So here goes the rest of the secret in giving an effective ppt presentation.
Slide Construction
DO NOT put complete sentences in your slides. Put the information in points ONLY. Remember that you are not making a presentation to give sentence reading classes to your audience. Lengthy sentences on a slide make the audience uninterested in the presentation. Consider the following two examples if present in a slide.
- -The introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds and the increased use of fertilizers and irrigation are known collectively as the Green Revolution, which provided the increase in production needed to make India self-sufficient in food grains, thus improving agriculture in India.
- -Hybrid high-yielding wheat was first introduced to India in 1963 by Dr. Borlaug. Borlaug has been hailed as the Father of the Green Revolution. The methods adopted included the use of high yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds.
So this information can be presented articulately as below.
- Introduction of high-yielding seed varieties.
- Increased use of fertilizers and irrigation .
- Increased production.
- Improved agriculture.
- Introduced in 1963 by Dr. Borlaug (Father of the Green Revolution).
- Methods – Use of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of seeds.
Observe that even though the topic was introduced out of nowhere, it is pretty easy to comprehend the information in the latter format.
Speaking while presenting
DO NOT read out whatever is there exactly in the slides. Explain it to your audience. While presenting DO NOT speak “Now we come to green revolution in India. What it gave is introduction of high yielding seed varieties, increased use of……” Your audience is well capable of reading the slides on their own unless you are presenting it to kindergarten students. Describe every point on the slide in an easy way. You may say “So now we proceed to the Green Revolution of India. As the name describes, it was a revolution indeed which brought about increased use of fertilizers and irrigation by introducing HIGH YIELDING SEED VARIETIES”. Speak out unfamiliar words slowly (words in CAPS above). Your audience may lose track if you speak too fast. Speak out the information like you are telling a story to a child, with lot of expressions and emphasizing important terms. This will keep the audience with you throughout the presentation until you conclude.
Timing your presentation
Know how much time you have for your presentation. Do not speak too fast or too slow as you may have to compensate on time later. Do not keep moving on the stage as that will distract your audience. Stay calm and composed and let your body posture be straight. Look at the audience throughout the presentation. Be well versed with each slide so that you may not spend your entire time staring at the slides. Keep looking at all of them while speaking. This indicates that you want everyone to receive your speech. Be fluent in whatever language you are presenting. That does not mean that you have to be a language expert. Be audible to your audience.
Confidence
Finally, we come to one very important factor – confidence. Developing confidence is a gradual process unless you are someone who is blessed as being a confident person. Practice speaking before the final delivery of the presentation. Have thorough knowledge on what you are presenting. Practice is the price you pay for perfection.
These were some of the important points that may be used to deliver an effective presentation. The above steps can help you in bringing a substantial improvement in your presentation skills! I may have missed out on some points, so please feel free to add in by commenting below. All the best for your next presentation!