There are two very simple guidelines that will further enhance your skills and reputation as a great presenter. There are no special secrets, just common sense and good practice. Have a look at these two classic points that make a big difference with presentations…
Notes, Notes and More Notes:
I think the biggest reason that presenters get their PowerPoint slides wrong is because they think the slides are their notes. That is obviously not the case. When you prepare your presentation do not write it on PowerPoint as this will cause you to treat the slides as notes for your presentation. Speaker ‘notes’ and ‘slides’ are two very different components of your presentation and if you treat them as one and the same then you will be guilty of Death by PowerPoint.
Tips: Write out your presentation in word or on note pages. Only after you have written the entire presentation should you then consider constructing a PowerPoint slideshow to add visual proof to embellish your points.
Less is More:
Never has this adage been truer. If you do need to show written or numeric expressions (words and numbers) then ‘Less is More’, the fewer the words the more effective they will be. Conversely if you insist on writing out fully structured sentences then you will be guilty of undermining your own presentation. If your audience can read (in advance of you speaking) your entire thought because you’ve shown them a complete sentence then they no longer need you. They will switch off. But if you only show them a ‘bullet point’, perhaps even just a single word then they will have to listen to you to garner the message. Use bullet points. Small ones. Always.
Tips: Do not ‘fly’ your points in one by one, it’s annoying and condescending. Bring all your points out at once. If you are concerned about them reading ahead of you then you haven’t bullet pointed correctly.