All technical presentations share data for a business reason. Your reason must be clear and linked to the audience's need and your call to action is for the audience to remember and apply your points as they perform their jobs. |
There are always three speeches, for every one you have actually given. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave. adapted from Dale Carnegie |
Some will tell you that there are four basic reasons for a presentation
To introduce -- providing an overview or general background information
To Inform -- sharing best practices or updating project status or providing technical documentation or documenting a decision
To instruct -- identifying all the steps to accomplishing a task as a tutorial
To motivate -- influencing future behavior
But every presentation needs to include all four elements: Introduce, inform, instruct, and motivate.
Be sincere; be brief; be seated. Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
The level of detail on individual slides is influenced by the audience and the expected future use and the availability of supporting documents
Will the presentation be printed and used as a reference? Provide slide notes or a supporting document
Is the information contained in a related technical report or a published paper? Make sure to identify it.
A presentation is not a substitute for a memo or a report!
Tell the audience what you are going to say, say it; then tell them what you’ve said. Dale Carnegie |
Requirements for an effective presentation
A Story (logical structure and information flow) connected to "what's in it for the audience" that includes:
(1) An effective presentation title - provide a title that prepares the audience for the presentation topic and scope
(2) A clear purpose statement - provide a clear presentation purpose that supports and explains the title
(3) An understandable organization - share the presentation's logical flow of topics as an overview at the begining
(4) Effective Slide Title and Headings - help the audience see the key points being made on each slide
(5) A good look to every slide - put message in the visual center - provide white space to separate key points
(6) Efficient points - make direct and concise points; use effective visual techniques to segment information
(7) Effective points - support key points with examples, data tables, and visuals (flowcharts, timelines, etc.)
(8) A clear summary - provide a concise review of key points (consistent with purpose) that the audience should remember
(9) A logical closing - ask for questions -- offer thanks -- recommend next steps
Print your slides without color--make sure they clearly communicate your points as a black & white print.
The ultimate technique for checking your flow is to read only the titles of the slides. Jerry Weissman |
My guidelines for technical presentations
Supporting your story and "what's in it for the audience"
Number of slides -- status reports (2-4 slides) -- training or a technical review (18-22 slides) -- tutorials requiring more than 25 slides need to provide audience (or reader) participation (or reviews) to segment the content every 10 - 15 slides
Font size -- pick a size and be consistent -- Title Slide (Title 32-44 and sub-title 28 - 32 pt) -- Content Slides (Title 28-36 and text 20 - 32 pt) -- Footnotes (14 - 20 pt) Remember--the font family influences the actual physical and visual size. My recomendations are based on using the Arial font family.
Emphasis -- use effect color contrast and font style for emphasis
Visuals -- use graphs and charts to show data trends and flowcharts for processes -- use only one or two illustrations per slide to avoid clutter and confusion
Slide word count -- use bulleted or numbered lists, written as headlines, keeping them in parallel structure with balanced content -- limit each slide to less than 50 words
Key points -- Use direct, clear, concise statements visually separated with white space
If you can’t explain it in five minutes, either you don’t understand it or it doesn’t work. Darcy McGinn |
Here is a list of websites that I have found useful: http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listpresentauw.html
