10 Tips for an Effective Presentation
Mike French, PowerSlide Solutions

First impressions count! Give some thought to
your Title Page, it may displayed on-screen as
the audience enters the room. In which case,
their first impression of you may be based on
what they think of your Title Slide.

First impressions count! Give some thought to
your Title Slide, it may displayed on-screen as
the audience enters the room. In which case,
their first impression of you may be based on
what they think of your Title Slide.
10 TIPS FOR AN EFFECTIVE
PRESENTATION
Nobody’s going to be
impressed by this
Title Slide, are they?

Formatting your slides: it’s one thing looking at
your presentation on your computer screen at
home or at work, but what about when it is
projected onto a screen in a large room?

Formatting your slides: it’s one thing looking at
your presentation on your computer screen at
home or at work, but what about when it is
projected onto a screen in a large room?
All these use dark text on a light background, usually black on
white; however, they are all for reading up close.

Formatting your
slides
Here we have two examples of
things that are viewed from a
distance, TV’s and movies.
Both predominately use light
coloured text on a darker
background. The same
should apply for presentations.
Choose a Font that is easily read by everyone,
such as Calibri or Arial.

Presentations can be likened to going for a meal at a
good restaurant. The presenter is the chef’s signature
dish – the main reason for going to that restaurant in the
first place. Your slides combine the starter, side dishes
and desert to enhance the whole experience.

Presentations can be likened to going for a meal at a
good restaurant. The presenter is the chef’s signature
dish – the main reason for going to that restaurant in the
first place. Your slides combine the starter, side dishes
and desert to enhance the whole experience.
The Starter is the Title Slide mentioned in Tip #1.
However, a Contents Slide is also useful as it
gives an idea of the topics you are going to cover.

Presentations can be likened to going for a meal at a
good restaurant. The presenter is the chef’s signature
dish – the main reason for going to that restaurant in the
first place. Your slides combine the starter, side dishes
and desert to enhance the whole experience.
The Main Course: you
the presenter and your
accompanying slides!
We will leave it at that
for the moment, as most
of the remaining slides
supply the detail.

Presentations can be likened to going for a meal at a
good restaurant. The presenter is the chef’s signature
dish – the main reason for going to that restaurant in the
first place. Your slides combine the starter, side dishes
and desert to enhance the whole experience.
It’s nice to end the meal properly; and you can do this
with your presentation too. Examples: a recap slide, a
“Thank you” slide, or a “Question Time” slide.

The original Slide Shows consisted of 35mm
transparencies mounted in a carousel on top of a
projector. To do a presentation you showed some
photos that related to what you, the presenter, were
talking about. This is still the case – the audience
has come to listen to you, not to read the whole
thing for themselves like the credits on a movie.

The original Slide Shows consisted of 35mm
transparencies mounted in a carousel on top of a
projector. To do a presentation you showed some
photos that related to what you, the presenter, were
talking about. This is still the case – the audience
has come to listen to you, not to read the whole
thing for themselves like the credits on a movie.
Keep text to a minimum, headings or
bullet points are fine; but if you can
replace these with images, even
better. As the old saying goes: a
picture paints a thousand words.
What to do when you need
have text in your slides is
covered in Tip (pool ball) 7.

In the previous slide, the advice was about keeping text
to a minimum; a similar rule applies when it comes to
charts, graphs, and tables.

In the previous slide, the advice was about keeping text
to a minimum; a similar rule applies when it comes to
charts, graphs, and tables.
The pie-chart on the left contains a
lot of detail and will not easily be
read by your audience.
If you have something your audience needs to study, supply
them with paper hand-outs at the end of your presentation.

In the previous slide, the advice was about keeping text
to a minimum; a similar rule applies when it comes to
charts, graphs, and tables.
The pie-chart on the left contains a
lot of detail and will not easily be
read by your audience.
If you have something your audience needs to study, supply
them with paper hand-outs at the end of your presentation.
However, simple charts and tables
are OK, like the pie-chart above.

Is the number of slides in
a presentation important?

No, not really! What is important is the amount of time available for
you to deliver your chosen topic. You could talk for 10 minutes on 1
slide, or you could get through 10 slides in the same time, it doesn’t
really matter as long as you know it will take 10 minutes.
Is the number of slides in
a presentation important?

Animation

Some people find it helps them concentrate better if they
use a bookmarker or similar to obscure the text below the
line they are reading. The person delivering a presentation
can achieve the same by using animation in their slides.
Animation

Some people find it helps them concentrate better if they
use a bookmarker or similar to obscure the text below the
line they are reading. The person delivering a presentation
can achieve the same by using animation in their slides.
Animation
Animation puts the presenter in control of how and when an
item appears on the screen; this has the effect of removing
any on-screen distractions from what he or she is saying

Some people find it helps them concentrate better if they
use a bookmarker or similar to obscure the text below the
line they are reading. The person delivering a presentation
can achieve the same by using animation in their slides.
Animation
Animation puts the presenter in control of how and when an
item appears on the screen; this has the effect of removing
any on-screen distractions from what he or she is saying
Example: where you need to show a
bulleted list, use simple animation to
bring in each bullet point, line by line.

Your Audience

If you can, find out in advance about the people who will be
attending. Pitch your presentation for the least informed members
of the audience; this way, everyone will understand what you are
telling them and you won’t come across as some sort of know-it-all.
Your Audience

If you can, find out in advance about the people who will be
attending. Pitch your presentation for the least informed members
of the audience; this way, everyone will understand what you are
telling them and you won’t come across as some sort of know-it-all.
Your Audience
Avoid using jargon and acronyms, explain things in
simple English wherever you can. Using well known
acronyms or abbreviations is fine, and is often better,
for example BBC, DVD, ITV, or NASA.

Memorize your lines as much as possible.
Do plenty practise runs, and check your timing.
Make sure you how to get to the venue
(and how long it will take).

Memorize your lines as much as possible.
Do plenty practise runs, and check your timing.
Make sure you how to get to the venue
(and how long it will take).
If you’re not using your own
laptop, make sure you can
run your presentation on
the one provided.

Memorize your lines as much as possible.
Do plenty practise runs, and check your timing.
Make sure you how to get to the venue
(and how long it will take).
If you’re not using your own
laptop, make sure you can
run your presentation on
the one provided.
To make your opening look
slick and professional, save
your file as a “show” (~. ppsx)
instead of the usual
“presentation” (~.pptx).

Delivering your presentation: the next time you sit
down and watch the weather forecast on TV, focus
on the presenter instead of the weather.

Delivering your presentation: the next time you sit
down and watch the weather forecast on TV, focus
on the presenter instead of the weather.

Delivering your presentation: the next time you sit
down and watch the weather forecast on TV, focus
on the presenter instead of the weather.
Some of the things you will notice are:
They’re always suitably attired for the occasion.
They never turn their back to the audience.
They keep to the side of the on-screen information.
They make good use of hand and arm gestures.
And, they always maintain a pleasant disposition.

Delivering your presentation: the next time you sit
down and watch the weather forecast on TV, focus
on the presenter instead of the weather.
Some of the things you will notice are:
They’re always suitably attired for the occasion.
They never turn their back to the audience.
They keep to the side of the on-screen information.
They make good use of hand and arm gestures.
And, they always maintain a pleasant disposition.
Now that’s what I call presenting!

That’s it, I’m afraid; you’ve now had your 10
tips on creating and delivering an effective
presentation, I hope you found it useful.
Thank you for taking the time to view this Slide Show.
www.powerslidesolutions.co.uk
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