How to Write and Create a Good Presentation

When producing and writing a presentation its hard to know what to include and what not to. Below are just a few do's and don'ts as to what you should and shouldn't do.

1. DO write, present and speak in a style, tone and language that your audience understand.

2. DON'T over complicate both your audience and your presentation with technical nonsense and jargon if its not needed. Use terms and terminology you know you target audience will understand and relate to.

3. DON'T go overboard with the visual aids. Using graphs, drawings, illustrations and so on are ok but in a small dose. Don't overload people with too much as they will lose interest in a very short period of time.

4. DO Make sure you know your presentation back to front. So that you can rectify and errors or problems that may come up on that day you are giving your presentation.

5. DO tell your audience what the presentation is about. So many times presentations have failed to tell or introduce the audience to the presentation. Try talking to your audience, or doing some ice breakers before hand if required.

6. DO make sure your presentation has a hook.

7. DON'T talk for hours upon hours, you will lose your audience. Give them regular breaks to keep them interested.

8. DO make promises, stick to them and keep them. No presentation would be a true success unless it promised to do something - and then did it.

9. DO create a content rich presentation. Try to give clear, up to date information and content to your audience as they will not value or appreciate it if you take them round the houses (fail to give them the information they require)

10. DON'T make your presentation too lengthy. Sometimes short and sweet is better for both parties.

11. DO take some time out to get your audience involved. Remember a successful presentation is a two way street. It is not all about me, me, me.

12. DO put your past experiences and knowledge of presentations to good use. Remember both negative and positive areas of presentations, and put your past experiences into your presentation to make it awesome.

13. Do remember to summarise your presentation at the end, or provide a summarised handout to your audience. Summarise all the action points, content and themes covered.

I hope you have found this article both useful and helpful and I wish you every success in writing, creating and producing a killer presentation.