Extras for a Stronger Presentation

Everyone in todays busy world is continuously bombarded with information...from DVDs, CDs, television shows, the Internet, at meetings, in books and magazine articles, and in many other ways.

       As a result, its all but essential that your presentation must stand out and rise above the information overload we all experience every day.

       In order to reach its full impact potential and to truly drive your ideas home, you must implement techniques that make your presentation stronger as well as more memorable. 

Here are four strong presentation tips:

Provide handouts and takeaways.
While preparing your oral presentation, remember to create separate printed documents that highlight the vital objectives and benefits of what youre presenting. Before or during the presentation, you can hand these out...providing an outline that your audience can follow along with. Also, at the end of your presentation, pass out documents summarizing the principal points of your presentation these documents can then be taken away by your audience for future reference to make your presentation messages better sink in.

Utilize visual aids.
Flip charts, overhead transparencies, product samples and other display materials can do a terrific job of maintaining your audiences interest during the presentation as well as helping to ensure that they better understand everything you are communicating. Laser pointers can also be very effective, but be careful not to overuse them.

Take advantage of high-tech possibilities.
Todays multimedia projection and audio technology is truly remarkable, allowing you to present your ideas in fascinating ways that include impressive use of lights, sound and moving images. Remember however that your message is still the single most important component in your presentation, so do not let technology become the star of your show...detracting from and overshadowing what youre trying to say.

Conduct a Q&A session.
A smart, and proven, technique for wrapping up a successful presentation is to allow time at the end for questions and answers. This creates an opportunity to accomplish several things, including...clarifying any information the audience may not be sure about; expanding upon certain aspects of the presentation; and reinforcing significant ideas that were presented. Tip: if you are presenting to a large audience, repeat each question so everyone can hear it.