Giving a PowerPoint Presentation When You’re a Total Rookie

As humans, fear is hardwired into our brains. From heights to snakes and spiders, there are plenty of things that give us an unsettled feeling in our stomachs. But among these fears lie an all too common one: public speaking. The National Institute of Mental Health posits that 74 percent of people suffer from speech anxiety. So while it’s likely that you didn’t make it out of school without having to do some form of public presentation – whether to the class for show-and-tell in Kindergarten or a thirty-minute research report in grad school – presentations and public speaking events are likely still as panic-inducing as ever.

You might find yourself asking these questions: How do I create an engaging presentation? What if I stutter? What do I do if I forget my talking points? But it’s probable that you’ll have at least several weeks (and probably more) of preparation before said presentation, so naturally it all starts with preparation leading up to the big day.

Below we’re going to take a look at three steps any novice can follow to create a solid, engaging presentation.

1.) Preparation

This is the most important step in the three step process to a great presentation. Without a solid ?understanding of your material and a narrow focus of your intent, your presentation will be doomed from the beginning. Make sure that you know what you’re talking about, so you can expect the attendees of your presentation to actually learn something from your presentation. As a presenter, you’re supposed to be an authority, and your main objective is to be able to translate that subject material to a wider audience as effectively as possible. The only way this is attained is through a comprehensive understanding.

2.) Creation

The creation phase of the process is the most subjective, and entirely up to you as the creator of the presentation. Here are a couple quick things you can do to draw in your audience more thoroughly:

  • Avoid large clumps of text: people are likelier to absorb information in short colorful bursts. Using a larger amount of slides is preferable to a bulky wall of text that no one will comprehend.
  • Use engaging typography: try to steer away from typefaces like Times New Roman (boring and typical) or Comic Sans (nobody will take your presentation seriously). Conversely, Helvetica is always a good choice and looks nice in pretty much any setting.
  • Let your creativity flow: Play around with color schemes. Add pictures and other multimedia. Find a great video online that accentuates your objective? Use add-in software like LiveSlides, which lets you insert YouTube video in PowerPoint to help engage your audience more efficiently.

There isn’t any one trick to making an engaging presentation, so play around and have fun with it! Capture your audience with crisp-looking slides, just don’t go overboard and make them tacky.

3.) Presentation

Now that you’ve created a well thought out, engaging PowerPoint presentation, it’s time to prepare for the actual presentation. Oral presentations can be intimidating and bracing yourself to speak in front of an audience of any size may be more difficult than expected. Every aspect of your presentation should be meaningful and on-topic. The best presentations are rehearsed – not only to know exactly what you will say, but to present yourself as a relaxed, professional, and charismatic speaker. Though just because you’ve rehearsed doesn’t mean you should speak like a robot. That’s an easy way to get your audience to tune out in a guilt-free fashion.

Rehearsal also allows for some obvious alleviation of stage fright. This calls back to why being prepared is the first and most important step in the presentation process. Practice in front of a large mirror. Take note of your body language, posture, eye contact and voice. Would you want to watch your presentation?

With engaging media, a simplistic yet eye-catching design and thought-out objective, you should have the makings of a solid presentation on your hands.


Preparation. Creation. Presentation. It is through these three steps that you will have an informative, interesting and overall successful PowerPoint presentation sure to resonate with your audience.

 

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