10 General PowerPoint and Presentation Tips

So I thought I would compile my own list of helpful PowerPoint tips. In my organization, people seem to either do one of two things: Dump-Truck Method (here, let me just vomit everything I know you [sorry for the vulgarity but I believe it makes the point]) or "Oh my!" (you know the presentation where you sit back and all you can say is "Oh, my..." and just shake your head). So in an attempt to be brief, I removed all my stories (which is ironic in light of #3).

1. Prepare. When developing the PowerPoint, imagine everything you will say. Write it down. Record it with an audio recorder. Whatever, but simply plan what you are going to say and when you are going to say it. Then decide what you want to place on the PowerPoint and put everything you want to “teach” and/or emphasize. Then narrow it down and organize it more through the following principles.
2. Write in point form, not complete sentences. It’s called PowerPoint. If you write too many words the learners will spend too much time reading and not listening to the elaboration you are providing with your narration. The audience’s brain and eyes are faster than your voice, so the less text the more they will listen to you. Just remember, less text, more audio/video.
   

   Too Much Information

3. Engage the learner.Ask questions and pause for the learner to think about the answer, even with rhetorical questions (though some would disagree with me but the pause is short). Effective pausing can make a presentation great! It may seem like forever, but force yourself to give them time to think and to respond. You can simply count to 10, but don’t race to 10. Count, “1 Mis-sis-sip-pi, 2 Mis-sis-sip-pi…” (,mi-s?-‘si-p?). Questions can make or break your presentation. Give examples, illustrations, or tell a relevant story. Everyone loves stories! So tell stories, and don’t be just about the facts. Use your personality. Many people, if not everyone, actually learn better through stories and narratives. People often remember stories more than they remember the point, but remembering the story continuously re-teaches the point. So a well-said or a well-placed story will increase retention and thus more potentially changed behavior. Gitomer of TrainONE (@GITOMER) argues, "Tell the story, paint the picture, show the picture." Simply, we use our PowerPoint to illustrate and strengthen, not to depend and read as a transcript. 
   

   Tell Stories

4. Animation.Use animation but keep the animation schemes to a minimum. PowerPoint has about 60 possibilities, but try to use no more than 5, depending on the presentation (some presentations may require more animation). I typically use 1 or 2. It is not up to you to demonstrate how cool the various PowerPoint schemes are and how many there are. In fact, some of them should be removed. Just remember, you may be presenting to Mr. ADD or Mrs. ADHD, so be cognizant of them and their lack of attention span. And being cognizant doesn't mean ADD more animations for they will often feel devalued or degraded, maybe even insulted.
5. Outline. Outline your PowerPoint to ensure that it follows the order you want it to follow. Most people in the West love and cling to a logical order. However, sometimes it is necessary to deviate from a logical order to make a certain point or emphasis or something explicit. But know why and when. Don’t do it, just because or because of a lack of planning.
6. Checking In.In GoToMeetings, be sure to ask everyone if it all makes sense or plan for question-answer times. In GoToWebinars, prepare a variety of polls that you would possibly want to conduct. Just because you prepared them, it doesn’t mean that you will have to use them. Being prepared enables you to be flexible yet command the technology, but it also ensures that you stay on task and complete everything you need to complete.
7. Time. Limit yourself to nothing longer than 90 minutes (and for some of us that may be too long!). If you must go beyond 90 minutes, plan an intermission or a break half way through or break your Webinar into two Webinars. If you are going longer than the declared time limit, be courteous and encourage people to leave if they must or even ask permission. Also, do not be afraid to tell people who seem to be monopolizing the conversation that you can talk with them afterwards. The best lecturers are those who finish early leaving the audience wanting more.
8. Setup. Be sure to test everything. Test the PC/Laptop that you will actually be using. Be sure to arrive early so if you run into any problems you can deal with them in a timely manner. Also, double check to make sure the date and times are correct. One option, if it is available, is to create a dual monitor system where everyone sees one screen and you have your notes, etc, on another screen.
9. Follow-Up. Optimizing learning at a seminar or conference is one thing, but maximizing learning after the seminar is an entirely separate issue. So plan for follow-up training, exercises, surveys, quizzes, etc. Failure to do this will ensure that your information, all those hard worked hours, will fall to the ground. Periodic follow-up emails will keep that information in the forefront of the mind to reinforce learning.
10. Continuous Improvement.Always include a survey at the end of the webinar at least asking them how helpful the information was, what you could do better to improve the presentation, and what they liked or didn’t like. While this is basic evaluation, something is better than nothing here.