Title

What makes a good presentation title? Here are some suggestions;

1. Short – four to five words might be typical in your industry
2. Clear and accurate – specifically what are you talking about?
3. Makes you curious – “hmm, that sounds interesting”
4. Provides clues – is the talk for novices or experts?
5. Word play – example; when speaking about tools, “Don’t be a tool”.
6. Key Words – Tips, Tricks, Techniques, Best, Free, Resources, Simplifying, Myths, How To, Improving, Optimizing, Stronger, Faster

The title may be all that the audience reads to decide whether to attend your presentation. In some cases there is room for a paragraph or even a full-page of more information. Be sure to use it.

Description

Here is the opportunity to offer more. Elaborate on the ideas in the title. But, be sure you don’t introduce subjects that are not related. Keep a tight focus. Use numbered or bulleted lists if you can. Specify the target audience. Show a bit of your background, sense of humor and why they should attend.

Plugg Conference

Your Presentation Slides

First, lets assume that you will publish your slide presentation on the web. SlideShare.com is a common site to share presentations, usually after they are presented, but not always after.

There are also benefits to sharing your presentation on your own website or blog. Why not drive traffic to your own site and introduce more visitors to your content?

I do both.

Share Online

This allows me to use SlideShare as an outpost, a place where people may find me for the first time  (unrelated to the conference).  SlideShare offers analytics that show me how many times people watch the presentation, plus I get to use their widget to post my presentation on my website with ease.

Letting your audience know at the beginning of the talk that the slides are available online will cut the note taking anxiety and let them focus more on listening and less on “writing”.

Contact / Sharing Info

Don’t be too shy or too bold about letting people know who you are and if it is relevant who you work for.  It can be very helpful to include a website address, email address, Twitter handle, a Twitter hash tag, phone number or whatever is proper (not all that info) to your audience, on every slide.

People like to connect with speakers. Give them that opportunity. You may be pleasantly surprised.

The Slide

Your slide is not a script to be read from. In fact there is a trend away from lots of text toward visual clues for the audience.

The first slide generally offers the title of the presentation, maybe a sub-text and a graphic. Here or on the second slide your contact information is available in a large readable font.  Also give three to five points on you and why people should listen to you. Education, work experience, past clients  and an interesting fact usually are enough.

Remember that the slide design is to support the message, not show off your design skills. I like strong, solid colors with impactful text or images.  I have made the mistake of jamming five lines of text on a slide. Don’t do that. And you won’t if the slides are for illustration and not your script.

How many slides? Target about one per minute .

How many bullets on a slide? 3-6 seems reasonable.

The last slide again displays your contact information and relevant links. Consider also including a link to your account on SpeakerRate to gather information so that you can improve before the next speaking engagement.

Links

People love additional resources, so include links.

Use shortened links. Have some pity for the note takers and typists in the audience.

Think about the name of the shortened link. You may be thinking about the name of the conference. But, your audience may be thinking about the skill set or discipline you are speaking about. What kind of naming will make the link most sharable and interesting. Refer back to the title information in this post up at the top.

Photo Credits

Using Creative Commons photos from Flickr is a great way to get quality images for free. You can include a credit on each slide with the image or all on one slide at the end of your slide deck, which I find less distracting.

Audience Participation

Tell the audience right up front that you want this to be interactive and to yell out questions or to hold questions until the end. They have a right to be informed. If the session is being recorded tell the audience to please wait for the microphone before speaking. Guide them gently to successful participation.

Give something away

When I presented after lunch I shared individually wrapped Lindt chocolateswith the audience. It kept them alert in the after lunch time slot and it was fun.

Lindt Lindor Truffles for Everyone

Provide a free document from your website. Offer a PDF of valuable information.  This will again drive qualified traffic to your website and introduce more people to your ideas and capabilities. Ensure that the document is well branded too.

Or offer a fun quiz at the end of your presentation and offer small prizes.

Or you could just give prizes to those that add useful comments, ask questions or otherwise take part.

Whatever you give away will make a lasting impression on the recipient.

Breathe

It is best to assume that the audience is on your side and supportive, especially if this is your first presentation.

Although saying “this is my first presentation” seems like a good idea, I don’t recommend what actors call, “breaking the fourth wall”. Stay on form. Don’t talk about your presentation to the audience.

This is especially hard when the computer and projector problems delay your presentation.  Ask for  technical help if you need it.

Know that you are the best “you” that there is. Be grateful for the audience. Go out and share what you know without fear. Learn from the experience.  Rinse and repeat.

References

Keep in mind that this post is full of suggestions. There are always exceptions and we each have our own style and audience.

The best slides I have ever seen in person were from Tamsen McMahon. Here is one set which is 146 slides (very long), but don’t miss the last slide.

The PowerPoint Manifesto by John Heaney is recommended.

And Tony Ramos has a blog devoted to presentations.

Further Suggestions

Please add your further suggestions in the comments below.

I have attended an awful lot of conferences, camps, seminars and presentations in recent years. Yesterday I was a speaker.

Speaking instead of Listening

Being a presenter brings an entirely new and different perspective on the day.  A lot leads up to “the day” and I had a lot of questions in my head.

When I was initially asked to speak at LaunchCamp I was certain that the date was two days away.  I got cracking immediately, but the next day I learned that I was confused and wrong.  We had a good chuckle over that and another week to prepare.  What a relief.

I got my slide deck ready over the weekend before the presentation.  Then a friend learned I was preparing a presentation and offered to improve the slide design, clean things up and help me focus in on key points.  I welcomed this kind of offer with open arms.

Jim Spencer speaking at LaunchCamp Boston 2010

The week leading up to the presentation was busy for everyone. One day went by and then another, while time and progress seemed to be in short supply.  I wanted to move forward, but couldn’t because the slide deck was being improved by my friend.

Always Expect the Unexpected

In addition to preparing for the presentation client work continued as much as possible, as did family life.  The day before the event was really when I expected the presentation to come together.

Instead, around 11 AM I learned that every single website on my dedicated server had been infected by a malicious script.  I was dumb struck.  Not only that this had happened, but that it happened on this day at this time.

I immediately put on my systems administrator hat and figured that restoring each account from back up would be tedious at best.  Unfortunately, the attack occurred shortly before the nightly backup which made that backup useless.  My dedicated server hosting provider has a specific team for security and abuse.  I am so grateful that I pay a lot of money for hosting each month.  In about an hour it was like this problem had never existed.  They identified every aspect of the issue, removed the malicious script from every account and made the necessary changes to ensure this never happens again. I felt like I was touched by an angel.

The Day Of

The next day at the event I was in the audience watching the current speaker.  About 20 minutes before my presentation I received an IM with a revised version of my presentation.  Another stunner.

Sitting in the audience watching the presenter struggle for what seemed like 15 minutes to get the laptop to display on the screen was uncomfortable on many levels. My heart went out to that presenter.

I don’t go out with my laptop much, so I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen on a lot of levels as it powered up.  My WiFi login failed.  The laptop shut down for no apparent reason.  I thought that the battery was gone.   I needed to get online to download the new presentation. I was scheduled to be on in 15 minutes.  And then, thinking of the current presenter, I realized that the printed version of my presentation was sitting in the output tray of the printer at the office. Ouch.

With what seemed like a lack of email the option of Dropbox or Google Docs just seemed too complex.  I would just use my slides.   The laptop booted up and I was able to login properly to the WiFi network.

Projector Projector

I walked to my presentation room and connected my laptop to the video cable.  This unleashed 10 minutes of struggling with unfamiliar video display controls and PowerPoint settings.  I finally asked the audience if there was a doctor in the house.  While he came up I realized that my emailed presentation had arrived. Yeah!!  A helpful gentleman provided the assistance that I need to get the presenter display (with presenter notes) on the lap top and only the presentation on the screen, instead of the reverse.  And someone else figured turning on the projector was a good thing.  I thank you both.

Lindt Lindor Truffles for Everyone

I got things rolling with Lindt chocolate for everyone and we were off to the races.

What About Next Time?

• Available tech support, even for the tech savvy, is a substantial win for any presenter.  There is enough to think about and technology challenges should be easily eliminated from the speaker’s concerns.
• If possible, it is great to have a clear understanding of your audience’s fluency in the subject matter.  Otherwise, as a presenter, I think it makes sense to err on the side of going too deep, rather than too shallow.
• For various reasons the subject of the presentation can wander around a bit during the preparation.  One reason may be that the instructions were to “speak on what you are passionate about” or something similar. I wondered if what I would present was “on target”. Thankfully, those in the audience told me that it was.
• I was curious about the duration.  Did I have too much information?
• It might be great fun if there is a speaker, shall we say “lounge”.  A room for speakers to leave “stuff”.  A place to meet other speakers, network, assess the audience and so on.  It occurs to me that this also keeps the speakers away from the attendees, which is not ideal. I still think it is a nice perk when available.
• Telling engaging stories is the key to a good presentation. This is the life experience, the rich nectar that never appears in the slides, that the audience really appreciates.
• The fewer slides and the fewer words the better.
• Have a point or a few points that you want people to leave with.
• Be sure to thank the 2-3 friends that review your slide deck.  That is the subtle way of saying, having someone proof read it, verify the facts and make it pretty. Thanks to Jeff, Don and Selina.
• Afternoon presenters should be required to hand out chocolates.  Even after a lengthy technical delay the audience was smiling, laughing and engaging.

Conclusion

It is a great experience in life any time that you can support a friend, share useful information that will help others and conquer your own fears and hesitations.  There were many victories around and during this event.  I look forward to the next opportunity to present. I’ll be ready, chocolates in hand.  Here is the presentation I gave.

Have you presented?  Do you have any tips to share?  Questions are welcome as well.  You can use the form below.