Following-up on my previous post outlining best practices for moderating panels, this week’s post is highlighting best practices for making presentations. While both involve public speaking, the approach and purpose are different. I hope this blog post helps the presenter in alleviating some of the anxiety associated with making presentations, as well as the audience from dying of boredom. Off we go!!
Content
Content is king! Even the most boring presenter can be “somewhat” forgiven if the content delivers. Included in this theme are developing a compelling title and summary. The title should spark curiosity but avoid being so descriptive that it lacks creativity and imagination. This is what I call, “Die Sendung mit der Maus” phenomenon. German-speakers will recognize this beloved children’s show with the less-than-creative title translated into English as, “The Show with the Mouse.” Descriptive, yes, but it’s hardly a riveting cliff-hanger. To my German-speaking friends and colleagues…please don’t send nasty comments. I love the show, too, but the title needed work. I’m just sayin…
The slides/charts should provide enough information to act as a memory-jogger for both the presenter and for the audience when they review the presentation later. However, the presentation should not be able to stand-alone entirely without having attended the presentation and perhaps made notes. Otherwise, there would be no need for a presenter in the first place. Furthermore, the physical act of taking notes helps the audience to more fully absorb the information.
Repetition (within reason) can be an important tool in driving the message home for the audience. To that end, the presenter should tell the audience what they’re about to tell them, then tell them, and finally tell them what you just told them. A similar format is often followed in written form (Table of Contents, individual content in chapters, and a summary).
Style
Slides/charts should tell-a-story (i.e. – evoke an emotional response). For example, real-world examples (describing a company’s pain points, the actions taken to solve a problem, and the outcome) help the audience to identify with the presenter, while comparing/contrasting their own experiences in similar situations. Once a presenter has this type of “buy-in” from the audience, you also have their attention and their mind-share.
Slides/charts should contain a combination of pictures and text in order to maintain audience interest and to emphasize key points. Font type and size are also important for readability and credibility. They should be appropriate to the presentation content and to the venue. Ideally, the presenter will have an idea of the size of the room and the seating configuration in order to gauge the audience distance from the slide presentation.
It’s best to minimize slang and humor, especially when presenting to an international audience in which non-native speakers make up a substantial audience presence. These things do not translate well and only serve to alienate the very audience with whom a presenter is trying to connect. And, really. Who isn’t sick of the endless (and painful) “jokes” made about the cloud? They’ve always been cringe-worthy and still haven’t improved after all these years. So, just stop!! It would also be wise to minimize the use of too many buzz words. This is true even if the event and audience members are industry-specific. At best they’re overused; at worst, they’re annoying.
The best presentations are those in which the audience is engaged. One way in which to achieve this is by being as interactive with the audience as is appropriate. Think back to your university days. No one wanted to be caught unawares if the teacher called on them. While I’m not suggesting that you call-on audience members specifically, a few well-placed rhetorical questions sprinkled throughout the presentation can serve to hold the audience’s attention. Even better is the use of live surveys taken during the presentation with the results disclosed to the attendees in real-time. In this way, a presenter can engage the audience, as well as provide additional value not contained in the slide deck alone. Later, the survey results may be used as the basis for future research and analysis.
Venue
As mentioned earlier, it would be ideal for the presenter to be familiar with the venue itself, including the size and lay-out of the room and seating configuration (in rows? at tables? during lunch/dinner?). More importantly, it’s imperative to test the audio/visual (AV) equipment beforehand. During the presentation when you’re live onstage in front of an audience is not the time to discover that your microphone/headset, laptop, projector, video links, etc. are not working. Remember…if something “can” go wrong, it “will” go wrong. And, since you’re the one in the spotlight (and the one the audience came to hear), it’s your fault, with your credibility on-the-line, looking stupid.
PowerPoint
Be aware that the colors you use in the presentation will appear more vibrant & differentiated from subtle gradations of color on your laptop than in the projected presentation itself. This is especially critical when presenting charts meant to illustrate data points. Therefore, aim for bolder color choices and more dramatic color variations. Don’t use subtle gradations of color that won’t show-up on the projected version (e.g. – greys, yellows, and pale shades of other colors). Presentations are meant to be “showy.” This is no time to be subtle.
Choose the chart type carefully when presenting data. Consider visual impact and the story you’re trying to tell. Ensure that the colors are distinct, the data labels are not clipped short, and the edges of the chart do not extend beyond the slide/chart borders. Otherwise, the only story the presenter will be telling is that they are sloppy and lack attention to detail.
If you have any handouts of the presentation…or anything else, do NOT give them to the audience until after the presentation! Otherwise, they’ll stop listening to you, believing that everything is contained in the handout. Then, they’ll leave or just start checking e-mail.
I also recommend having backup copies of your presentation on a USB stick, another laptop or tablet with cabling and a fully-charged battery, as well as sending a copy to your own e-mail address, which is stored in the cloud and can be accessed from any available device.
Other/Misc
Q&A time should be allotted at the end of the presentation. This “time” affords the presenter with a “buffer” if the presentation runs short or long. The format can be flexible and fluid or more controlled, depending on presenter preference. While it may make sense to ask that the audience hold all questions until the end (it may be covered in the presentation already and time-allotment will be affected), audience engagement may be lost (and the question forgotten or not asked at all) if they must wait until the end. If a microphone is not available for the audience member to ask a question, the presenter should repeat the question so that everyone can hear. A good format is to place 3×5 index cards on the seats, so that audience members can write down their questions and hand them to an assistant who will select/edit/collate audience questions. There are two benefits to this approach. First, the presenter can “contribute” their own “friendly” questions to ease into this segment and second, repetitive/similar questions can be condensed, while particularly volatile or off-point questions can be softened or eliminated.
Feedback forms should be placed on every seat. They are invaluable for improvement in content, style, etc. I recommend a multiple choice range from one to four (not five). It is human nature to choose the middle of a range, unless an audience member feels particularly strong one way or the other on an issue. By offering feedback forms with only four choices, the audience is forced to make a choice that necessarily leans one way or the other (not neutral). Also, leave space for open-ended feedback. While most attendees will not take the time to add independent comments, those who do provide feedback feel strongly enough about something to provide additional information, which can be much more telling and informative. This information is gold in improving your presentation, as well as your interactions with colleagues and clients.
