MBA - MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION (MC)
POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
Introduction
Presenting information clearly and effectively is a key skill to get your message or opinion across and, today, presentation skills are required in almost every field. Whether you are a student, administrator or executive, if you wish to start up your own business, apply for a grant or stand for an elected position, you may very well be asked to make a presentation. This can be a very daunting prospect.
A presentation is a means of communication that can be adapted to various speaking situations, such as talking to a group, addressing a meeting or briefing a team. To be effective, step-by-step preparation and the method and means of presenting the information should be carefully considered. A presentation concerns getting a message across to the listeners and may often contain a 'persuasive' element, for example, a talk.
Developing the confidence and capability to make sensible presentations, before an audience and speak well, also are extraordinarily useful competencies for self-development and in professional and social life. Presentation skills and speechmaking skills aren't restricted to some positions only. However like most abilities, these skills need preparation and practise.
Some Rules to follow when Using Visual Aids (Especially power point sides)
The following are some good practices to use when using visual aids.
1. Do use colour. Black and whites slides will look boring. Use colour even if it is just for a heading for the slide.
2. Make sure the visual aid you are using is visible from at least 8 feet away. If it is legible from approximately that distance, it will be legible to an entire room when it is projected using visual equipment.
3. Consider using clip art. Virtually all computers have some free clip art available. Consider using some on your visual aids, especially if you pick a theme for the art and use a different image on each presentation.
Here are 10 ways to use PowerPoint to help make your presentation look brilliant, not brainless.
1. Use Compelling Material
In a way, PowerPoint’s ease of use may be its own worst enemy. However simple and engaging it can be to build eye-catching slides and graphics, bear in mind that PowerPoint isn’t self-sufficient. The audience has come to hear you, not to stare at images tossed onto a screen. Build a strong PowerPoint program, but make sure that your spoken remarks are just as compelling. “PowerPoint doesn’t give presentations—PowerPoint makes slides,” says Matt Thornhill, President of Audience First, a Midlothian, Va., business that offers presentation training. “Remember that you are creating slides to support a spoken presentation.”
2. Keep it simple
Don’t fall in love with every wrinkle, special effect, and another bit of gadgetry available. The most effective PowerPoint presentation is simple—charts that are easy to understand, graphics that reflect what the speaker is saying. Some authorities suggest no more than five words per line and no more than five lines per individual slide. Don’t try to have too many words and/or graphics. There is no need to have everything that you are explaining up on the screen.
3. Minimize numbers in slides
PowerPoint’s lure is the capacity to convey ideas and support a speaker’s remarks in a concise manner. That’s hard to do through a haze of numbers and statistics. For the most part, most effective PowerPoint displays don’t overwhelm viewers with too many figures and numbers. Instead, leave those for a later, more thorough digestion in handouts distributed at your presentation’s end. If you want to emphasize a statistic in PowerPoint, consider using a graphic or image to convey the point.
4. Don’t read every PowerPoint slide
One of the most prevalent and damaging habits of PowerPoint users is to simply read the visual presentation to the audience. Not only is that redundant—short of using the clicker, why are you even there? —but it makes even the most visually appealing presentation boring to the bone. PowerPoint works best with spoken remarks that augment and discuss, rather than mimic, what’s on the screen. Make eye contact with your audience. These people didn’t come to this presentation to be read to. They came to hear about your topic and hear you.
5. Time your remarks
Another potential land mine is a speaker’s comments that coincide precisely with the appearance of a fresh PowerPoint slide. That merely splits your audience’s attention. A well-orchestrated PowerPoint program brings up a new slide, gives the audience a chance to read and digest it, and then follows up with remarks that broaden and amplify what’s on the screen.
6. Give it a rest
PowerPoint is most effective as a visual accompaniment to the spoken word. Experienced PowerPoint users aren’t bashful about letting the screen go blank on occasion. Not only can that give your audience a visual break, but it’s also effective to focus attention on a strictly verbally give and take, such as a group discussion or a question and answer session.
7. Use vibrant colours
A striking contrast between words, graphics, and the background can be very effective in conveying both a message and an emotion.
8. Import other images and graphics
Don’t limit your presentation to what is offered. Use outside images and graphics for variety and visual appeal, including video, which is easy to embed in PowerPoint slides.
9. Distribute handouts at the end—not during the presentation
No speaker wants to be chatting to a crowd that’s busy reading a summary of his or her remarks. Unless it is imperative that people follow a handout while you’re presenting, wait until you’re done to distribute them.
10. Never lose the perspective of the audience.
Once you’re finished drafting your PowerPoint slides, assume you’re just one of the folks listening to your remarks as you review them. If something is unappealing, distracting, or confusing, edit ruthlessly. Chances are good your overall presentation will be the better for it.
PowerPoint slides are used not just for decorative purposes; they must be functional.
Post a Comment