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Public speaking is in regards to connecting with an audience, plain and simple. Connecting with your audience, then, and giving them what they want, ought to be the goal of each public speaker.
I have spoken in front of live audiences since I was 7 years old, so being a professional speaker has been an easy jump for me in my career. Connecting with live audiences – whether as a college instructor, as a sales person making a pitch to a room full of prospects, an emcee, a keynote speaker, a breakout trainer, or a featured platform presenter – has been the way I have made my living my entire professional life. But it’s only been in the past couple of years I’ve started out using the slide show engineering science PowerPoint with my demonstrations – and then only if it’s asked for or requited of me.
PowerPoint is a extremely pleasing visual aid. All speakers ought to be intimate with it and be capable to prepare an effective PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately the problem with PowerPoint is that it’s so easy to use incorrectly.
In fact there are so numerous potential user errors this article is fixed to talking about and helping you eliminate just one. That one major problem I see with most PowerPoint presentations: too a lot of words.
There are multiple reasons why having too some words on your PowerPoint slides is a definitive no-no. But initial let’s look at the intention of a visual aid.
The occupation of a visual help in any speech is to clarify or heighten a peculiar point you are presenting. As you prepare your visual aids keep that intention in mind and with each slide you manufacture ask yourself, “What incisively does this slide clarify or heighten and how?”
Some professional speakers genuinely argue you ought to never use any words on your slides. Why? Because as a speaker it’s your occupation to tell the story of your slides to an audience. I agree, images, graphics, tables, charts, and photographs may all stand alone without any written text. Yet, I believe well-chosen text may help clarify or heighten your slides.
Here are a few tips for reducing or eliminating “text clutter” from your PowerPoint slides:
- Limit the number of words: Each slide will have to ideally comprise less than 10-12 words for greatest or most complete or best possible effect. Remember, it’s your occupation as the speaker to explain what the audience is seeing on each slide.
- Use compelling text: Your slides may ask a question, state a fact or statistic, provide a definition, or give a quotation.
- Find compelling images: Search the web for free clip art, royalty-free photography, and other images to support illustrate your story or main point. Or use your own. (Note: copyright infringement is illegal – just because you find a photo, effigy or graphic freely displayed on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s legal for you to use it. Make sure you’re not breaking the law!)
Remember your occupation as a speaker is to connect with, engage, and give the audience what they want. Your occupation is NOT to read them your slides as if you’ve just written the next great American (or British or Canadian or Australian) novel. When you’re reading you cannot engage – you’re busy reading – and the same is unfeigned with your audience. If they are busy reading your slides, they are not listening to and engaging with you either. Engage with your audience and you will be a dynamic public speaker.
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Front Center Great American Marches 2 Picture
Front Center Great American Marches 2 Photo
Front Center Great American Marches 2 Image
Front Center Great American Marches 2 Picture
Front Center Great American Marches 2 Photo
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