I'm going to share with you some of the fundamental skills of presentations. This fits right into the area of public speaking, but it is a little different. Even though you're speaking to a group of people, typically their eyes will be on the presentation, which means you need a different strategy.
The number one rule that is the most important is DO NOT READ OFF THE SLIDES. This is the worst thing you can do because it sets a perception that you don't know what you're talking about. If you're forced to read some slides than they're not going to think highly of you. Another reason you shouldn't be reading slides is because you turn your head away from the audience. Instead of projecting your voice out into the audience, you're pushing it away from the audience. This makes you harder to hear and you probably won't get your message across.
Another thing you need to do is not fill up your slides with too much information. I know as a presenter, you want to give the most information you can to these people, but that isn't the way. You can't expect an audience to read huge chunks of text and listen to you at the same time. It is better to keep it short and simple, so the audience can peak over and see the topic you're talking about in more detail. If the audience really needs the good quality information you're presenting, print off some handouts that have the information on it. Don't print out the slides, people don't need them. Give them more detail on the handouts.
Lastly, when you do presentations, you have the advantage of a visual aids, so take advantage of it. Having pictures that really impact the audience can really hammer your point across. Images can really turn a mundane presentation into something that is real, something they can identify emotionally with.
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