So, you've been asked to "to put together a few slides to present" to your mgt, colleagues, community, or as an expert on a topic ... now what?
Public speaking, which includes presenting .ppt, is the number one fear, over death, divorce, poverty, etc. Hopefully, some insight can reduce most of your tremors. Many people are either great at putting together a great .ppt or presenting, few master both.
Many organizations and most corporations culture require .ppt -- there are many benefits and reasons as to why. I simply believe its because its a guide to what you are saying and saves you time in the long run!
A link was shared on LINKED IN, yes an intentional pun, (Death by Powerpoint by Alex Kapterev) with a eye-opening statistic that there are 300 million .ppt users in the world! Now, that got me thinking!! Here are a few of my own tips:
1) Prepare a dozen (no more) powerful slides (Alex's .ppt slides had way too many with 61 slides!!)
2) Make sure it reflects your personality and presentation style
3) Rehearse, rehearse, REHEARSE!! The .ppt should be a backdrop to what you are saying
4) If asked to do a presentation from an existing .ppt -- give it an overhaul regardless of whether you think you should use the existing one -- the number of slides reduced, the graphics way up,
5) By having very minimal points, more graphics, you will be forced to prepare and you cannot simply read from the .ppt -- which is the way to murder a presentation and put your audience to sleep!
6) With minimal slides and maximum rehearsal, you will be more engaged with your audience to watch body language, engagement.
7) You should be watching your audience -- body language, etc. -- not the .ppt -- they will help you set the tempo
8) Audience size should influence how you present. Smaller audiences allow you to ask if they're following without breaking for questions to lose the momentum
9) The BEST .ppt I've ever seen was doing research -- Steve Jobs on unveiling the iPAD -- on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poaUbmdUcCY&feature=channel
a) Steve Jobs is probably not the most dynamic speaker so its obvious he rehearsed
b) The .ppt is incredible -- unfortunately, we all don't have a team available to help us like Steve did -- graphics, flash, etc.
c) This is a great example where preparation + ppt make who/what could be boring into something more interesting
10) If its a small audience, have a number of handouts printed and be prepared to give them AFTER your presentation. If you give them beforehand, they will be flipping through them and not paying attention to you. If its a larger audience, you can include or ask people to request a soft copy so you can follow up/send afterwards.
11) An adage that was drummed into me at Toastmasters that can be used to act as your guide (reminded by LINKED IN member George Dunn):
a) Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em
b) Tell 'em
c) Tell 'me what you told 'em
12) Join Toastmasters to sharpen your skills in an environment that encourages you to test your speaking skills with other folk that are in the same boat. There are thousands of clubs in a variety of formats, times, etc.
On that note, someone was promoting himself/org on a YouTube presentation. I was overwhelmed with the urge that I acted on. My feedback to him was to recommend he attend Toastmasters because his umms and ahhhhs discredited a lot of what he was saying and he was going to lose viewers based on that.
A mentor of mine from Toastmasters had a saying "if you talk like a turkey, take the turkey out of your talk" ... by joining TM.
Public speaking, which includes presenting .ppt, is the number one fear, over death, divorce, poverty, etc. Hopefully, some insight can reduce most of your tremors. Many people are either great at putting together a great .ppt or presenting, few master both.
Many organizations and most corporations culture require .ppt -- there are many benefits and reasons as to why. I simply believe its because its a guide to what you are saying and saves you time in the long run!
A link was shared on LINKED IN, yes an intentional pun, (Death by Powerpoint by Alex Kapterev) with a eye-opening statistic that there are 300 million .ppt users in the world! Now, that got me thinking!! Here are a few of my own tips:
1) Prepare a dozen (no more) powerful slides (Alex's .ppt slides had way too many with 61 slides!!)
2) Make sure it reflects your personality and presentation style
3) Rehearse, rehearse, REHEARSE!! The .ppt should be a backdrop to what you are saying
4) If asked to do a presentation from an existing .ppt -- give it an overhaul regardless of whether you think you should use the existing one -- the number of slides reduced, the graphics way up,
5) By having very minimal points, more graphics, you will be forced to prepare and you cannot simply read from the .ppt -- which is the way to murder a presentation and put your audience to sleep!
6) With minimal slides and maximum rehearsal, you will be more engaged with your audience to watch body language, engagement.
7) You should be watching your audience -- body language, etc. -- not the .ppt -- they will help you set the tempo
8) Audience size should influence how you present. Smaller audiences allow you to ask if they're following without breaking for questions to lose the momentum
9) The BEST .ppt I've ever seen was doing research -- Steve Jobs on unveiling the iPAD -- on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poaUbmdUcCY&feature=channel
a) Steve Jobs is probably not the most dynamic speaker so its obvious he rehearsed
b) The .ppt is incredible -- unfortunately, we all don't have a team available to help us like Steve did -- graphics, flash, etc.
c) This is a great example where preparation + ppt make who/what could be boring into something more interesting
10) If its a small audience, have a number of handouts printed and be prepared to give them AFTER your presentation. If you give them beforehand, they will be flipping through them and not paying attention to you. If its a larger audience, you can include or ask people to request a soft copy so you can follow up/send afterwards.
11) An adage that was drummed into me at Toastmasters that can be used to act as your guide (reminded by LINKED IN member George Dunn):
a) Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em
b) Tell 'em
c) Tell 'me what you told 'em
12) Join Toastmasters to sharpen your skills in an environment that encourages you to test your speaking skills with other folk that are in the same boat. There are thousands of clubs in a variety of formats, times, etc.
On that note, someone was promoting himself/org on a YouTube presentation. I was overwhelmed with the urge that I acted on. My feedback to him was to recommend he attend Toastmasters because his umms and ahhhhs discredited a lot of what he was saying and he was going to lose viewers based on that.
A mentor of mine from Toastmasters had a saying "if you talk like a turkey, take the turkey out of your talk" ... by joining TM.
I endorse this list of basic PowerPoint tips. I would only add one thing: ensure folks can read your slides. Don't put too much on a slide. They not only need to read the font from the back of the room but also when you print the handout. If you need to provide additional material, do so in the form of another handout.
ReplyDeleteAnd building on that, make sure the words are visible for vision impaired folks. Light gray on a white background is really difficult to read; high contrast is better. ;)
DeleteThanks
ReplyDeletefor such an informative article
Regards,
M Saleem Mir
grt piece of information indeed!
ReplyDeleteThank you Msmir and Saleem! I will work on a new feature on public speaking tips for presentations!
ReplyDelete