Presentation Planning— The Rules And Guidelines Of How To Prepare And Deliver A Winning PowerPoint Presentation

Editor's Notes

1. Making a presentation puts you on public display— an audience not only listens to your ideas, it also responds to the way you use your voice and your body. Making a winning presentation is part of everyday life in the world of design. Facing clients and explaining design concepts can be a make or break situation. In a perfect world, if a presentation is planned and well delivered, then it's win—win; however disasters do occur and a designer needs to be prepared for the worst— this is when you need to exercise your charm and professionalism.
2. Great presentations include three components: style, substance and impact. Style— A great presentation must be masterfully constructed. The best orators are masters of both the written and spoken word, and use words to create texts that are beautiful to hear, read and see. Substance— A speech may be charismatically presented, and yet lack any true substance at all. Avoid this! Great presentations centre on a theme and appeal to and inspire the audience. Impact— Great oratory seeks to persuade the audience of some fact or idea. The very best speeches change minds and seem as revelatory today as when they were first given.
3. Style— A great presentation must be masterfully constructed. The best orators are masters of both the written and spoken word, and use words to create texts that are beautiful to hear, read and see.
4. Begin with a Bang!
5. Kick off with a quote. Begin the presentation by seizing everyone’s attention with the grabber. Wake them up. Shake them up. Involve them— create an opening that makes the audience put away their hand—held devices and focus on what you’re saying. Greet the audience and tell them who you are, also tell them what you are going to talk about. At the end reiterate and tell them 'what' you have told them. First impressions influence audience's attitudes therefore dress appropriately for the occasion.
6. Substance— A speech may be charismatically presented, and yet lack any true substance at all. Avoid this! Great presentations centre on a theme and appeal to and inspire the audience.
7. Impact— Great oratory seeks to persuade the audience of some fact or idea. The very best speeches change minds and seem as revelatory today as when they were first given.
8. Your voice. How you say something is just as important as what you say. Speak clearly: don't shout or whisper, don't rush, or talk deliberately slowly...be natural, and when elaborating on a point indicate clearly to the area of the screen you are talking about. Also, pause deliberately at key points, this has the effect of emphasising the importance of a particular point you are making. Can I speak without notes? One way to measure to determinehow prepared you are is whether you need any notes. A true professional taps into the spirit in the room and adapts the message to the specific needs of the audience, you can’t do this if you are bound by notes. Rehearse, never read from a script,or from the screen, you should know most of what you want to say— if you don't, then you should not be making the presentation!
9. Body language Adopt the ready position and also keep an eye on the audience's body language. Know when to stop and also when to cut out/cut short a piece of the material. Your body movements express your attitudes and thought. Use your hands to emphasise points but don't indulge in too much hand waving. Don't face the display screen behind you and talk to it! Other annoying habits include: standing in a position where you obscure the screen. In fact, positively check for anyone in the audience who might not be able to see clearly and try to accommodate them. Most importantly, look at the audience as much as possible, but don't fix on an individual as this can be intimidating. Pitch your speech towards the back of the audience, especially in larger rooms.
10. Simplify information. Use simple graphs or charts when communicating data, statistics or findings etc. When too much information is presented, very little will be remembered. Always use data labels, presented horizontallyso that they can be read easily. When using a table apply the 6*6 rule…6 words or numbers to a line, 6 lines to a table.
11. Death by logo It is commonly believed that a logo should be prominently displayed on every single slide, however people aren't stupid, and if a logo is placed on the first and last slide it will be obvious it is from either your company or the one you represent.
12. Death by timing. Keep to the time allowed. If you can, keep it short. It's better to under—run than over—run and generally, allow 2 minutes for each slide you use andstick to the plan for the presentation, don't be tempted to digress, you will eat up time and could end up in a dead—end with no escape!