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What are Presentation Do’s and Don’ts?
When it comes to presenting, some basic guidelines will help ensure your killer presentation is successful. Here are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind:
PowerPoint Do’s
The Key Message is the Focus
The audience must feel that your speech leads to something meaningful from the beginning. This will keep them interested and keep their focus.
To achieve this effect, you must have something to communicate. Your audience will feel like they have wasted their time and be disappointed. Your material should look like an arrow with a clear point. It shouldn’t be a loop of words that leads nowhere.
However, telling a story is only one part of the job. Your entire presentation must revolve around this key idea. Your core message should guide you from beginning to end. Your core message should be brought closer to the audience with each sentence. By the end of your speech, they should feel enlightened.
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Know your audience
This is where all marketing activities should begin. This is true for all presentations, regardless of purpose. Your audience should understand and respond to your information and design.
It’s recommended that you need to ask questions to get to know your audience. This will help you build a persona slide that can be used at the front of your presentation.
Create Structure
It is essential to plan your speech, so you don’t get distracted. When thinking about your message, ensure it is structured in a way that will benefit the audience.
Without a structure, things can spiral out of control quickly. Even if your presentation illustrates an existing piece, you will still need to adapt it to PowerPoint specifications regarding the quantity of information, succession and ideas used, etc.
Tell A Story
How can you present a topic? Stories are what attract us as human beings. We love stories. This is why we read fiction, watch movies, and listen intently when gossip is shared. It’s a good idea either to tell a story at the beginning or to add a twist in the middle to start your excellent presentation. This can make the difference between an engaged audience and one indifferent.
Use keywords
This will allow you to communicate clearly and keep your audience’s interest. This is also a great tool for creating your presentation’s flow.
Your topic will be the basis for your presentation. It will also determine your main keyword and will likely be included in your presentation title. The structure of your presentation will provide another set of keywords.
Visual elements can be used to illustrate your ideas.
Charts and graphs can be used to show relationships, changes, and comparisons. Talk about each element to illustrate your point. Limit the number of images to one or two per slide. To illustrate complicated topics, you can also use shapes.
Remember the Takeaway
What would you like the audience to remember from your speech when they leave the room? It should be a single sentence or phrase. Then, present it after your PowerPoint presentation. When planning your speech, keep this in mind and pay attention to it during the wrap-up.
Use legible fonts
Choose a legible font and a large type size. Avoid using unusual fonts that make it difficult to read the words. Use standard fonts that are easy to read, such as Helvetica or Arial, and avoid serif fonts. You will be less likely to have your fonts replaced by someone else when you send them.
Be wise about colors.
You’re good to go if your brand book has a color scheme. You can do something completely different by using different colors. You might not like the color on your monitor, but it may look better on the large screen that you will be using.
Do your rehearsals
To build confidence, practice your speech as often as you can. While you don’t have to memorize every word or sentence, you should be able to identify what you need at each point.
End with a summary slides
Reviewing your key points and then listing the final benefits on a slide at the end is an excellent practice.
PowerPoint doesn’t
Don’t read
The worst thing you can do in a PowerPoint presentation is not to read your script. Distracting enough even if you only glance at the paper or screen a few times a day. Your audience will need help understanding your message because it all feels mechanical and staged.
What’s the solution? It’s fairly simple: rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
Avoid using difficult-to-read fonts and color combinations.
Avoid red/green, brown/green, and blue/black combinations. It would be best if you instead aimed to have a high-contrast background/text. Bright background colors can strain the eyes of your audience.
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Do not rely on slides
Slides should not be the primary source of information for your audience. It should be used as an extension to your speech that helps it sound more credible or engaging. Remember that your audience must learn from the speaker, not your slide.
You shouldn’t stuff slides with text. Refrain from overloading your audience with textual or visual information. The minimalist slide design is your friend.
The slides are yours!
Many people think PowerPoint is a handout. PowerPoint is not meant to replace your speech. It guides the audience and gives them the tools to organize the information.
Avoid fancy slideshows
What should a presentation look like? Many presentation tools can be used to impress the audience. What’s the problem? You’re not supposed to “wow” your audience by showing them slides. Your presentation should be as straightforward as possible. This is important to remember.
Do not ignore body language.
Your body movement on stage tells a story. Discord can arise if the story you tell with your words is not coherent. Imagine a speaker talking about peace and tolerance, but their every move is abrupt, hasty, and aggressive. This might be due to nervousness. But would it still allow you to hear their message? It’s unlikely that the answer is no.
Don’t mention tips verbally
like “be sure to check out the website www.fancynewstuff.com; it has great features” without displaying a slide with both a picture of the website and the URL in big letters + a note stating that the URL will be in your posted presentation.
Don’t talk too fast (or slow)
It is important to present at a steady pace. Talking too fast can cause tension in the audience. A slow speech will only be annoying. A good presentation needs a balance between them.
Do not end your talk by summarizing everything you’ve said.
Instead, express your passion for the topic, and your desire for the talk inspires success in the audience.
Conclusion.
Presentations are an effective way to communicate information and create a lasting impression on your audience. Pay attention to the do’s and don’ts of a presentation to ensure that you deliver a successful presentation that will positively impact your audience. Good presentation practices can help you get your message across clearly, keep your audience engaged, and leave them satisfied after the presentation. You will also be able to present yourself as a professional speaker who has taken the time to prepare their material carefully and thoughtfully.
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