Are you preparing for a presentation?

Let’s imagine you want to make a terrible presentation. How would you go about it?

3 things to make a bad presentation

1. Don’t prepare too much

Let’s face it. You are a pro. You know your material inside out and outside in. Scribble down some points, if you must. But, most of your ideas have been fully formed in your brain. They are resting there, gaining strength. Don’t disturb them!

Don’t organise your presentation. Don’t think too much about the sequencing of points. It will all fall into place when you are on your feet in front of your audience. Preparing too much would make you loose your spontaneity. Go with the flow.

And don’t worry about timing. You will be able to cover all your points in the given time. After all, you can always speed up if you find there are only a few minutes left.

2. Don’t make eye-contact

Let’s be honest. Looking at people while talking will derail your presentation. You may even forget a crucial point. Anyways, whether you look at them or not, people will always hear your voice. Isn’t that what matters?

Stay focused on the slides. Remember, that is where everyone is looking. You may glance around the room once in a while, just to make sure people are still there. But, 90% of your attention should be on your laptop screen or slides.

In general, avoid eye contact. It could be intimidating for you to look at all those expectant faces.

3. Don’t restrict the number of points on your slide

When it come to information on your slides, pack it in! After all, your audience deserves to know all the facts and figures. Be comprehensive when it comes to sharing data. Don’t be stingy.

You may have heard that there should be a maximum of three points per slide. That kind of advice will not help you made a terrible presentation.

Here is a sample slide, showing how it is done:

Imagine your audience squinting their eyes as they read bullet point to bullet point while you are yakking away. Wouldn’t all this information and data overwhelm them? Confuse them? The answer is yes. And rest assured you are on your way to becoming a really bad presenter.

Following these 3 tips will ensure that you make a terrible presentation. Guaranteed.

I have attended many presentations, and you would be surprised how many times people actually follow these three points. Some people don’t prepare enough. Quite a few have poor body language, and inconsistently make eye-contact. And many people crowd their slides with information, overwhelming their audience, and at times, themselves.

At this point, you’ll be asking: how can I become a good presenter?

I doubt your ambition is to be a bad one. If you have any specific questions about the qualities of a good presenter, let me know.

In the meantime, you can check out these links. This one is on signposting language, which you absolutely must know. It is key to becoming a better presenter.

To use your voice effectively, you need to pause . Pausing at the right places makes a big difference. It gives the audience time to absorb what you have said. And it gives you control over your voice.

Do you want to make your presentation slides look better? Read this article on three tips for PowerPoint slides.

And watch this short video on 3 tips to improve your general presentation skills.

For a deeper dive into the topic, read this article on how to give a killer presentation. Towards the end of the article is a list of 10 ways to ruin a presentation. Do read it.

If you have any crazy advice on how to become a bad presenter, let me know in the comments section below.

How did business ever get done without a PowerPoint presentation?

It is hard to imagine making a presentation nowadays without clicking from slide to slide. Whoever you are and whatever you may be doing, there is a high probability that your presentations consist of a series of slides containing words, graphs, and images.

When preparing slides, here are my tips:

Make sure there is lots of white (or blank) space on your slide. Do not crowd the slide with text. I have seen slides which are covered, top to bottom, with sentences. When that happens, the audience spends more time trying to decipher the text, and less time listening to you. Cut, cut, cut. Be ruthless. Place only what is essential on the slide. Yes, less is truly more.
There needs to be coherence between the text and the image/graph. The words and image need to support each other. If the image is self-explanatory or conveys meaning by itself, text may not be necessary. The text and elaboration can come from you, when you speak. When it comes to a slide with text, perhaps one word would suffice. It may have more impact than a full sentence. Remember the first point: be partial to blank space.
Sequencing is important. Make sure there is a logical flow when it comes to structuring your presentation. Decide which slide needs to come where in the overall sequence. Also, for every slide, decide on the sequence of points. You may choose to sequence points based on their order of relevance for a particular message you are trying to convey. And, think about the sequencing of information within a point. Should it be x,y,z or z,y,x? Perhaps, for a certain client you want to highlight z, then in that case, z should come first.

It actually takes strong clarity of purpose to make a ‘simple’ and elegant slide. You need to know what to include and what to exclude. And you need to know how to present material in an appealing way, that makes your audience interested and engaged.

Well-prepared, thoughtful slides make a positive impact on the viewer. She will better remember your presentation after it is over. So, it would be well worth your time to take a step back and critically evaluate your slides with a fresh pair of eyes.