Rotary - Presentation 101
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Kent Hutchison's Presentation 101 as presented to the Rotary District 5910's Spring All-Club Training Session (a.k.a. District Assembly, held in Huntsville, Texas (10 March 2012)
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Rotary - Presentation 101
- 1. Adult Training Improving Rotary’s Communication
- 2. Workshop Objectives Adult learning processes Motivation concepts and applications Importance and relevance of different learning styles How to use MS PowerPoint to assist in communicating one’s message
- 3. Small Group Exercise Best & Worst Training Presentations Experiences
- 5. “Those having torches will pass them on to others.” ~ Plato
- 7. Teaching Others Retention Rate 90% Immediate use of learning Approximate 80% Participating and Practice by doing 70% 60% 50% Discussion 40% Demonstration 30% Writing 20% Reading 10% Lecture Degree of Participation
- 9. Preparing the Course “It’s a very tricky business, teaching.” ~Gilford Highet Author of The Art of Teaching
- 10. Goals, Objectives, & End Results
- 12. Handouts Should Not be an Afterthought
- 13. simple ideas on design and delivery
- 14. Adult Learners • Adult learner (aka mature student) is a term used to describe any person socially accepted as an adult who is in a learning process, whether it is formal education, informal learning, or corporate-sponsored learning. • Adult learners are considered distinct from child learners due primarily to the work of Malcolm Knowles, who developed the principle of Andragogy. Adult learners fall into the category of nontraditional students, whom the National Center for Education Statistics defines as meeting at least one of the following seven criteria: • Delays enrollment (does not enter postsecondary education in the same calendar year that he or she finished high school). • Attends part time for at least part of the academic year. • Works full time (35 hours or more per week) while enrolled. • Is considered financially independent for purposes of determining eligibility for financial aid. • Has dependents other than a spouse (usually children, but sometimes others). • Is a single parent (either not married or married but separated and has dependents). • Does not have a high school diploma (completed high school with a GED or other high school completion certificate or did not finish high school).
- 15. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo da Vinci
- 16. An Approach, Not a Method
- 17. Restraint Naturalness In Delivery In Preparation Simplicity In Design
- 18. Beginner’s Mind
- 19. Beware of the Expert’s Mind
- 21. Go Analog
- 22. Is your computer like a bicycle for your mind?
- 23. Slowing Down to See
- 24. What’s Your Point? Why Does It Matter?
- 25. Handouts Can Set You Free!
- 26. Is your computer like a Is your computer like a bicycle for your mind? bicycle for your mind? Is your computer like a bicycle for your mind? Slides During the planning state of a presentation, does your computer function as a “bicycle for your mind,” amplifying your own capabilities and ideas, or is it more like a “car for your mind” with prepackaged formulas that make your ideas soft? Your mind benefits when you use your computer like a bike Handout but loses out when you rely only on your power the way you rely on your car’s power. It’s important to understand principles of presentation creation, and design, not merely software applications rules to be obediently followed or the tips and tricks of the day. One way to ensure that your computer and your software applications remain great tools of amplification for your ideas and your presentation is to first turn off your computer and walk away from it. Notes
- 28. A B
- 29. The 1 – 7 – 7 rule: What is it? Have only one main idea per slide Insert only seven lines of text maximum. Use only seven words per line maximum. The question is though: Does this work? Is this method really good advice? Is this really an appropriate, effective “visual”? This slide has just seven bullet points.
- 30. Leadership Development Training Cycle
- 31. Training Cycle
- 32. The Object of Rotary • The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster: • FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service; • SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society; • THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life; • FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
- 34. About RYLA Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary's leadership training program for young people. RYLA participants can be ages 14-30, but most clubs and districts choose to focus on a narrower age range, such as 14-18 or 19-30. RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth, and aims to Demonstrate Rotary's respect and concern for youth Provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders Encourage leadership of youth by youth Recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities 34
- 36. Keep It Simple
- 37. Empty Space • Also called negative or white Space • Supremely simple design concept • One of the most overlooked concepts in presentation slide design • Implies elegance and clarity • Conveys a feeling of high quality and sophistication • Gives a design air and lets positive elements breathe
- 38. Empty Space
- 41. Keep Your Presentation Clean
- 42. Direct the Eye With Images
- 43. Direct the Eye With Images
- 45. Natural Delivery
Notes de l'éditeur
- Adult Learning PrinciplesTraining ApplicationsAdults want a focus on “real world” issues.Show how participants can immediately transfer the learning back to the job.Emphasis on how the learning can be applied is desired.Apply training to future and current needs.Adult learners will come with goals and expectations.Discover the participants’ expectations at the onset of the program and address those that will not be covered.Allow debate and challenge of ideas, but adults must be motivated to keep disagreements unheated.For some participants, this interaction enhances the learning.Create a safe learning environment.Listening to and respecting their opinions is what adults expect.Promote a learning environment that is collaborative between the instructor and the participants.Allow participants to receive feedback from the instructor and each other.Adult will wish to be resources to you and to each other.Allow for planning between the instructor and the group.Take the knowledge and experience of participants into account.Adults seek out a learning experience because they have a need for the knowledge or skill being taught.Explain the “WIIFM” (What is in it for me?) concept.Apply training to future and current needs. SOURCE: Society of Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org)
- How Adults LearnWhen Rotarians walk into the room, each one will come already equipped with various experiences, attitudes, perceptions, and ideas. Each person will organize his or her thoughts differently, and each will be able to absorb new knowledge and ideas in his or her own way. The Etech employee’s mental learning state is not a blank chalkboard on which you, the presenter/facilitator, can write as you wish. Neither is their head an empty pail for you to fill with your knowledge and ideas. Our employee’s chalkboard already has many messages on it, and their mental pail is almost full already. We must help our employees learn. You have been identified as a Subject Matter Expert (SME). We’re expecting you to pass your torch to others.
- Adult Learning StylesLearning styles describe the ways individuals learn and how they process ideas. An awareness of these styles allows you to interpret and reflect upon ways to accommodate each style in learning situations.There are three distinct learning styles – visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (tactile).Understanding learning styles and modifying your instruction to meet all of them helps to increase the retention rate of your adult learners. Meeting the needs of all learning styles requires a well-balanced use of various learning methods that incorporate various levels of participation.Visual LearnersVisual learners learn best through seeing. These learners need to see body language and facial expression to fully understand content. In a traditional classroom setting, they tend to prefer sitting at the front in order to avoid visual obstructions. They may think in pictures and learn best from visual displays, including diagrams, illustrated textbooks, overhead transparences, videos, computer-based training programs, flip charts, and handouts. During a lecture or classroom discussion, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the information.Auditory Visual LearnersAuditory learns learn best through hearing. Verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through, and listening to what others have to say and their preferred methods of learning. Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed, and other nuances. Written information may have little meaning until it is heard. These learners often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder.Kinesthetic Learners (a.k.a. Tactile Learners)Kinesthetic Learners, also known as a.k.a. Tactile Learners, learn best through a hands-on approach. They prefer to actively explore the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.
- Retention will be increased by appealing to all learning styles.
- Understanding learning styles and modifying your instruction to meet all of them helps to increase the retention rate of your adult learners. Meeting the needs of all learning styles requires a well-balanced use of various learning methods that incorporate various levels of participation.During your presentation you must involve your participants…. through small group activities small group discussions (including working in pairs, triads, and small groups) large group discussionsect.WORKBOOK PG 15 - Working in small groups, discuss practical ways one can increase the degree of participation (and hopefully improve the adult learners’ retention) in an Etech leader’s training session. Appoint a group spokesperson and be prepared to report out a summary of your group’s ideas.
- Preparing the CourseEvery course needs preparation.Without it, your thoughts will be disjointed, the course structure fragmented, and the students will feel as though… well, you hadn’t prepared.The dangers of under preparation are many. You can forget points. You can give details out of sequence and confuse your students. You can talk too long and not leave time for other important topics. You can forget a visual aid or handout which would have helped in your presentation.Teaching is not just talking. Every topic takes preparation.
- Goals, Objectives, & End ResultsBefore looking at your presentation, take a broad look a the training module as a whole.What are the goals, objectives, and end results of the training module? How does your presentation help meet these goals, objectives, and end results?What do you want to happened in the training?Objectives differ from goals because they are quantified and time-delineated.For some presentations, like a discussion of leadership techniques, goals may be much more important and evident than objectives. But for other presentations, like job-related skills, objectives are important to Etech leaders who want to acquire a specific knowledge, and for whom the success of the class may depend on their ability to learn something they can use immediately.
- Amount of MaterialHaving defined your goals, objectives, and end results, you then can estimate how much material to cover in the presentation.This is not always easy.Sometimes participants may get caught up in discussion and cover only a small fraction of what you have intended; other times they catch on sooner than you anticipated and you are racing through the material.As a Subject Matter Expert (SME) you should be prepared for both outcomes, having enough material available, and yet being able to trim and cut back to the most essential points if the discussion or explanations take longer than planned.A long discussion on a particular point is a more positive sign of involvement and learning than is a silent audience.Covering many ideas may not be a sign of faster learning while questions, discussions, and disagreement over one single idea may mean more learning than quiet acceptance of a whole series of points.Arrange your material:Essential to KnowImportant to KnowNice to KnowMake sure you convey what is essential, try to work in as much important material as possible, and add what is nice to know if you have time.
- Material PreparationYour materials must be prepared as well.Too often handouts or reading materials are an afterthought, or sometimes no thought is given to them at all.No handouts, no references, no directions for further learning – is just simply not acceptable.Use handout material for things it would take too long to copy in class, or take up too much valuable class time.If possible, provide a reading list or list of references for further research on the topic. For practical topics, this might be a list of people, their contact numbers and e-mails, or other resources (TM Web or Effective Manager).
- Now let’s chat about your PowerPoint deck – your actual presentation.These are simple ideas on design and delivery.
- Here is an example of what we normally see when we attend trainings, conferences, etc. Unfortunately, this is the industry standard. But what’s the problem?Hard to readToo much information on one slideBORING!!Does this slide reach you on emotional level? Probably not. This should generate discussion because quite frankly, people are sick of seeing slide after slide that looks like this. It is mind numbing. This is where I transition into the concept of Presentation Zen.
- Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo da Vinci
- Presentation Zen was written by Garr Reynolds, a leading authority on presentation design and delivery. A sought after speaker and consultant, his clients include many in the Fortune 500. A writer, designer, and musician, he holds the position of Associate Professor of Management at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. He is a former corporate trainer for Sumitomo Electric, and once worked in Cupertino, California as the Manager for Worldwide User Group Relations at Apple, inc.Presentation Zen is not a method. Method implies a step-by-step systematic process, something very much planned and linear, with definite proven procedure that you can pick off a shelf and follow A to Z in a logical orderly fashion. Presentation Zen is more of an approach. An approach implies a road, a direction, a frame of mind, perhaps even a philosophy, but not a formula of proven rules to be followed.In his book, Garr Reynolds offers guidelines and some things to think about that may run contrary to conventional wisdom on how to make a live presentation with multimedia.The aim is to help professionals free themselves from the pain of creating and delivering presentations by helping them see presentations in a way that is different, simpler, more visual, more natural, and ultimately far more meaningful.
- Each situation is different. But we all know, through our own experience, that the current state of presentations in business causes its own degree of “suffering” for audiences and presenters alike. If we desire to communicate with more clarity, integrity, beauty, and intelligence, then we must move beyond what is considered to be “normal” to something different and far more effective. The Presentation Zen approach challenges the conventional wisdom of making PowerPoint presentations in today’s world and encourages people to think differently about the design, and delivery of their presentations. There are three “Key Principles” that one must be most mindful of through every step of the presentation process. They are:restraint, simplicity, and naturalness: Restraint in preparation, Simplicity in design, and Naturalness in delivery. All of which, in the end, lead to greater clarity for us and for our audience. Let’s take a look at each of these principles separately.
- Like a child, one who approaches life with a beginner’s mind is fresh, enthusiastic, and open to vast possibilities of ideas and solutions before them. A child does not know what is not possible and so is open to exploration, discovery, and experimentation.If you approach creative tasks with the beginner’s mind, you can see things more clearly as they are, unburdened by your fixed views, habits, or what conventional wisdom says it should be. One who possesses a beginners mind is not burdened by old habits or obsessed about “the way things are done around here.” If you approach a task with the beginner’s mind, your are not afraid of being wrong. The fear of making a mistake, of risking an error, or of being told you are wrong is constantly with us. Making mistakes is not the same as being creative, but if you are not willing to make mistakes, then it is impossible to be truly creative.
- If you approach problems with the “expert’s mind,” you are often blind to the possibilities. Your expert’s mind is bound by the past and is not interested in the new and different and un-tried. Your expert’s mind will say it can’t be done (or shouldn’t be done). Your beginner’s mind will say, “I wonder if this can be done?”
- The big lie we tell ourselves: “ I am not creative.” You may not be the next Picasso in your field but that doesn’t matter. What matters is to not close yourself down too early in the process of exploration. Failing is fine, necessary in fact. But avoiding experimentation or risk-especially out of fear of what others may think-is something that will gnaw at you more than any failure. Take chances to stretch yourself professionally. Why not see how gifted your are? You may surprise someone, including yourself!Being creative means using your whole mind to find solutions. Creativity means not being paralyzed by your methods and knowledge, but being able to think outside the box to find solutions to unforeseen problems. A presentation is an opportunity to differentiate yourself, or your organization. It’s your chance to tell the story of why your content is important and why it matters. It can also be an opportunity to make a difference! So why look or talk like everyone else? Why strive to meet expectations? Why not surpass expectations and surprise people
- One of the most important things you can do in the initial state of preparing for your presentation is to get away from your computer. A fundamental mistake people make is spending almost the entire time thinking about their presentation and preparing their content while sitting in front of a computer screen.Before you design your presentation, you need to see the big picture and identify your core messages-or the single core message. This can be difficult unless you create a stillness of mind for your self, something which is hard to do while puttering around in PowerPoint.Sketching out ideas on pen and paper seems to lead to more clarity and better, more creative, results when we finally get down to representing our ideas digitally. You can use sticky notes on the wall to help you organize the flow of your presentation as you are brainstorming ideas. Another tool that can be especially useful during then brain-storming/planning stage is a dry-erase board.This is a time to allow your imagination to flow and be creative about your ideas. If you limit yourself to computer software for planning, your ideas may be softened by the limitations of the slideware. Here’s a good question to ask yourself: (click)
- Is your computer like a bicycle for your mind?During the planning state of a presentation, does your computer function as a “bicycle for your mind,” amplifying your own capabilities and ideas, or is it more like a “car for your mind” with prepackaged formulas that make your ideas soft?Your mind benefits when you use your computer like a bike but loses out when you rely only on your computer’s power the way you rely on your car’s power. It’s important to understand principles of presentation creation, and design, not merely software applications rules to be obediently followed or the tips and tricks of the day.One way to ensure that your computer and your software applications remain great tools of amplification for your ideas and your presentation is to first turn off your computer and walk away from it.
- Slowing down is not just good advice for a healthier, happier, more fulfilling life, but it is also a practice that leads to greater clarity. Your instinct may be to say that this is ridiculous, business is all about speed. It’s all about your state of mind. No doubt, you have many things on your plate. You are busy. But “Busy” is not really the problem. We all face time constraints but those constraints can be a great motivator, bringing a sense of urgency that stimulates creative thinking. Busyness kills creativity. It leads to the creation and display of a lot of PowerPoint decks that substitute for engaging, informative, or provocative presentations. Communication suffers…the audience suffers. One reason some presentations are so ineffective is that people today just do not take-or do not have-enough time to step back and really assess what is important and what is not. They often fail to bring anything unique, creative, or new to the presentation.Seeing the big picture and finding your core message may take some time alone “off the grid.” You may even have to find solitude to pinpoint your core message, achieve greater focus and clarity allowing you to see the big picture.
- Here are two very simple (but very important) questions that you MUST keep in mind while you prepare your presentation:What’s your Point? Why does it matter?It’s hard enough for presenters to find their core message and express it in a way that is unambiguously understood. But why does it matter? This is where people really stumble. This is because the presenter is so close to his material that the question of why it should matter simply seems obvious, too obvious to make explicit. Yet, that is exactly what most audiences are hoping that you’ll tell them. “Why should we care?”That is going to take Persuasion, emotion, and empathy in addition to logical argument. Empathy in the sense that the presenter understands that not everyone will see what to him is obvious, or that others may understand well but not see why it should matter to them. When preparing material, good presenters try to put themselves in the shoes of their audience. Inclusion vs. exclusion: Make a choice about what is important and let goof the rest!
- Handouts Can Set You Free!If you create a proper handout as a leave-behind for your presentation during the preparation phase, then you will not feel compelled to say everything about your topic in your presentation.Preparing a proper document-with as much detail as you think is necessary-frees you to focus on what is most important for your particular audience on your particular day. If your write a proper document you will also not worry about the exclusion of charts or figures and statistics or related points to your topic.You can’t say everything during your presentation. Many presenters include everything under the sun in their slides “just in case” or to show that they are “serious people.” It is common to create slides with lots of text and detailed charts, etc. Because the slides will also serve as a leave-behind document. BIG MISTAKE. This leads to “slideumentation.” Instead, prepare a detailed document for a handout and keep the slides simple. “…Slides are “speaker support” material, they are there to support the speaker…YOU. As such, they should be completely incapable of standing by themselves, and are thus useless to give to your audience, where they are guaranteed to be a distraction. The flip side of this is that if your slides can stand by themselves, why the heck are you up there in front of them?” - David S. Rose New York Technology Entrepreneur
- Three Parts of a Presentation:If you remember that there are three components to your presentation-the slides, your notes, and the handout-then you will not feel the need to place so much information (text data, etc.) in your slides. Instead, you can place that information in your notes or in the handout.
- Simplicity in DesignSimplicity means…maximum effects with minimum means.There is a fundamental misunderstanding of simplicity and what it means to be simple today. Many people confuse simple, for example, with simplistic and simplism or that which is dumbed-down to the point of being deceptive or misleading. The kind of simplicity discussed in Presentation Zen does not come from a place of laziness or ignorance, rather it comes from an intelligent desire for clarity that gets to the essence of an issue, something which is not easy to do. Simplicity is not easy, in fact, it’s hard.This isn’t about taking shortcuts, or ignoring complexities, or endorsing meaningless sound bytes and shallow content. In this context, simplicity is synonymous with clarity, directness, subtlety, essentialness, and minimalism. The best visuals are often ones designed with an eye toward simplicity.
- Take a look at these two electronic gadgets. Don’t worry about what the products do or the merits of one product over another. If you only had five minutes to play with one device, which one would it be?If you’re like me, you’d choose the one on the left. It’s colorful and inviting. I want to pick it up and start playing with it. The other one just doesn’t look as inviting. Think about your course design. Is it inviting from the start?Design matters. It conveys to the learner that what they’re doing is important and worth their time. Your goal is pull the learner into the course first by capturing their attention and then by creating a learning environment that is both relevant to the content and engaging to the senses. Now let’s talk about the importance of design when creating a PowerPoint presentation. We’ll start by taking a look at conventional wisdom for creating a slide deck for your presentation. (click)
- Discuss the training cycle – refer to handouts if necessary.
- Another example of a slideument
- Again, I can put the Etechmission in their handouts but as a trainer representing the company, I should be able to speak intelligently about our mission and key in on the fact that we are a Global Leader in Customer Service Outsourcing,Telemarketing and Chat Service Provider.As a global leader, Etech has a proven history of helping companies cost effectively acquire new customers and maximize profits by servicing and growing existing customers. For more than a decade, Etech has been a pioneer of introducing and supporting innovative business solutions. Whether applying our expertise to customer retention, monitoring efforts, or technical advancements, Etech delivers unsurpassed excellence.Headquartered in Nacogdoches, Texas, Etech employs more than 2,300 employees. Large enough to serve you, small enough to care, Etech rewards every customer with unparalleled client satisfaction. Bringing you results is not just what we do, it's who we are.Our company is comprised of three business divisions, each focused on providing world class services in their areas of expertise.Etech, Inc. - Best shore call center operations in the United States and IndiaEtech Business Solution (EBS) - Software/Application DevelopmentEtech Monitoring Solution (EMS) - Quality Assurance Solutions
- Keep it simple:PowerPoint uses slides with a horizontal or "Landscape" orientation. The software was designed as a convenient way to display graphical information that would support the speaker and supplement the presentation. The slides themselves were never meant to be the "star of the show" (the star, of course, is your audience). People came to hear you and be moved or informed (or both) by you and your message. Don't let your message and your ability to tell a story get derailed by slides that are unnecessarily complicated, busy, or full of what Edward Tufte calls "chart junk." Nothing in your slide should be superfluous, ever.Your slides should have plenty of "white space" or "negative space." Do not feel compelled to fill empty areas on your slide with your logo or other unnecessary graphics or text boxes that do not contribute to better understanding. The less clutter you have on your slide, the more powerful your visual message will become.Sylvia’s vacation pictures. She only sent three from Disneyland. One with her and her youngest niece, one from the princess breakfast and one with all of her nieces together with her on a park bench. They were all great pictures of Sylvia and her nieces and those 3 pictures told the story and left me with a great visual of how her trip went. She could have flooded me with hundreds of pictures but it would have only diluted the process.
- Empty Space:Empty Space (also called negative space) is a concept that is supremely simple, yet the most difficult for people to apply. One of the biggest mistakes that people make with presentation slides and documents as well is going out of their way to seemingly use every centimeter of space on a page, filling it up with text, boxes ,clip art, charts, footers, etc.Empty space implies elegance and clarity and can convey a feeling of high quality, sophistication, and importance. It is what gives a design air and lets the positive elements breathe. The more we add to a slide, the more diluted and less effective the design or graphic becomes. Here is an example of something we see regularly. (draw attention to all of the text, logo, distracting clip art, etc.)
- Or could we convey the same message with something that looks like this. At this point I click back and forth and ask which is more appealing to the audience. Empty Space:Empty Space (also called negative space) is a concept that is supremely simple, yet the most difficult for people to apply. One of the biggest mistakes that people make with presentation slides and documents as well is going out of their way to seemingly use every centimeter of space on a page, filling it up with text, boxes ,clip art, charts, footers, etc.Empty space implies elegance and clarity and can convey a feeling of high quality, sophistication, and importance. It is what gives a design air and lets the positive elements breathe. The more we add to a slide, the more diluted and less effective the design or graphic becomes.
- Limit Bullet Points and Text: Your presentation is for the benefit of the audience. But boring an audience with bullet point after bullet point is of little benefit to them. Which brings us to the issue of text. The best slides may have no text at all. This may sound insane given the dependency of text slides today, but the best PowerPoint slides will be virtually meaningless with out the narration (that is you). Remember, the slides are meant to support the narration of the speaker, not make the speaker superfluous.Many people often say something like this: "Sorry I missed your presentation. I hear it was great. Can you just send me your PowerPoint slides?" But if they are good slides, they will be of little use without you. Instead of a copy of your PowerPoint slides, it is far better to prepare a written document which highlights your content from the presentation and expands on that content. Audiences are much better served receiving a detailed, written handout as a takeaway from the presentation, rather than a mere copy of your PowerPoint slides. If you have a detailed handout or publication for the audience to be passed out after your talk, you need not feel compelled to fill your PowerPoint slides with a great deal of text.We’ll talk more about this in the delivery section below, but as long as we are talking about text, please remember to never, ever turn your back on the audience and read text from the slide word for word.
- Use High Quality Graphics:Use high-quality graphics including photographs. You can take your own high-quality photographs with your digital camera, purchase professional stock photography, or use the plethora of high-quality images available on line (be cautious of copyright issues, however). Never simply stretch a small, low-resolution photo to make it fit your layout - doing so will degrade the resolution even further.Avoid using PowerPoint Clip Art or other cartoonish line art. Again, if it is included in the software, your audience has seen it a million times before. It may have been interesting in 1993, but today the inclusion of such clip art often undermines the professionalism of the presenter. There are exceptions, of course, and not all PowerPoint art is dreadful, but use carefully and judiciously.
- Images can be used to help guide your viewer’s eyes through a slide to the most important elements. If you use images of people, be careful not to have these images unintentionally guide your viewer’s eyes away from what you want them to see.Where is this image directing your eyes? Is it drawing you toward the important information or away from it?Now, let’s look at the same slide with a different graphic: (click)
- Where does this graphic direct your eyes. It directs you to the important information on the slide and complements the content. Images can be used to help guide your viewer’s eyes through a slide to the most important elements. If you use images of people, be careful not to have these images unintentionally guide your viewer’s eyes away from what you want them to see.
- A word about using animated word art: (click)Try not to use these in a professional presentation!
- So here is what all of this is leading up to. Naturalness in Delivery. I use Robin Williams as an example but you could insert any comedian here, Jerry Seinfeld, etc. Their jokes are funny but only if properly delivered in a natural way that strikes and emotional connection with the audience. No, I’m not saying that you have to be a comedian to be a good presenter, I only use this as an example of how important it is to seem natural when you are telling your story and sharing the information that you want them to learn from you.
- Preparation, Preparation, Preparation!You will make it look easy and natural by preparing and practicing like mad. The more your rehearse, the more confident you’ll become, and the easier it will seem to the audience.
- Make Your Ideas StickyMake your ideas sticky by keeping things simple, using examples and stories, looking for the unexpected, and tapping into people’s emotions.
- Connect With Your Audience:You need solid content and logical structure, but you also have to make a connection with the audience. You must appeal to both the logical and the emotional. If your content is worth talking about, then bring energy and passion to your delivery. There is no excuse for being dull! Don’t hold back…If you have passion for your topic, then let people know it. Keep the lights on; the audience must always be able to see you.Remove any barriers between you and the audience. Avoid podiums if possible. Use a wireless mic and remote control for advancing slides so that you can move around freely and naturally.