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10 Tips for Successful Speaking
With (or Without!) PowerPoint
by Nan Andrews Amish and Liz de Clifford
1. When speaking to an audience YOU are speaker, PowerPoint
is the OPTIONAL visual aid or reference document (not the reverse).
2. If you have heavy content to convey, PowerPoint can be extremely
useful to remind people of key points (not to provide the entire
script of your talk).
3. When using PowerPoint, make sure it is legible from the back
of the room (font size of 32 points or greater). 4-5 bullets
of two or three words each or simple diagrams are best.
4. High contrast between letters and background of the slide
is critical for easy reading from a distance. Test out your
PowerPoint in a conference room before the presentation! Consider
boring over tough-to-read choices of colors and backgrounds.
(Blue, black, dark purple type on white, pale ivory or gray
are good choices. White or yellow type on dark blue, black,
dark purple or dark teal are also good. Avoid red lettering,
it runs. Use red, orange, burgundy for underlines, bullets,
emphasis, not text.)
5. One slide per two minutes is a good general rule. No fair
having 12 point type and no spaces on the slide. (See # 3!)
6. It is a temptation to look up or back at the screen when
using PowerPoint. This usually has the unfortunate effect of
turning your back to half the audience. (Not a good thing, even
if you do have stage fright.) Power Point is for the audience,
not a convenient wall for your notes.
7. Consider using only a couple of PowerPoint slides, to show
visuals easier seen than described. When not in use, turn it
off. Connect with your audience.
8. Consider not using PowerPoint at all! You will be able to
make better eye contact with your audience without it. Consider
a handout alone, without the projector instead.
9. Consider using your body to make the point, instead of PowerPoint.
It can be very effective and funny too.
10. If you do plan to use PowerPoint, have a backup plan, if
a disk crashes, if a cord is missing, if the power goes out.
Power Point is the visual aide. You are the speaker.
(359 words) Copyright © 2005-2007 Nan Andrews Amish. All rights
reserved.
Nan Andrews Amish and Big Picture Perspective
offer facilitation, member surveys, management assessments,
tools, workshops and keynote addresses to help associations,
leaders and teams increase their effectiveness by seeing the
big picture perspective. Nan knows associations. She is past
president of a 1000 member New England regional marketing association
and current board member and 2002 Member of the Year of the
National Speakers Association/Northern California.
Permission to reprint this article is granted, provided
original authors are given credit, and a link to www.BigPicturePerspective.com
is included.
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