Ninja Tip: How to present effectively and avoid "Death by PowerPoint"

Unless you want to give the impression that you have the intellectual Kudos of a 14 year old girl who spends all day on Myspace you should make some effort to improve your oral skills. If you can’t stand up in front of a group of people and deliver a presentation without looking like a jelly on top of a washing machine then you need to take action. Unfortunately the best way is simply to do more and get used to it. But if this is too confronting do yourself a favour and get some professional coaching. Being able to talk confidently to a group of people is a fantastic skill and one that few people do well.

Here are some tips for successful speaking:

• Practice. Stand up in front of a mirror and practise your presentation out loud. Be aware of your mannerisms. Keep your head up, shoulders back and chest out. Say to yourself “I am the B*llocks!” Don’t be afraid to use your arms!

• Use crib notes if you have to, but cut them into bullet points on small cards. Don’t stand up with a sheet of A4 paper and read everything out like 5 year old.

• Project your voice to the back of the room (imagine you are talking to the chap in the back row)

• Dress appropriately for your audience

• If you are using a PowerPoint presentation, try to express what you are saying with a simple picture and no more than a couple of words. People’s brains can’t take in any more.

• Be interactive, don’t just talk at people – ask questions and challenge the audience (it will keep them alert).

• Inject humour. Everyone fears death by powerpoint with slides filled with gobbledigook spouted by some boring GM. Make it interesting by creating a theme with a bit of humour. People will enjoy it and more importantly will remember it.

Comments

[Colin Lindsay]

Totally agree. I'd add one very important no-no for presenters - NEVER simply read out the contents of the slides. It bores ther hell out of the audience and they feel insulted - do you think they can't read for themselves? Use the bullets on the slide as pointers and elaborate on them