How to Prepare, Stage, and Deliver WINNING PRESENTATIONS

Use Visuals and Gadgetry to Add, Not Distract

• Correct a problem immediately without calling further attention to it. Ignoring an upside-down viewgraph, a badly focused projector, or improper lighting prolongs the poor conditions. Apologizing, joking, or insulting the equipment or operators adds to the negative impressions possibly already created. What your audience wants is to get on with it and see how you perform under adversity.

• Avoid creating your own distractions. One of the biggest and most common distractions is a presenter who lets his body or arms get into the projected image. I once watched a series of presenters who stood right in the center of the screen, with images on their foreheads while they addressed a group of reviewers. ...