Even if you’re in a dazzling Phuket conference venue, a PowerPoint slideshow is a daunting prospect. The ubiquitous feature of any and all business meetings and conferences, a presentation can be an extremely engaging and memorable way of getting a message across to a large audience, yet it so rarely is. Here are a few tips to help you keep your audiences both well-informed and entertained.

 

 

Keep It Snappy

Waffle is the enemy of a good presentation. It is far too tempting to go off on a tangent or use 10 words where three will do. However, in doing so, the chances of your presentation sticking in the mind of your audience are drastically reduced. Stay on point and use clear and concise language throughout.

 

Keep It Relevant

Travelling all the way to a Phuket conference venue is a big investment of time and money, and talking about anything not directly relevant to your audience is going to bore them at best, annoy them at worst. A simple way to make sure that you stay on-task is to run the “Who cares?” test. In reviewing each slide, ask yourself that question. If the answer is not “the people attending my presentation” you need to either edit or drop that slide.

 

Keep It Colourful

Bullet points are effective in note-taking, but they are the death of a good presentation. They are not engaging or exciting and, most importantly, they are not memorable. If there is any way you can show the same information with a graphic of some kind, use it. You ideally want to use graphs and charts, but even a photo would suffice.

 

Keep It Friendly

This is probably the hardest part of all to do well. As the presenter, you set the tone of the presentation. A good setting, like a swanky Phuket conference venue, will certainly help, but how your audience feels is down to your own charisma. A relaxed and engaged audience is more likely to come away with positive feelings about your message, so give your presentation some humour. Don’t force it, though – nothing falls flat harder than a forced joke.

 

Tell A Story

Everyone loves a good story. From the bedtime stories and fairy tales you heard as a child to the business blogs and newspaper articles you read today, a well-crafted story is something you can enjoy. Just like a story, your presentation should have a beginning, middle and end, with some relatable experiences and anecdotes thrown in to make the whole thing more human. Ideally, you want your presentation to be the kind of story that the listener wants to retell again and again.