10 Ways to Create Better Presentations

I did plan to write a relatively long article about how to create effective presentations, but then I watched this funny video which said it all in less than 4 minutes:

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I do have a few tips that might be useful too:

If it works on paper, then it doesn't work in your presentation
Never use bulleted lists - ever
Only change slides when you change the subject
Never frame your content (remove any graphics surrounding your presentation)
Forget about your logo on every slide
Video is a very powerful piece of content.
One word speaks louder than a thousand
Never show people what you say - never say what you show
Never change slides mid-sentence - it distracts the audience from listening to what you say.
Never spend more than 45 minutes (read: 15 minutes)
Never talk about more than you are supposed to

Most importantly... If it looks like something made in PowerPoint then you have failed.

Note: Of course that goes for every presentation software out there.

Comments

Aleksander R. Rødner - Nov. 6, 2007

I disagree with you on number two, but only slightly. I'd rephrase it to say "Use as few bullet points as possible, and as rarely as possible" simply because sometimes they are a simple and effective way of presenting information

gamermk - Nov. 6, 2007

Bullet lists can be used (in a sense) but they should be more stylish than the standard bullet and span across numerous slides. (ie. making it so separate points are addressed on separate slides utilizing the numbers to simply show how the presentation is progressing.)

But perhaps then that's not considered a list.

(aside: I really love the font I get to type my comments in ;)

Thomas Baekdal - Nov. 6, 2007

Aleksander, What I mean by "Never use bulleted lists" is that there are so many other ways to present multible points than using bullits. A bulleted list screams "boring".

One example could be to simple redesign the list - like this:

I do think that you should keep the number of "points" to an absolute minimum. Gamermk's solution to put each point on different slides could be a good solution (but might conflict with number 3) :)

Sean - Nov. 6, 2007

Clever use of a numbered list for making the point about avoiding bulleted lists. :)

Thomas Baekdal - Nov. 7, 2007

He he :)

roberta - Nov. 7, 2007

alot of why ppt presentations are so bad is 'cause the people presenting don't have or understand they need to learn presentation skills. Lots of info on the web about those!