The Four Ps of Presentations - PowerPoint
The following guidelines include information for Microsoft PowerPoint
presentations.
Planning
 Know your audience and logistics, such as number of
people attending, time of day, and room arrangement
 Know the purpose of your presentation – keep in mind
your key points
 Leave extra time at the end for questions
 Limit material to what the audience must know – if time allows, add
nice-to-know material
 Have an attention getting opening and a memorable closing by using
stories, metaphors, or analogies
 Use the basic format of a presentation:
o Introduction
o Key Points
o Content
o Summary
Preparation
 KISS – Keep It Simple
o Use brief, clear statements on your PowerPoint – elaborate with
your dialog
o No more than 3 or 4 bullet points per slide
o Text needs to be at least 18 points in size
o Use the same fonts and colors as much as possible throughout the
PowerPoint presentation
o Don’t use too many graphics, animations, and sounds
 Triple-check for Spelling errors, typos, and grammar errors – have
someone else review
 Check that the background you pick will display on the presentation
equipment
 Have notes, but don’t read from them
 Prepare handouts for the audience
 Prepare a backup presentation method, such as overheads or bring your
own laptop and projector if possible
 Practice, Practice, Practice
Presentation
 Face the audience – don’t talk to the screen or the computer
 Stand where you are accessible to the audience – stand to the side of a
podium instead of behind it, if possible
 Make eye contact with the audience
 Be enthusiastic
 Use hand gestures, but don’t pace back and forth or make nervous
gestures
 Speak clearly and slowly, but not in a monotone voice
 Use Pauses to emphasize key points
 Avoid filler words such as “um”, “and uh”, “you know”, “like”, and “ok”
 When using a laser pointer, turn it off after pointing to the item you want
to emphasize. If you leave it on while talking, you will probably point to
incorrect items and distract the audience.
 Dress appropriately for your audience – most of the time this should be
professionally
 Ask questions and involve the audience as much as possible
 Don’t be too casual or personal
 Be aware of the audience’s response to you. If they start nodding off,
change how you are presenting by moving to a different location,
speaking with more emphasis, telling a story, using more hand gestures,
etc.
Post-Presentation
 If you will hold a question and answer session at the end, let the audience
know at the beginning of your presentation
 Repeat questions so that everyone in the audience can hear
 Try to anticipate questions that might be asked and be prepared to answer
them.
 Provide the audience with a method of reaching you