Do and donts on stage presentation?

Answer 1

Do's:

• If giving the presentation verbally, keep the text down to either simple sentences or topics. You don't want the audience to focus on trying to read what you have written and not get the message. This helps with the audience taking notes and to keep you on track. Then expand on those simple sentences verbally.
• If in a formal place, keep the Powerpoint simple, don't fluff it up with a lot of noise and what not.
• Use pictures to illustrate your topic, although I would USUALLY limit the number of pictures to one to three pictures (there are exceptions). It's been proven that the human mind can focus better when there are an odd number of objects (text boxes, pictures, titles, ect.) on a slide.
• Use transition animations, but nothing that distracts too much from the purpose. Keep in mind what the purpose of the presentation is for. For formal educational things, spinning in and out and zig zags are not appropriate. Informally and fun, those types can be used creatively. For formal I would suggest fading in and out of slides to transition from one to the next.
• Speak clearly and have notecards for yourself when giving the presentation.
• Choose your colors carefully. Think "Can they read this?" "This looks cool but is it too distracting?"
• Know the presentation! I hate it when someone goes to give a presentation and they don't know a dang thing about it.
• Keep in mind the purpose of the presentation and choose the custom work, like animations and colors, to match the setting.
• When choosing music if any, pick a relevant song....please.
• Have fun with the presentation!

Don'ts:

• Don't put paragraphs on a powerpoint. Keep the sentences simple to keep the reader interested.
• Too many pictures is a no, no. Yes, ten is too many. Keep it down to like three to five at the most.
• For the love of god, do not go overboard with the animations. It distracts from the presentation and can take up too much of your time if the presentation is timed, as in some college classes.
• Just because two colors are individually pretty does not mean they go well together. For example yellow and white. You cannot read that. Pick a dark color and a light color that contradict each other so that it is visually pleasing and functional. For example, black and white are the two most contrasting colors in existence, I would go with white text on black background. Or a dark pastel green background and a soft yellow.
• Do not read off the powerpoint. Moving on.
• Don't overwhelm the audience with too much information on one slide.

Hope this helps.