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Open Thread: Your best tip on doing presentations
Merlin Mann | Nov 18 2005
As I mentioned yesterday, I'll be leading a discussion on Tinderbox and "the trusted system" tomorrow. Probably running a few Keynote slides, but mostly just casually chatting with a small group of enthusiastic Tinderbox fans. I'm not a seasoned public speaker by anyone's estimation, so I've made my share of rookie mistakes in the past (hint: avoid doing a rambling, overlong talk without slides at ETech; people get confused, hungry, and eventually want to defenestrate you). So, as I prep myself for tomorrow, I turn to you guys: What's your best presentation tip? What's the "never break it" rule for PowerPoint/Keynote decks? What's your favorite site, article, or link on great presentations? How do I get that Lessig-, Jobs-, or Veen-like fu that makes audiences so giddy? (Self-links are okay within reason here) I'll be over here imagining people in their underwear, but I'd love to hear your best advice on this stuff. Update 2005-11-19 21:37:26I've posted the slides from my talk today along with links to some of the posts and cool applications I mentioned. Summary: went well! Very enthusiastic group -- great questions and conversations. And no one threw rotten vegetables. Elin liked it, and that's good enough for me. :-) 79 Comments
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 The thing that has helped...Submitted by Tim (not verified) on November 18, 2005 - 10:42am.
The thing that has helped me the most is to know my transitions. I used to really focus on the main points, but I found I still falter when I needed to move on. This fits with the comment on thinking of the presentation as a story. Knowing exactly how to move to the next point (i.e. have it memorized) helps everything flow smoothly. This includes knowing what will be on the next slide. It's best to speak the intro to the slide as you turn to it. If your words and what's on the screen are out of sync it will be distracting and the clarity of your message will be lost. I try to avoid looking at the new slide to figure out what I'm going to say next. » POSTED IN:
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