Designing Impressive Presentations & Managing Notes
Designing Impressive Presentations & Managing Notes
Ask yourself, ”If I had only sixty seconds on the stage, what would I absolutely have to say to get my message across?”
– Jeff Dewar
Introduction
PowerPoint has become the most popular choice for presenters today. The reason is, PowerPoint is a software program that facilitates design of text and graphics on slides that can be displayed on a laptop computer or projected to a screen. The slides can also be sent out as an email attachment, distributed via the Web or printed as a booklet.
Many business speakers use PowerPoint because it helps them to organize their thoughts, it is inexpensive and produces flashy high-tech visuals.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a commanding tool for creating visual screens for a presentation. Visuals created in PowerPoint and projected on a screen are often easier to see in a large room than information displayed on a flip chart. Using PowerPoint offers the following benefits:
- Allows you to add emphasis to important concepts, helping to increase retention of information
- Adds variety to your presentation
- Makes it easier to display images, charts, or graphs possibly too complex for a flip chart.
Also, PowerPoint files can easily be shared with participants or others after the session.
Required Tools
To create and use a Microsoft PowerPoint file to support your presentation outline, you will need:
- Microsoft Office PowerPoint software for Microsoft Windows or Macintosh OS
- A Windows or a MAC computer equipped with the minimum hardware and software specifications for your version of PowerPoint
- An LCD or DLP projector
- A projection screen
Optionally, you may wish to add the following to your toolkit:
- Storage media such as a USB memory stick or CD-R disc
- An extension cord
- A laser pointer for emphasis during the discussion of a PowerPoint slide.
Brief check
PowerPoint presentations are economical, flexible, professional and easy to prepare.
Using Templates to Your Advantage
There are many different types of attractive templates available for your presentation. They are professionally designed with harmonious colours, borders and fonts for pleasing visual effects.
Templates also provide guidance in laying out each slide. You can select a layout for the title page, a bulleted list, a bar chart, a double-column list, an organization chart, and so on.
To present a unified and distinctive image, some companies develop a customised template for all their presentations, with their logo and a pre-defined colour scheme.
Use the following suggestions to enhance the benefit of your PowerPoint presentation.
Overall Appearance
- Display only one major concept on each slide
- Use short phrases or bullet points rather than paragraphs
- Limit each line of text to no more than 7-8 words
- Allow only 7-8 lines of text per slide
- Use images sparingly; one or two per slide
- Leave a good amount of blank space in your presentation
- Create a title for each slide
- Use effects, transitions animation, and sound very sparingly.
- Bullet points should be short phrases that are parallel.
- Text can be converted to bullet points by experimenting with key phrases that are concise and balanced grammatically.
Fonts and Colours
- Use simple sans serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arialfor readability.
- Select a point size of 32 or larger for titles, and 20 points for body text.
- Use colours that work well together, such as yellow or white on a dark blue background.
- Check the readability and visibility of your fonts and colour choices with the lighting in the room in which you will present.
- Use same colour for similar elements.
- Use dark text on light background for presentations in bright rooms.
- Use dark text on a light background for transparencies.
- Beware of light text on a light background and dark text on dark background.
Preparation
- Make sure to match your slides to the purpose of the presentation.
- Develop a template and stick to it for a consistent look and feel.
Computer
- Check your equipment, computer settings, and room lighting in advance.
- Before your presentation, turn off screensavers, instant messaging, and email notifications.
Make sure that your computer’s power management console will not automatically shut the system down after a set amount of time.
Brief check
PowerPoint software provides a selection of designed templates, but you can also develop your own colour scheme.
Tips for Preparing and Using Slides
- Keep all visuals simple; spotlight major points only.
- Use the same font size and style for similar headings.
- Do not use more than seven words on a line, seven total lines, and 7 x 7 or total 49 words (known as Rule of Seven to create the most readable slides).
Managing Presentation Notes
Whenever you begin to give presentations, you will quickly realise that you must also figure out how to effectively manage your text. Whether you’re confident enough to speak with only a few notes or you require a full text, you must think about how you will record it so that you can remember what you’re going to say when the time comes.
There are a variety of approaches that you can use to organise your text, as shown below.
These are some examples:
- Full Text Notes
- Observations on the Cue Cards
- Cue cards with keywords on them
- Mind Maps are a type of diagram.
Script for the Entire Text
The primary advantage of this method is that you have the entire text in front of you at all times, which means you will never forget what you want to say.
Although you will be paying more attention to the text, you will be paying less attention to the group or audience while you are reading it. It is possible that this method will be overly formal if you are speaking to a small group, as written text can sound very formal when spoken out loud. If you are reading from a prepared text, you should be very familiar with what you are going to say so that you can maintain eye contact with your audience while not losing your place in the text.
Reading the text is not always the most convenient option because it can sound stilted and unnatural at times. Keep in mind to interact with your audience as much as you possibly can.
Warning!
When reading from a full-text script, it is also much more difficult to change what you’re going to say halfway through if you notice that your audience is becoming fidgety during your performance.
To make it easier, you can use large, bold headings to guide your eyes through the text, allowing you to skip sections if you so desire.
Pages from a Slide Package with Notes
Slide Notes are a feature available in most presentation packages, including PowerPoint, that allows you to create a page of notes for each slide.
You can use these to write out more or less detailed points about what you intend to say in relation to each slide that you use in your presentation.
The advantage is that everything you want to say is tailored to your slides, which is a huge time saver. The packages, on the other hand, are not very sophisticated: for example, you cannot easily highlight sections of text or change the font size. As a result, it can be difficult to identify the most important points to make in a short period of time and visually.
As a result, you will be left with a slew of papers that can be difficult to handle as they become floppy. Depending on your audience, this may come across as unprofessional.
Cue Cards are a type of cards that are used to direct someone’s attention to something.
Write your main points on separate index cards and the supporting material beneath each point in a concise manner on each card if you plan to use cue cards
Brief check
When it comes to using Cue Cards...
- Use only one side of the card and number the cards so that you can easily record them if they fall down by any chance.
- Create a link statement at the bottom of each cue card to guide you into the next point.
With cue cards, you have the advantage of speaking directly to your audience, which helps you build a stronger relationship with them.
Small index cards also appear more professional than large sheets of paper, which may be more difficult to handle in some situations, such as meetings. Due to the lack of a ‘keycards’ option in PowerPoint and similar packages, you must write them out by hand.
Ensure that you are familiar with the main points of your argument as well as the connections between one idea and the next in order to become less reliant on the cards in order to avoid losing your thread.
Cue cards with keywords on them
Make the information on the cue cards even simpler by circling keywords that will serve as a reminder of the main points you want to convey during your presentation. However, the benefits of using keywords on cue cards are the same as those listed above, with the added benefit of increasing spontaneity and rapport with the audience even more.
However, if you become distracted, it is easy to lose track of the main points and even miss important details. It is recommended that you only use this method if you are extremely familiar with your subject and feel confident in your ability to deliver the presentation.
Mind Maps are diagrams that represent ideas.
Using mind maps, you can visualize and organize the relationships between words, ideas, tasks, and other items that are all linked to and organized around a central key word or idea. In addition to serving as notes for presentations and brainstorming sessions, mind maps can be used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas.
It is possible to illustrate complex relationships with a mind map in a manner similar to that of using keywords on cue words, and the advantages of using a mind map are similar to those of using keywords on cue words.
To use mind maps as a presentation aid, however, you must be familiar with the subject matter and a confident public speaker, which is not always the case. In presentations, using a mind map can make it difficult to keep track of your progress, but it can be extremely useful if you want to interact with your audience because you simply reorder your points to make them more appropriate for the session.
It is entirely up to you!
In order to give an effective presentation, you must choose a method of handling your notes that is comfortable for you and your audience.
Whatever you do, someone will undoubtedly judge you on it, so all you have to do is ensure that you are comfortable in your own skin and don’t worry about what others think. The most important thing is to communicate your ideas confidently and competently, rather than to demonstrate your superiority.
While technology allows you to make great enhancements to a presentation, it also offers more opportunities for technical trouble. Here are some suggestions to keep your presentation moving along, even if the technology isn’t.
- Make one or more backup copies of your PowerPoint file on the computer on which you plan to show the presentation.
- Before the presentation, download and install the free Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer. In the event that your PowerPoint software won’t run, you will still be able to use the viewer to show your PowerPoint slides.
- Copy your PowerPoint file onto a USB Drive. That way, if you have a computer problem, you can move the file to another one, if available.
- Bring sufficient printed copies of your presentation for participants. If logistics prevent that, plan to have at least one copy available for photocopying on site.
- If all else fails, write your key points on a flip chart.
Practical Application
Leo wants to persuade the management to install a voice mail system. Management is resisting because it says that the voice mail will cost too much. Leo decides to present his argument and emphasize benefits that result in increased productivity. So he wrote a long text to the management.
Frank who is a senior manager receives Leo’s request but realizes he has no time to read such a long text so he summons Lisa, his secretary to break down Leo’s request in bullets.
To convert the text into bullet points, Lisa started with the title and then listed the main ideas that related to that title. She worked with the list until all the items were parallel. This meant considerable experimenting with different wording. Lisa went through many revisions before creating the following bulleted list.
Title: Voice mail Can Make Your Calls More Efficient
- Eliminates telephone tag
- Reduces call-backs
- Improves timely communication
- Shortens “hold” times
Notice that the heading promotes reader benefits and the bullet points are concise and parallel. The bullet points are key phrases, not complete sentences.
Upon completing the breakdown of Leo’s request Lisa said to her boss, “Already done. And I’ll be printing out copies for you and others who would take a quick look at the main points of Leo’s request”.
“Great, Lisa,” Frank said. “Leo’s request looks easy to understand and convincing now. Hopefully his request will be accepted.”
