Yald Patrick Grote's Blog

How to give great powerpoint presentations

I've written before about presentation tips, but I wanted to make sure I noted how to give really good, engaging presentations. The presentation type I'm going to focus on is informational with some persuasion tossed in. These are presentations where you want to provide strategy or direction, but you'd like your audience to agree with you.

Here are the top five things about handling these presentations:

1) Tell a story: You know your information, so you need to tell a story with it. Stories engage people in the information and, more importantly, force them to follow along with what you're saying. Since you haven't handed out paper copies, they need to look at you or the presentation screen. It's time to tell the story. Relate your points in terms people understand, but with all stories you need to focus on the main point.

2) Skimpy is better: Don't overload your slides with words. You need a few words that cut through the information and summarize your point. Instead of saying, "We need to hold meetings with the customer to identify their priorities", you should simply state Priority Identification. You are the person telling the story, not the presentation.

3) Graphics are ok: If they help relate to the material being presented. Always balance your graphics away from the words and make sure they do not overshadow the words. If it's an abstract graphic, run it by a few people to ensure they understand what is being communicated. Your graphic has an unconscious emotional effect on your audience. Remember this.

4) Don't ignore the negative: If you're presenting in a business environment, your audience is going to know if the information presented is negative or not. Don't ignore it or spin it heavily. One way to handle this is to employ the smelly sandwich. Proceed the negative information with positive then follow it with positive. Positive, negative, positive.

5) Body language speaks: While it's not always 100% accurate, you can gauge the reception of your presentation by the audience body language. Crossed arms usually means people aren't open to new ideas or they don't agree with you. Hands in the pockets shows an deferral of control. Constant focus on the presentation screen is avoidance. If someone is looking into your eyes while you are speaking it means they are agreeing with you or understanding you. These are not 100% accurate, but they are good reference points.

If you follow these tips you'll improve future presentations you give. Remember, a presentation is your chance to make an impression, tell a story and sell yourself.

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