Do you find yourself putting together presentations regularly? Is PowerPoint among one of your most-used software tools? Whether you are presenting to co-workers, management, or even clients, it’s important to hit all your key points while delivering the kind of presentation that is informative and engaging. It’s not an easy task, and if you’re not reading the room correctly, your presentations could be falling short. Rather than continue down the same path, here are some tips that can help you create better digital presentations that pack in the key information while capturing your audience.
By incorporating these tips into your next digital presentation, you can ensure that your audience stays engaged and that your presentation effectively communicates your key points.
One of the biggest mistakes people can make with a digital presentation is to try to pack too much into it and allow it to run too long. There is lots of conversation and debate about what the perfect length of time is for a presentation, and in reality, it comes down to several factors. Generally speaking, the shorter you can keep it, the better. And it's not just the total length of time, but also how long you leave each slide or chart up on the screen.
A good exercise is to deliver your presentation to a friend or family member and then ask for feedback. Get their input on how long they stayed interested and when they started to “check out”. You can also ask about your pacing; do you need to talk slower, faster, or is the pacing ideal?
To keep the presentation concise, be sure not to fall into the trap of packing too much onto a slide, as this will instantly turn off the audience as it becomes information overload.
A big part of increasing the level of engagement is to get audience participation. The minute you ask people to participate it forces them to sit up, pay attention and engage. It can also help to break the ice and set the tone for the presentation.
Word cloud polls can be a fabulous way to increase interaction with your audience in a way that feels fun and unexpected. A live word cloud poll can be done and because results are almost instant, the audience can’t help but want to be involved. It’s simple, it’s fun and it can help make your presentation clearer and more effective.
Your presentation shouldn’t just involve slide after slide of text; instead, you want to mix things up. Throw in some charts, pictures/images, videos, audio and so forth. Breaking up the text changes the pace of the presentation which causes your audience to re-engage, sit up and pay attention.
There’s also no reason you need to wait until the end of the presentation for questions and comments. Let your audience know they can interrupt at any time. If you ask them to wait until the end, they may forget about key points that stuck out to them.
These tips will make it easy for you to create better digital presentations where your audience is more engaged, and the presentation is more effective overall.
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