GAME TEMPLATES SOFTWARE STATION: David Lee King

Friday, January 21, 2011

David Lee King

10 Tips to Do Presentations Like Me: Do What you Said You’d Do

Posted: 21 Jan 2011 08:00 AM PST

Tip #6: Talk about … what the program description says you're going to talk about.

Has anyone ever read the description of a presentation, thought "that sounds interesting, I think I'll attend it" … and then left highly disappointed, because the presenter didn't actually cover what the description said they'd cover?

Yep. Me too. And that has never made any sense to me. Guess who writes those descriptions? Usually, it's the presenter.

So presenters – if you say you're going to cover five tips in your presentation, or answer three questions, or mention a list of take-aways … actually include those things in your presentation!

I know, I know – lightening-fast changes in technology mean that … well … technology changes. And if you're presenting about technology, well darn – your presentation content might have just changed up a week before you actually present it.

In that case, make sure your description and your list of take-aways are general enough that they still make sense in 6 months time. When writing your description, don't say things like "you'll learn how to use Delicious.com to make web-based bookmarks (because that service might disappear). Instead, say something like "I'll teach you how to create web-based bookmarks using the best tools available" or "… using tools like delicious.com." See the difference?

So presenters – go clean up those descriptions!