Power Point Presentations Dos and Don’ts

Daniela Munca, ALC

May 2010

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Have you experienced that…Have you experienced that…

5 top Power Point Mistakes

1. T. M. I. (Too Much Information)

• You know so much about the topic!!!

• no one can follow the thread of the presentation

The K.I.S.S. principle

Keep It Silly Simple)

Stick to three, or at the most, four points about your topic and expound on them.

The audience will be more likely to retain the information.

2. Poorly Chosen Design Template or Design Theme

Background – Bad

• Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from

• Always be consistent with the background that you use

3. Colour - Bad

• Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read

• Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying.

• Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary– Using a different colour for secondary points

is also unnecessary

• Trying to be creative can also be bad

4. Poor knowledge of the subject

• Do it only if your are ready,

• Use the cue cards,

• Don’t give the handout at the beginning,

• Don’t read word

by word,

• Be confident!

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5. Too many bullet points5. Too many bullet points• avoid too many bullet points• avoid too many bullet points• Avoid too many bullet points• Avoid too many bullet points• Avoid too many bullet points• avoid too many bullet points• Avoid too many bullet points• Avoid too many bullet points• Avoid too many bullet points

This is bad

Solution: The Three Presentation Essentials

• - Use visual aids where you can

• - Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

• - The audience will only remember three messages

Why should you use visual aids?

• Professor Albert Mehrabian:• 55% of the information we take in is visual and only 7% is text

• Use visuals (pictures, graphs, tables, props) whenever you can• In a speech you are only using 38% of the communication medium

• Ditch the bullet points

Making the presentation memorable

• Study at the Wharton Research Centre • Using visual slides had a dramatic effect on

message retention. • The effect of using visuals is truly staggering!• “A picture is worth a thousand words" is as true

today as it has always been.

"If you fail to prepare, you are prepared to fail"

Rule 1. Rehearse against the clock

• Practice your presentation

against the clock.

• Allow extra time for questions

• Watch out for nerves

• Take in a clock or take off your wrist watch

Rule 2: Video or tape record yourself

• Some immediate feedback• will enable you to fine tune your

performance• a rehearsal is the staple of many

presentation training companies - so why not save time and money and do it yourself?

Does it work? • Students feedback

Rule 3: Memorize your script

• Winston Churchill is widely attributed as being one of the great speakers.

• It took him six weeks to prepare his Maiden Speech in the House of Commons and he learnt it word perfect.

Rule 4: Use the rule of three

• People tend to only remember three things

• Work out what the three messages that you want your audience to take away

• Structure your presentation around them

• Use a maximum of three points on a slide

Rule 5: Tell stories

• All presentations are a type of theatre.

• Tell stories and anecdotes to help illustrate points

Rule 6: Know what slide is coming next

• You should always know when presenting which slide is coming up next.

• It sounds very powerful when you say “On the next slide [Click] you will see…”

Rule 7: Have a back-up plan

• Murphy’s law normally applies during a presentation.

• Technology not working, power cuts, projector blowing a bulb, spilling coffee on your front, no loudspeakers …

• When you have back-ups – you seldom need to use them.

Rule 8: The Takahashi Method

• Masayoshi Takahashi (Japan) developed a system of presentation that uses only text.

• But not just text; VERY LARGE TEXT.• The audience’s brains are fried trying to read

and listen at the same time.• The advantage of the Takahashi Method - No

long words or complex phrases – and no distractions.

• Once Takahashi, a programmer, had to give a short presentation at a conference

• He first used the method and found it helpful, at least with Japanese.

• Takahashi never used PowerPoint • He uses only text in his slides. • The words or phrases resemble Japanese

newspaper headlines rather than sentences which must be read.

Rule 9: The three parts rule

• You should break this down into at least three sections.

Introduction• Tell your audience what you will be talking about and

why you have chosen the topic. Main Body

• For this section you need to sort through your notes, and pick the main points:

• Three main points for five-minute presentations• Four main points for ten-minute presentations• Five main points for fifteen-minute presentations

Wrapping up

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Rule 10. Rule 10. Know Your AudienceKnow Your Audience

• Take full control of your audience,

• Speak out,

• You should be the main attraction not the PowerPoint,

• Control your voice

• Eye contact

Smile!

danielamunca@gmail.com

Daniela Munca, PhD