Positively Polish that PowerPoint Presentation to Perfection

The first time I realized that I needed to make a Power Point presentation, I flipped out. “Giving a presentation is something for professional public speakers, teachers, ministers—people who are accustomed to orating to a mass or class of people.” At least that’s what I thought.

As a writer, the idea hit home that author visits and book talks came with the territory. I was not sure how to get started. That was back in 2015. Just like with anything else in life you want to pursue, research and practice come hand in hand.

As a writer, you have something not only to say but something to sell. You are representing your brand no matter what you do. You want that book in the hands of readers. Your presentation can help.

Your topic, no matter the subject, can promote you, your book, your skills as a presenter or as a public speaker. You don’t want to sound like someone reading slides off a screen – you are now a performer.

I learned these pointers by trial and error and have honed the presentation into a fun duty that not only has to be done but is also enjoyable.

First off, invest in the equipment.

Yes, you have a laptop, that’s a good start. But also, you will need to grab video dongles for any type of projector out there, mini HDMI to HDMI, vga to display, display to HDMI, etc. Your laptop’s video-out port needs to connect to whatever they have at the venue or classroom to put your presentation on their screen. Don’t forget the wireless presentation clicker. It’s portable, you can be anywhere in the room and click the next screen while remaining almost hands free to talk. I even own my own projector. Yes, they are expensive, but know what I did? I went to a local pawn shop and found a miniature one for all of $30. Yes, it works and it’s small enough to put in my backpack with the rest of my equipment.

Know your topic.

Sounds like a ‘duh’ but think about it. Suppose you’re doing a presentation about the last four Presidential elections. You may have been there in each election and voted, but do you remember the percentage of states that leaned toward one party versus the other? You might want to add that number into your presentation. Get your facts first – then spread them into the presentation by topic and add humor and anecdotes.

The process:

I always approach almost anything I do in the frame of mind to make it fun. You oversee the presentation; the audience depends on you to learn, laugh, and go away feeling like they didn’t waste their time. I like to employ what I have lovingly branded the Five E’s of Public speaking:

• Engage: Show them your passion, your love on the subject. They have to know you really are into this or you’re just someone talking.
• Entertain: Yes, you may be teaching them something, but if you threw in a joke or two, a comparison to something funny that happened – even a voice impersonation – they won’t forget it.
• Educate: the meat of your presentation is to teach the listener something that she may or may not already know. You can show them in an entirely different way than how they’ve accepted it in the past.
• Encourage: We as humans like to be challenged, what if you brought up something in the presentation and challenged them, on it?
• Edify: The takeaway is a big factor for any speaker, teacher, minister – even comedian. During your presentation – you fill all these shoes. Have them walk away feeling they truly did learn something.

Your files:

Where do you save them? Hopefully in the digital age you know to backup that file in more than one place. My personal method; two flash drives, an external hard drive, my laptop(s) and a cloud account.

Your Brand:

Yes, you are speaking, but you also represent your brand – and your brand could be you, your product – or in our case – your latest book. If you’re running through a talk about dialogue, show them the perfect example from an excerpt of your book (and at the bottom of the slide make sure to list ISBN and title of that masterpiece).

Segues into the next slide:

I do this a lot. Example, this slide shows how kids really identify with protagonists and I’ll say, “The young ones really dig Harry Potter…”, then click the clicker and the next slide might have Harry holding a shovel and I’d say something like “this character is buried deep into the imagination of its readers”. Making slides flow into each other is tricky but fun for the audience to watch. This is also another great place to slide your brand in.

Rehearse the presentation out loud:

Yes, put on your actor’s hat, grab that clicker, stand in your bedroom or office alone and go through the entire slide show as if you had an audience. You will catch things; timing, errors, new ideas as you go along.

Research location:

One of the things I absolutely love doing when speaking with kids about the wonders of writing is to engage them into a story idea. To do this, I will research their town, school or community and find something that they all know – like the old Hope Church building on Main street. The history of that building – a building everyone knows – is something I might challenge them into a writing assignment with. “What if you were there on a school trip, and outside you saw a kid your age swinging on the swing, but he was dressed different – as in 1800’s different. He walks up to you and says “I want to show you a secret behind that old oak tree…” The kids in the audience gasp. I point at one of them, “The kid takes you to the tree and dug inside a hole in the tree you find ____. Ok I’ll stop right there – you guys finish the story.”

Clip art and Fonts:

If you are using clip art supplied by the program you’re using, you’re ok. If you are grabbing stuff off the web, make sure the rights for the art are available for you to use. That also goes with fonts. Those included in the program are free for you to use but if you are downloading them off the internet, double check licensing agreements. They are always on the page where you dragged it from.

The art and work of putting the presentation together is part of the fun and joy of creativity. Let loose, release those juices and wow them with something that only you can do.