Effective Presentations
Rules for EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS
by Charles Schuster
- When creating, think about:
- Your audience -how much do they know?
- The venue: How large? Shape?
- What technology will you be using?
- Don’t be too Humor is OK! (depending on the topic.)
- Use pictures. Reduce text. Almost everyone likes and remembers pictures.
- Make it READABLE! Consider 54+ point font size. Think of the people sitting in the back.
- Limit bullet points (5± maximum) & slides (20± maximum, depending on topic).
- AVOID It’s usually unattractive- photos, art, charts, graphs (if clear, see #7) are better.
- Make sure all charts & graphs are understandable and easily readable (see #4.) Labels must be large enough.
- AVOID slow transitions. Don’t waste the audience’s time. This is also true for Keynote and
- KEEP IT Go for simple, clearly designed slides.
- Edit & PRACTICE! Save (in more than one place, for example ‘the cloud’) Check spelling & grammar, then edit, practice and save again. Repeat!
- Look at your audience, NOT the screen, and smile!
- Arrive early to check. Remember not all computers or projectors are the same.
- Dress appropriately.
- Make sure all phones are silent.
- Notes are OK but DON’T read! A tablet can work well. (See rule #11.)
- Think very carefully about your body language. Practice in a mirror or on video.
- Just in case, prepare a Plan B. What will you do if the projector bulb burns out, or there is a power cut?
- Pacing is important. Find a balance between fast and slow (see rule #1. Is the audience made up of native speakers?).