I had the opportunity to present to a local organization in Salt Lake City on the techniques Lullabot uses for making kick ass presentations and how we streamline our presentations so they're reusable amongst our teaching staff. Watch the video below and download the slides.
- Ditch PowerPoint. PowerPoint prefers boredom, repetition and information fatigue.
- Do a cold open and talk about something relevant: the weather, the setting, world news.
- Kill the bullet points. People don't retain bullet points. They retain the story.
- Don't apologize for a demonstration not working as expected. Either figure it out together with the audience or simply move on.
- Simple, but not simplistic. You're audience is smart. A one-by-one reveal of bullet points is simplistic. A large photo with a brief message is simple (and brilliant).
- When creating reusable slides, use learning objectives and outlines to supplement the presentation while leaving room for each presenter to share their stories.
- Make it fun! Connect the presentation to what you're passionate about.