OCTOBER 2002

Effective Presentations

by Carl W. Brannon, CFSP, CFC

Vice President, Forms Management / Workflow Solutions

Essociates Group, Inc.

What do you have to say? To whom do you need to say it? Think of every presentation as an opportunity to tell a story that’s interesting and totally understandable to those listening. Components that will help to guarantee your success include careful selection of and clear focus on a specific topic, intentional distillation of only that topic’s most salient points, and the judicious use of clear visual aids.

It’s obvious. The point of any presentation is to communicate ideas, arouse interest and/or sell products and services. According to the old saying, “proper prior planning prevents pitifully poor performance.” Not only must you plan the content of your presentation, but you must also be clear about who your audience is, what will interest them and what result you expect from your efforts. If you ignore these basic criteria, you risk wasting everyone’s time.

DO select the most effective way(s) to support, visually, what you are saying.  Slides (like using MS PowerPoint on your PC) are today’s accepted norm. Handouts can also be useful, but refrain from telling the whole story there or the audience won’t need to listen to what you say.

DO stick to short titles and avoid heavy textual content. And make sure the slide background pattern or color isn’t distracting.

DO assure legibility by using 28 point bold for major divisions, 24 point bold for minor divisions; 20 point regular for everything else. Bullet points can be useful for replacing complete sentences.

DO use graphics where they will help get your point across. It may surprise you to know that very strong presentations are possible with no words at all on the screen – just memory triggers for the speaker. The audience focus should be on you, not on your audio-visual tools.

DO define terms your audience may not know. They’ll find your information more interesting that way.

DO provide resource references (like web site URLs) for additional information.

DO practice before you preach.

DON’T use all caps. They’re hard to read. And don’t over-use color. Check for contrast and readability.

DON’T read your slides to the audience. They finished reading long before you even started!

DON’T try to cram too much information into a single presentation. It’s better to do two than to confuse (or worse yet, bore) your audience.

DON’T forget to use your spell checker. Nothing loses credibility faster than misspelled words.

DON’T exceed your allotted time. Rigor mortis of the rump sets in when presentations run long.

If at all possible, checkout the room BEFORE the presentation – to be sure you’ve controlled lighting and sight lines and made certain that the equipment actually works before the audience arrives.

“Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em; tell ‘em; then tell ‘em what you told ‘em.”

Remember the KISS (“Keep It Short & Sweet”) Principal. Once you’ve made your point(s), stop talking.