how to make an effective powerpoint presentation

How to make an effectivePowerPoint Presentation Hi miaomiaoThank you so much for signing up to receive my Guide: "How to Make an Effective PowerPoint Presentation" and my free email course. I'm looking forward to helping you with your presentations.Before I send you the Guide, I want to make 100% certain I have your permission. If you don't click the confirmation link below, you won't get any more mail from me, so take a second and do it now.-----------------------------------------------------------CONFIRM BY VISITING THE LINK BELOW:/z/c/?jycbysy03yxysbjn9rbctzupk=6040Click the link above to give us permission to send youinformation. It's fast and easy! If you cannot click thefull URL above, please copy and paste it into your webbrowser.-----------------------------------------------------------If you do not want to confirm, simply ignore this message.Thank you, I will be honored to have you in my email community.Olivia MitchellPO Box 47153, Trentham, Upper Hutt, Wellington 5371, NEW ZEALANDRequest generated by:IP: 123.9.171.117Date: April 1, 2011 11:49 EDTURL:/how-to-make-an-effective-powerpoint-p resentation/Hi miaomiaoI'm happy to have you in my web community.To download your copy of "How to make an effective PowerPoint presentation", please visit: /guide-download/I do hope you find it useful. Do ask me any questions you have or send me feedback bysimply replying to this email and it will come straight to my inbox.You'll also get my free email course. Each email will build on what you learn in the Guide. The email course consists of 20 lessons. It includes:the only "audience analysis" questions you'll ever need to ask∙three techniques to make your key message rock∙two little-used strategies to get your audience to actEvery month I'll send you my newsletter. The newsletter will highlight posts from Speaking about Presenting and the best links to other presentation blogs and internet resources that I've found that month.I aim to make every email I send to you useful and valuable to you in improving yourpresentations. You'll want to refer to these emails later, so keep them handy. Take a moment to create a special folder named Presentation Tips (or a label if you're using Gmail). When my emails arrive save them there so that you have them stored for future reference.Finally, let me give you some background about me. I got into presentation training byaccident. My partner, Tony, was the extrovert out-there one! I'm naturally introvert and have had to overcome my shyness to do what I do now. I passionately believe that anyone can become a more effective presenter and I want to help you to do that. If you want to k now about my background (and check out our lovely animals: dogs, chickens, horses and cattle) head over to My Story.If you have any questions or suggestions for me, just reply to this email (or any other email you receive from me) and it will come straight to my inbox.I look forward to making a difference to your presentations.Hi miaomiaoLast week I sent you my Guide "How to Make an Effective PowerPoint Presentation". Here's your first tip to help you get the most out of it.The planning system I've introduced you to in the Guide doesn't have a separate "audience analysis" step. However, each step of the planner has you think from the audience's point of view. These are the three things you'll need to know about your audience:1. What common characteristics do most people in this audience share?An audience normally has only one or two characteristics in common - such as their profession or business, their stage in life, their location, or a common interest in an issue or topic. Use this information to make your evidence directly relevant to the a udience.∙Choose examples which they can relate to. For example, if the audience is small business people use examples of other small businesses not Fortune 500 companies. And if you're speaking to small business people who are all from the same city, use examples of small businesses in that city. Those examples will stick.∙Quote people that they know and respect, or that share the audience's common characteristic.2. What do they know about my topic?This includes the level of knowledge your audience has and what they're interested in knowing more about. Use this information to:∙Focus your key message on what the audience is most interested in. Even though you may be presenting on the same topic, different audiences will require a different key message. For example, we were working with a company that makes health products for farm animals. This company was delivering a presentation on a new product to two different audiences: vets and farmers. The vets were interested in how the product worked, the farmers were interested in how much it would cost. The company needed a different key message for each audience.∙Work out what your audience's questions will be after you've stated the key message.3. What do they feel about my topic?How interested are they in your presentation? If you know they're likely to be apathetic find a strong reason why they should listen to what you have to say. If they have strong concerns about what you're proposing, acknowledge these in Set the Scene, and address them in your presentation.If you can't easily answer these questions, do some digging. Have a conversation with the meeting planner, get in contact with people who'll be in the audience, or if that's not possible ask friends or colleagues who are similar to the people who will be in your audience.I'll be writing to you again in a few days with your next tip. Meanwhile, if you have a presentation coming up I hope it goes well for you.Hi miaomiaoDo you say too much in your presentations? The more you say, the less your audience will get.Using the planner that I introduced you to in my Guide "How to Make an Effective PowerPoint Presentation" helps you cut down on information overload in your presentations. That's why I recommend using a planner, rather than brainstorming or mind mapping to create your presentations. Here are the three ways that the planner helps you limit what you say:1. Have one clear and simple Key MessageThe key message is the one thing you want your audience to remember or do as a result of your presentation.Sometimes I'm asked, "Can I have more than one key message?" Your presentation will be more effective if it has one clear key message. That's why it's called a key message. "Key messages" is a contradiction in terms. If you have two messages that you give equal importance to, the impact of each message will be diluted. You can, of course, have other messages (assertions) in your presentation, but they should be subordinate to the key message.2. Use your Key Message as a filterEverything you say in your presentation has an important role to play. That role is to serve and support your key message. If a piece of information serves and supports your key message it can stay in your presentation. If a piece of information doesn't serve or support the keymessage is should stay out. Your key message acts as a filter for what stays in your presentation and what stays out.3. Plan your assertionsAn assertion is a complete sentence which expresses the point you want to make. Too often presenters write themselves a list of points to make during their presentation, without thinking too hard how exactly they will express those points when they're speaking. Then they stand up to speak. And they find themselves taking a long time to make the point and s aying it in a myriad of different ways. The presenter lacks clarity and conciseness and as a result the audience finds it hard to grasp the point.Do your thinking before you get up to speak. Plan your points as assertions. That way you'll be crisp and clear when you're on your feet.For more help with avoiding information overload check out this post: How to stop information overload in your presentation.If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, just click reply and it will come straight to my inbox.Go well in your next presentation!Hi miaomiaoWhy do people tune out of a presentation? Here are seven possibilities:1. It's not useful or relevant to them2. They've heard it all before3. They're lost4. They're confused5. It's too much the same of anything6. It's too longSo to keep your audience's attention, you just need to make sure these things don't happen! Here's how:1. Tell them how what you're telling them is relevant to themAt the beginning of your presentation, let your audience know why they should listen to your presentation. Answer their question "What's in it for me?" For more information on how to answer this question see this post: 4 ways to move people from attention to engagement.During your presentation, whenever the relevance of your point is not crystal clear add this phrase "What this means to you....."2. Tell them something newTell your audience something they don't know.Take them that extra step beyond their current knowledge. Or if you're having to present information they're already familiar with (eg: the annual health and safety pep talk), add a novel twist or perspective which will have them think about the topic in a new way.3. Be organizedWhen you're listening to a presentation, it's easy to get lost. It's not like reading a report where you can flick backwards and forwards and check out where you are. As an audience member you are at the mercy of the presenter. So when you're the presenter make it easy on your audience. Be organized and let your audience know the organization of your talk. Use short transition sentences (I called these "signposting" in the Guide) to let your audience know when you're moving from one part of your talk to the next.4. Be clearIf your audience can't follow your explanations, they'll drop out. In a presentation, it's difficult for an audience member to say "Can you just go back over that bit again?" Practice the complex bits of your presentation on a friend or colleague and get feedback on the clarity of your explanations. Refine your explanations until your practice audience can grasp the explanation immediately.5. Build in varietyHumans notice change. For example, you don't notice the air conditioning until it turns off. Use this human trait to keep your audience's attention. Here are things you can change throughout your presentation:- where you stand as you present- the type of visual aid you're using (slides, flipchart, whiteboard, nothing)- type of content (facts, opinions, story, statistics, metaphors)- style of content (emotional, logical)- delivery method (you talking, discussion, Q&A)- what the audience is doing (listening to you, writing something down, talking with their neighbour, asking you questions)6. Make it shortSitting passively for any length of time is difficult. A stand-alone presentation should be no longer than 60 minutes. In a day-long training session, I make sure that I'm not talking for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, without the audience doing something.For more ideas for keeping your audience's attention see this post: 7 ways to keep audience attention.If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, just click reply and it will come straight to my inbox.Go well in your next presentation!Hi miaomiaoIn my Presentation Planning Guide, I suggest that you build your presentation around a key message. The key message is one sentence that captures what you want your audience to remember or do as a result of your presentation. Here are three ways to make your key message powerful.1. Express it in spoken languageIt's easy to fall into the trap of writing your key message in written language. But spoken and written language can be very different. You want your key message to be instantly understood by your audience. That means it needs to be in spoken language. Here's an example of a draft key message that one of our clients wrote before she worked with us:"The University can maximise the academic outcomes of its clients through the leveraging of health facilities."Here's what she decided she really meant:"Students do better when they are well".2. Make it specificVague key messages do not stick. For example, if I were to say "Lending money is a good way of helping people", it's so vague and abstract that you're unlikely to remember it. However, if I say " Lend $25 to a poor person so that they can start a business" there are several specifics that paint a picture for you. I'm asking you to do a specific action (lend $25) to a specific type of person (a poor person) so that they can do something specific (start a business). Specificity makes it memorable.3. Ensure it's relevant to your audienceYour key message should be crafted to suit the particular audience in front of you. Even though it's the same topic, different audiences may require a different key message. We were working with a company that makes health products for farm animals. Their product launch presentations had two distinct audiences: farmers and vets. For vets, a technical key message was effective "This product uses a new mechanism to transmit the chemical under the skin."The farmers weren't interested in how the product worked. Here's the key message that worked for them "This product is the best value on the market for getting rid of parasites."For more information on crafting your key message, read this article: How to craft a memorable key message in 10 minutes.If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, just click reply and it will come straight to my inbox.Go well in your next presentation!Hi miaomiaoIn my Presentation Planning Guide, I recommend letting your audience know your key message near the beginning of your presentation. Most of the time, this is the most effective method. It ensures that the audience has the big picture of your presentation and so makes it easier for them to understand and remember the details.However, there are some special circumstances where you may decide it's better to withhold your key message till near the end of your presentation.1. Create mysteryIf you can skilfully weave mystery into your presentation you'll have the audience hooked. To create mystery in your presentation first pose a puzzle or a problem. Malcolm Gladwell is an expert at creating mystery. Here's an example from this book, Outliers:"By the end of this chapter...we'll see that it is possible to ...predict the family background, age and origin of the city's most powerful attorneys, without knowing a single additional fact about them."Could you pose a similar puzzle at the beginning of your presentation, unravel it and present the solution to the mystery at the end? Take care with this technique - it's easy for mystery to slide into confusion and then you've lost your audience.For more on Malcolm Gladwell's expert storytelling techniques see this post: How to tell a story like Malcolm Gladwell.2. Create ownershipIn a training environment, you can set up an exercise which enables people to come to their own conclusions. Debrief the exercise by asking participants what they learnt from it. This does require skillful design of the exercise (so that participants learn from it what you want them to learn) and skillful facilitation to draw out their learnings. Done well it's a powerful method of creating ownership of the learning.3. Avoid shut-downThere may be some situations where your audience is likely to be so hostile to your idea, that it's best to start by analyzing the evidence and building incrementally to your conclusion.However, use this technique with discretion. Not being clear about your position upfront can also make people angry. If you have bad news to deliver let people know early on in the presentation, they won't appreciate having it sprung on them at the end.When I wrote about these situations on my blog, it generated some lively discussion - check out the comments. (You'll notice that I've added point 3 above, as a result of that discussion). If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, just click reply and it will come straight to my inbox.Go well in your next presentation!Hi miaomiaoIn the Planning Guide, I suggested that you structure your presentation around the top three questions your audience might have. This structure makes you focus on your audience's needs - and it works for most presentations.But sometimes another structure might work better. When you're seeking to persuade your audience a Problem/Solution/Benefits structure works well.First plunge into the problemIt's tempting to jump straight to your solution. But your audience will be more easily persuaded if they're aware of the problem first.Take the story of Listerine. Listerine had been selling slowly for several decades. Sales took off when the company created a problem that Listerine could solve - bad breath. Until then, bad breath had not been considered a major problem (this story is from "Freakonomics" by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner).Get your audience in touch with the pain of the problem and motivated to do something about it. Then they'll be ready to take your solution on board.Ensure your solution is clear and concreteDescribe your solution in terms that your audience can visualize. A client was wanting to persuade her audience to "implement urban design principles" to make a new road more "sustainable."It's difficult for me to see "urban design principles" in my mind. What does "sustainable" mean in this context?After some questioning I found out that she wanted cycleways and walkways integrated into the design of the new road. And she told me that that would result in fewer car trips.I can visualise cycleways and walkways in my mind. I can immediately understand the idea of fewer car trips - that's much more specific than the vague word "sustainable".Make the benefits WIIFMSHow many benefits does your solution give? If there are more than 5 don't list them all. You'll skate over them so lightly that your audience are unlikely to remember any of them. Instead, pick the 3-5 benefits which are the most relevant for your audience.Assess each benefit for relevance by using the "What's in it for me?" test or WII-FM test. Think of a typical member of your audience and consider whether they'll appreciate the benefit. For more on WII-FM see /content/attention-to-engagement/.If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, just click reply and it will come straight to my inbox.Go well in your next presentation!Hi miaomiaoI've been travelling in America with my partner Tony. The highlight of our trip was travelling through the American South on a self-guided Civil Rights tour. Tony and I also did a Story Telling Retreat in Colorado Springs with Doug Stevenson. This is a two and a half day retreat with four participants where Doug coached each of us on delivering one story (I'll be writing on my blog about this soon). And I also met up with many presentation colleagues (ScottSchwertly, Kelly Vandever, Joey Asher, Nancy Duarte, Rick Altman and Ben Decker).Until I get back into a regular writing schedule, here's some of the best writing and videos on presenting and public speaking from around the web:∙Why your ideas are worth sharing∙How to avoid overwhelming your audience∙How to makeover a bullet-point slide∙How to make your data meaningfulWhy your ideas are worth sharingThis is a gorgeous, short video to remind you that your ideas are worth sharing. Do yousometimes think that your ideas are obvious and that nobody will get any value from them?Then you need to watch this 1.38 min video.How to avoid overwhelming your audienceI've written on my blog before about overwhelming your audience with information. Professional speaker, Craig Valentine confesses that he sometimes falls into the same trap and shows how he fixes the problem.How to makeover a bullet-point slideA simple way to makeover a bullet-ridden set of slides is to break out each of the bullets to its own slide. Jon Thomas shows you how.How to make your data meaningfulLast week I heard a story about a CEO interrupting a data-heavy presentation from the company accountant with this question "Just tell me - are we doing better or are we doing worse?" If you are sometimes guilty of delivering a data dump read this post from Chris Witt. He explains the three questions you need to answer when delivering data. This post from Denise Graveline will also be useful to you if you present a lot of data.If you have a question or a suggestion, just reply to this email. It will come straight to my inbox.Go well with your next presentation.Hi miaomiaoJust about every presenter I know struggles with not giving their audience too much information. If you love your topic, it's natural to want to share as much as possible with youraudience. So here are my tips to help you stay disciplined and share just the right amount of information with your audience.1. Don't brainstormBrainstorming has you generate lots of information. But you don't need lots of information. You need just the right amount - and you probably already have that in your head. In this post 4 Reasons brainstorming may sabotage your presentation, I set out three other reasons for not brainstorming.2. Test all your content against your Key MessageStart by crafting your Key Message. Then test every subsequent piece of information you want to include against the Key Message. If it supports the Key Message it can stay in. If not, discard it - it doesn't belong in this presentation.3. Reduce lists of more than threeWhere you have lists of more than three items eg: five benefits of your proposal, consider reducing the list to the top three items. Your audience is more likely to be able to remember three items. If you give them all the items they may remember none of them.4. Have a handoutYou can put all the information that you'd love to include but know you shouldn't into your handout. BTW here's a post all about handouts: 13 best practice tips for effective presentation handouts.For more on this topic, see my post How to stop information overload in your presentation and 9 ways to edit your presentation.If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, just click reply and it will come straight to my inbox.Go well in your next presentation!v。