Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Tips for Acing Your Next Presentation

As college classes come to an end, many of us have just a few things standing between us and the end of the semester, namely final exams and presentations. For Communications and PR students, these presentations may be some of the last of our college careers but will probably not be the last of our professional careers. Below are some tips from Lifehack.org's article "18 Tips for Killer Presentations."

1. 10-20-30 Rule: A powerpoint slide show should contain no more than 10 slides, last no longer than 20 minutes, and be written in no less than 30 point type.

2. 15-Word Summary: You should be able to summarize each idea in 15 words. If you can't, try writing down the idea and choosing 15 important words that summarize it.

3. Speeches are About Stories: If your speech is going to be long, use stories to connect with your audience.

4. "That's a Good Question:" You can use statements like this one to buy yourself more time to organize your thoughts when answering tough questions. These filler sentences are less noticeable to your audience than littering your answers with "ums" and "ahs."

5. Breathe In, Not Out: When you feel the urge to use fillers, pause and take a short breath in.

6. Put Yourself in the Audience: Try to see your speech from the audience's perspective when writing it. Think about what they might find confusing or boring and use WIIFM (What's In It For Me) as a guide.

To read the rest of the tips from the article, click here.

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