There’s no straightforward answer as to how to deliver an effective presentation but there is lots of advice and guidance on how to prepare for it. Preparations can be stressful and challenging but you will be rewarded with the confidence and knowledge to deliver a strong presentation. Here are some great ideas:

Decide on your key talking points. When you have the topic for your presentation, the best place to start with the preparation is to decide what key points you want to get across. There’s no point writing a full script until you know what points you want to hammer home. It is vital that you understand the subject matter of the presentation you are delivering. This will make it easier to produce a script for the presentation.

Prepare your script. Everybody has different styles and techniques for writing the script for a presentation. Some prefer to have bullet-points on cue cards to remind them of key features. Others like to write a script and learn it word-for-word. The script for the presentation should consist of an opening (an outline of the key objectives), a main body (where the bulk of the subject matter is presented) and then finishing with a summary (a very brief overview of the information). The script doesn’t have to be a work of literary excellence but it needs to be sufficient enough to get you confidently through your presentation!

Incorporate Visual Aids. Use PowerPoint to provide the audience with visual stimulation and to support the content of your presentation. Why not take a look at another of our blog posts Putting the WOW into PowerPoint Presentations?

Practice. Practice. Practice. Once you have the content and the script prepared for your presentation, now is the time to practice. Ask friends and family to watch your presentation, this will help you to learn the script and also get some feedback from others. It can also be useful to practice in an environment with distractions as this will help you prepare for any unexpected interruptions during your presentation.

Be Confident! The more you have practiced the material, the less nervous you will be. If you have taken the time to learn your script and practice in different environments, then you will feel more relaxed when delivering your presentation. So take a deep breath, take your time and be confident!

In Putting the ‘Wow’ into PowerPoint Presentations – Part 1. Readability we talked about how to make your presentations more enjoyable to read. And in Putting the ‘Wow’ into PowerPoint Presentations – Part Two. Images we learned how to make presentations more visually appealing. However even a visually great presentation can fail if something with your equipment goes wrong. Here are 3 Tips to ensure your gear passes MOT

Test the Equipment

Before you present your slideshow, ensure all equipment works properly. For example, if you are using a projector, test that it is working with your computer and it is projecting the image the way you want.
 
If you have a large audience you might need to use a microphone and speakers, so confirm that they both work as well.
 
Start your computer to ensure it works and check if it has the program you need to run the presentation on. Open your presentation file to verify it opens without any issues.
 
Navigate Through PowerPoint

PowerPoint is the most likely program to be used when you prepare a presentation. During your presentation, some listeners might want to look back at previous slides. Therefore practice navigating through your presentation by using shortcut keys on the keyboard to easily locate the slide your listeners want. You can also use the projector remote to select a specific slide instead of having to go through the entire presentation.
 
Have a Backup Plan

Think what can go wrong with equipment and have a backup plan.
 
For example, to avoid issues because a computer crashed, make sure that you have a copy of your presentation. Save a copy onto a USB memory card or CD so you can insert it onto another computer and run your presentation from there if required.
 
To avoid issues because the projector failed, have a printed copy of your presentation and use your notes to guide you.
 
Follow these steps and you’ll be prepared to run your presentation smoothly. Next time, we are going to write what else to prepare to deliver effective presentations.

In the “Putting the ‘Wow’ into PowerPoint Presentations – Part One – Readability” article we talked about how to make presentations readable. Here we learn how to make presentations more visually appealing.

PowerPoint – it’s one of the most commonly used presentation packages out there. That’s no surprise considering how easy it is to use. But you’d be surprised how many people aren’t making the most of this powerful software. Are you one of them?

Out of the 1 million PowerPoint presentations given every single day, many fail to make the most of images to create a great impression. A well-chosen image can grab our attention much more than lots of confusing words.

Here are some secrets for more attention grabbing PowerPoint presentations:

Picture this

You want your presentation to interest and inspire your audience. Using pictures or photos alongside your text will help people understand your message. And an unusual or amusing image could help keep your presentation in mind long after it’s over!

Aside from using images to make a point, don’t forget to use repeated background images to establish continuity between slides.

Get animated

Diagrams can be difficult to digest all at once. It’s often much more effective to present diagrams by revealing them one step at a time – rather than the whole thing in one go. For example, you could have a pyramid diagram revealing itself section by section from the bottom up.

There are lots of animation effects to choose from. They can help you control the flow of information, highlight key points and of course, keep your audience interested!

Double vision

So you’ve chosen the best images and pictures for your presentation, but how do you know they will win over your audience? It’s time to get someone you trust to take a look and see whether your images really do bring your talk to life.

Send your presentation over to a colleague or friend for review using Microsoft Outlook. Then your reviewer can view the presentation in the comfort of their own home or office and suggest changes to their copy of the presentation without having the chore of marking up hard copies. Once they’ve sent it back to you, you can add their comments using the PowerPoint reviewing tools.

Keep these simple rules in mind and you’ll soon be creating great looking presentations. A short PowerPoint training course could help you get even more out of PowerPoint and many other Microsoft packages.

Did you know that around 1 million PowerPoint presentations are given every single day? Unfortunately, many of these feature classic readability errors such as using bullet points with white text on a dark background, text that’s far too small to read and other errors! What do we mean by readability? We’re talking about presentations which are attractive, simple to follow and easy on the eye. So how can you make sure your own audience is sitting on the edge of its seat – not falling asleep?

Keep colours simple

A dark background provides a much more relaxing background for your audience – and helps them focus on the content. If you do choose a lighter colour, don’t go for white. It’s far too bright and can even become painful to look at.

Go for a font colour that strongly contrasts with the background colour. Don’t rely on the way the text looks on your computer screen. Instead project the image to check your audience will be able to see it.

Another tip is not to use red text on a green background or vice versa as these combinations don’t work for people with colour blindness.

Audience-friendly fonts

Don’t get too fancy with your fonts. Keep them simple and straightforward. For starters, your font size should be big enough so that it can read by people at the back of the room. Are you giving your presentation in an office, a hall or lecture theatre?  Keep the presentation space in mind when planning your talk. In general you should use 38 to 48 point type for titles and 24 to 32 point type for bullet points.

Put formatting first

Make your slides consistent with the same size style and font, and with text positioned in the same place on all your slides. This means you’ll get more of a ‘wow’ factor when you do change the font type, size or position for a particular slide.

You’re not obliged to fill every inch of each slide! If you do have so much text on your slide that you need to use small text, try to use a serif font like Times New Roman. Those clever little serifs (the bits that stick out on each letter) will help your audience to read and understand small text.

Don’t let your text come into the slide from the left. It’s distracting for Western audiences who are used to reading from left to right. Bringing your text in from the right or fading in words from the left will make your presentation much easier to follow.

Keep it consistent

Be kind to your audience – use the same font style and size throughout your presentations. Try to avoid using italicized type and lines in all capital letters, as they’re difficult to read.

So now you know some of the secrets behind giving great PowerPoint presentations. Interested in learning more? Find out how a short PowerPoint or Effective Presentations training courses could help you get even more out of electronic presentations.