Slide Show Presentation Tips

Source: Goodman (2006) Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes

Does this situation look familiar to you?

boring presentation

We've all been in the situation where we are sitting through a slide show presentation and our eyes are getting heavy  and we've completely lost interest.  The BIG question is have you been guilty of the same crime?   Have you delivered a presentation that went for too long, was too wordy or too boring?

We've provided you a summary of some tips that will help you avoid the slide show sins to keep your audience awake and attentive.

Slide Show Sins Tips

Reading the slides

Never simply reads off the slides.

The audience can read the slides themselves. This sin is made even worse if you provide handouts of the slides.

Your slides should contain visual aids, ideally a picture, or figure, or one key dot point, which the presenter builds a compelling story around. PowerPoint is there to support a presentation, not duplicate it. sinToo long, too much information

Too long, too much information

Presenting too much information, whether this be facts, figures, dot points etc, will bore and overwhelm the audience with a mass of information to sift through.

The audience will likely miss the key points of your presentation.

Presentations should be concise, and have a clear articulation of several linked points that are relevant to the audience.

Lack of interaction

Audiences generally do not like being talked at for long periods of time.

Question and answer sessions, or other types of interaction, that are interspaced throughout a presentation will help maintain the audience’s attention to the presentation.

Lifeless presenters

Standing still, speaking in monotone and seeming to be not interested in what you are presenting will lead to the audience being distracted.

Show enthusiasm in the topic and engage the audience. You don’t have to be a natural presenter and with practice your presentation skills will improve over time.

 

Source: Goodman (2006) Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes