DEVISING A POWER POINT PRESENTATION THINK ABOUT YOUR PRESENTING - - PDF document

1

DEVISING A POWER POINT PRESENTATION THINK ABOUT YOUR PRESENTING SKILLS

Whether you are a regular speaker or someone just offering a “one-off” presentation to your family history group, it is important that your presentation hold the interest of your audience. Compiling a good PowerPoint presentation that lasts for around 50 minutes to one hour will take you around four hours of work, plus your rehearsal time and modifications as you do so. If you unfamiliar with the tools in PowerPoint or are less experienced at using the programme, then it will take even longer. Be prepared for this at the outset. The only way to get to grips with PowerPoint is to use it. Add to this the honing of your presentation skills and the following ideas and tips will be useful. NERVES, CHAOS AND CONFIDENCE. Many presenters have an inordinate amount of knowledge, but presentation skills may be sadly lacking. I have made most of the mistakes and as a regular speaker am continually trying to improve techniques and skill. Have I got it right yet? – No! Many speakers will be nervous at standing in front of an audience, even if they are your friends so that is the first thing to overcome. Confidence goes a long way to getting it right. Below I have listed various tips, ideas and methods to make sure your presentation is of interest to your audience. Some audiences will always have people who go to sleep or leave the meeting. Deaf people will sit at the back of an auditorium but do not be worried – it is not you - it is their choice. Most of us will present a talk backed up with a power point presentation. The best PowerPoint presentations should not be built to be remembered but should fall into the background to support you and the message you are delivering. One of the biggest audience distractions in any presentation is a bad PowerPoint. Whether it is overcrowding with text, a disjointed flow, ugly photos, or just poor design. Bad PowerPoints detract from your message and undermining you as the speaker. We will begin by looking at how effective your Power Point is because any audience will see two things,

• You as the speaker
• The Power Point on the screen

They are two entirely separate but cohesive segments of a talk.

2

What Makes a PowerPoint Presentation Effective?

Knowing how to use PowerPoint and work effectively with it is helpful. But more important is compiling a good presentation that achieves all your objectives and then delivering your presentation effectively. A good PowerPoint presentation is:

• Researched, planned, and prepared so you can deliver the right message to your

audience effectively.

• Designed Correctly - with points that are illustrated and visually stand out without
• verwhelming your audience or unnecessarily complicating your message.
• Practiced to Perfection - rehearsed and timed so your points as practiced resonate

with your live audience and fit with your narrative.

• Delivered with confidence - presented with an inner-calm and confident outward

projection, while communicating empathy with your audience. Empathy does not need much work as you are talking to an interest group anyway.

• Free from Mistakes – Do not use cheesy clipart or nonessential flashiness, make sure

your spelling is correct and grammar is right Later we will look at preparing your presentation, how to design it and how to deliver your talk successfully come presentation time. We will also look at what not to do so you can avoid big mistakes.

Before even opening PowerPoint on your computer

The following are a few basic tips that will ensure that you are fully prepared for your presentation: Know Your Subject or Topic Your presentation is not about your slides but about the message you are delivering. Think about the narrative and how, why and what your objective is. Before you begin write out what your topic is in one sentence. Think of it as a mini mission statement for your presentation. To be effective your single sentence needs to be specific and relevant. You now need to list your main points by jotting down all that comes to mind about your topic. When you have your list, prioritise the points so your presentation develops with the most important points first. Drop any aspect which does not directly fit your talk ideal. Write it Out Always sit down to write. A PowerPoint presentation outline is simply a plan showing the presentation layout and the essential points you will explore. Build a storyboard or write a script for your presentation. This will show you how you visualise the information presented will flow and how your audience will see it in sequence. It will allow you to see where there are shortcomings or if things do not sound right. Writing a presentation can work wonders. How are you supposed to get everything you know about a topic into the small, to-the-point, and articulate presentation that is a 50-minute

3

PowerPoint presentation? Information overload is not good. – I know this from bitter

• experience. You will lose your audience; they will feel overwhelmed and you will run out of

time. You know your topic and should know the dynamic of the audience. Your presentation must grab attention, follow a logical order and flow with clarity. It takes some preparatory work but is the first step in composing your presentation, so sit down and begin to write. Highlight What aspects are most important A presentation should cover the most salient points only. Whatever you have been working

• n that leads to the presentation does not need to be on slides. Pick key points and put the

rest into your narrative if pertinent. If not leave it out as the Q&A session at the end may well address it or people will come and ask you afterwards. Sometimes people are embarrassed to ask a question because they think it is too basic, yet half the audience wished someone did ask because they had the same query!

Design Your PowerPoint Presentation

Second only to you as the presenter is your PowerPoint presentation. If it is not designed well any PowerPoint presentation can be totally disengaging regardless of the relevance of the content. Keep Your Slides Simple This is the most important aspects of a PowerPoint presentation. Keep in mind that to be effective less is more. A cluttered slide is distracting. It can cause confusion for an audience as they are unsure what to focus on. If they are trying to read the slide, they will not be paying attention to the presenter. Presenters can read to the slide if it is really needed but that should be the exception rather than the rule. A simple and visually appealing slide will engage your audience keeping them on track with your main points. Get Your Presentation Design Right The writing process for PowerPoint is just the beginning. It is one of many contributing factors that need to be planned in partnership to craft an effective presentation. Design is just as

• important. Nothing will distract your audience more than a poorly designed PowerPoint
• presentation. Even if you have rehearsed, even if you have properly emphasised your main

points it will not impact on your audience without a clear design strategy that pulls your presentation together. Use a relevant PowerPoint template Your slides need to be up-to-date and relevant. Do not give the audience a presentation that used a template that is outdated or overused and seen before. If you have them seen them, so have your audience. Instead either download or compile a fresh modern PowerPoint template. It is important that you use the Master Slide effectively to keep formatting consistent. Keep an eye on the overall feel and look of your presentation as well as the formatting details to create a presentation that is consistent.

4

Limit Words on Your Slides Less is more effective. If possible, avoid too many bullet points. Minimise them to just a few simple words. Your audience should be listening to you and not reading your PowerPoint. Format Your Slide Text for Readability. Your text formatting should be purposeful and visually

• consistent. Your main points act as headlines to a slide and should be a different size than

your body text. The font style and sizes for each should remain the same throughout all your slides. Use High-Quality Photos and/or Graphics One of the more important aspects for a quality PowerPoint presentation is the use of high- quality photos (TIFF or GIF rather than JPG). People will more attentive if your presentation is visually appealing. This may not always be possible when illustrating a historical document

• r an image downloaded from the internet. You should try and always convert to TIFF format

although this will increase the physical size of your presentation. Clarity is important. Sometimes it is worth a transcript or at least a magnification of the salient points in a document. Use Infographics in your presentation One of the most powerful presentation skills is using infographics. With the right type of visuals used in the right way your slides come to life and reduce the need for too much text. Choose Appropriate Fonts Fonts are important in engaging your audience. The use of correct fonts and typography have a subconscious effect on your participants. Make sure that the fonts that are professional and

• modern. Try and avoid script type fonts. Stick to Arial, Courier or Times Roman styles where
• possible. Avoid italics unless it is to make a point – and then make sure to bold the text for
• emphasis. Italics pose the same problems as script type fonts – they are often hard to read.

Do not use anything smaller than an 18-point font and preferably 24-point as the minimum

• size. Not only will this larger sized font fill up your slide so there is not so much empty space

it will also limit your text. For titles try and use a 32 to 40-point size. Avoid using all capital letters – even for headings. All capital letters are perceived as SHOUTING, and the words are more difficult to read. Choose a different font for the headlines and the bullet points. This makes text slides more interesting. Bold the text whenever possible so that it is easily readable from a distance. A common problem is the lack of fonts that you used on your original computer, that are not present automatically on other computers. The safest and the easiest solution is to add your fonts used to your presentation is to embed fonts in your presentation so when you open your presentation on a different computer without the used fonts installed, then this option will always work since the fonts are embedded. There are a few disadvantages when you embed fonts - your presentation has a larger file size, saving the file takes more time as does opening the presentation.

5

To embed your fonts, open your presentation on the computer you used to design your presentation and click File Options. On the form that opens, select Save in the left menu. At the right, scroll down to the Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation. Tick the option to Embed fonts in the file. Then you have the option to only embed the characters used in the presentation, or all characters. Best and most convenient way is to select Embed all characters. Click OK to close and save your presentation. Limit Punctuation A PowerPoint slide is not the place for exclamation marks. If you wish to emphasize a point, then do so with your voice or body language. Do not rely on punctuation to do this for you. Choose appropriate colours Colours cause specific subconscious reactions from viewers. Choosing an outdated colour combination for your presentation will render it ineffective. Keep contracts good so the background does not obscure the colour used on fonts etc. The best colours for slides have high contrast so they are easily seen. Dark backgrounds should have light text and bright accent colours. Light backgrounds should have dark text and bold accent colours. This way the audience can read the text on each slide. The choice of colours for presentation slides is the most important decision for developing your slides. So how do you choose the colours? Contrast One of the most common mistakes in choosing colours for presentation slides is to not have enough contrast between the colours chosen for the background and the text or graphics. If

6

you want the audience to see the text on the screen, they must be in a colour that has a high contrast with the background which then makes the text or graphic “float” above the background instead of blending into it. This means selecting the choice is simple – a dark background with light text or a light background with dark text. The further apart the colours are the more contrast they will have and the easier it will be for audiences to see the text you are using. To ensure that the colours you have selected have enough contrast, use an online Colour Contrast Calculator to test the colours. These use the two international standard tests for colour contrast. Different colours invoke different feelings in people and can impact on the success of a

• presentation. It is an important consideration when choosing colours as you need to avoid

colours that will have a negative impact on the message you are delivering. Colour combinations Some colours should never be used together so avoid:

• Red & Green – these two colours clash with each other and are hard to read. People

who suffer with colour blindness will experience trouble figuring out what you are trying to say on the slide.

• Orange & Blue – These can cause a disturbing effect on readers as the colours quiver

against one another. They become hazy and appear as if they are moving

• Red & Blue – these two colours do not have enough contrast to be seen well when

used in combination. They also suffer further loss of contrast when projected. Dark Background with Light Text and Graphics

• Background – a dark blue or dark purple. Text and Graphics – white or yellow. Accent

Colours – lime green, orange, light blue The accent colours should be used to highlight a word or portion of a graphic, not overused

• r they will become annoying.

Light Background with Dark Text and Graphics

• Background – beige, Text and Graphics – dark blue, black, dark purple. Accent

Colours – dark green, burgundy Make Sure All Objects Are Aligned An easy way to create a good presentation is to make sure all items on any one slide are intentionally aligned. Hold down Shift + select on all the objects you want to include. Then choose Arrange in the options bar and apply Alignment Type. This way pictures particularly will be the same size and with the same impact. Do not overload a slide with too many images. It is better to have a series of slides to illustrate a progression than layer images on top of each other. Avoid Over-Formatting Your Points It is bad practice to have every word of every bullet point capitalized or to have your bullet points in title case. If possible, keep bullets altogether and only use Bold type in titles or sub

7

• titles. Italic fonts tend to provide an emphasis provided spoken emphasis is used. The simpler

the formatting the better! Add video to Your PowerPoint Adding a video to supplement your content can enhance your presentation. It is easy to add and embed a YouTube video or any film clip in your PowerPoint presentation. In your presentation click Insert then on Media and then from the drop-down menu add Video

• r Audio. For video click on Online Video and when prompted enter URL or Video on my

PC from explorer double click the icon or add the file name then insert

What the presenter must do

Practice your presentation First Rehearsal Rehearse your presentation at this early stage and note the points you want to emphasize. While speaking out loud, you will develop a “feel” for the talk and be self-critical regarding aspects that work well and those that need a rethink. You are bound to stumble over sections that do not flow properly. You may have to consider altering the content. The most important part of creating a presentation is firstly the initial writing and secondly the rewrite. The way you deliver your presentation is more important than the content of a slide. Rehearse again once you have completed your PowerPoint presentation slides. Just do it - more than once if necessary. As you do so experiment with pauses, gestures and body

• language. You should practice around ten minutes for every slide of your presentation before

you get it right. If you use your presentation more than once, then despite rehearsal you will still find things will not be right and can improve the next time you present. Also remember to keep content up to date and topical. Things in the family history world change rapidly such as website landing pages, URLs and even coverage of documents all of which need to be constantly reviewed. If you illustrate a web page in a slide, make sure that the image is still current before you present. Nothing is worse than showing a dated illustration. Practice presenting using a timer Consistency is an essential element to an effective PowerPoint presentation. Timing should be ideally the same each time you rehearse and will enable you to adjust content and script to fit the time that is allocated to you. For most family history talks this is about 50-minutes

8

plus question time at the end. This one will especially pay off when it is time to present in front of your audience! Practice in Front of a Mirror What you look like is as important as how you sound. Make sure you act as though you are having a normal conversation and allow your hands to move with your speech which will help in emphasizing your points. However, do not get carried away otherwise you will gain a reputation as a “drama queen”. Slow It Down It is a good idea to intentionally speak slowly. Doing so give you the opportunity to emphasize, appear more thoughtful, and make your information easier to digest. Pausing often allows main points to be emphasized and for information to be better digested by your audience. This can be a challenge when you are in “full flow” and comes with practice. Record Yourself If you are able then use your smartphone’s voice recorder. Assess and critique yourself and consider:

• Are your pauses too short or too long?
• Are you speaking slowly enough to enable clarity of voice?
• Does your voice become high pitched – this usually indicates nerves?

It is always weird to hear your own voice recorded but it really emphasises what your audience will hear. By recording and listening to playback will enable you to flatten out your voice and enable you to emphasise in the right place before you present live. Alter where you direct your vision If you continually look at the same spot (or the same person) the entire time, your presentation will be awkward. People will be distracted by you and wonder what you are staring at. It is good practice to pick around three points in the room. Take time to direct your delivery toward each physical focal point in the room. You should always focus on the centre of your audience when making your primary points as this suggests to the audience that they are all important and should be paying attention. The size of the room or lecture theatre determines how you look around but simply do not just look at one point or look down from your audience. Eye contact is important. Varying the length of your sentence This makes you sound more interesting and it enables your audience to follow you more

• easily. Try and keep your sentences short and punchy.

Modulate Do not speak in monotone for your whole presentation. Be conscious to raise and lower your voice tone. Otherwise people will lose interest in your talk.

9

Confidence Present with confidence. If you act confidently, you will be confident. Move around slowly with grace, speak clearly, smile, wear something that is pleasing to the eye. Some speakers dress to the period depicted in their talk. This has good and bad vibes. Do not appear in jeans and a tea-shirt. Wear what you are comfortable in as long as it is not scruffy. Try not to be a static presenter – however you may be forced to be static depending upon the venue layout. Do not sit down while presenting. Try not to have a “barrier” between you and the audience. Even lecterns can be a barrier but again you may not have a choice. If you follow the above. you will then appear confident to all attendees.

Things a presenter should NOT do

Do not use Sound Effects unnecessarily Sound effects—like a “swoosh” when a new bullet point is used in a slide. These are unnecessary, distracting and totally outdated so do not even consider them. You can add audio or music to your presentation to inject interest or highlight an important point, but it is something you need to think about and take extra care with. If you insert audio, then make sure your use really connects with your audience otherwise it is best to leave it

• ut.

Do not Use Flashy Slide Transitions Again, this is distracting and outdated. Use transitions and animations in your PowerPoint presentation but you need to take care and do it right. The best use of animations is to use the same animation e.g. float in for text but being consistent throughout your presentation. They can be used with great effect to reveal each point or topic. Steer clear of animations which bounce in or revolve as they reveal. You can use animations to create motion and hold an audience's attention. Use them sparingly and on key elements on your slide. Your best use of animation is to reveal each point as you discuss them. The audience will then be drawn to that point and it will be more meaningful to them. Beware of Clip Art This should not even have to be said but just do not use clip art. Use professionally produced graphics instead. Do not read directly from your paper or note cards Reading from your notes makes it look like you are not prepared or do not know your subject. Many people on the family history speaker circuit do it, but no one should. You should only be presenting something you know well and have at least memorized the main points of. You can have note prompts in your presenter View.

Working effectively with PowerPoint – a review

Knowing your way around and inside PowerPoint will help you level up your PowerPoint

• presentation. Knowing how PowerPoint works will build your confidence with your next

presentation and help you deliver a good presentation.