The Effective Presenter

Becoming a more effective presenter requires maintaining focus on your topic. There have been too many occasions when a presentation begins to run off topic or loses focus. One needs to constantly be asking themselves when designing a presentation "What is the point?" and "How is this relevant to the main focus of the presentation I am giving?" The key is to simplify. I like to use the expression "Quality over Quantity."

Using a multi-media source to facilitate a presentation is a must, however writing a novel on a slide is a must-not! Remember to constantly be focusing on what "your point" is, and deliver that message to your audience. Terms will signify importance, and images can save you time trying to build a description that could potentially fail in translation, or send you off track. Images will also attract your audience, but don't go overboard, it's a presentation not a picture show.

It's always good to keep notes when giving a presentation. If you feel yourself losing focus these notes can supply you with the information to smoothly transition back on topic. More importantly as a presenter, you should not rely on your PowerPoint, Prezi, or Keynote to guide your through your presentation, you should be using it to guide your audience.

Providing handouts is another way to improve your presentation. Yes, they have been viewed as cheat sheets and distractions, but that all falls on the presenter. Remember, the focus to becoming a better presenter is to keep it simple and stay on point. The same goes for your handout. Give your audience the information they need, but keep it simple.

Presentations in general give all of us butterflies in our stomachs, however when that time comes, in order to be the most effective, you must first of all, remember to stay focused on your topic, always revise, and finally most important, simplify.