One of the biggest problems I see with a Power Point presentation today is that presenters using them to take what I call “evasive action” in their public speaking. By “evasive action,” I’m referring to hiding behind the Power Point presentation, figuratively speaking. A person required to deliver a presentation is uncomfortable with public speaking. They’d rather not deal with it although it’s unavoidable. Instead, they throw all of their content information onto Power Point slides, and voila! They’re done. The presentation’s ready. Now all they have to do is get up in front of their audience, turn on the projector, and go through each slide, reading most if not all of the information aloud.
Does this describe your presentation style, at least a little? If so, please change it immediately! Sadly, a great many business Power Points are like this, from what I’ve seen and heard. They’re indescribably mind numbing for the listener, but that’s not the only problem.
Here are a few additional issues this style of presenting creates:
1) The speaker renders themselves irrelevant and replaceable to the presentation. The audience can read Power Point presentation slides faster than a speaker can say them, so what’s the point of reciting information that the audience has probably already read through? (There’s also the high probability that they’re checking their Blackberries.)
2) The audience stops listening to the speaker if they’re spending more than a few seconds reading slides. When this happens, speaker has to compete with their own Power Point presentation to regain the audience’s attention.
3) For a truly powerful presentation, a speaker must connect with their audience on both an intellectual and emotional level. An ill-used Powerpoint interferes with the speaker’s ability to create that emotional connection with their audience. This type of connection can only occur between the speaker and their audience, not the Power Point presentation and the audience — at least not in my experience!
So here are a few Power Point presentation tips to make sure you don’t do this:
1) Don’t write your presentation in Power Point from the start. Keep the text short and simple
2) If you feel you must present slides with a large amount of data, simply highlight the areas on the slide that show the figures you wish to point out, and draw your audience’s attention to those — briefly.
3) Make a handout to distribute at the end of the presentation with all of the notes, charts and data your audience members may need to analyze later. Let them know this at the beginning of your presentation, so they can focus their attention on you.
When speaking in public, one of your goals is to present yourself as a leader, an expert in your field. If used, your Power Point presentation must help you work toward this goal. There’s more to be learned on how to use Power Point presentations effectively.
As a matter of fact, one of the calls in our five-part teleseminar series will be devoted primarily on this very subject. Please visit our Presentation Power Pack page to read more about the course and sign up for the free preview call coming up next Wednesday, April 7th.
Thanks and have a great evening. 
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