Jonathan Davies

Lately I have done   a fair few presentations and have picked up some useful tips that I would like to share with you, they may not necessary be the best for some people’s presentations but they have made mine really stand out from the classmates.

Drop Powerpoint

Though Microsoft have made some very cool improvements in the latest release of Powerpoint I don’t think it even compares to the interface and the abilities that using Apple Keynote, part of the Apple iWork Package has to offer. The interface is clean and simple and I will go into more depth when I publish a review in the next few days. Keynote gives you the ability to stand out from your average presentation and make people generally interested in what your saying - well that is if you aren’t talking utter rubbish.

Connect With Your Audience

Sure, everyone can stand behind a podium and read off word for word their presentation, it happens a lot and after five minutes I loose all interest, even if you are talking about something that really interests me. So hoe can you stop this? Well first write notes for yourself  - use bullet points not phrases, in the long run it will be easier for you to wing the whole thing off those brief notes and not sound like a robot.

Throw in the odd question to make them think, always ask a question then maybe show them a picture, or diagram anything to make it as much of a conversation with out them talking!

Go through you Presentation

I can tell as soon as someone steps up to do a presentation, if they have rehearsed or just glanced at the notes before hand. For me it makes or breaks the presentation, if you haven’t decided when to talk about and why that time is so opportune then you aren’t worth my time. If you have that joke you want to crack at the perfect time or that fact that you don’t think everyone knows then plan it; make it work. If you don’t you will end up making a joke that doesn’t even correspond to what you are talking about. By planning what you are going to say you will sound and feel far more confident.

Don’t read your own slides

One of my many (as you can see from this post) pet hates about presentations is when the person talks to you and reads exactly what is on the slide he has brought up.

Here is how to do it:

Only say what you have to say. 8 words to the maximum, the rest you can talk about. If you don’t do this then you’ll find that the people watching your presentation will read ahead and loose interest while you read out loud what they have said.

NEVER Give Hand-Outs before a Presentation

Never, ever, ever give out any piece of paper that basically sums up your presentation; if you do then what is the point in watching it in the first place, they will read it through and the little man in their brain will say “Done!” and switch off to the lights come up again and you walk off the stage.

So here they are, five things that I hope you do and don’t do when you do your presentations, please even consider them as you are doing them a real favour.

Do you have any presentation tips and annoyances that you want to share? Leave a comment or use the contact form.

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