Speaker 1: Are you planning on giving a presentation using PowerPoint or some form of visual aids, but maybe you've never done that before and you're not a hundred percent sure how to proceed or maybe your PowerPoints have always looked the exact same. Well, you've come to the right place today. I'm going to give you four tips to make a great presentation using PowerPoint or other types of visual aids. Hey everyone, it's Wade Patterson and I love talking about all things communication. So if you get any value at all out of this video, think about subscribing to my channel or hit that like button or comment. I would really appreciate it. All right time for the four tips and tip number one is to use minimal text and never make your font less than size 50 or 60. I know that's pretty big probably not what you're used to but think of a time where you've sat through a presentation and you've been staring at the screen and there are so many words and perhaps your eyesight's like mine and you have to squint a little bit and you're trying to read all of that text on a screen and you can't and it's distracting because as you're trying to read it, you're missing out what the speaker is saying. So many people write so much text on their PowerPoint slides, but I'm here to tell you you don't need to do that. In fact, try to use two or three or four words maximum, perhaps it's just a title or a word that references the category that you're talking about but by limiting that text and then the text that you do use making it really big that's going to help you make a much better presentation. Tip number two is sort of along the lines of tip number one with using minimal text and it is actually to use only photos and perhaps a video content as part of your PowerPoint with no words at all. So for those of you who are scared by only using two or three words and tip number one and now I'm telling you a more effective tip might be to even use no words at all that might be a scary concept but here is why this tip is actually going to transform the way you speak in front of a group of people. See one of the biggest mistakes new speakers make is that they write out their speeches word-for-word several pages of text and for those of you have had the opportunity to sit and watch a speaker who is reading his or her notes verbatim off of the page. It's painful. Sometimes it's truly painful to sit through those speeches and you think why am I here? What am I getting out of this live presentation? I could have listened to this in an audiobook or on a podcast. The speaker is adding nothing to what they are presenting. So this is how tip number two changes the whole concept of your presentations instead of writing out your notes word-for-word on several pieces of paper. You are going to build a PowerPoint that has various images that represent the categories you're going to talk about. So perhaps you work for the local city council and you're doing a Presentation on things like transportation and parks and other community amenities instead of having all of that boring text about how transportation is going to change in the coming year. You have a photo of a car or a bus or even better. You have a short video that loops. That's a local Street that is very recognizable in the community and that is looping behind you as you talk about all the transportation Changes that are going to come that strategy is going to be so much more engaging for the audience and they will remember they'll think back to the slide where there were cars and buses and they will know hey that represents the transportation changes. They didn't need all the text that they probably wouldn't have understood. Anyways, the third tip to deliver a great PowerPoint presentation is to avoid turning back and reading your slides, especially if you have that text on your slides on tips number one and two. I got you to avoid that but for those of you who do still have text on your slides do not turn around and face the board and read what is on your PowerPoint. I have seen this so many times often. It's people who are relatively new to speaking in front of crowds, but for whatever reason they constantly look back and it's almost like they want to make sure that the right slide is what the audience is seeing. So they keep looking back and it is incredibly distracting and it's not necessary. There are other strategies you can implement so you know what slide is on the screen without having to turn around at all. For example, set up your computer that is running the PowerPoint slide in a place that is discreet in front of you off to the side that way if I'm presenting to the audience and I'm wondering what slide all of them are seeing behind me I can quickly look at the computer people won't even know what I'm doing. I'll just quickly glance I'll see the image or the photo or the couple words of text that is representing what I am talking about and then I can turn back and present to the audience so often people turn around they look to double-check on their slides by not doing that you're already going to be miles ahead of so many people the last tip I have for you when it comes to PowerPoint presentations is to arrive early and check the tech check the technology the one rule about speeches with PowerPoint is that something is always going to go wrong. Maybe you have a clicker and the battery is dead or maybe the format of the PowerPoint doesn't match the computer that you're using it with because you brought your USB stick the more you can bring back up technology backup computer backup anything that you know will run efficiently even if the place where you're presenting says don't worry. We have all the equipment bring that backup equipment if you have it because I have seen this so many times that something doesn't work right a file doesn't work properly or something along those lines and you want to be prepared and by arriving early you can take the stress out of the presentation. You can make sure that everything's working everything is ready to go that way when it's time to start presenting you are not worried about the tech you need to worry about enough with your presentation speaking in front of people doing all of the great things that great speakers do and the last thing you need to worry about is a computer or a PowerPoint slide not appearing correctly. I hope this video was beneficial for all of you. Thank you so much for watching it as I mentioned earlier if you subscribe man that would make my day. I would be so stoked and hit the like button on this video comment below if it added any value at all to you. Otherwise, we'll catch you next time.