Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Ten Tips on Making Your Presentations Interesting


Vary what you do.
It is usually more interesting for an audience if they can't predict the next slide, activity or item of content. Vary what you do.

Vary your audio-visuals.
Use slides which are varied, e.g. a cartoon, followed by bullet points, then a photograph, then a quote, then a statistic, and so on!

Start with something unexpected. Starting a speech or presentation with "Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for having me," may not be interesting. Instead you might like to try by starting with something less predictable, e.g. a hands-up activity, a quote, a stunning statistic, etc.

Speak in an interesting voice. Avoid a monotone. Have light and shade in your voice. Sound interesting.

Involve the audience. A passive audience is more likely to become disinterested than one involved in the presentation.
Move. It's usually more interesting to watch a presenter who moves his/her body and has energy and spark, than one who is fixed solid. This doesn't mean fidgeting or pacing up and down so you become distracting. It does mean avoiding the temptation to fix rigidly to the spot or to hang on to the lectern.

End early. End a few minutes early rather than going overtime. Audiences generally get restless, no matter how good the presentation when it runs overtime.

Use props. Props can evoke curiosity in an audience. Being able to see a piece of working machinery, a model, or a funny costume, for example, may bring sparkle to even the most technical presentation.

Tell humorous stories. Humour can bring presentations alive. Make sure, though, that if you're going to tell jokes that they are relevant and not offensive to anyone. Personal stories can be safer than jokes but please! make sure they make a point relevant to your speech.

Ask questions. Engage your audience at an intellectual level. Pose questions for them to answer - whether out loud or in their heads. They may enjoy the challenge.

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