PowerPoint: It’s the 800-pound gorilla of presentations, and if you don’t use it carefully, it will steal your show as surely as a real gorilla would hanging out on the stage with you. The first and last thing to keep in mind if you are using PowerPoint is that YOU are the star of your presentation. Do not let PowerPoint become your presentation. To keep the gorilla off stage, you should try to go to a black screen every 5 to 10 slides to make sure your listeners are engaging with you and not just your slide show. If you have the lights low, turn up the lights and talk for a while to separate segments of the presentation, to keep the focus on you and not on the slides (see shortcut # 6, below).
Keep the slides simple – they should reflect your key points. Try to resist the temptation to pack information into your visuals. Slides are for visual emphasis (which aids in learning) and they should not take more than a couple of seconds to read. No text is fine -- if you do use text, a good rule of thumb is a maximum of 10-15 words. Another rule of thumb is no more than one slide every 2 minutes. That would be about 15 slides for a half hour presentation.
Once you have your visuals put together, here are our 10 favorite PowerPoint shortcuts that will help make your presentation run smoothly. If you want to know ALL the keyboard shortcuts that are available to you in a presentation, Microsoft offers a list, here.
To advance to the next slide, press the SPACEBAR
To return to the previous slide, press BACKSPACE.
To end a slide show, press ESC
To stop or restart an automatic slide show, press S
To go to a particular slide press the slide number and ENTER
To display a black screen, or return to the slide show from a black screen, press B. To get back to your slide just press the B key again and the slide will appear
To display a white screen, or return to the slide show from a white screen, press W.
To hide the pointer, press CTRL + H
To redisplay the hidden pointer, or change the pointer to an arrow, press A
To return to the first slide, hold both mouse buttons for two seconds (just left mouse button in 2013).
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Present with Confidence Open Enrollment Program, March 10-11, 2015
Confidence, credibility and personal style are essential components in connecting with a listener. Successful people learn by doing and seeing themselves as others see them. Our flagship "Present with Confidence course utilizes a highly participatory format which accelerates learning while at the same time creates a fun and supportive environment for the participants. Our next open-enrollment programs will be held on March 10-11, 2015, in Oakbrook, IL. To read more about the program, click here. For more information, contact us.
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The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
