I would like to share some useful tips created by my colleague, Lindsey Freer:
(http://macaulay.cuny.edu/seminars/drucker09/wiki/index.php/PowerPoint_Tips)
Write it down
When you write down what you will say in advance, you help yourself alleviate any concerns you may have about speaking in public — concerns like, “Will I remember everything I am supposed to say?” “Will I be able to stay within my allotted time slot?” “Will I be able to speak fluently and be clearly understood by my audience?”
Use the Notes feature of PowerPoint to store an outline of your main points or even a whole written speech that goes with each slide to give yourself the support you need. NEVER read your PowerPoint slides. Your slides should illustrate or give additional information about what you say during your presentation.
Practice
Great speakers — like Al Gore in “An Inconvenient Truth” — are made, not born. They are great because they have had lots of practice speaking in public, often using the same material.
Being able to make an effective and professional presentation aids you in achieving success in school and at work. Fortunately, these are skills that can be learned.
Once you prepare your outline or compose your speech in PowerPoint Notes, practice your presentation, talking out loud, going through each slide. Practice until you know your material.
Know what the time limit is for your presentation. Time yourself when you practice out loud to make sure your slides and text can be presented within your allotted time slot. Practice until you can stay within your allotted time.
An excellent source of support for those who are inexperienced or nervous about making presentations and want to become effective public speakers is Toastmasters. Go to this link and enter your zipcode to find a meeting near you. http://www.toastmasters.org/find/default.asp?Country=United%20States
Lindsey’s Six Suggestions For Your Next Presentation
- You need less text than you think! If a 20-minute conference talk is about 10 pages of double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point text with standard margins, then a 5-minute talk is only 2.5 pages. This means you have to condense your material into key points and highlights.
- Your talk needs a clear structure. After beginning with something interesting to hook your audience’s attention, give a sort of verbal “table of contents”: “Over the course of this presentation, I’m going to discuss Idea #1, compare and contrast it with Idea #2, and tell you how both relate to Idea #3. I will conclude by demonstrating that Idea #4 is actually the best of all.” For even more staying power, have a slide supporting this part of your introduction.
- Pacing is how you make sure your audience will “get it.” Rehearse your presentation before you give it, so that you can make sure you are speaking slowly and clearly, and that your presentation’s overall structure will be clear to the audience. I recommend presenting for a family member or a student who is not in the class. If they get it, then your real audience will too.
- Every PowerPoint slide should be clear and have a distinct purpose. Don’t clutter them with extraneous material. Simplify all graphs and figures to show only the most relevant data. Make sure that the point of each slide is obvious to the group and to the audience.
- Use the “notes” feature at the bottom of each PowerPoint slide to store your talk. Your audience won’t be able to see it, and it will make it clearer to you how each slide figures in your presentation.
- Make a handout of your PowerPoint presentation by printing 3 slides per page with lines for notetaking. When you go to print, select the “Handouts (3 slides per page)” option. This way people will be able to easily follow your talk, and they’ll also be able to jot down notes or questions they might have. They’ll still want to see the full-size version (particularly when you’ve got images to show), but you’ll have an informed audience rather than a confused one.
