Presentation tools

By reading this page you will get a little more vocabulary on presentation tools and visuals, as well as a few hints on how to present them: 

This other article will give you some food for thoughts on how to make a presentation effective in the corporate world. By the way, does your company have any policy and standards on the topic?  

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Creating effective visuals

This article will remind you a few things you need to keep in mind when preparing your visuals.

This other one is about why using visuals and what kind of visuals to use.

A PDF (a little old I agree but still wise) giving you 10 tips for designing effective presentation visuals 

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The rule of three 

A good presentation technique is the rule of three.

The rule of three is based on the technique that people tend to remember three things. In oratory it comes up all the time.

Good speeches are peppered with lists with three items

·          "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" - William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar

·          "Blood, sweat and tears" - General Patton

·          Our priorities are "Education, Education, Education" - Prime Minister, Tony Blair

They are used in religion...

·          "Father, Son and Holy Spirit"

·          "Faith, Hope and Charity"

... in Public Safety

·          "Stop, Look and Listen"

... and in the film industry

·          "The good, the bad and the ugly"

·          "Sex, lies and videotape"

Putting it simply if you want your message to be remembered put it into a list of three.

Think about - if there are only three points that I would like to leave my audience with, what would they be? And then use no more than three themes per slide.

Here are more examples of the rule of three. 

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The rule of six

When presenting text on overheads or PowerPoint slides, it is a good idea to use the rule of six which means:

·          a maximum of six lines per slide

·          a maximum of six words per line

If you stick to this rule, you won’t risk overloading your bullet charts with too much information.

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Video Tips

This is the first video of a series which teaches you how to plan, chose and use visual aids when giving presentations. (you can activate the Close Caption)

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Presenting visuals effectively

How often do you use PowerPoint and do you use it effectively?

Here’s a video on mistakes to avoid.

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Find here the same kind of tips in a written form: How to give a lousy presentation

On Presentation Zen you will learn how to make presentations in the TED style and watch examples of these talks.  I hope you find your style there.

Here’s one more time one of my favorite TED talks (you can activate the subtitles in English, Portuguese or other languages if you wish.)

With English subtitles

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Saying numbers

Practice listening to numbers 

Read about saying numbers and dates in English 

Or get a PDF assignment.

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Using approximate numbers

In context

·          Last year we produced a little more that 90,000 units. (90,083)

·          Almost 10% of the personnel said they weren’t satisfied with their leaders. (9.8%)

·          We will be investing around 2 million dollars on this project. (1.98m)

·          The lab says the ideal temperature is just over 18ºC. (18.1º)

·          The new office is approximately 400 m². (389 m²)

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A Pecha Kucha night

Here is a fun way to deliver Presentations without being boring. Click on the picture and read more about it.

And here is an example of how it can go:

Ache outros vídeos como este em Banco do Planeta

You may even want to organize a Pecha Kucha night with your colleagues, or participate in one. Here's a link to start.

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