Write Technology

Today I’ll post Tufte‘s presentation tips. He provided tips not only on how to lead a successful presentation, but how to evaluate a presentation. I need to point out that Tufte feels that PowerPoint is the epitome of everything wrong with presentations today. Just read his article "PowerPoint is Evil" in the September 2003 issue of Wired.

Presentation Tips

• Use Word or a PDF instead of PPT.
• Provide a short hand-out on an 11 x 17 page, followed by a
  discussion. A high-resolution data dump on the handout  can lead to
  targeted questions in a short period of time.
• Provide a space for your attendees to write.
• Know your content. Quality, relevance, and integrity of content are important. When creating your presentation, get started by writing a 200-word summary to focus in on relevance and integrity.
• Practice, practice, practice. Rehearsal improves performance.

• Show up early for your presentation. Get to know your audience, offer the handout, and advance your cause before you present.
• In your introduction, never apologize for anything.
• Go as far as you can without using "I" or "me," unless you want to express an opinion.
• Use the PGP teaching method for complex information: Particular, General, Particular / Say it, contextualize it, repeat it.
• Audiences deserve your respect. No one can communicate effectively
  when they are patronizing. Think the best of your audience and your
  audience will demonstrate intelligence.
• Humor helps make things relevant and memorable. However, use it only as quick reinforcement. Content is still king.
• If you believe in your presentation, show it. Don’t hide behind a podium or a presentation.
• Finish early – this delights the audience.

Evaluating a Presentation
When you’re a consumer of presentations, should you trust what you are seeing?
1. Learn the argument/structure/story of the presentation, and learn it quickly.
2. Decide if the speaker has competency and credibility.
3. You should be able to describe the domain statement of the evidence (to what is this relevant?).

Technorati Tags: Edward Tufte, Tufte, visual communication, presentations, presentation styles

One Response so far | Have Your Say!

1. 

   tomc
   February 26th, 2007 at 3:23 pm #

   Excellent notes, thanks. I attended the seminar last week and my boss asked me to pull together a quick presentation on what Tufte covered. Your site is a huge help!