3 Solutions to Data-Heavy Presentations

Sometimes you can’t avoid giving presentations that are heavy on data. Examples of this would be presentations for demographics, market researches and such. So how do you solve this? How do you make your presentations interesting even if it’s full of data and numbers?

Below are 3 solutions:

1. Use Notes pages – use the Notes pane and put some of the data there. You can print this out later to be distributed among your audience.

2. Send to Word – Send your presentation to Microsoft Word.

3. Use letter-sized slides – This is best used when you won’t be projecting slides at all.

You can read the complete instructions on how to apply these solutions by heading to this post: Handouts for data-heavy presentations

 

Placeholders in PowerPoint – When to use them?

When do you use placeholders in PowerPoint? When do you not use it?

If your slide uses a large image, it is best to use the Title Only layout. Follow this:

• Type the title and choose Insert tab, Pictures to insert the picture you need.
• Resize the title placeholder so that the title doesn’t overlap the image.

In the event that you need your images to be in the same size and the same place on each of your slide use placeholders, especially in a custom layout.

You can find out more about this here: Don’t use placeholders for images, unless…

Improve Your Performance With These Gestures

The way we move and position ourselves can have a huge effect on the way we think and feel. Try these few body gestures and see how it helps you.

Cross Your Arms to Solve Problems

Crossing your arms will make you solve problems better. So if you are stuck with a problem, do this and see how determined you get in solving that problem of yours!

Lie Down to Be More Creative 

When you are lying down, you become your most creative self according to Australia National University professor Dr. Darren Lipnicki. Now who doesn’t wanna lie down and do that? Try it!

Smile to Reduce Stress

When you smile, you signal your brain that whatever it is that you are doing, you are doing it with ease. Try it!

These are just three ways you can apply to help improve your performance. More here: 11 Body Positions and Gestures That Can Improve Your Performance

Five Presentation Lessons from John Oliver

Below are five lessons we can learn from John Oliver in his show Tonight with John Oliver. Apply these on your own presentation and see how much more engaged your audience will be:

1. Humour works – Life is already too serious. Injecting humor into serious topics (like crime, poverty and the likes) could make your presentation a lot more bearable and interesting.

2. Short and simple – No matter how complicated your topic is, make is short and sweet.

3. Credible information – Always based your claims on facts and proofs.

4. Videos & images – use videos and images to support your presentation and to make it more interesting and engaging.

5. Passion – When you are passionate about what you preach, it will shine through and people will believe you more and see you as more credible.

For more insights about this, please head to: 5 Presentation Lessons from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

 

Use Photos with Vignette Effect

Using photos in presentations is effective when done right. More so if the picture has a certain effect that is pleasing to the eyes. Isn’t it nice to use an image with a vignette effect?

It is very easy to do this in PowerPoint. Here are the first few steps:

1. Insert a rectangle over the image.

2. Right-click and choose Format Shape

3. In the dialog box or task pane (depending on your version of PowerPoint), in the Line section, choose No Line.

4. In the Fill section, change the color to black or dark gray. I used a very dark gray.

To learn about the next steps, please head to this link: Create a vignette effect to make a photo more powerful

What Not To Do When Presenting

I usually give tips on this blog on what a speaker should do or apply in his speech and presentations to make him look professional, make him effective and more interesting and captivating to the audience. On this post however, let me give you a few quick tips on what NOT to do instead:

1. Begin your talk or presentation with an agenda slide. It’s unnecessary and your audience doesn’t really care. Instead, say or do something that will grab their attention right from the get-go.
2. Let your audience hold their questions until the end.
3. Make visual aids that are hard to process. They take the attention of the audience away from you.
4. Say sorry. It takes away your power and credibility.
5. Skip recapping the whole idea of your presentation.

To learn more about this, please head to: 5 other things that presenters should never do…

3 Tips to Becoming a Better Speaker

There are still so many things you can do, so many things you can improve on to become a better speaker. For now, here are three:

1. Say this phrase over and over and put it to heart: “Thank you for you time. It has been my honor and pleasure to be here today.” Say it and really mean it. 
2. Skip memorizing your speech word for word. Do an outline instead. Take the message you want to convey to heart. Break down your speech into chunks.
3. Have others record you as you do your speech so you will know what areas you need to improve on.

For more tips on becoming a better speaker, please head to: 13 Ways You Can Become a Better Speaker Right NOW

 

Things to Remember When Creating a Table from Excel to PowerPoint

There are several things you must take note of if you want to create a table from Excel to PowerPoint. These are:

1. Make sure the table is readable. If there is too much data, divide them into several slides or just give them out as handouts.

2. Use the Title and Content layout for polished look.

3. If it’s a simple look you want or you’re in a hurry, use the Title Only layout and simply copy and paste the excel table in there.

For more details on how to create table from excel to PowerPoint, please head to this link: Create a table from Excel data in PowerPoint

3 Components of Presenting

The three components below are vital to creating impact in your presentations. Make sure that you practice them.

1. Confidence: It doesn’t matter how many audience there are. A public speaker must always exude confidence when in public. This adds to his/her credibility and professionalism.

2. Knowledge: As the saying goes, “knowledge is power”. As a speaker, you should always have something relevant to share to your audience. He or she must know the ins and outs of the topic at hand in order for the audience to see him or her as a person of authority.  

3. Delivery: Don’t overwhelm the audience with the amount of information you show them but rather make them understand your message in a meaningful way that they can resonate with.

To learn more on how you can do these three components of presenting, please head to this post: The Vital Components of Presenting

Five PowerPoint Tips For You

PowerPoint is a wonderful that presenters can use to make their presentations more effective. Below are five tips you can apply when using PowerPoint in your presentation:

1. Make sure that the images you use stand out. They should be relevant which means they support your goal and the message your conveying to your audience. This way, they can easily remember the lesson you’re teaching even long after your presentation is done.
2. Go for simplicity. The more simple the slides, the better. Avoid using complicated graphs and charts as well as long texts.
3. Make sure that your audience knows the meaning of the acronyms and difficult terms you use.
4. Make sure your audience can resonate and relate well with your audience. Don’t just use general photos. If you are talking to a group of teachers, use photos of different schools they know or pictures of the campus where they teach.
5. Use high resolution for your photos.

These are just five PowerPoint tips. There are more where these came from. Please head to this link to find out more! 30 Helpful Tips for Using PowerPoint