Presentations are more than just talking about information to a group of people. Your audience should be treated like ROYALTY. After all, you want them to care about the information just as much as you do. If YOU show that you care, your audience will care. Enthusiasm is contagious! Always present information in the most comprehensible way to ensure a healthy triangular relationship among you, the content and your audience.
1. Make it BRIEF
The number of slides should always fit the length of a presentation. A five minute talk should have 1-3 slides, whereas a 15 minute presentation should have 3-10 slides. The fewer slides, the better, but don’t feel like you have to cram information into 2 slides. Text-heavy presentations are overwhelming.
2. Make it QUICK
Nothing’s worse than having your audience wonder what your purpose is. Get your main idea out there right off the bat (the first slide – maybe even the first sentence). Main ideas should be the focal point of your presentations. The audience won’t remember all of the essential details, but they may remember the four key points you highlighted.
3. Make it VISUAL
Stories and pictures enhance each other. Images should have a lasting impact– they are more important than text!
4. Make it HUMANISTIC
Listen to the audience, make eye contact, connect with everyone, and understand when to stop and when to keep going with the content. Audience engagement will make or break your presentation.