Make the world a better place one presentation at a time

I recently attended the 2011 Presentation Summit in Austin, Texas. Rick Altman, the host of this conference for presentation professionals, does an excellent job recruiting industry experts who provide guidance on designing, building, and delivering presentations.

According to Rick, "The most important objective of the Summit is to give presentation professionals a community to connect in. Yes, we cover presentation skills and message crafting -- but community is the key."

The Summit is in its ninth year and consists of daily seminars and workshops led by industry VIPs, such as Garr Reynolds, Nigel Holmes, Carmen Taran, Jim Endicott, top Microsoft PowerPoint MVPs, and other key presentation gurus.

There are so many wonderful ideas that I reaped this year, it's difficult to share everything. But here are a few key takeaways to keep in mind that as you build great presentations:

• Less on a slide is more.
• For a key slide to stand out, it must have weaker neighbors; less impactful slides before and after.
• Convert slide text and bullet points to SmartArt graphics. They're so much more visual, and super easy to do.
• Storytelling: Share personal stories to gain attention and empathy from your audience.
• When presenting, use props to help you make an important point.
• The audience will remember absurd visuals, such as a photograph of an old man with blonde hair or someone wearing a grass suit.
• Whenever possible, involve the audience in your presentation. Make it interactive.
• Remember these fundamental skills when presenting to a live audience:
  • Use purposeful eye contact to help "pull you around the room".
  • Use hand gestures that are associated with what you are saying. But don't distract from what you're saying by overusing hand gestures.
  • Pay attention to pace, pause, and vocal variety when speaking.

Altman's crew is currently planning next year's Summit (to be held in Scottsdale, Arizona), and you can check back to the web site in the upcoming weeks to find out more information.

Here are a couple of quotes about the Summit -- one from a new attendee, and one from a veteran (and Microsoft MVP):

"Dr. Carmen Taran's keynote was my favorite highlight from the Summit. She covered 'how' to become an effective presenter by understanding 'how' people retain information. The core point of her presentation is that 'attention is mandatory to memory'."

New attendee Tany Nagy

Summit Logo Contest Winner, Designer, Pulse Presentation Design

"I've attended 8 Summits, and I learn something new every year." 

Julie Terberg

Summit Presenter, Microsoft MVP, Designer, Terberg Design

-- Joy Miller