How to Speak at a Conference Without Looking Like an Idiot

Note from Phil: What follows is an article from my slide design genius, Ryan McRae. Ryan takes my presentation slides and makes them ROCK! His insights that follow should help you be a good or even better presenter. In my previous field of Higher Education, I had the pleasure of working with highly intelligent people. Highly. But I can’t tell you how many presentations from very educated and intelligent people bored me to tears. Their message got buried in Powerpoint templates and horrible visualizations. They resembled the fourth grader reading a sad report on “What I Did Last Summer.” No matter your information, if your execution is poor—we won’t engage or learn.  So let’s learn how to give a presentation that blows people away, leaves them staggering out the door with your awesomeness. GETTING STARTED: When people think about creating a Powerpoint presentation, they usually just fire up ol’ Powerpoint and start picking a template. Ooooh, this orange looks good. Maybe this purple? No….here…..GREEN.  This is a rookie move. Before you even touch your computer, decide on what you want your audience to know when its over. You want to decide what you want your audience to learn. Essentially you are working backwards—constructing your presentation around your goal. For example, I spoke at Association of College and University Officials—International on Why Every Campus Should Have a Geek Week.  There are geeks on their campus. The poor geeks didn...
Source: Phil Gerbyshak - Category: Life Coaches Authors: Tags: Presentation Tips Source Type: blogs