This isn’t just easier for your audience to digest; it gives each point its moment in the spotlight.

The trick here is to avoid just throwing your entire presentation onto slides. That’s what leads to clutter. Instead, focus on the key points you want to communicate, and create visual summaries that complement what you’re saying. Good presentation design matters. And sometimes less really is more when helping people understand complex topics easily. For more on creating PowerPoint presentations, check out our article here .

Mastering Nonverbal Communication

As a speaker, it’s a given that your words are a vital part of your presentation. But what about your nonverbal cues? Believe it or not, those are just as important. And don’t forget tone—delivery is often where the real magic happens.

Improving Eye Contact

For instance, take eye contact. Making eye contact with your audience demonstrates confidence and professionalism. The trick is striking the balance: too little, and you seem disengaged; too much, and it’s just awkward for everyone involved. To improve this presentation skills, practice finding that balance. Aim to make brief but meaningful eye contact with different parts of your audience throughout your presentation. A general rule of thumb is the 50/70 rule , which says to spend about 50% of your time making eye contact when speaking, bumping it up to 70% when listening or answering questions.

Avoiding Filled Pauses When Speaking

The bane of any speaker’s presentation is a slew of filler words. These are words like “um,” “uh,” and “like.” These filler sounds typically sneak into our speech because we’re nervous or trying to think on our feet. To avoid them, practice pausing with purpose in between sentences or thoughts. Silence may feel scary, but using intentional pauses can give you time to think and keeps listeners hanging onto your next word. In addition, never forget to taking deep breaths. Doing so will help calm the nerves that are triggering those verbal fillers in the first place.

By improving these presentation skills, you’ll not only boost how others perceive you, but also how confidently you carry yourself through every slide.

Overcoming Presentation Anxiety

Feeling like a bundle of nerves before you hit the stage? If so, you’re not alone. But guess what? That jittery feeling doesn’t have to be your enemy.

Techniques to Calm Nerves During a Presentation

We’ve all been there—heart racing, palms sweaty, mind blanking out just when you need it most. It feels like your body is betraying you right at the crucial moment. Thankfully, it’s entirely possible to regain control by redirecting that nervous energy. To calm yourself, try some of these techniques.

• Breathe deeply: It seems simple, but deep breaths are like a reset button for your nervous system.
• Ground yourself: Feel your feet on the ground. Literally grounding yourself in reality helps shift focus back from fear to action.
• The power pose: Standing in a posture of confidence can actually make you feel more confident thanks to some nifty brain-body communication.
• Embrace silence: If you lose track during your presentation, use this time not as an awkward pause but as an intentional break for both you and your audience.

By practicing these techniques and improving them before your presentation, they will come more naturally. Plus, the more you prepare, the fewer surprises you’ll encounter, which means less fodder for anxiety.

Transforming Nervous Energy into Enthusiasm

Nervous energy isn’t bad—it shows you care. Mastering the art involves channeling that untamed vigor into a force of zeal.

• Talk about what you love: You naturally become more animated and enthusiastic when discussing topics close to your heart.
• Harness the adrenaline rush: This rush pushes us beyond our usual boundaries, so don’t be afraid to use it. Speak louder than normal if needed or move around more freely (if appropriate).
• Redefine success: Focus on connecting with at least one person rather than impressing everyone—that takes off loads of pressure.

In essence, presentation skills aren’t just about speaking well. They’re about managing emotions effectively so they don’t manage us. So next time those butterflies start fluttering in your stomach before a big presentation, remember it’s all part of the process. Embrace the experience and use it to fuel your performance rather than let it derail you.

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Continually Improving Presentation Skills

The journey to becoming a presentation pro never really ends. Embarking on this path means consistently challenging oneself, exploring new depths, and setting sights on ever-higher achievements.

Seeking Feedback for Improvement

Let’s talk feedback. Although it might sting at first, feedback is a great way to improve your presentation skills. After every presentation, ask your audience what hit home and what missed the mark. But don’t stop there.

• Talk to a mentor: Someone who’s been where you are can give insights you hadn’t even considered.
• Solicit anonymous feedback: Sometimes people speak more freely when they’re not face-to-face.
• Use online tools: There are platforms designed specifically for gathering and analyzing presentation feedback efficiently.

Volunteering for Presentations to Gain Experience

If practice makes perfect, then volunteering is your practice arena. Seizing each moment as a platform can really polish your expertise.

• Pitch new ideas at work: Be the one who steps up during meetings with fresh insights or project proposals.
• Dive into community events: Local clubs or groups often seek speakers on various topics—perfect for testing out different styles and formats.
• Become a webinar host: This lets you play with technology while practicing how best to engage virtual attendees.

Remember, improving your public speaking skills takes time. But by consistently seeking out constructive criticism and grabbing every chance to get in front of an audience ,  you’re paving your way towards mastery. So take that deep breath, keep your head high, and take that stage. Your future self will thank you.

So there you have it. Together, we’ve learned how to improve presentation skills. This isn’t just about shaking off those stage jitters; it’s an expedition towards becoming a masterful storyteller who captivates every soul in the room.

Embarking on this journey, we dove headfirst into mastering basics like knowing your audience and subject. Plus, we covered tips on keeping slides simple yet engaging—a fine balance between clutter and clarity. And let’s not forget our silent but potent ally: nonverbal communication—where eye contact and body language can help engage your audience.

Anxiety had its moment under our microscope as well. Turns out, it’s less about fighting nerves and more about channeling them into electrifying enthusiasm.

Improving your presentation skills requires persistence—and lots of practice. The process isn’t just a path but an ongoing adventure that challenges us to grow and adapt in our quest for meaningful impact.

• Last Updated: August 6, 2024

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Resume Guidelines and Samples

Resume Samples

Purpose of resume (overview), resume header, education section of resume, experience section of resume, skills section of resume, resume checklist.

Download resume guidelines as a pdf List of resume action verb How to write effective resume bullets

How to have your resume reviewed

• 4 Resume Samples  (PDF format)  
• Sasha Cazenove
• Seona Bates
• Sierra Tower
• Sophie McAfee

Your resume is generally a one-page document that clearly presents your current and past experiences and accomplishments so that your reader can understand the unique value that you bring to the table. As you begin to draft your resume, consider the following. Your resume is:

• Your first opportunity to make an impression. Step back from the details to consider what story you want to communicate.
• Foremost, about the content and demonstrating your experiences. Begin by writing your resume in Google docs or Word, and avoid using templates that focus on form over content.
• A living document that you will tailor to specific positions and will evolve throughout your career.
• Not a laundry list of every experience; it is a carefully curated list of relevant experiences. 
• Easy to read. Consider font type and size, formatting, and a balance of text and white space.
• Shared with potential employers as a pdf document.

The header provides your full name and contact information (email address & telephone number). This section should not include personal information (e.g., sex, date of birth, marital status). Items that may be included in your header:

• Wellesley and/or home address: If you choose both, be sure to label each address accordingly. 
• Personal website, links to professional social media (Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) 

If you are a current student or recent alumna, the education section should be just below the heading, with the most recent education listed first. Generally, you should not include your high school on your resume; however, first-year college students may include relevant high school experiences. Necessary information includes:

• Your institution and its location (City/Town and State) 
• Your degree (Bachelor of Arts), any major(s) and/or minor(s) 
• Expected graduation date. 
• Optional: Study abroad programs and institutions where you cross-registered for classes. 

In this section, provide details about your various experiences, highlighting accomplishments, learning outcomes, and transferable skills. “Experience” is broadly defined and can include full- or part-time work, summer jobs, internships, research, academic projects, campus leadership, volunteer opportunities, etc. Describe your experiences using strong, specific verbs, and emphasize the results and impact of your work. You can create separate and distinct Experience sections to highlight those positions or skills (e.g., Research, Leadership, Extracurricular, or Volunteer). 

• List experiences in reverse chronological order (most recent first). 
• Include name and location of the organization where this experience took place and the title of your role. 
• Include start and end date for your experience. If it is ongoing, list your end date as “Present.” 
• Describe your experience in accomplishment statements, using short phrases starting with a strong verb. Be specific and quantify your experiences whenever you can. 
• Create 2-5 accomplishment statements for each experience. 

This section provides an immediate view of the kinds of tasks you are ready to undertake. While you will want to be selective and only list relevant skills, these might range from technical skills, like expertise using a digital tool, to experience-based skills, like project management or database design. This section can also include certifications, languages, etc. In general, it’s best to avoid general skills like people skills, time management or critical thinking. As this section grows, you may divide it into several distinct skills sections, like Software Expertise, Language Skills, Teaching Skills, Design Skills, etc.

Is your resume... 

☐ Easy to read? 

☐ Simple, clean font (e.g. Times, Arial, Garamond) 

☐ 10 to 12 pt. font 

☐ 0.5 to 1 in. margins 

☐ Error free (grammar & spelling)? 

☐ Devoid of personal pronouns (I, me, my, we)? 

☐ Concise? 

☐ Reverse chronological? 

☐ Tailored to the type(s) of opportunities you are seeking?

Does your resume… 

☐ Effectively communicate your relevant skills and experience? 

☐ Effectively communicate your personal brand? 

☐ Use consistent formatting for dates, job accomplishments, etc.? 

☐ Display your strongest or most relevant qualifications near the top of the page or section? 

☐ Highlight all your related/transferable experience? 

☐ Utilize action verbs and results-oriented language to describe your experience?

☐  Display on the screen without formatting errors as a pdf attachment?

Related resources

195 Resume Power Words That Will Get You Hired (+ Examples)

3 key takeaways

• Power words in resumes can significantly increase your chances of getting noticed by hiring managers.
• Tailor your power words to your specific industry and job role for maximum effectiveness.
• Teal’s AI Resume Builder helps make every resume bullet point impactful with AI.

Power words are to resumes what headlines are to a newspaper—they highlight key details and orient the reader. Resume action words grab the attention of the hiring manager and applicant tracking systems—increasing your odds of standing out.

In this guide, you'll learn 195 resume power words, how to use them effectively, and the nuances of industry-specific power powers to help you craft a compelling resume that lands job interviews.

Struggling to land interviews? Write a more impactful resume with Teal's resume builder AI .

What are resume power words?

Resume power words are strong, descriptive words that highlight your skills, achievements, and qualifications. These words help you make an impact because they: 

• Grab attention: They draw the reader's eye to your key accomplishments.
• Convey confidence: You appear self-assured and capable by using assertive language.
• Showcase specificity: Power words are precise and help hiring managers skim your resume without missing important details.
• Improve ATS performance: Power words often align with keywords that applicant tracking systems are programmed to identify. This increases your chances of passing initial screenings. 

195 resume power words to supercharge your application

To make your resume stand out, use words that showcase your achievements. Here's a list of resume power words designed to help your application leave a lasting impression on hiring managers.

Resume action verbs

Strong action verbs communicate your exact responsibility in a job role. They help hiring managers assess your accomplishments in context. Here are 100 powerful verbs that can make each bullet point on your resume more compelling.

• Spearheaded
• Orchestrated

Communication

• Articulated

Problem-solving

• Troubleshot
• Streamlined
• Conceptualized

Achievement

• Outperformed
• Accelerated
• Investigated
• Benchmarked

Improvement

• Coordinated
• Administered
• Consolidated

Customer service

• Implemented

Project management

• Facilitated

Collaboration

Accomplishment, descriptive adjectives.

The right adjectives can paint a vivid picture of the candidate's personal qualities and strengths. These 50 descriptive words will help you make an impact.

• Collaborative
• Resourceful
• Enterprising
• Conscientious
• Accomplished
• Results-oriented
• Detail-oriented

Industry-specific buzzwords

Each industry has its own language, and using the right buzzwords can demonstrate your expertise and familiarity with the field. These 45 industry-specific terms can help you speak directly to hiring managers in your chosen field.

• Machine learning
• Cryptocurrency
• Risk management
• Quantitative analysis
• Content marketing
• Brand equity
• Conversion rate
• Customer acquisition
• Telemedicine
• Electronic health records (EHR)
• Patient-centered care
• Clinical trials
• Population health
• Differentiated instruction
• Blended learning
• Formative assessment
• Inquiry-based learning

Human resources

• Talent acquisition
• Employee engagement
• Diversity and inclusion
• Performance management
• Succession planning
• Due diligence
• Intellectual property
• Arbitration

Manufacturing

• Lean manufacturing
• Supply chain management
• Quality assurance
• Just-in-Time (JIT)

Environmental

• Sustainability
• Renewable energy
• Carbon footprint
• Circular economy
• Green technology

How to use power words effectively in your resume

Now, you can’t just replace regular words with their “powerful synonyms” and call it a day. You have to place them strategically to gently compel the reader or impress hiring managers. Here’s how:

Identifying key responsibilities in job postings can help you tailor your resume effectively, ensuring alignment between your skills and the specific demands of the job.

Using power words effectively requires strategy and balance. Here’s how to make the most of them in your resume.

Tailor power words to job descriptions

To maximize your chances of getting noticed, align power words closely with the specific job description:

1. Analyze the job posting: Identify key skills, qualifications, and responsibilities emphasized in the listing.

2. Highlight relevant keywords: Note industry-specific terms and power verbs used in the description. Tip: Teal's Matching Mode does this for you.

3. Match your experiences: Select power words that accurately describe your achievements and align with the job requirements.

4. Incorporate naturally: Weave these words into your resume, ensuring they fit contextually and don't appear forced.

5. Prioritize placement: Use the most impactful power words in prominent sections like your professional summary and recent job descriptions. If you're writing a cover letter, sprinkle power words throughout but don't stuff them in any one section.

Balance action words with concrete examples

While power words add impact, they must be supported by specific, quantifiable achievements:

• Start with a power word: Begin each bullet point with a strong action verb.
• Follow with a specific accomplishment: Provide context and details about what you achieved.
• Quantify results: Include numbers, percentages, or other measurable outcomes whenever possible.
• Show impact: Explain how your actions benefited the company or contributed to larger goals.

Power word example in a sentence

• Weak: Responsible for sales increase.
• Strong: Spearheaded sales initiative that boosted revenue by 35% in Q3, outperforming targets by 20%.

Avoid overuse and maintain authenticity

While power words are effective, overuse can diminish their impact and make your resume seem insincere:

• Use variety: Avoid repeating the same power words throughout your resume.
• Be truthful: Only use words that accurately reflect your experiences and abilities.
• Balance with simpler language: Mix power words with more straightforward language to maintain readability.
• Consider context: Ensure the power words you choose are appropriate for your industry and career level.
• Read aloud: Review your resume by reading it out loud to catch any awkward phrasing or overuse of power words.

Replacing weak words with power words

Not all words are created equal when it comes to your resume. By replacing weak, vague words with stronger alternatives, you can create a more impactful narrative. Here’s how to make those crucial swaps:

Common weak words to avoid

Frequently used weak words can dilute the impact of a resume by making your accomplishments seem vague or unimpressive. Here are some common weak words and why they are ineffective:

• Responsible for : Implies duty, not action
• Helped : Lacks specificity and doesn’t highlight your role
• Worked on : Vague and does not convey the impact of your initiative
• Assisted with : Implies a secondary role, not leadership
• Participated in : Does not show your direct contributions or the extent of your role
• Job duties included : Focuses on tasks rather than achievements
• Familiar with : Suggests a basic understanding and not proficiency
• Involved in : Does not clarify your specific role
• Handled : Too general; does not indicate outcomes
• Dealt with : Vague and non-specific

Power word alternatives

Replace weak words with powerful alternatives to make your resume more dynamic and impactful. Here’s a list of common weak words and their power word alternatives:

Examples of how to rewrite sentences using power words:

Weak: Responsible for managing team projects. Strong: Orchestrated cross-functional team projects, consistently delivering results 15% ahead of schedule. ‍ ‍ Weak: Helped with customer service issues. Strong: Resolved complex customer service issues, achieving a 98% satisfaction rate and reducing escalations by 30%. Weak: Worked on marketing campaigns. Strong: Developed and executed integrated marketing campaigns, driving a 25% increase in customer engagement.

Industry-specific power word examples

Tailoring your resume with industry-specific power words can draw the reader's attention to relevant achievements. These examples show how to align your language with the expectations and standards of various fields.

Technology and IT

In the world of technology and IT, precision and clarity are key. Here’s a selection of power words that can help you articulate your technical expertise and accomplishments.Power words

• Architected

Sample resume statements

• Architected scalable cloud infrastructure, reducing downtime by 99% and cutting operational costs by 30%.
• Debugged complex legacy code, improving system performance by 40% and eliminating critical security vulnerabilities.

Finance and accounting

Accuracy and attention to detail are crucial in finance and accounting. These power words will help you highlight your analytical skills and financial acumen:

Power words

• Diversified
• Strategized
• Forecasted quarterly revenue projections with 98% accuracy to aid expansion initiatives.
• Streamlined accounts payable processes, to reduce  processing time by 35% and eliminate $50,000 in annual late fees.

Marketing and sales

Success in marketing and sales depends on driving engagement and converting opportunities into results. These power words will help you showcase your ability to innovate, persuade, and achieve impressive outcomes:

• Transformed
• Revolutionized
• Launched an innovative social media campaign that led to increased brand engagement by 150% and drove 10,000 new qualified leads.
• Negotiated strategic partnerships with key industry players, resulting in a 40% boost in annual revenue and expanded market share.

Healthcare and medical

In the healthcare and medical sectors, your resume usually needs to reflect both your technical skills and your dedication to patient care. These power words emphasize your expertise in delivering quality healthcare and improving patient outcomes.

• Rehabilitated
• Collaborated
• Implemented new patient care protocols, reducing average hospital stay duration by two days and improving patient satisfaction scores by 25%.
• Researched and introduced cutting-edge treatment methods, resulting in a 40% increase in positive outcomes for chronic condition management.

Education and teaching

Educators are not just teachers—they are mentors and leaders shaping the future. Use these power words to highlight your contributions to student learning, curriculum development, and educational excellence.

• Differentiated
• Developed and implemented inquiry-based science curriculum, increasing student engagement by 45% and improving standardized test scores by 30%.
• Mentored struggling students through targeted intervention programs, resulting in an 80% improvement in academic performance over one semester.

How to add power words to different resume sections using AI

Strategically incorporating power words throughout your resume can make it seem more personalized and human. Here's how Teal helps:

Professional summary

The professional summary is your chance to make a strong first impression. Use power words to concisely convey your value proposition:

Example: "Dynamic marketing strategist with a proven track record of developing innovative campaigns that drive engagement and boost ROI. Skilled in leveraging data analytics to optimize performance and deliver measurable results across diverse industries."

You can add a professional summary by using Teal’s in-built summary generator. Follow these steps: 

• Import your existing resume into the Resume Builder

Import your LinkedIn profile or create a resume from scratch in minutes if you don't have one. Your summary will be more accurate if you provide more details about your career. 

• Update your work experiences and add achievements

Be sure to include multiple accomplishments related to your recent roles for the best results from the Resume Summary Generator.

• Generate your resume summary with AI

Save the AI-generated resume summaries to your Teal Resume Builder.

• Review and regenerate your summary

By clicking "Re-generate with AI", you can generate a new professional summary based on the existing settings. 

You can save multiple resume summaries so you can use different ones for different applications. 

Work experience

In your work experience section, use power words to highlight your achievements and responsibilities.

Teal's AI Assistant makes this easy, automatically adding power powers to the beginning of every bullet point.

• Before: Responsible for managing team and completing projects.
• After: Spearheaded a cross-functional team of 12, delivering complex projects 20% under budget and one week ahead of schedule.
• Before: Helped with customer service and solved problems.
• After: Resolved critical customer issues, achieving a 98% satisfaction rate and reducing churn by 15%.

Skills section

Enhance your skills section by using power words that align with industry-specific competencies:

• Proficient in data visualization and predictive modeling techniques
• Adept at agile project management methodologies
• Skilled in negotiating high-stakes contracts and partnerships

Achievements and accomplishments

Use power words to make your achievements and resume stand out:

• Pioneered company-wide sustainability initiative, reducing carbon footprint by 30% and generating $2M in cost savings.
• Orchestrated merger and acquisition strategy, resulting in 50% market share growth within 18 months.
• Revolutionized customer onboarding process, slashing time-to-value by 60% and boosting retention rates by 25%.

The impact of power words on applicant tracking systems (ATS)

In today’s job market, your resume must pass through ATS before reaching human eyes. Understanding how power words interact with these systems can give you a crucial edge in landing an interview.

How ATS process power words

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) play a crucial role in the initial screening of resumes. Here’s how they interact with power words:

• Keyword matching: ATS scan resumes for specific keywords related to the job description.
• Relevance scoring: Resumes are ranked based on the presence and frequency of relevant terms.
• Contextual analysis: Advanced ATS can understand the context in which words are used, not just their presence.
• Skill identification: Power words often signal specific skills or experiences that match job requirements.

Strategies for ATS-friendly power word usage

To ensure your resume is both ATS-friendly and impactful:

• Incorporate relevant keywords: Use keywords from the job description naturally throughout your resume.
• Balance power words and keywords: Mix industry-standard terms with relevant power words.
• Avoid overstuffing: Don’t overuse keywords or power words to the point of reducing readability.
• Use standard formatting: Stick to simple, ATS-compatible formatting to ensure all keywords and power words are recognized.

Measuring the effectiveness of your power words

Crafting the perfect resume requires continuous refinement. A/B testing and gathering feedback are essential for measuring the impact of your power words and ensuring your resume resonates with employers.

A/B testing your resume

A/B testing your resume can help determine the effectiveness of different power word usage:

• Create variants: Develop two versions of your resume, each using different sets of power words.
• Submit both versions: Apply to similar jobs with both resume versions.
• Track responses: Monitor the response rate from employers for each version.
• Analyze results: Determine which version received more positive feedback or job interview invitations.

Gathering feedback

Professional feedback is crucial for refining your resume:

• Ask for reviews: Request input from career coaches, mentors, or peers.
• Use online services: Utilize professional resume review services for expert advice.
• Interpret feedback: Analyze the feedback received to understand how your power word usage can be improved.

Power up your career with resume power words

To create a distinct resume, use words that pack a punch and highlight your achievements with precision. Power words tailored to the job and industry can elevate your resume’s impact. But remember, balance is crucial—combine these words with metrics and case studies to avoid sounding superficial.

Start by refining your resume and adding or improving power words where needed. Teal’s AI-powered Resume Builder can streamline this process, helping you craft a resume that grabs attention.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many power words should you include in your resume.

Balance is crucial when incorporating power words into your resume. Aim for one to two power words per bullet point to maintain a strong yet natural tone. This ensures your resume is impactful without appearing exaggerated.

Can using too many power words hurt your chances of getting hired?

Yes, overusing power words can hurt your chances by making your resume seem insincere or cliché. It’s important to use power words genuinely to reflect your true experiences and achievements. Mixing power words with straightforward language helps maintain a natural flow.

Are there any power words you should avoid in your resume?

Avoid overused or cliché power words like "committed dynamic," "synergy," "hardworking," and "go-getter." These terms can make your resume seem generic and unimpressive. Instead, choose more industry-specific and impactful alternatives that accurately describe your skills and achievements.

How can you use power words if you're just starting your career?

If you're starting your career, focus on highlighting transferable skills gained from internships, volunteer work, or academic projects. Use power words to emphasize your enthusiasm and potential for growth. For example, instead of "participated in a marketing project," say "spearheaded a marketing project that increased social media engagement by 20%."

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Top Software Skills to Put on Your Resume

Boost your resume by showcasing the right software skills. Learn how to highlight your expertise, from ERP tools to design software, to stand out to employers.

Don Hamilton

In today's job market, showcasing your software skills on a resume can be a game-changer. Hiring managers are not just looking for candidates with experience; they want professionals who are proficient in the tools and technologies that drive business success. Whether you're applying for a role in finance, marketing, or any other field, demonstrating strong software skills for your resume can set you apart from the competition.

As you craft your resume , highlighting relevant software skills can show hiring managers that you’re equipped to meet the demands of the role and contribute to the team’s success. Remember, the right mix of software and computer skills can be the key to unlocking your next career opportunity.

Which Software Skills Should Be Included in Your Resume?

Microsoft office suite.

Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite is one of those must-have skills that employers really value on a resume. It covers a variety of tools that are essential for getting things done and communicating effectively in the workplace. Microsoft Office is the gold standard, offering a set of programs that show you can handle a wide range of business tasks. Being skilled in this software highlights your key computer skills, especially in areas like word processing software and managing data.

Here are the specific programs within Microsoft Office to highlight:

• Microsoft Word : A powerful word processing software for creating, editing, and formatting documents.
• Microsoft Excel : A versatile tool for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data, crucial for managing spreadsheets.
• Microsoft PowerPoint : Essential for designing and delivering engaging presentations.

Communication and Collaboration Tools

Communication and Collaboration Tools are increasingly important in today’s workplace, making these basic computer skills essential to add to your resume. Proficiency in these tools demonstrates your ability to work effectively with teams, whether you’re in the office or working remotely. For any hiring manager, these are essential computer skills that showcase your ability to stay connected and collaborate efficiently.

Here are some key programs to highlight:

• Slack : A widely-used platform for real-time messaging and collaboration, ideal for team communication.
• Microsoft Teams : Combines chat, video meetings, and file sharing in one hub, making it essential for teamwork.
• Zoom : A leading tool for video conferencing, crucial for virtual meetings and webinars.
• Skype : Known for voice and video calls, as well as instant messaging, useful for both professional and personal communication.

Project Management Software

Effectively managing multiple tasks and staying organized is essential for success in any professional role. This is where project management software comes into play, making it an essential skill set for any resume, especially for organizational roles. Proficiency in these project management tools shows potential employers that you can efficiently plan, execute, and oversee projects, ensuring that deadlines are met and goals are achieved.

Here are some key project management software programs to highlight:

• Asana : A versatile project management tool that allows you to create tasks, assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and track progress in real-time.
• Trello : Known for its simplicity and visual approach, Trello uses boards and cards to help you manage projects and tasks.
• Jira : Primarily used in software development, Jira is a powerful project management software designed to track issues, bugs, and tasks.

Data Analysis and Visualization Tools

In the era of big data, the ability to analyze and visualize data is a critical skill for any professional. Proficiency in data analysis tools and data visualization tools allows you to interpret complex datasets and present insights in a clear, actionable manner. These skills are especially valuable for roles involving decision-making, strategy, or database management systems making them ideal software skills for resume.

Here are some key data analysis and visualization tools to highlight:

• Excel (Advanced) : A staple for data analysis, Excel's advanced features like pivot tables and data modeling make it indispensable for managing and analyzing large datasets.
• Tableau : A leading data visualization tool that transforms raw data into interactive and shareable dashboards, making complex information accessible to all stakeholders.
• Power BI : This powerful tool integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products, allowing you to create real-time dashboards and reports for effective data-driven decision-making.

Design and Creative Tools

For roles that require creativity and visual communication, proficiency in design and creative tools is a valuable addition to your resume. Whether you’re crafting compelling graphics, designing layouts, or editing videos, these technical skills demonstrate your ability to produce high-quality visual content.

Here are some key graphic design software and video editing software to highlight:

• Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) : Mastery of Adobe Creative Suite is a cornerstone for any graphic design role. Photoshop is essential for photo editing and manipulation, Illustrator is perfect for vector-based designs, and InDesign is key for creating professional layouts and print materials.
• Canva : A user-friendly graphic design tool, Canva is ideal for creating everything from social media graphics to presentations, making it a versatile skill for any creative role.
• Figma : Known for its collaborative capabilities, Figma is a powerful design tool for UI/UX design, allowing teams to work together in real-time on projects.
• Adobe Premiere Pro : As part of the Adobe Creative Suite, this video editing software is essential for creating professional-grade videos, offering advanced features for both beginners and seasoned editors.
• Final Cut Pro : A leading video editing software for Mac users, Final Cut Pro provides powerful tools for creating polished, high-quality video content.

Programming Skills and Development Tools

For anyone in a technical role, coding skills are essential, and proficiency in programming and development tools is a key asset to add to your resume. These tools, alongside popular programming languages, demonstrate your ability to build, debug, and manage code efficiently—crucial programming skills in today’s technology-driven world.

Here are some key tools and languages to highlight:

• GitHub : A platform widely used for version control and collaboration, GitHub allows developers to manage code repositories, track changes, and work seamlessly with teams on software projects.
• Visual Studio Code : A powerful, lightweight code editor, Visual Studio Code supports a variety of programming languages and offers extensive features like debugging, extensions, and integration with Git.
• Python : Known for its simplicity and versatility, Python is a popular programming language used in web development, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and more.
• JavaScript : Essential for web development, JavaScript is a must-know programming language for creating dynamic and interactive web content.

Customer Relationship Management and Sales Tools

For roles in sales, marketing, or customer service, familiarity with customer relationship management (CRM) tools is a valuable asset that can set you apart. These tools streamline interactions with clients, help manage customer data, and optimize sales processes, making them essential skills on your resume.

Here are some key CRM and sales tools to highlight:

• Salesforce : The leading CRM platform, Salesforce is known for its robust features that support sales, customer service, and marketing efforts, making it a critical tool for managing customer relationships and driving business growth.
• HubSpot : A versatile CRM tool that integrates with marketing and sales functions, HubSpot helps manage leads, track customer interactions, and automate marketing campaigns, making it a valuable addition to your list of computer skills.
• Zoho CRM : An affordable and customizable CRM solution, Zoho CRM is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses looking to manage their sales pipeline and improve customer engagement.

Content Management Systems (CMS)

Proficiency in Content Management Systems (CMS) is an essential skill for roles that involve website management, digital content creation, or online marketing. Knowing how to efficiently manage and update websites using CMS platforms is a valuable addition to your computer skills, making you a more versatile candidate.

Here are some key CMS platforms to highlight:

• WordPress : The most widely-used CMS, WordPress powers millions of websites. Its user-friendly interface and extensive plugin library make it a go-to platform for creating and managing blogs, business sites, and e-commerce stores.
• Wix : Known for its drag-and-drop simplicity, Wix allows users to create visually appealing websites without needing advanced technical skills, making it an ideal platform for quickly building and maintaining sites.
• Drupal : A more advanced CMS, Drupal is favored by developers for its flexibility and scalability, making it suitable for larger, complex websites with custom features and high traffic demands.

Social Media Tools and Skills

In the digital age, social media skills are essential for roles in marketing, communications, and customer engagement. Proficiency in managing key social media platforms and utilizing social media analytical tools can significantly boost your effectiveness in these roles, making these skills valuable additions to your resume.

Here are some key social media skills to highlight:

• Social Media Platform Management : Being proficient in managing key social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok is crucial. These platforms are vital for brand building, customer interaction, and content dissemination.
• Content Creation : The ability to create engaging and visually appealing content tailored to different social media platforms is essential. This includes skills in graphic design, video editing, and copywriting.
• Social Media Analytical Tools : Proficiency in using analytical tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social allows you to track engagement, measure the success of campaigns, and adjust strategies based on data-driven insights.

Digital Marketing Tools

In the rapidly evolving field of digital marketing, proficiency in key digital marketing tools is essential. These tools enable you to plan, execute, and measure the success of marketing campaigns, making them critical resume computer skills for anyone in the marketing domain. By listing these specific computer skills on your resume, you can demonstrate your ability to drive online engagement and business growth.

Here are some key digital marketing tools to highlight:

• Google Analytics : A powerful tool for tracking website traffic and user behavior, Google Analytics provides insights that help optimize marketing strategies and improve ROI. It’s a must-have when you add computer skills related to data analysis and web performance.
• SEMrush : Known for its comprehensive SEO and competitive analysis features, SEMrush is essential for optimizing content and improving search engine rankings, making it a valuable addition to your list of computer skills.
• Mailchimp : A leading email marketing platform, Mailchimp allows you to design, automate, and analyze email campaigns, ensuring effective communication with your audience and maximizing engagement.
• HubSpot : Beyond its CRM capabilities, HubSpot’s marketing automation tools help streamline lead generation, content management, and customer nurturing efforts, demonstrating specific computer skills that are crucial in digital marketing roles.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Tools

For roles in operations, finance, or supply chain management, proficiency in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools is essential. These systems integrate various business processes, making them critical resume computer skills for managing and optimizing organizational workflows.

Here are some key ERP tools to highlight:

• SAP : A leading ERP platform, SAP is widely used to manage business operations and customer relations. It’s particularly valuable for roles in finance, logistics, and supply chain management.
• Oracle ERP : Known for its comprehensive suite of business applications, Oracle ERP helps organizations manage financials, procurement, and project management, making it a vital tool for large enterprises.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 : This cloud-based ERP solution integrates CRM capabilities with business operations, providing a unified platform for managing finances, sales, and customer service.

The Difference Between Hardware Skills and Software Skills: Explained

Understanding the distinction between hardware and software skills is crucial when crafting your resume. By clearly differentiating between the two, you can effectively showcase the most relevant qualifications for the job you're targeting. Hardware skills, often considered basic computer skills, involve things like physically operating and troubleshooting computer equipment—installing hard drives, setting up networks, or repairing machines. These skills are valuable, but unless you’re applying for a role that specifically requires them, they’re usually less of a focus.

Software skills, on the other hand, are all about your ability to use various computer programs and applications that are essential for business tasks. These skills can be as simple as working with word processors, spreadsheets, and email platforms or as complex as handling advanced tasks like data analysis, graphic design, or programming. Being familiar with operating systems like Windows or macOS also falls under this category.

When choosing resume computer skills to highlight, it’s key to consider the job you’re aiming for. Basic software skills are a must for most roles, while advanced skills can help you stand out, especially in more specialized positions. This balance ensures your resume showcases the computer skills that matter most to hiring managers.

How Should You List Software Skills on a Resume?

When crafting your resume, effectively showcasing your computer skills is crucial. Whether you’re highlighting advanced technical abilities or basic computer skills, how you present them can make a significant impact. It’s not just about listing your skills, but also about strategically placing them to align with the job you’re applying for. In this section, we’ll explore the best ways to list computer skills on your resume, ensuring that you describe each basic computer skill and advanced ability clearly and effectively.

Choosing the Right Skills

Tailoring your software skills to the job description is key to catching the attention of a hiring manager . Here’s how to ensure the skills on your resume are relevant to the position:

• Analyze the Job Description : Identify the specific computer skills mentioned in the job listing. Focus on these as they highlight what the hiring manager is looking for.
• Match Your Skills : List computer skills that align directly with the requirements of the role. Emphasize relevant computer skills that you have mastered.
• Prioritize : Place the most critical and relevant skills at the top of your resume to ensure they stand out.
• Be Specific : Avoid generic terms; instead, describe your proficiency with particular software tools and technologies that match the job description.
• Include Examples : Where possible, tie your skills to specific achievements or tasks in previous roles, demonstrating how your expertise can benefit the prospective employer.

Placement on the Resume

Strategically placing your software skills on your resume is crucial for ensuring they get noticed. Here’s where to list them:

• Skills Section : Create a dedicated skills section to list your computer skills. This skills section should be prominently placed, ideally near the top of your resume, to ensure it’s easily noticed by hiring managers.
• Experience Section : Incorporate computer skills examples within your work experience. Mention specific software tools you used and how they contributed to your achievements in each role.
• Summary or Objective : Briefly highlight your most relevant computer skills in your resume’s summary or objective statement to immediately draw attention.
• Education Section : If you’ve recently completed coursework or certifications related to your software skills, list these in your education section to reinforce your expertise.

Detailing Proficiency Levels

When listing your software skills, it’s important to indicate your level of expertise. This helps hiring managers quickly understand how proficient you are with each tool:

• Use Clear Labels : Indicate your proficiency with terms like Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Expert. This provides a quick snapshot of your skill level.
• Contextualize Proficiency : If possible, add context to your proficiency level by mentioning how you’ve applied the skill. For example, “Advanced in Excel—used for financial modeling and data analysis.”
• Be Honest : Always accurately represent your skill level. Overstating your abilities can lead to challenges during the interview process or on the job.
• Consider Skill Bars or Ratings : Some resume templates allow for visual representations of proficiency levels (e.g., bars, stars). These can make it easier for hiring managers to assess your expertise at a glance.

Combining Soft and Technical Skills

Showcasing your computer literary skills, basic computer skills, and specific skills on your resume can make you a well-rounded candidate:

• Highlight Complementary Skills : Pair technical skills with relevant soft skills. For example, you could mention how your proficiency in project management software is enhanced by your strong communication and organizational abilities.
• Use Examples in Experience : In the experience section, describe how you used a combination of software and soft skills to achieve specific results. For instance, “Led a team project using Asana, leveraging my leadership and collaboration skills to meet all deadlines.”
• Create a Balanced Skills Section : In the skills section, list both soft skills (e.g., teamwork, problem-solving) and technical skills (e.g., proficiency in CRM tools) to showcase your versatility.
• Tailor to the Role : Ensure that the combination of soft and technical skills aligns with the job description. Highlight how your ability to work well with others complements your technical expertise, making you an ideal fit for the role.

How Can You Highlight Your Software Skills on a Resume?

Effectively highlighting your software skills on a resume can make a significant impact. Here are some concise tips to ensure your skills stand out:

Use Action Verbs

• Examples: "Developed," "Managed," "Designed," "Implemented," "Optimized."

Provide Context

• Example: "Designed marketing materials using Adobe Photoshop, contributing to a 20% increase in engagement."

Quantify Achievements

• Example: "Improved team productivity by 30% using Trello to streamline project management."

Keep Up with Trends

• Example: "Learned and applied the latest features in Power BI to enhance data visualization capabilities."

Looking Ahead

Highlighting your software skills on a resume is crucial to demonstrating your value to potential employers. By carefully selecting the most relevant tools, accurately detailing your proficiency, and strategically placing these skills throughout your resume, you can showcase your technical expertise and how it aligns with the job you’re applying for.

Whether you're proficient in project management, data analysis, design software, or ERP systems, these skills are essential for making a strong impression. Keep your resume up-to-date using AI , emphasize both your technical and soft skills , and tailor your approach to each job to maximize your chances of success.

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How to make a resume in Microsoft Word

Whether you’re just entering the workforce or need a resume refresh, you’re probably considering Microsoft Word for the task. We’ll walk you through options for making a resume in Word, from using helpful templates to creating a resume from scratch.

Use a built-in Word resume template

Use a word resume template on the web, use a third-party word resume template, create a word resume from scratch.

The quickest and easiest way to make a resume in Word is using one of Microsoft’s templates . You can look for one directly in Word and choose from a large collection of options.

Open Word, select File > New , and pop “resume” into the Search box. You can then browse the templates with resumes for specific jobs and industries along with those for any type of position.

Choose a template to see a description and pick Create to use the resume.

The Microsoft resume templates come with placeholders that you can simply swap out for your own details. This is handy if you like the appearance of all elements in the template. Of course, if you’re not fond of the color scheme or font styles, you can change those types of items.

Remember to go to File > Save As to save a copy of your resume.

Maybe you don’t have Microsoft Word on your computer yet but need your resume in that format. You can use Word on the web for free with a Microsoft account and take advantage of resume templates.

Visit the Microsoft Create website and explore the resume templates . If you see one you like, select it to open it directly in Word for the web.

Alternatively, select Create from scratch and choose Resumes, flyers, brochures . When Word opens, use the Designer sidebar on the right to browse through and choose a resume template.

Then, swap out the placeholders for your own details and customize the resume as you like.

If you like the template idea but don’t care for any of the Microsoft options, you can check out third-party templates for your resume. Here are just a few of the top options and samples of resume templates they offer for free.

Resume Genius

With Resume Genius , you can pick from over a dozen custom Word templates to download. From simple to professional to aesthetically pleasing to visually appealing, you’re sure to find at least one resume template you like.

Hloom offers over 15 resume and CV templates for free and even more if you don’t mind paying. Be sure to select Free on the left below License if you want to narrow down the no-charge options. As a bonus, you’ll also see a tab for cover letters if you’re in the market for one of those too.

Template.net

One more place to check out for Word resume templates is Template.net . You’ll find a large variety of attractive options specific to position or resume style. Like with Hloom, select Free beneath License on the left, and be sure to take a look at the cover letter collection too.

After you download a resume template from one of the above sites, simply customize it with your own details.

Maybe you’d prefer to simply create your resume from scratch; this is always an option if you have the time. Consider reviewing the above templates and samples for the information you should include and ideas for formatting.

To get started, add the following details to your resume:

Full name and current position : Place your name and position at the top. If you don’t have a current position, you can certainly omit it.

Objective (optional) : Provide a brief description of your goal to potential employers beneath your name and position. This is an optional inclusion — if you add one, try to keep it short and sweet with one to two meaningful sentences.

Contact details : Include at least your email address and phone number. If you have an up-to-date website or LinkedIn profile, you can add these as well. Make sure these details are kept together in a specific location so they’re simple to find.

Work experience : List your work experience in chronological order with the most recent first. Start with your position, then move onto the employer, month, and year you worked there, and your duties. You should include your duties and responsibilities in a list format making them easy to review.

Education : List your educational history in chronological order with the most recent first. Start with the degree, then add the school with the month and year you attended.

Skills, awards, and more : Use a list format to add your skills, awards, certifications, volunteer work, and any other details you feel important to the position or company.

Here are several tips when formatting your resume in Word:

• Use a heading or larger font for your full name at the top.
• Add headings for the Experience, Educations, and Skills sections.
• If you decide to use color, keep it to just one or two complementary colors.
• Try to use the same font style throughout, taking advantage of font sizes, headings, or bold formatting for more prominent details.
• Use a font that’s easy to read like a 12-point Arial, Calibri, Georgia, or Times New Roman for the main body text. You might also consider which font style works better for reading on the web versus on a printed piece.
• If you include a headshot, make sure it’s a professional one.
• Consider using a table to structure your resume, as shown above.

Finally, be sure to keep the appearance and content of your resume consistent.

Is it OK to make a resume in Word?

Absolutely! This is exactly the type of document you should create in a word processing application like Microsoft Word. If you prefer, you can also use a web application like Google Docs to make a resume or downloadable software like LibreOffice Writer.

Once your resume is complete, you can save it as a PDF or other requested format in most word processing applications for submission to the potential employer or hiring manager.

How far back should a resume go?

Most experts recommend 10 to 15 years is appropriate for a resume. Keep in mind that you should include relevant work experience for that time period . For example, if you’re a nurse who worked at a fast-food chain for two months 12 years ago, you can likely exclude that job.

How many pages should a resume be?

The standard for a resume is one to two pages. However, this can depend on the length of your experience and education in relation to the position for which you’re applying. For instance, someone who’s been in the workforce for 20 years might require two pages, but a recent college graduate would probably only need one page.

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Microsoft will soon eliminate OneDrive Business accounts that have remained unlicensed for over 90 days because, as mentioned in a Microsoft Learn blog post, the tech giant feels they pose a significant security threat by leading to confusion and duplication in enterprise environments.

The archiving process will begin in January 2025, and users will not have access to their accounts once they are archived. Those affected accounts will have a $0.60/GB activation fee and a monthly fee of $0.05 per GB for storage in the Microsoft 365 Archive. Once the user pays, the activation process can take as long as 24 hours, but only after following the necessary steps in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Microsoft is the home of one of the better laptop deals at the moment, with up to $600 off select models of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2. The discount varies depending on the specification you go for, so essentially the more you spend, the bigger the saving. Models start from $1,900 instead of $2,000 and the highest end option costs $3,100 instead of $3,700. We’re on hand to take you through all the different options available so you can find what works best for you and your budget. These deals will end on August 25. To check out all the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 options, click the link below or keep reading while we take you through it.

Why you should buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 It wasn’t that long ago that the idea of Microsoft being one of the best laptop brands felt unimaginable. Since then though, its Surface series has easily earned that place. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2, for instance, is designed for creative professionals so it’s powerful and stylish.

Need to create a mass mailing or bulk email message? In Microsoft Word, you can set up a mail merge that inserts your recipients and their details automatically.

You have two ways to create a mail merge in Microsoft Word. You can use the Mail Merge Wizard, which is great if you’ve never set one up before, or the Mailings tab, which might take a bit more time but allows for additional options.