Presentation using PowerPoint, overhand projector of flip chart

You may be allowed to use an overhand projector (OHP), data projector, or flip chart as part of your talk, if you think that you might like to use one, then it’s wise to try to practice on one beforehand so you know what you are doing!

•  Before you start check the computer and the lighting: make sure no bright lights are illuminating the screen.     
•  Stand to one side of the projector/flip chart, so the audience can see the material:
• Face and speak to your-audience, not the screen. Inexperienced PowerPoint presenters have their backs to the audience most of the time!
•   All too often the- slides are just a security blanket for the speaker, not visual aids for the audience
•  Don’t use too many slides: three or four should be sufficient for a short presentation. For a 15 minute session 8 would be the absolute maximum and probably less. Don’t have too much text on each slide no more than about 40 words. Each slides should last for at least 2 minutes. The more slides and the more words on each slide, the less the audience will listen- whereas, the less and simpler slides you have, the better you will communicate. Plan your presentation carefully and only use slides where they will clarify points.
• Don’t try to write too much on each slides: 30 to 40 words in a large font size is an example of transparency. Use note form and bullets rather than full sentences. It is very hard for a member of the audience to read slides and listen simultaneously ‘they are unlikely to doing either well. The best slides contain just one word.
• Slides can contain prompts to remind you of what you will say next.
•  Press ‘W’ to blank the screen or ‘B’ to black it out (pressing key restores the slides) when talking about  a point which does not require a slide thus reducing the distraction for the audience
•   Use a large (about 34 points) SANS font such as Verdana or Lucida Sans. DON’T PUT EVERYTHING IN UPPER CASE AS THIS LOOKS CRUDE. Check that the slides are easy to read from a distance.
• Use colour and bold for emphasis but don’t use too much colour. Have a good contrast e.g. dark blue text on a cream background.
• Pictures, especially tables, diagrams and charts are good. PowerPoint is excellent for the delivery of pictures and diagrams and they will help to break up and add variety to the long streams of text see in many (bad!) presentations.
• A little humour can grab the attention of the audience. For example some performing crocodiles?
• Don’t get carried away with flashy PowerPoint transition effects as these may distract attention from content.
•    If using PowerPoint use the Format/Apply design template command. Give you a wide range of nicely preformatted slide designs to choose from and save you a lot of time.
•   Write down your main points on a postcard sized piece of card as a prompt and also a backup in case the technology fails!

Too many bullet can machine gun your audience to sleep! Good presentations will have a variety        of  slides: some with bullets, some without and many with images and charts. Twenty slides with 5       bullets on each means you are trying to get across one hundred points, whereas the average                 person will absorb at most 5 points from a presentation.

Public Speaking Is More About Your Audience and Less About You

You’ve been invited or requested to speak and while your immediate reaction may be debilitating fear, at some point, you begin to focus on your material and /or your delivery. My question to you is what is goal? Are you aware that unless you know your audience, your goal cannot be fully recognize?

Too often we are so concerned about what we are going to say and how we are going to say it that we neglect our reason for speaking.

What are the needs of those who will be sitting in your audience? Have you research them? Are they group provided by a particular firm or have they come on their own accord because of message? Of course, it is also possible that you are speaking as a member of a Toastmasters or as a member of a presentation skills class. Perhaps you are talking to an organization like leads group or a rotary club. The point I am stressing is that before you can delve into what you plan to say, you need to find out more about those your audience. How did he/ she hear about you? More specifically, what are their needs? Other questions you should as deal with their age and their background. Is it a mixed group or not?