How to Make a Great Jaw-dropping Presentation
Have you ever felt so nervous before a presentation and felt you could have presented better? Are you one of the people who’d rather die than present in front of other people?
Believe it or not presenting in front of the people is the most difficult thing for everyone and this post is going to show you some tips and tricks that if you follow you can make a great jaw-dropping presentation that makes a lasting impact on your audience.
Write a Logical Flow of Your Presentation
Imagine a movie with smooth and logical flow of the events. Now imagine a movie that is just the opposite of this. You do not really know what’s going on and nothing is related to previous event. You see the difference in your head.
A good presentation is like a good movie. You need to write a good screenplay for it.
Write a presentation script that has a logical flow of your slides. Use structure to build on ideas. Every slide should be there for a reason.
Think about telling a story to your audience and write it. This will ensure that your thoughts are organized. Also, think about the visuals that you like to go with the script and plan them too.
Know Your Audience
The title speaks for itself. You should prepare your script based on your audience. A movie made for adults is definitely not suitable for kids.
Translate the Screenplay into a Nice Movie (Presentation)
Now it’s time to implement your screenplay into a nice movie (presentation). Organize your slides. Add visuals, and add text. Keep it more visual with less text.
Talk about only one thing at a time. Only show the visual that you are talking about to your audience. This will ensure that your audience is not distracted.
Do not add too much text, that way your audience will start reading the text and will not listen to you.
If you are talking about your research or the work that you are doing, show them as many visuals as possible. Videos of your work in action are an excellent way to engage your audience too.
Avoid using paragraphs. Fonts such as Calibri, Arial, and Helvetica are easy fonts to read on the screen. Use fancy fonts only for headers and titles. Keep the text up in the slide and not at the bottom of the slide.
For the white background, use blue or dark grey fonts, and for the black background, use light grey or white fonts. Increase font size for easier reading.
Get ideas on presentation styles from SlideShare and choose the style that best works for you.
Show a roadmap to your audience. Show them the number of the slide or number of the point etc. Let the audience know where they are.
When showing numbers and graphs, only show the ones that prove your point. Do not show everything. This definitely makes your audience confused.
Use a lightbox trick to emphasize something. Here is how you can create a lightbox effect in Powerpoint:
Step 1: Import an image into the PowerPoint:
Step 2: Cover the image with a rectangle, fill it with Black and add transparency:
Step 3: Draw a circle or other shape for the spotlight, and then Shape Subtract, then Add ‘Fade’ animation:
You can see the completed slide HERE.
If you prefer to see a video of the lightbox trick in Powerpoint, watch the following video:
Another useful trick to engage the audience is when you want your audience to focus on you, show a dark screen, and tell the story.
And last but not least, Practice, and record yourself. Recording yourself is a great way to see how you sound to others to correct any flaws or presentation mistakes.
Good luck with your presentations!
Don’t forget to read more about interesting hacks at the link below: