Tips on Giving a Good Presentation

Recently I've been seeing a good bit of presentations and I personally think I give a good presentation so why not give a few good tips on how I like to give a good presentation.

First off power point is just a tool it is not your presentation. Make your presentation more natural by using PowerPoint like an new style notecard. When you throw up the ppt make sure that all you are going to talk about is not on the slide. Use the bullet points and headlines in your ppt as a reminder and not as a dictation.

If something is an aside and not vital to the whole of the presentation make sure that you leave it off of the slides. But just because something is not vital to the presentation doesn't mean it isn't important. By that I mean if you have a story (which I'll get to next) that adds character to the presentation then make sure you tell it but try to make it seem natural and not planned.

Now stories are a great way of getting your audience to pay attention and to give them something to take away from your presentation. But of course you have to make sure that it does relate to what you are talking about.

Last but not least: Make sure people can hear and understand you! I have seen so many presentations of late that the speaker is either speaking way too low or way too fast! I know that people can have stage fright that may cause this but some people just don't realize they are doing it. If you see someone doing this, do them a favor and bring it up either during or after the presenation.

Now go out there to educate people but make sure to leave them with a smile or a laugh!

Oh and if you do not have power point check out http://OpenOffice.org