Tips for a successful presentation

There are a number of things you can do to minimise anxiety and technical glitches when you show your presentation to a group.

Practise

The best way for you to feel comfortable with your material is to practise it out loud.

Practise in front of a mirror, friends or family. You don't need to ask for criticism; the purpose of practicing in front of people is to make you feel comfortable.

Timing

Be aware of your timing. If you have set your presentation to automatically advance slides, adjust your speaking style or the slide interval, or both (see Auto Play Settings or Playing your presentation automatically).

Equipment

If at all possible, make sure that the equipment you need is set up and functioning before you do your presentation.

This includes a computer, screen(s) and projector, speakers, and microphone.

Of course, make sure that your presentation is installed and working as well; see Installing Presenter for more information.

Start the presentation and advance through some slides to make sure everything is working.

Notes

If the equipment you will be using has only one display (so that you will not be able to read your speaker notes), print the speaker notes from your presentation. You can't be expected to remember everything! See Printing your presentation for more information.

Water

If you plan to talk during your presentation, then you should have a bottle of water handy so that you can sip between slides.

Reference card

Print the Inspiration Presenter Quick Reference so that you remember the keyboard shortcuts for showing your presentation.

Don't forget…

…your presentation! Put a copy of it, along with the Inspiration Presenter, on a CD that you can take with you.