Practice Presentation
Powerpoint presentations can be quite arduous for students, especially if they are not cognizant of what is required of them. In order to develop an effective presentation, students have to first show passion and connect with their audience. This means that one has to immerse themselves at the moment. Being enthusiastic and honest is the best-fit way to reach out to the audience with the response, most likely being positive. The second strategy requires the presenter to focus on the needs of the audience, whereby the presentation has to be built around the people who are going to listen. It is imperative to balance the message and the needs in a bid to avoid any confusion. The presenter also has to keep it simple and focus highly on the core message. Recommendations from Skills You Need (2020) call on presenters to ask themselves which three key points or messages should the audience take away at the end of the presentation. The author further argues that a 30-second elevator summary should be provided whereby whatever message is being postulated should be no more than 15 words. Take, for example, my presentation is on general motors’ with the message being “GM’s profitability in the electric vehicle market.”
The third strategy is to start the presentation strongly with a hook. The start should be followed by an anchor, which will then set the foundation for the provision of the message. The presentation need not be gloomy, with jokes being strategic tools that can capture the attention of the listener or viewer (Skills You Need, 2020). The fourth strategy is the implementation of the 10-20-30 rule whereby the presentation should have no more than ten slides; play for no more than twenty minutes addendum to having a font size of larger than 30 points (Skills You Need, 2020). Suffice to say that the 30 point font rule can be tweaked if it undermines the aesthetic eminence of the presentation. The slide show should however, act as a sideshow or a complement to the presenter. Lastly, take breaks in between the presentation to engage the audience in order to maintain attention and improve retention of information.
References
Skills You Need. (2020). Top Tips for Effective Presentations. Retrieved June 27, 2020, from skillsyouneed.com: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/present/presentation-tips.html