I was asked for insight into presentation best-practices, so I compiled a short deck to summarize some of thesebased on input from colleagues who are good and/or frequent presenters.

1. Presentation Best Practices Mark Yolton | Senior Vice President SAP Community Network March 2011

2. Agenda The Reality … Common Pitfalls Modeling the Pro’s Speaker Practices

3. The Reality of Presentations… For the Presenter … and the Audience

4. Common Presentation Pitfalls 5 Key Barriers to Effective Presentations Agonizingly Long  Watch Your Timing What’s the Point?  Identify Objectives Visually Boring  Images & Graphics Fumbling Presenter  Rehearse Pontificating Sage on Stage  Engage Sources: Various Experts…

7. Begin with objectives in mind

8. Research your subject matter

9. Make the presentation relevant

10. Create Storyline

11. Relevant, clear, concise visual aids

12. Put essential things first

13. Anticipate Q’s & prepare A’s

14. Time mgt. – respect the audience

16. Collect audience feedback

17. Follow-up on Action Items

18. Address all requests

19. Make presentation materials available

21. Exude confidence & authority

22. Present with enthusiasm

23. Engage the audience

24. Ask questions

25. Vary presentation modes

26. Remember to pause

27. Don’t lecture: teach / converse

28. Challenge the audience

29. Be yourself … w/ personality

30. Re-cap audience benefits

32. External vs internal, tailor messages (use something from their website, news/industry)

33. Create Storyline

34. Within your own remarks, personalize, customize and thread insight about overall picture, set expectations for talk

35. Highlight 3 Key Elements

36. Grounding the audience =make sure everyone is on the same page

37. Capture top 3-5 topics only: focus on what matters and defer the rest

38. Drive discussion – leave with Call to Action

39. Audience wants you to be successful, interesting, and to deliver value

40. Research

41. Organization(Google), Contacts (LinkedIn/Twitter), show interest in them (as individuals, their companies)

42. Determine scope of topic, angle

43. Attend pre-event networking/social time

44. Face-to-face banter to attendees

45. Introductions to individuals – gauge who the leaders are, learn pain points/challenges

46. How they/their business relate to the event/topic

47. Gauge expectations/goals of attendees

48. Understand structure and storyline (focus on top points)

49. PRACTICE

51. Be optimistic, upbeat and honest (but positive) – your energy matters; if you’re interested, they will be, too

52. Be crisp, funnyand high energy – humor is an icebreaker and infuses good energy

53. Be conversational as much as possible, make it interactive - ask questions to engage audience

54. Express a strong point-of-view…not “maybe”, “sorta” or “kinda” – even controversial is good. It’s OK to be memorable, to disagree (respectfully)

55. Address a problem or opportunity -> approach/options -> outcome/benefits

56. Use lots of anecdotes, stories – from your personal experience when possible

57. Tell a story, paint a picture, show a vision

58. Read the audience for queues – do they get it, go slower/faster, confusion, what to reiterate (if needed)

59. Engage audience in discussion/questions –invite participation and feedback

60. 3 presentation key elements: content, visual and delivery (most important of 3)

61. Considerthe different uses of flipcharts or whiteboards

62. Note Location of Account Exec/Contact/Host in audience for time/stage queues

63. Engage with movement, move around, pick focus point(s) in each quadrant in seating layout to direct your attention

64. Use graphics to tell a story or evoke emotion

65. Be personable, conscious of body language (be open in gestures)

66. Recap key points / give reasoning – repeat, summarize and recap

67. Leavecontact informationat end of presentation for follow-up

68. Endpreso with “what if…” thoughts to plant a seed

70. Gather feedback from external audience

71. Review surveys or feedback from team and audience

72. Adapt “lessons-learned” into next presentation

73. Post-eventnetworking – remain available for questions, comments, more offline conversations, biz card exchange

74. Follow-up for feedback with Acct Exec./Contact/Host

75. Send final slide deck to event organizer/contact

76. Follow up with PPT to offline conversations

77. Find somethingto follow-up on, to extend the connection

78. Send “thank-you” notes and invite follow-up