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Get to the Point!

Presentation Phobia (3): From Power Point Poison to Standing Ovation

In a previous article I presented the concept of the Three Ps of • Use color to highlight key words or parts, but in moderation. Some
Presentations: Plan, Prepare, and Practice. In the planning stage, colors, such as green and blue or red and orange are hard to tell
you must establish the circumstances around your presentation, apart from a distance.
determine your audience’s needs and interest, and organize • Place a short title above or below each slide.
your information. When you prepare, you need to organize your
information into an order which is logical and meaningful to your • Give credit to the original source for diagrams, graphs, and images,
audience. just as in a written document.
• Select an appealing design that provides contrast between the
In this article, I continue with the Prepare stage because establishing background and text.
structure to your content is only part of preparation. • Avoid dazzling transitions. They take the attention away from you

Make Speaking Notes and your content.
• Print copies of your slides to use as a prompt or to offer as a
Don’t rely on just your Power Point slides. Often speakers fear that handout, but it shouldn’t be your only handout.
if they have note cards, the audience will think they are unprepared.
In fact, it sends the opposite message. It shows the audience that Practice working with your visuals and make sure you know exactly
you DID prepare and that you wanted to make sure you didn’t miss which slide comes next. This also helps you ensure that your
a point. speaking notes match up to your slides.

Prepare your speaking notes on cards no smaller than 3 in. X 5 in. Prepare Handout Notes
Write in large, bold letters that you can see at a glance and, and use
brief headings to develop the information in sufficient detail. Avoid During the preparation stage you need to decide whether to provide
using a full sheet of paper for your notes. If you are nervous, your printed material for your audience. If so, you will also have to decide
hand may quiver and the paper will shake. You also may be tempted whether to make it copies of your Power Point slides or a summary
to include far too much information on it and end up reading from the report of the main topics. There is a trend today to only provide
paper. copies of slides. This is easy, but may not be effective. Although
it may take longer, I encourage you to write a short document to
The amount of information you include will depend on the subject, distribute to your audience. This is a useful resource to remind them,
your familiarity with it, and your previous speaking experience. in your words, of what your key points were. A bulleted list doesn’t
Your notes should not be so detailed that you cannot quickly pick suffice.
out points, nor so skimpy that you have to rely too much on your
memory. When is the best time to distribute your handouts? There are three
approaches:
Prepare Visual Aids
1. If you are providing copies of the slides, hand them out at the start.
Visual aids help clarify and explain your concepts. They are 2. If you have charts or diagrams to refer to, hand them out at the
especially important when discussing complex, technical information.
Some people are visual learners and need to see the information moment in the presentation when they are needed.
as well as hear it. Examples of visual aids are PowerPoint slides, 3. If you have a detailed summary of your points, hand it out at the end.
poster boards, physical props, equipment, and hand-drawn
diagrams. In my next article, I’ll discuss the third P, Practice.

Here are some tips for creating effective visuals:
© 2020, RGI Learning
• Strive for simplicity: let each visual make just one point. Lisa Moretto is the President of
The visual should support your spoken words; you should not RGI Learning, Inc. For 25 years she has
have to explain it. helped engineers improve their oral and
• Use a font that is visible from the back of the room. (This written communication skills. Visit
means you need to know where you are presenting.) www.rgilearning.com or
• Use upper and lower case letters; avoid all CAPS. call (866) 744-3032 to learn
about RGI’s courses.

cover article get to the point MAY 2020 The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | 21