Chapter 2: What Makes a Great Presentation?

Wow! What a great presentation! That's what you want your audience to come away thinking, right?

Most people won't be nit-picky enough to pinpoint exactly what they loved about the experience. Nobody is likely to say, "Weren't the colors in that pie chart on slide 43 artfully chosen?" or "Did you see his tie? I wonder where I can buy one just like it." Instead, you'll leave your audience with an overall impression that they gather from a host of little details, from the color scheme on your slides to the anecdotes and jokes you tell.

You can turn off your computer for this chapter, because you won't need it to follow along. In this chapter, I'll present some strategies for planning the best presentation ever. I'll provide an 11-point action plan for building your presentation file, and address some of the "soft" topics that can make or break a show, such as how to arrange a room, what to wear, where to stand, and more.

Qualities of an Effective Presentation

What separates an effective presentation from an ineffective one? No, it's not just a gut feeling; there are proven attributes for which you can strive. The rest of this chapter elaborates on these points, but here's a quick overview of what to work on.

An effective presentation:

• Is designed and formatted appropriately for the audience and the medium.

• Is tightly focused on its subject, with extraneous facts trimmed away or hidden for backup use.

• Uses the right PowerPoint theme, with colors and fonts chosen to reinforce the message of the presentation.

• Includes the right amount of text on each slide, without overcrowding.

• Uses artwork purposefully to convey information and create an overall visual impression.

• Uses charts rather than raw columns of numbers to present financial or numeric information.

• Employs sound and video to create interest where needed, but does not allow the effects to dominate the show.

• Uses animations and transitions if appropriate for the audience and message, but does not allow them to dominate.

• Offers the audience handouts that contain the information they will want to take with them.

• Leaves time at the end for a question-and-answer session so the audience members can clarify any points they were confused about.

Now that you know what the goal is, how do you get there? The following section outlines a precise, step-by-step action plan for developing a presentation that has these qualities.