Tips for a Good Presentation (Part 3 of 6)

Part 3: Slideshows

This is the third part of a six part series on presentation tips. Part 1: Preparation, Preparation, Preparation can be found here and Part 2: Short, Sharp & Shiny can be found here.

Slideshows are perhaps the most common medium used in public presentations. It’s a shame then that the good slideshows is rare, when there are a few simple facts to remember.

1. Put yourself in their shoes
   If you are bored by your own presentation, then fix it. If you have trouble reading it, then change the colour scheme, re-word the sentence or make the picture bigger.
2. Audience focus
   Whenever something new appears on your slides, your audience won’t be looking at or even listening to you. Keep this in mind when you are presenting, and allow a pause for your audience.
3. People can read for themselves
   Your audience will read all the text on the screen faster than you can speak. If you are just repeating what is on the screen, then the audience doesn’t really need you to reading it to them. Only have the key point on screen and talk about it.A good rule to use:

   If the slide take longer than 10 seconds to read and understand, then there is simply too much information on it.

4. Animations
   While they may look great, if people are watching the slide instead of focusing on what you’re saying, then you aren’t achieving the point of your presentation. Your animations should not be one of the three things they remember about your presentation! Keep animations to a minimum, and only to achieve your goal.

Just to finish off, a couple of videos are embedded below, highlighting some common issues with slideshow presentations. The next in the series, Part 4: Delivering, will be posted sometime next week.

How NOT to use Powerpoint.

Death by Powerpoint.

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