Another great presentation from Ideaseed

So you’ve gotten over the shock of being roped in to do a presentation, and now you’ve realized you need to actually put something together. But where do you start and what do you do?

1. You need some details.

• What is the point of your presentation? Is it presenting facts and numbers, are you pitching new branding to the CEO or a promotion to a client?
• Who’s your audience? A small group, a large group? Do they know the subject or do you need to inform then educate?
• Are you going to have a question/answer session?

2. Do you know what you’re talking about?

• Do you really know the subject matter? If all the power went out, could you wing it? If not, then brush up on the subject matter, because nothing screams ‘BORING’ than someone who has no idea what they are talking about or reads straight from a set of slide notes. You need to be an expert before it comes to Q&A time.

3. Now you can plan it out.

• What content will be included?
• What can you leave out? This is vital. Slides are for prompts only, not a lecture series. It’s YOU doing the work, not the visuals. Don’t get lazy.
• How long does it have to be? Are you required to speak for 2 minutes or 20? (Make sure you don’t go over your time)
• How is the flow of the presentation? Is it a logical progression? Do you have high and low points to keep up interest?
• Make sure you stay on each slide long enough for the information to be absorbed. If you ‘Click, Click, Click’ your audience will start to feel bit seasick and you will lose them.
• Have you kept to the point throughout the presentation? Is your presentation focused?

4. Let’s make it Interesting.

• What is the first thing your audience is going to see? Well it’s you, so make sure you dress the part. The second thing they will see is your opening slide. What is going to keep them interested? Remember those first 7 seconds count.
• A bold fact is a popular way to start, or a quote. Maybe a great photo of your CEO doing the chicken dance? (Ok, maybe not). Make it relevant, interesting, eye catching.
• Mix it up. Is every screen a list of words? Can you get your point across using just a picture?
• How many words are on that page? If you are sitting in the back row could you easily read it? Make sure the sentence is short, and don’t overload it.

5. Finally – Practice till perfect

• You really need to practice over and over again to get a rhythm and to feel relaxed, because you need to S L O W D O W N. The biggest mistake people make (apart from too much text in you presentation) is talking too fast. You will sound uber confident and professional when you talk slower than what you think you should. Confident people speak slower and even if you are not feeling confident, act like you are.

So how did you do? Do you think your presentation looks great? Does it come across as being lively and interesting? No? Well, fear not, we can help you with that. Check out our Portfolio for some great ideas.