Most presentations suck. They are long and boring and lack focus and
enthusiasm. Some presentation slides are
filled with overused template backgrounds, fonts and colours while others are a
smörgåsbord of colour, animation effects
and slide transitions that dilute the message and distract the audience.
Luckily, we’ve taken our years of knowledge and
experience garnered through hundreds of presentations and compiled the top five
things to remember when making your presentation:
- You are the Star of the Show – Not Powerpoint, you. If you dropped your laptop in the parking lot on your way into the
presentation and it smashed to pieces, you’d still be able to give the
presentation. Maybe not as effectively
but you’d still be able to do it. The presentation
wouldn’t be able to go on if you got sick and couldn’t make it even if you
emailed your PPT file. Never forget that
you are the presentation and Powerpoint is a supporting tool.
- Always ask,
“So What?” – Never forget the reason that you’re there—to convince your
audience to do something: buy your product, sign up for your service, give you
a chance to bid on a project. Every
thought, idea and premise in your presentation should matter to them. They’re not there to listen to how wonderful
you are, they’re there to learn about what you can do for them.
- Use Stimulating
Visuals – The old adage of a picture being worth a thousand words holds true
for your presentation slides. Powerful
and relevant images can leave an impression on your audience that written words
cannot. Check out websites like
Shutterstock, iStockPhoto and others for professional grade images. A Google image search will yield plenty of
other graphics but try and stay away from stretching low resolution images—nothing
makes a presentation cheesier than fuzzy images that have been stretched too
big.
- Limit your
bullets and don’t read to your audience – There’s nothing more boring than when
someone loads up a slide and then reads the bullet points. In a 2007 report, Professor John Sweller of
the University of South Wales found that “it is more difficult to process information
if it is coming at you in the written and spoken form at the same time”. If you’re reading your slides, chances are
that your audience is sitting with glazed eyes because of sensory
overload. The solution? Minimize the amount of text on your
slides. Using keywords as prompts is
fine, but avoid lengthy sentences.
Better, consider using infographics, images or charts. Your audience will thank—and more important
remember—you.
- Practice,
practice, practice – You can’t practice a presentation too much. Know the content and sequence of each slide
inside out. Know why you included each
slide and how it supports your message.
Practice in front of your colleagues, in front of a mirror, in front of
your dog. Just practice. When it’s time for the real thing your confidence
will shine through in your voice and body language.
Conclusion
Chances are
you’re going to have to give an important presentation at some point during
your career. Giving an interesting and
effective presentation isn’t the easiest thing to do, but fortunately it’s not
the hardest thing to do, either. If you
make yourself the star of the show, deliver a meaningful message, make your
slides visually stimulating and engage your audience you’ll be well on your
way. And last but definitely not least,
practice makes perfect so make sure you leave plenty of time to practice and
you’ll give a confident, smooth and effective presentation.
Got
something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a
question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know
when we post a reply.
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Steve
Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.
