Power point presentations dos and don’ts

Power Point Presentations Dos and Don’ts Daniela Munca, ALC May 2010

Have you experienced that…

5 top Power Point Mistakes

1. T. M. I. ( Too Much Information )
You know so much about the topic!!!
no one can follow the thread of the presentation

The K.I.S.S. principle
Keep It Silly Simple)
Stick to three, or at the most, four points about your topic and expound on them.
The audience will be more likely to retain the information.

2. Poorly Chosen Design Template or Design Theme

Background – Bad
Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from
Always be consistent with the background that you use

3. Colour - Bad
Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read
Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying .
Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary
Using a different colour for secondary points is also unnecessary
T r y i n g t o b e c r e a t i v e c a n a l s o b e b a d

4. Poor knowledge of the subject
Do it only if your are ready,
Use the cue cards,
Don’t give the handout at the beginning,
Don’t read word
by word,
Be confident!

5. Too many bullet points
avoid too many bullet points
Avoid too many bullet points
This is bad

Solution : The Three Presentation Essentials
- Use visual aids where you can
- Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
- The audience will only remember three messages

Why should you use visual aids?
Professor Albert Mehrabian:
55% of the information we take in is visual and only 7% is text
Use visuals (pictures, graphs, tables, props) whenever you can
In a speech you are only using 38% of the communication medium
Ditch the bullet points

Making the presentation memorable
Study at the Wharton Research Centre
Using visual slides had a dramatic effect on message retention.
The effect of using visuals is truly staggering!
“ A picture is worth a thousand words" is as true today as it has always been.

"If you fail to prepare, you are prepared to fail"
Rule 1. Rehearse against the clock
Practice your presentation
against the clock.
Allow extra time for questions
Watch out for nerves
Take in a clock or take off your wrist watch

Rule 2: Video or tape record yourself
Some immediate feedback
will enable you to fine tune your performance
a rehearsal is the staple of many presentation training companies - so why not save time and money and do it yourself?
Does it work?
Students feedback

Rule 3: Memorize your script
Winston Churchill is widely attributed as being one of the great speakers.
It took him six weeks to prepare his Maiden Speech in the House of Commons and he learnt it word perfect.

Rule 4: Use the rule of three
People tend to only remember three things
Work out what the three messages that you want your audience to take away
Structure your presentation around them
Use a maximum of three points on a slide

Rule 5: Tell stories
All presentations are a type of theatre.
Tell stories and anecdotes to help illustrate points

Rule 6: Know what slide is coming next
You should always know when presenting which slide is coming up next.
It sounds very powerful when you say “On the next slide [Click] you will see…”

Rule 7: Have a back-up plan
Murphy’s law normally applies during a presentation.
Technology not working, power cuts, projector blowing a bulb, spilling coffee on your front, no loudspeakers …
When you have back-ups – you seldom need to use them.

Rule 8: The Takahashi Method
Masayoshi Takahashi (Japan) developed a system of presentation that uses only text.
But not just text; VERY LARGE TEXT.
The audience’s brains are fried trying to read and listen at the same time.
The advantage of the Takahashi Method - No long words or complex phrases – and no distractions.

Once Takahashi, a programmer, had to give a short presentation at a conference
He first used the method and found it helpful, at least with Japanese.
Takahashi never used PowerPoint
He uses only text in his slides.
The words or phrases resemble Japanese newspaper headlines rather than sentences which must be read.

Rule 9: The three parts rule
You should break this down into
at least three sections.
Introduction
Tell your audience what you will be talking about and why you have chosen the topic.
Main Body
For this section you need to sort through your notes, and pick the main points:
Three main points for five-minute presentations
Four main points for ten-minute presentations
Five main points for fifteen-minute presentations
Wrapping up

Rule 10. Know Your Audience
Take full control of your audience,
Speak out,
You should be the main attraction not the PowerPoint,
Control your voice
Eye contact

Smile!
[email_address]
Daniela Munca, PhD

Power point presentations dos and don’ts

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