What can we do to make our presentations suck less?
Good and bad presentations are on my mind this week, after finishing up Garr Reynolds’s excellent Presentation Zen book over the weekend.
Question: 
Bryper What can we do to make our presentations suck less?
Responses:
KarenRussell @BryanPerson: remember it’s about the audience, not the presenter. 
chelpixie @BryanPerson Best Presentation I’ve seen hands down, Mitch Joel @PCB. He connects with his audience very well. 
jstorerj @bryanperson in most cases animations in ppt are superfluous… stick to the story and stop trying to be cute
LewisG @BryanPerson Don’t use PowerPoint. Engage your audience, meet their eyes, and speak to their wants and needs, which you must first discover.
clgoodman @BryanPerson My sugg: As always, know your audience. And if you use PowerPoint, don’t use bullets.
ScottMonty @BryanPerson PowerPoint is not Word. PowerPoint is not Word. PowerPoint is not Word. PowerPoint is not Word. PowerPoint is not Word.
gubilla @BryanPerson depending on the type of presentation, try to get your crowd interacting as much as possible
shey @BryanPerson different “rules” exist on how many words/lines per slide, the key is the audience GET what youre slide is saying in 5s or less
EdenSpodek @BryanPerson More planing, more images, less text. Larger images & text. Slides should enhance a presentation, not provide the script.
adamcohen @BryanPerson ban stupid clip art, especially stick figures
jljohansen @bryanperson Don’t look at the screen. Have bullet points on notecards and stay focused on your audience. Also prevents just reading slides.
daveforde @BryanPerson presentations are great when the speaker can connect with the audience, talk to them before you start presenting.
danyork @BryanPerson Use no more than 5 words on a slide… fewer if you can. Max 10. You want listeners to pay attention to *you*, not your slides.
danyork @BryanPerson My tip - DON’T READ YOUR SLIDES!!! Use your slides to tell a story and *accent* your speaking. Use pictures, simple words.
DonnaPapacosta @bryanperson: Create the presentation WITHOUT slides. If you do add slides, practice WITHOUT them.
asyouwish @bryanperson practice practice practice. I read to spend 80% of the time rehearsing and only 20% of the time developing the content.
davefleet @bryanperson - less bullets; focus on the audience, not yourself; write the presentation like a story and THEN do the slides
McClennan @bryanperson presentations are not book readings. Your audience matters more than your text
McClennan @bryanperson Powerpoint is not a diary and you are not paid by the word. Keep it short.