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If you're planning on giving...

Robin Lane's picture

If you're planning on giving...

If you’re planning on giving them a handout with your slide presentation on it, make it available AFTER your presentation, not before or during. Otherwise, they’ll read it while you’re presenting, weirdly enough.

Agree with other commenters on the humor thing, which you’ll clearly be great at anyway.

Since you’re known for 5ives, you might want to do a witty icebreaker with some funny, relevant 5ives to warm them up.

Resist the temptation to use gratuitous slide transitions, animations, and sound effects in Power Point.

Tell stories. Use some of your Flickr photos as illustrations for your stories. People respond well to images of people’s faces (assuming it relates to the story at hand, of course) and not so much to 3-D pie charts. (Hmmmm…maybe a 3-D pie-in-the-face chart!)

And have fun. Fun is contagious.

-robin

Open Thread: Your best tip on doing presentations By: Merlin Mann (79 replies) November 18, 2005 - 5:42am
  • Never, ever, put up a... By: Paul (2005-11-18 06:02)
  • I am a pastor, so... By: Doug Forrester (2005-11-18 06:02)
  • As an aside, I'd love... By: mkb (2005-11-18 06:12)
  • Seth Godin wrote the book... By: Lori (2005-11-18 06:20)
  • There's a very good discussion... By: Matt (2005-11-18 06:27)
  • Simple, yet effective: Tell them what... By: Josh (2005-11-18 06:28)
  • Always be way over-prepared. ... By: Sam (2005-11-18 06:31)
  • Here's a great post at... By: Peter Orosz (2005-11-18 06:34)
  • Practice. Practice with audience. Practice again. You'll be... By: St1 (2005-11-18 06:46)
  • I repeat what St1 says. If... By: JoshD (2005-11-18 07:00)
  • Stand up and physically say... By: RGreen (2005-11-18 07:04)
  • Never disclaim yourself unless you... By: Adam (2005-11-18 07:07)
  • The above is all great... By: j david (2005-11-18 07:11)
  • Avoid words like "defenestrate" at... By: Kingsley (2005-11-18 07:25)
  • Show, don't tell. If you're trying... By: Alisdair McDiarmid (2005-11-18 07:26)
  • Also see Dave Gray's summary... By: JoshD (2005-11-18 07:32)
  • You've received some great advice... By: grant (2005-11-18 07:42)
  • One of the earlier Tufte... By: Ran Barton (2005-11-18 07:44)
  • I design other people's PowerPoint... By: communicatrix (2005-11-18 07:57)
  • The next presentation I see... By: Jeff Atwood (2005-11-18 08:02)
  • Lot's of good advice above. I... By: lantzilla (2005-11-18 08:02)
  • These are the basics and... By: Clembo (2005-11-18 08:10)
  • Tell me a story. My interest... By: Barry Harris (2005-11-18 08:12)
  • Figure out the last thing... By: Ben Brophy (2005-11-18 08:16)
  • Plan to actually get through... By: Donna (nammer) (2005-11-18 08:25)
  • http://www.google.com/search?q=%22takahashi+method ... By: Robert Brook (2005-11-18 08:29)
  • Don't tell them you are... By: Robin (2005-11-18 08:35)
  • I've given hundreds of presentations... By: Lew S. (2005-11-18 08:47)
  • Most of the key points... By: William D. Neumann (2005-11-18 09:04)
  • Prep your note cards carefully.... By: Patrick (2005-11-18 09:10)
  • If you're planning on giving... By: Robin Lane (2005-11-18 09:26)
  • Concerning practicing your presentation skills: Set... By: Marcus Krueger (2005-11-18 09:35)
  • The thing that has helped... By: Tim (2005-11-18 09:42)
  • Believe in what you are... By: l. (2005-11-18 10:13)
  • Oh yeah, one more thing... Beware... By: William D. Neumann (2005-11-18 10:19)
  • Use entertaining pictures, rather than... By: kellenheller (2005-11-18 10:39)
  • Merlin, three things that you... By: Ed (2005-11-18 10:49)
  • I really like some of... By: Mike (2005-11-18 11:07)
  • Watch this presentation. Copy it. ... By: Wilson (2005-11-18 12:00)
  • To the "know what you're... By: Susan Kitchens (2005-11-18 12:06)
  • Oh. and figure out exactly... By: Susan Kitchens (2005-11-18 12:09)
  • The more information you put... By: Ron (2005-11-18 12:12)
  • I've got three things that... By: Frampton (2005-11-18 12:54)
  • I don't give presentations, however,... By: Deborah (2005-11-18 13:00)
  • 1) During your run-throughs, notice... By: I-Wei (2005-11-18 13:21)
  • Lots of good points here.... By: Kyle (2005-11-18 13:48)
  • It's been a while since... By: kmsqrd (2005-11-18 14:04)
  • "Presentation" does not mean "Documentation". An... By: wrex (2005-11-18 14:48)
  • If you don't mind a... By: Lee Potts (2005-11-18 14:59)
  • I think it helps for... By: Rick (2005-11-18 15:00)
  • I'm going to cheat and... By: Eric Sohn (2005-11-18 15:59)
  • Someone covered this in part,... By: PracticallySane (2005-11-18 16:58)
  • Merlin, my presentation experience (in... By: Berko (2005-11-18 17:23)
  • This may not be a... By: Teri Lester (2005-11-18 18:42)
  • I agree with those who... By: heather (2005-11-18 18:43)
  • My best advise would be... By: JL Fenaux (2005-11-18 19:08)
  • Use lower-diaphragmatic breathing (stomach breathing)... By: Lester (2005-11-18 21:15)
  • I'm a senior English Lit... By: Jill (2005-11-18 21:50)
  • People don't like presentations. Period.... By: Andrei B (2005-11-18 23:06)
  • Merlin. I've got to echo the... By: TubbyMike (2005-11-19 01:11)
  • Well, I'm a postgraduate student... By: Llan (2005-11-19 01:41)
  • Be prepared for Plan A... By: Greg (2005-11-19 01:53)
  • Do not print out your... By: Spanky (2005-11-19 02:01)
  • This is an addendum to... By: Thaths (2005-11-19 05:54)
  • I do software training daily.... By: Keith (2005-11-19 07:10)
  • I haven't had time to... By: UniAce (2005-11-19 09:45)
  • Hey Merlin, you did a FANTASTIC... By: Elin (2005-11-19 12:50)
  • Hey Mann: Avoid using a laser... By: Tait (2005-11-19 13:30)
  • Best tip I could give... By: Adam (2005-11-19 18:47)
  • Coming in late to this.... By: CBrachyrhynchos (2005-11-20 03:37)
  • I have one advice... Make a... By: Ashok Srinivaspur (2005-11-20 08:35)
  • Practice your opening.. nail it...... By: Steven F (2005-11-20 14:54)
  • Here are the notes I... By: mary Laiuppa (2005-11-20 16:07)
  • [...] Open Thread: Your best... By: Gary Slinger » Blog Archive » links for 2005-11- (2005-11-21 05:51)
  • http://www.beyondbullets.com is a must! ... By: Stephane (2005-11-22 02:36)
  • [...] • Via 43 Folders,... By: Musings of an eco-entrepreneur » All Links Post 11/25/ (2005-11-22 13:21)
  • Tufte on Presentations Some advice on... By: BrentBlog (2005-11-22 21:01)
  • IF you want to use... By: MarkG (2005-11-27 20:51)
  • [...] 43 Folders also has... By: Mark wants a Porsche » Blog Archive » Presentati (2005-11-28 00:22)
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