How can you become a more effective presenter?

My first serious public presentation took place about a quarter century ago! I was 8 years old and was a part of a team in the regional science competition in Poland. It was a memorable experience for 2 reasons: 1. I had to drink Lugol’s solution just a couple of hours before (yes, due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster!). 2. I was so terrified of speaking in front of hundred of peers and teachers that I mistook Antarctica for the Arctic.

My presenting style came a long way since then. I moved on from a bare memorizing/reciting with the only visual aid being pictures I copied from the book. One thing, however, remained constant: I’m still an embodiment of stage fry.

So, how can I become a more effective presenter?

I can definitely improve this trepidation if I prepare for my presentation adequately. Today I learned few tricks of successful presentation by using slides (like Power Point, Keynotes). Those tips are adapted from Garr Reynold’s Presentation Zen.

He points out several elements like:

- Proper use of images;

- What is the message and why does it matter;

- Simplicity is powerful;

- Knowing the audience;

- Visual tips (text, colors, graphics)

What I find especially relevant is ‘less is more’ idea. I’ve seen many PowerPoint presentations that didn’t register with me at all because of the visual clutter. Secondly, for becoming an effective presenter it’s important to understand and know your topic. Despite my fear of public speaking, I don’t want to be one of those presenters who just read everything of their slides. Hence, practicing my presentation in advance, but also I can use technology to overcome this problem. Which leads me my last, but not least point: to be familiar with the software I’m using to prepare my presentation. I’m rather comfortable with PowerPoint, but I’d like to broad my knowledge to other programs. I’m hoping to work on the presentation using Prenzi and Keynote. Learning by doing. I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out.