“The audience is the most important component of a presentation. And it is the presenter’s job to design and deliver a presentation that engages and energizes audiences.”
The above statement by Janel Miller from the University of Wisconsin-Madison forms one of the key messages during our August 2015 session, Designing Slides for Effective Project Presentations. During the session, Janel reinforced that a great presentation is designed to appeal to the expectations of the audience (rather than provide talking points for the presenter), and that presenters should be aware of how their audiences process information. By being aware of how people process information, speakers can increase the likelihood that their presentation is engaging and memorable.
Below are four key steps that Janel discussed to achieve the goal of delivering an effective presentation:
- Build your talk on key messages – what thoughts do you want your audience to walk away with?
- Organize supporting visuals – gather relevant, supporting visuals that reinforce your key message, before adding text
- Draft headline assertions for each slide – use concise but complete sentences that deliver the full message of the slide
- Practice delivery – be confident in key messages and practice strong verbal transitions between slides
Further discussion of the above four points can be found in the 2:25 video clip from Janel’s session.