Need some advice on giving a presentation

[UKFlounder]

I'm not the greatest public speaker ever, but I have done it a couple of times and it looks like I might have another opportunity to give another talk again this year, but I wondered about a couple of different approaches I might take.

Ideally, I would like to just stand there without notes, giving my talk and using PowerPoint to show come illustrations and photographs. Maybe I would have a couple small reminders with me, but it would ideally be more informal and relaxed. I think that might be best for the audience, with me looking at the guests instead of notes, but I would be afraid of missing some key points and, especially, details of the information I have.

Would I be better off to add some slides with some of the details I want to mention and then kind of talk from memory with those slides serving as reminders, mixed along with the photographs? Or should I just have photographs/illustrations only in the slide show and use hand-held notes of some sort to help with my talk? My eyesight is not great, so I will need to be sure I can read my notes, so index cards may not be a good option, but I can print off a few pages of notes to help.

I want to make sure I give good information, but I don't want the audience just sitting there and watching me read a paper. I have been on both sides of that before and though it can work, I want to go something different this time. I am not the most outgoing person, so doing this without showing my nerves will always be an issue, but I want to be lively enough to keep their attention and just staring at notes would probably not be best.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[blueboss]

Just let us know when and where it is and we'll all show up to cheer you on😀


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Krank]

I am not into public speaking that much either, Flounder... that is, the TYPE of public speaking you are talking about.

Put me on a mic, and nobody looking at me, and I am pretty good, lol... now, that may sound silly, but that's the key, IMO... SEEING folks looking back at you can be unsettling, even though they are just passively doing what anyone would... staring holes through you waiting for YOU to become interesting, lol...

Now, in all seriousness, I strongly suggest running through a "practice" in front of a handful of family, friends, what have you... since you are comfy with them, you can warm up your FEEL for HOW you want to do it for real.

I also suggest you do BOTH of your ideas, with help in your slide show AND notes to look at... that way, if you become MORE comfortable with one or the other, you have that fall back... i.e. better safe than sorry.

Keep something else in mind... once you get more relaxed through the first paragraph or whatever, it becomes easier. Perhaps choose one or two people in the crowd to primarily focus your attention on as you speak, like one person on the right/center of the audience and one on the left/center... that way, it looks like you are paying attention, more or less, to the whole and not "staring" at one person.

When you are practicing, BTW, do some little exercises with your cadence, meaning it's hard to gauge ahead of time how LOUD you NEED to speak to get your points across and that folks hear them. So try to get a handle on projecting your voice so it's loud enough and clear enough, but not "weird", if you know what I mean.

Other ideas, depending on the venue, topic, and audience, would be to have something that's just a little funny to throw in RIGHT before you get to the meat and potatoes of what you are doing. If the crowd responds (again, practice your vibe with this in front of friends/family), that loosens them up and INSTANTLY makes you feel better.

Just some ideas to splat up against your wall. Hopefully, you won't need them as much as you think.

[UKFlounder]

Good thoughts, especially about the practice.

I do have a good and perfectly appropriate joke to start out with for one of the possible topic, but I do like that strategy for any of them. Getting relaxed early on would be a great help.

[BigBluePappy]

In my work, I have to do classes on a regular basis for service personnel on our product.
While I loathe PowerPoint, a few simple slides to make sure you do not miss any points are essential.

The Krankster gave the best advise but I can't help adding my $0.02 worth, and that is be yourself, be true to yourself and that will win over your audience. Talk to them like you would talk to your friends, just a little more formal.They can tell if you are being "real" or not.

Take it from the grandson and son-in-law of Baptist preachers; public speaking is this big scary thing, until you get to know it; then it isn't so bad.

[Krank]

In my work, I have to do classes on a regular basis for service personnel on our product.
While I loathe PowerPoint, a few simple slides to make sure you do not miss any points are essential.

The Krankster gave the best advise but I can't help adding my $0.02 worth, and that is be yourself, be true to yourself and that will win over your audience. Talk to them like you would talk to your friends, just a little more formal.They can tell if you are being "real" or not.

Take it from the grandson and son-in-law of Baptist preachers; public speaking is this big scary thing, until you get to know it; then it isn't so bad.

Your advice is the best, Pap. Good stuff!

[KentuckyWildcat]

Less PowerPoint the better.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[kingcat]

Two ways to go about it.. Casual and let the subject matter stand on its own merit. People always respond well to this.

Or if you want to impress with your personal ability to deliver a presentation,, practice. Very uncomfortable to do but that's the reason it works.

Remember, if you can do it in a mirror (comfortably), you can do it live for any size group. You are always your own worst critic.

Also, you can film the mirror from behind you and to the side catching both you and the mirror for an added critique

http://www.expresshammersmith.co.uk/images/Somerston/HotelThumbnails/Thumbnail.jpg
^^last night^^

[KeithKSR]

Have you considered a video presentation?

[UKFlounder]

Keep up the comments. This will be months from now so I have time to consider various options

[CitizenBBN]

Flounder,

is there a way to tell us a bit more about the subject of the talk? Not the content, but is this an educational speech to train, or is this a sales pitch, or is it something more oratorical or general in nature?

IMO, that matters, and has an impact on how you do the presentation.

First off, Powerpoint gets panned a lot, but IMO that is like those who pan negative political ads. No one seems to like them yet they are proven to work very well. Powerpoint structured talks get a bad wrap b/c of those who don't do it right, and who try to put too much down in them versus using them for a general framework on which to lay a talk or otherwise let the PP become a distraction. that happens, so I get the complaint, but it isn't inherently a problem.

As a rule, for those who arent' well versed in talking without notes, Powerpoint can do a great job of providing a structure and series of simple reminders, and then the speaker can keep their pace and not skip things or lose their place. So for that reason I like it a lot, esp. for educational and training type talks. In fact for educational talks I wouldn't be without it.

But here's how you use it:

1) charts, graphs, illustrations are fine when appropriate, but the real goal is to just provide a visual of the talk outline or present content they need to see (like photos training people on something)
2) the text outline slides need to be BRIEF, strictly the bullet points. It allows you to hit each one and provide the full talk around it.
3) The key is to have you be the interactive person filling in and discussing, not putting a novel on the screen. People dont' read, and it will take you out of the loop more, making it more boring.

So just use it as your notes, and let that organize it for the minds of your audience as well. People need a structure for information, and using PP for that is ideal.

if it's a training talk, it also is great to give a handout that has the slides, maybe with more filled in detail for their later reference, but on the screen you don't need it, that's where you get to fill in with a more interactive manner.


Honestly I could go on with this topic for a long time, it's a favorite topic, but I think your initial idea is probably on target. Use PP to have those key points on slides, either separate or with the photos or graphs, but keep them as simple bullet points that just remind you from point to point and then let you engage with the audience.

Very brief bullet pointed slides will keep you on track but keep you from just reading at people and let you maintain that connection. it also will help your audience keep up with your outline. It's amazing how that impacts an audience, and helps them stay engaged.

If you have other areas of concern toss them out. Things like building in question stuff or anticipating them within the talk, all those things are worthy of discussion and depend a bit on the audience and subject.

[BigBluePappy]

If all else fails, fill your watcher pitcher with vodka and be sure to have this videotaped for posterity's sake.:sign0157:

[PedroDaGr8]

One of the BEST and most useful classes that I ever took at the University of Kentucky was "Presentational Speaking for Scientists and Engineers"; translation: Public speaking for the socially awkward and inept. The instructor actually was on the board out at the airport and this was the only class he taught. Being on the board, lets just say he has given talks a time or two. To be honest, as far as instructors go, he was phenomenal. I went into this class terrified of public speaking and came out of it not only capable but loving it. CBBN covered some excellent points. Being in science, I have done hundreds of talks at this point.


A few things of note before I get things more in detail:

1. Talk slower than you think you should. You will have some nerves/adrenaline when you get up there. This will naturally make you want to talk fast and talking to fast is WAY worse than talking too slow.
2. DO NOT JUST READ YOUR POWERPOINT SLIDES! It has been shown that the visual and auditory portions of the brain responsible for language processing CANNOT operate at the same time. By reading the content on your screen you actually stress your listeners mental abilities causing them to lose attention and drift off.
3. Try to replace um's with pauses. It allows you to gather your thoughts better and actually makes you appear as a more talented and deep thinking speaker.
4. Another one on powerpoint: do not use yellow font on a white background and use colors like red and orange sparingly. I don't know why this needs to be said but light colors on a dark background, dark colors on a light background ONLY! I can't count the number of presentations where someone made an entire slide of yellow on white text (or purple on black).

Since you you don't tell us what type of presentation I will break it down into Powerpoint style presentations and "off-the-cuff" style.


For a power point presentation:

Power point is a VERY useful tool for providing visual aids and context to what you are saying. I know that many hate powerpoint but it really has its uses when done right. Many people are not auditory learners and by giving a visual context to the words you are saying, you provide a framework for them to better comprehend the details of what you speak. It is also great for conveying data, listing references, etc. The problem is, it is REALLY easy to abuse powerpoint. One of the biggest flaws that people do when making powerpoint slides is turn them into walls of text.

Such as the following two:
http://cdn.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/images/800x800/dimg/m_img_34397.jpg

http://www.thugmed.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/bad-slide.jpg

Both of these are outright horrible slides, because there is just TOO much information on the slide to be useful. Also, when you have a large amount of text on a slide, there is a HIGH propensity to just read the slide. Even I do it, if I put too much text there. In fact, I use that as a gauge of if my slide is succinct enough. If I find myself fighting to not read the slide during my practice, then the slide is too verbose.

Here is an example of a good slide:
https://lacstraining.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/11-choose-chart-type-carefully_good-example_bar-chart-rerendered-as-be-pie-charts.jpg

Ignoring the discrepancies between the data and the text, this is an excellent slide. It shows the data in an easy to digest form. The text clarifies what is the relevant part of the data, etc. It also is structured in such a way that you CAN'T just read the text from the slide but it still gives you a reminder of what you should be talking about. Expect 1 min per slide, unless you are giving a heavily data driven talk, then around 30sec a slide is ok. If you are seeing 30sec or 15 sec per slide and it isn't heavily data driven then you have WAYYYYY too much info on your slides and honestly even if it is data driven you need to think about how you are presenting your data because that is really fast.

"Off-The-Cuff" Style:
This term applies to any type of presentation where you are speaking about a topic without the use of visual aids. Part of the training in the aforementioned class was how to be given a topic and give a 5-10min talk on ANY topic with only 30sec-1min of preparation. Why 30sec-1min? Because that in general will be the amount of time it takes you to go from seated at a table up to the podium with no warning in advance. With this style, the MOST important thing you can do is to keep a rough outline in your head. Think up the points you want to make in the order you want to make them and think of how you will transition from point to point. It is this latter part that people often forget to think about. If you aren't thinking of a way to transition from one point to the next then when it comes time to transition, you are going to have a hard break between points. People who are bad speakers often lose track of where they are going and how they want to get there and freak out. Freaking out is the WORST thing you can do. Instead, just take a moment, figure out how to get back on track (even if it is abrupt) and push forward.



Another thing I should note: One of the biggest mistakes people make is to REMEMBER YOUR AUDIENCE. This is a big issue for scientific presentations but really any presentation in general where you are an "expert". My presentations that I give to the business side are VERY different from the ones I give to the scientific side. For the business side, I am careful to not be too scientific, instead focusing on the relevance of the information and 'why they should care'. The data I present is just to drive home the point (such as why we are so much better than our competitor or why we are worse but can do better). For the scientific side, I only briefly touch on the why and then delve deeply into the what. Similarly, if you are talking to churchmembers about fund raising, you will want to focus on what they need to do to increase fund-raising and the benefits of increased fund raising. If you are talking to church management, you are instead going to spend a lot more time talking in depth about the finances.

Lastly, BE PASSIONATE! People listening to a talk resonate with the energy of the speaker. If you are dry and boring, people will feel bored. If you are upbeat and seem interested in the topic, the listener will often feel similar.

This is all for now, but I am sure I will add more later.

[UKFlounder]

It will be a history talk to a history audience so I can do any style I choose I have seen various types

Thanks for the advice - I will re-read it all after work

[KSRdallen]

One of the BEST and most useful classes that I ever took at the University of Kentucky was "Presentational Speaking for Scientists and Engineers"; translation: Public speaking for the socially awkward and inept. The instructor actually was on the board out at the airport and this was the only class he taught. Being on the board, lets just say he has given talks a time or two. To be honest, as far as instructors go, he was phenomenal. I went into this class terrified of public speaking and came out of it not only capable but loving it. CBBN covered some excellent points. Being in science, I have done hundreds of talks at this point.


A few things of note before I get things more in detail:

1. Talk slower than you think you should. You will have some nerves/adrenaline when you get up there. This will naturally make you want to talk fast and talking to fast is WAY worse than talking too slow.
2. DO NOT JUST READ YOUR POWERPOINT SLIDES! It has been shown that the visual and auditory portions of the brain responsible for language processing CANNOT operate at the same time. By reading the content on your screen you actually stress your listeners mental abilities causing them to lose attention and drift off.
3. Try to replace um's with pauses. It allows you to gather your thoughts better and actually makes you appear as a more talented and deep thinking speaker.
4. Another one on powerpoint: do not use yellow font on a white background and use colors like red and orange sparingly. I don't know why this needs to be said but light colors on a dark background, dark colors on a light background ONLY! I can't count the number of presentations where someone made an entire slide of yellow on white text (or purple on black).

Since you you don't tell us what type of presentation I will break it down into Powerpoint style presentations and "off-the-cuff" style.


For a power point presentation:

Power point is a VERY useful tool for providing visual aids and context to what you are saying. I know that many hate powerpoint but it really has its uses when done right. Many people are not auditory learners and by giving a visual context to the words you are saying, you provide a framework for them to better comprehend the details of what you speak. It is also great for conveying data, listing references, etc. The problem is, it is REALLY easy to abuse powerpoint. One of the biggest flaws that people do when making powerpoint slides is turn them into walls of text.

Such as the following two:
http://cdn.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/images/800x800/dimg/m_img_34397.jpg

http://www.thugmed.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/bad-slide.jpg

Both of these are outright horrible slides, because there is just TOO much information on the slide to be useful. Also, when you have a large amount of text on a slide, there is a HIGH propensity to just read the slide. Even I do it, if I put too much text there. In fact, I use that as a gauge of if my slide is succinct enough. If I find myself fighting to not read the slide during my practice, then the slide is too verbose.

Here is an example of a good slide:
https://lacstraining.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/11-choose-chart-type-carefully_good-example_bar-chart-rerendered-as-be-pie-charts.jpg

Ignoring the discrepancies between the data and the text, this is an excellent slide. It shows the data in an easy to digest form. The text clarifies what is the relevant part of the data, etc. It also is structured in such a way that you CAN'T just read the text from the slide but it still gives you a reminder of what you should be talking about. Expect 1 min per slide, unless you are giving a heavily data driven talk, then around 30sec a slide is ok. If you are seeing 30sec or 15 sec per slide and it isn't heavily data driven then you have WAYYYYY too much info on your slides.

"Off-The-Cuff" Style:
This term applies to any type of presentation where you are speaking about a topic without the use of visual aids. Part of the training in the aforementioned class was how to be given a topic and give a 5-10min talk on ANY topic with only 30sec-1min of preparation. Why 30sec-1min? Because that in general will be the amount of time it takes you to go from seated at a table up to the podium with no warning in advance. With this style, the MOST important thing you can do is to keep a rough outline in your head. Think up the points you want to make in the order you want to make them and think of how you will transition from point to point. It is this latter part that people often forget to think about. If you aren't thinking of a way to transition from one point to the next then when it comes time to transition, you are going to have a hard break between points. People who are bad speakers often lose track of where they are going and how they want to get there and freak out. Freaking out is the WORST thing you can do. Instead, just take a moment, figure out how to get back on track (even if it is abrupt) and push forward.



Another thing I should note: One of the biggest mistakes people make is to REMEMBER YOUR AUDIENCE. This is a big issue for scientific presentations but really any presentation in general where you are an "expert". My presentations that I give to the business side are VERY different from the ones I give to the scientific side. For the business side, I am careful to not be too scientific, instead focusing on the relevance of the information and 'why they should care'. The data I present is just to drive home the point (such as why we are so much better than our competitor or why we are worse but can do better). For the scientific side, I only briefly touch on the why and then delve deeply into the what. Similarly, if you are talking to churchmembers about fund raising, you will want to focus on what they need to do to increase fund-raising and the benefits of increased fund raising. If you are talking to church management, you are instead going to spend a lot more time talking in depth about the finances.

Lastly, BE PASSIONATE! People listening to a talk resonate with the energy of the speaker. If you are dry and boring, people will feel bored. If you are upbeat and seem interested in the topic, the listener will often feel similar.

This is all for now, but I am sure I will add more later.

Having given hundreds of talks myself, I came here to offer advice, but Pedro has nailed it.

Pedro, YOU should be teaching this now!

[Darrell KSR]

There is absolutely no need for me to try to give advice, as everything that I would say has already been said, and better than I would have done so. So in an effort to be helpful, I'll instead go through a bit of a recent talk I gave with the slides I used, just as an example, rather than as advice.

This was on Estate Planning....you can sense a theme here. I use humor a lot, and parody some. Fits my personality, but as others have said, you have to be true to yourself. There are many humorous slides, some very straightforward, but I like to keep the audience chuckling, at least. It's a dry topic talking about death anyway.

The first is quasi-introducing the topic with a parody (why you don't need a will). Introduced sort of with a gleam in your eye, letting people know it's a joke.
6060


Have to poke fun at myself. During this slide I tell the audience things like oh, don't worry about what it might cost to probate without a will (intestate). Then go into what is involved, the hearings required (that can be waived in the Will you didn't prepare), the inventories (that could have been waived), the fiduciary bond (etc. etc. etc.) I usually finish it with a joke that at that point, you don't care anyway, because it's your children and spouse's money that you're spending.
6061


To make people feel more comfortable, there are a series of a few smart people that died without a Will.
6062


This part is personal, and for this presentation, I was giving to my Church, it was perfectly fine. I talked a little about the premarital counseling that Monsignor Hebert gave my wife and me, relayed it to our discussion about children (I well remember talking about how we were going to wait until we were financially stable, etc. before children, and Monsignor wisely smiling at us, and telling us that if we waited until then, we'd never have children, and that we'd know when we were ready,) and compared it to waiting until you "had something" before preparing a Will. The Deacon who asked me to give the talk asked me to make it about when was it too early to make a Will (answer--almost never), and it made a nice, gentle poke fun at ourselves moment for the young couples in the audience.
6063

Here's an example of one I used where I knew there were a lot of things I wanted to talk about, and wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything, so I cheated. I had my own built-in index card of bullet points there on the side of the funny photo. Usually I can talk about anything because that's how I'm wired (ok, I'm a big mouth, I get it), but I didn't want to overlook one of those issues.
6064

Not going to bore any more with it, but just thought it might be helpful to go through an actual talk-ish I gave with a few of the powerpoints I used. Hey, I spared you from Ron Swanson's Holographic Will, Al Gore "inventing the internet" (used to discuss do-it-yourself computer-generated Wills), and my "Do not confuse your Google Search with my Law Degree" coffee cup, so I saved you from that :).

Knowing you, Flounder, you'll do terrific. Planning months ahead? Heck, I can't plan 12 hours ahead, as evidenced by Doc having to do the KSR Hall of Fame Game Contest for me AGAIN today as it quasi-slipped my mind.

Oh--the one thing I would echo above all -- slow down your speech. You're not reading something (or reciting it), you're conversing, slowly, with friends. Don't read the powerpoints. Don't look at them more than a glance to keep you on topic. Good luck!

[CitizenBBN]

If your PP slide has so much text on it you even have the option of "reading it" to the audience, it's got too much text. No more than 3-4 bullet points max and no more than a sentence each, ideally no more than 5-6 words. Bullet points, not paragraphs.

I don't mind the handouts having more of the detail on there, easier than taking lots of notes, but not the visual slides.

[KentuckyWildcat]

There are some alternatives to PowerPoint as well such as Prezi and a few others that I can't think of right now.

[CitizenBBN]

There are some alternatives to PowerPoint as well such as Prezi and a few others that I can't think of right now.

I'm so old I got through a lot of my stuff using Harvard Graphics, pre Powerpoint.

[Darrell KSR]

I have to relay this story on myself. When I took my first speech class in high school, the speech teacher emphasized before our first speech that we needed to maintain eye contact with the audience.

I was a 9th grader, 14 years old, and anxious to follow instructions.

So my first speech was given, and I dutifully maintained eye contact with the audience. I started at the left side of the room, and slowly moved to the middle, then to the right, and then back again.

I received my grade on the first speech, and the speech teacher blasted me--said I looked like "a typewriter," the way that my head would go from one side to the other and back again.

Yeah, a typewriter. I AM that old.

[KentuckyWildcat]

I'm so old I got through a lot of my stuff using Harvard Graphics, pre Powerpoint.

Prezi was a big deal here for a while. I personally hated it, but I seemed to be in the minority. It is more animated and people like to use spinning/rotating slides. My motion sickness issues can't handle that.

PowerPoint is the best IMO if done correctly. But I figure I'm just boring. To me a speech is about the words.

[UKFlounder]

Thanks again all.

I think I'm going to try to focus on "me" more than the style. I'm fairly quiet, so something like this is out of my comfort zone - and that's partially why I'm going to do it. I can't just go up there and "be myself" - I would just read it from a typed out paper with little passion or excitement. It will be a subject I'm passionate about, so I need to try to convert that to my speaking somehow. I think I have some cool points to make, and I want others to feel the same. (An interesting aspect of this is that as nervous as I am about the actual talk, I am equally as confident in the material. I will have a well-researched, accurate presentation and I think it will be fairly original, at least for the expected sudience.)

I've got three different ideas for this talk - 2 of which I've tried before, one with a PowerPoint show, and a 3rd one I am trying to prepare from scratch. Which one I do will help me decide how to handle it, as each have different styles I'm working from, but right now I like the thoughts of putting little, if any, text on the slides. I don't want to stare at the screen, just like I don't want to stare at paper. I'll have to find a way to balance that. Photographs, and maybe occasional bullet points, should work nicely on the slides, with other notes (some specific quotes and facts I want to mention) in some kind of hand-held syllabus/outline. (One of my ideas is sbout controversy surrounding a statue. It would be perfect for a photo-dominated slide show.focusing on the monument and some of the questionable features.)

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming if you will. I like the different perspectives.

[Darrell KSR]

Sounds very interesting, Flounder. Love the perspective of showing the photographs/slides.

[Krank]

Man, Flounder, this is an incredibly informative thread... really fun read...

I was just sitting here, wondering... does anyone know if there are some decent "speech" classes online? It would seem to make sense (to me) that something like that would be in demand.

The only reason I think about that, Flounder, is how you commented in your last post about your normally dry reading "style" due to how you tend to be quieter. If there is any concern about a monotone sound in your voice, or even a tendency to be in any sort of direction like that, thinking about HOW you say words, even syllable to syllable, flexing the potential vocal muscles that you never tried, maybe a class would be helpful... and I mean taking a class like this for fun since you mentioned that you had a fair amount of time before your presentation.

And by fun, I mean take that approach to it. Speech classes can be very empowering, knowing some folks who have had great success with it. Having even a basic understanding of inflection, emphasis within sentences or phrases, and hopefully practicing that in a positive way, can lead to a more natural way of presenting yourself, vocally, so you don't have to be as nervous about that.

And never worry about "how" you sound, like don't go listening to yourself obsessively on tape. Everyone hates how they sound when they hear their voice played back. Just practice getting more comfortable hearing your voice the way you hear it, normally, and allow a class perhaps to enhance that perception, again, in a positive way.

[kingcat]

I'm not all that comfortable in front of large crowds, but being a front man for years in a regionally successful band, I had to overcome that. Funny I actually would try to find an empty seat and make the imaginary person my focal point.

Another funny thing I recall is a drummer I once worked with. At rehearsal he always sat a mirror in front off the stage and after a few day of familiarizing him with the material, we went out for our first gig together. I thought, this guy is a real pro.

And guess what he did? You got it, he sat the little mirror up on the front off the stage and watched himself play all night. Of course, he didn't work out.

But I did know a professional comedian who told me that the secret to doing stand up comedy was rehearsing in front of a large mirror.

[Doc]

I belong to a network group. I joined solely to gain speaking experience. I hate talking in front of groups. Every couple months we have to present our business in a 10 min presentation. I have it easier than most. I mean 10 minutes on tax preparation or computer repair can be a bit boring. I did one on declawing a cat complete with video, had a few folks pissed though.

Of course there is the old picture everybody in their underware thing. Odd thing is I misunderstood and went out there in my skivies the first time, thought I was suppose to do it in my drawers. Boy, did I feel stupid... and cold.

I always do the power point, wouldn't do a presentation without one. I find that to be a huge crutch. I do tons of continuing education and every lecture uses them without exception. However like Pedro says, don't just read your slides. Your audience can read your slides. Text on PP should be minimal. Use them as a guide but embellish them. I might have a dog with a medical condition, then explain that condition. The text should highlight what important issue that you explain. One presentation I did was "the new puppy". I did this just prior to Xmas in anticipation of people getting a pet for Christmas so they would bring it and we would show them what to look for. We had just gotten a puppy who had a big hernia. I had a picture of the dog and the hernia then went on to explain it and why it was and wasn't an issue, how it was fixed, etc..... We went through things we look for such as heart conditions, congenital problems, etc... The power point had no text, only illustrations of the conditions, but the PP kept me on topic and allowed the audience to visualize what I was explaining.

[BigBluePappy]

As much as I loathe PowerPoint, it can be a great help in keeping your "rhythm" going.
As Citizen, Doc, Darrell, King have all pointed out the use of it, I can tell you it helps immeasurably because I am a stroke survivor and am prone to intermittent bouts of aphasia/apraxia and when they hit, it can be a little unnerving. Having the old PP slide to fall back on can be a life saver.

[UKFlounder]

I like the concept of rhythm and will have to keep that in mind. Perhaps I can ask people to hold questions until the end so they don't interrupt me. Or may rep I vpcan build a small break in the presentation to give me a chance to grab a drink, catch my breath and maybe take some questions. Hmmm...

I als am thinking about having some kind of handout to provide attendees, though I will have to find a good idea there if I pursue that.

[MickintheHam]

I like the idea of speaking with just a few notes, however outline the talk in power point, just don't show it. But, putting the talk in power point will help you practice. Then show up with just the pictures. If you feel you are forgetting points you can always pull up the slides to get you back on track. But, I would use one slide in addition to the pictures. That slide will show the 3-5 point you want the audience to remember. Show it in the beginning and then again at the then. It's the old three step program: tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them.

[Catfan73]

There's some amazing advice in this thread. I've given a handful of power point presentations but I've been "subjected" to many more. My one piece of advice is to insert some sort change of pace video once or twice if possible and appropriate to keep the ADD folks like myself engaged.

[UKFlounder]

Thanks, Mick. I like the idea of the three step program. That would help keep me focused and, hopefully, make the main points more memorable.

Your idea is interesting too, CF73, but I don't know if the topic or sudience would fit. I'll have to think about it, as a nice piece of humor or surprise halfway through would be an attention grabber. I might have an dea on how to do this. Hmmmm...

[Darrell KSR]

My Dad gave a speech one day at a luncheon, and it went fairly well, well enough that they gave him a standing ovation at the conclusion of the speech. Dad walked back to the table, where my Mom was sitting, sat down, turning to her, and said, "You know, there aren't that many great speakers in the world."

My Mom, who had a knack for keeping him in his place, didn't miss a beat. She replied,

"And there's one less than you think there is."

Rest in peace, Mom. Can't tell you how many times that story has brought a smile to my face.

[BigBluePappy]

My Dad gave a speech one day at a luncheon, and it went fairly well, well enough that they gave him a standing ovation at the conclusion of the speech. Dad walked back to the table, where my Mom was sitting, sat down, turning to her, and said, "You know, there aren't that many great speakers in the world."

My Mom, who had a knack for keeping him in his place, didn't miss a beat. She replied,

"And there's one less than you think there is."

Rest in peace, Mom. Can't tell you how many times that story has brought a smile to my face.

Priceless!

[UKFlounder]

March 14 is the date, so I need to get to work on it as that is a bit sooner than I expected. These meetings are usually recorded and put online, do if thst happppens, I will try to link it here,.

[UKFlounder]

I did it and survived. I was mostly pleased with how I did. I did not feel as nervous as in the past and think I spoke more clearly than usual. I wasn't perfect - I still just mostly read my story while having a PowerPoint of photographs, but I thought having the illustrations was helpful and added to it.

The weather was cold so the crowd was disappointing, but I could not control that. I was well prepared, with an interesting story, and used much of the advice here to help it go well. Thanks again to all who helped.

[Darrell KSR]

Congrats, Flounder. Know you did great.

[MickintheHam]

I did it and survived. I was mostly pleased with how I did. I did not feel as nervous as in the past and think I spoke more clearly than usual. I wasn't perfect - I still just mostly read my story while having a PowerPoint of photographs, but I thought having the illustrations was helpful and added to it.

The weather was cold so the crowd was disappointing, but I could not control that. I was well prepared, with an interesting story, and used much of the advice here to help it go well. Thanks again to all who helped.

Think how much better you will do the next time! Seriously, take time to make notes of what went well and what didn't, making notes on a separate copy of the presentation. It will add to your confidence. It helps to know if you had too much or too little material it helps to know what you think interested the audience. Also, mark down the time. That way in doing another presentation, you will have a feel for how many slides you may need e.g. 10 slides = 15 minutes.