Takin’ Care of Business How To Create Engaging and Professional Presentations

Overview The do’s and don’ts of presentations Different types of presentations Knowing which type to use Things to remember

Introduction Red – Tip for Good Presentation Yellow – Bad Presentation Example Green – Things To Use For Presentations Orange – Fears About Presenting Blue – FREEBIE! Brown – Question or Comment at the End

Step 1: Figuring Out Your Audience WHO is this presentation for? WHAT are they expecting? HOW should it be delivered?

Step 2: Determine the Best Way to Get Your Message Across Presentations will be different for conferences, jobs, classwork, etc. Q: What are some differences you might see? Demeanor, attire, when/when not to joke Use of handouts, Powerpoint, participation

Step 3: Make it Neat Limit number of slides Only include key points on slides Avoid using long sentences Make fonts big and readable Proofread!

Step 4: Find Your Voice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=366BUdz8XQQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4880PJnO2E

Step 5: Provide Information First page – about the presentation Second page – overview/what to expect Leave room for questions Final page – contact information Cite references and where information came from

DO: Practice, practice, practice Open with a comment, question, story, etc to hook the audience Take a deep breath! Check for typos Ask questions to gauge the type of presentation expected Engage the audience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA

DON’T: For this next slide we are going to talk about all the things you shouldn’t do for a presentation. These will be important to consider while you are presenting because they are challenging to people who are trying to pay attention. Some things you want to be extra careful not to do are to include too many words on a slide, to make it difficult to read (contrast of font to background), to make the fonts too small, or to talk about things that have little relevance to the topic (by the way, I really like ice cream). These things can be distracting and overwhelming to the audience. When you are working on your slide, practice looking at it from different computers and make sure that everything is working well before you showcase it. This will be necessary so that you can see if it will work on all different computers. Have you ever been in a presentation where it looked like this? It can definitely be frusturating. I am going to say all of this again just to get my point across . For this next slide we are going to talk about all the things you shouldn’t do for a presentation. These will be important to consider while you are presenting because they are challenging to people who are trying to pay attention. Some things you want to be extra careful not to do are to include too many words on a slide, to make it difficult to read (contrast of font to background), to make the fonts too small, or to talk about things that have little relevance to the topic (by the way, I really like ice cream). These things can be distracting and overwhelming to the audience. When you are working on your slide, practice looking at it from different computers and make sure that everything is working well before you showcase it. This will be necessary so that you can see if it will work on all different computers. Have you ever been in a presentation where it looked like this? It can definitely be frusturating. I am going to say all of this again just to get my point across . If you have caught on to what I’m doing and would like to offer a DON’T to me, please raise your hand and interrupt me.

DON’T. Stress; you’ve got this. Forget to breathe Use distracting fonts or styles Abbreviate or use acronyms Forget to put yourselves in the shoes of your audience

Brown M&Ms Questions, comments, tips and advice