April 16 , 2008

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Tips on Making an Effective Presentation
Got a big meeting coming up? Need to put together an effective presentation? Make sure your ideas don’t get lost in the shuffle. Here are a few tips to strengthen your presentation.

1. If you created your presentation on your own computer but have to use a different computer to show your presentation to an audience, don’t assume that the two computers will display everything the same way. Always test the display of your presentation on the computer that you will actually use for the meeting, whether it is a company laptop or a computer provided by a hotel or conference center. Otherwise, your presentation may not display correctly, if at all.

2. Create your presentation by using a software application that is widely available for use, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. If your presentation requires a different application, install it on the computer that will be used for the meeting—and do so well in advance, so that you can test it and make sure it is running correctly.

3. Keep the text on each slide to no more than 30 words, using bullets and short phrases instead of full sentences. This will help keep your slides legible and presentable. Slides are only a part of your story. Your speech or talking points should fill in the details.

4. Before importing images into PowerPoint, use a picture-editing program such as Photoshop or Microsoft Image Editor to downsize the memory required for each image. Too much memory can slow your presentation to a crawl, or even crash the software program. The picture resolution of PowerPoint is 102 dots per inch, so downsize your images to 102 dpi. Remember to save each downsized file with a slightly different filename from its original, so that it won't overwrite the original.

5. Use jpg and/or gif image formats, as these work well with PowerPoint and other software programs. In general, jpg works best for photos, whereas gif works best for diagrams and logos. Remember that any images in a master slide add to the total memory every time they appear. Therefore, try to keep master-slide images small, both in terms of size and memory.

6. Animated transitions—such as fades, wipes, and builds—also add a lot of memory, so use them sparingly, if at all. Too many animations will distract from your ideas. The best place to use animated effects is to reveal ideas and conclusions, one by one.

7. Once your presentation is built, practice giving it, and time yourself. Have a friend, partner or employee watch, listen, and comment. There’s no substitute for human feedback.

8. Copy your PowerPoint, both to the laptop you are traveling with, and also to a removable storage drive (“stick drive” or “flash drive”). If your laptop fails, you can run your presentation from the stick drive on another PC.

9. Always have a backup plan prepared and at the ready. What if the computer or projector doesn’t work? Always bring a printout of both your presentation and your notes. In a pinch, you can have copies made at the last minute to hand out at the meeting.

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