Presentation training for businesses will be more important than ever in 2026.
Why?
Quite simply, more and more employees than ever are favouring home or hybrid working.
When that happens, there’s less time in-person to share ideas, identify problems and present solutions.
It means that when you get your shot, you must take it.
How can you achieve that?
And what presentation training should businesses be looking at in 2026, that’s fit for a hybrid workplace and AI-inspired communication?
Here are several trends to consider – and how to combat them with presentation training.
Messaging
According to KPMG, half of job seekers now seek hybrid roles, with one quarter preferring fully remote positions.
It means employers must adapt if they wish to attract the best people.
Of course, that presents several problems, one of them being messaging.
If we make a major change here at Pink Elephant, we have a team of 15, to whom we need to communicate that.
That means 15 different ways in which the change and the message can be interpreted.
Everyone has different goals, assumptions, and situations.
So the message has to be well-rehearsed, tight and able to stand up to scrutiny.
Anything else, and it can be torn apart.
Now consider that with everyone in different locations, it’s unlikely I can get them all on the same call.
So I’ll need to communicate that in 8-10 different conversations.
Only if I’m crystal clear and consider each new audience will I do that message justice.
My first consideration, therefore, will be simplicity.
Each member of my team here at Pink Elephant is a communications expert in their own right.
But any message can easily be miscommunicated, misrepresented, misinterpreted, or misconstrued.
And if you have 1% doubt that it will land, make it simpler.
Take advantage of online communication
A related barrier, of course, is online communication.
Our presentation skills training for business course tackles this front and centre.
How do you replicate the face-to-face environment on a Teams call?
It starts with your setup.
Position your laptop so it looks like you’re sitting opposite someone in a boardroom or a café.
Whether it’s a laptop stand or books underneath, this stops you from talking down or up to someone (which makes it feel more remote).
Fix your lighting and your background so they’re undistracting.
Rely less on slides and back yourself to make a good impression. If you need slides, bring them in after you’ve given your introduction. This will mean your first impression is of you, rather than your ability to design PowerPoint.
AI – have a policy and buy the tools, including oversight
Three in four workers used AI in the workplace last year (source: BBC). That’s likely only to increase.
The advantages are obvious and significant: saved time, increased productivity and a focus on the tasks only humans can achieve.
But do you have the right policies in place to make sure it’s being used properly?
Or are you vulnerable to misinformation, a lack of security, built-in biases and a reduction of critical thinking?
The answer here is simple: write an AI policy in the same way you would write an IT policy, or an HR policy, or a legal policy.
Make sure it’s being followed with regular audits.
And buy the technology for staff to use, rather than them sneakily using Chat GPT and passing it off as their own work.
Embrace it and regulate it, rather than drive it underground.
Generational issues – tailor your approach
I ran a seminar a few months ago in Glasgow, where I pitched a simple question to a large audience:
“If you’re meeting someone for coffee at 9am and you expect it will take you 45 minutes to get there, what time do you leave?”
The first answer came back:
“Who organises a coffee for 9am?”
Shortly afterwards, someone shouted out “7.30am”.
Another suggested 8.30am, knowing he would be late but prioritising his morning run before the meeting.
Most of the ‘intergenerational’ problems we see focus on technology: casual use of WhatsApp, a reliance on written communication, hybrid working itself.
But there are other factors at play: clashes between generations used to working 9-5 Monday to Friday, and generations used to working flexibly according to when they’re most productive.
Neither is right, and neither is wrong.
Good workplaces will identify these communication gaps and working preferences and seek to address any imbalances.
The simplest way to do that is to have an open dialogue and discuss these issues out in the open.
As colleagues, we can take some of this on ourselves, too.
I asked the question to the chap who said he would leave at 0730, what time he expected to arrive.
“0800 probably, I have lateness anxiety, plus it’s time for at least one coffee before the meeting.”
I asked the audience how they would feel if they arrived on time for the 0900 meeting and their colleague had two empty coffees in front of him.
“Late” was the consensus, hardly the right foot to get off on.
So we can always consider the other side’s perspective in more detail.
Behaviour in the workplace, just like communication, can always be tailored to the audience.
That appreciation goes a long way.
Presentation training for businesses in 2026
As we head into 2026, we wish you all the best for a successful year.
If you’d like to bring your team along for presentation skills for businesses training, or for an individual 1-1, we’d love to help make that a reality.
And you’ll be glad to know we start at 0930.
Get in touch today.
