As a motivational keynote speaker I’m aware that, in many organizations, using PowerPoint is considered a best practice. Even so, you still need to reassess the place PowerPoint has in your presentations.

Many corporate speakers are so overwhelmed by PowerPoint presentations that, in effect, they end up doing little more than narrate their “pretty picture” collection. And so, to prevent this happening to you, here are some top PowerPoint tips…

(FYI: In this article I’m going to focus on how to work with your PowerPoint slides so they support your program, rather than distract from it. (I’ll leave the preparation of the slides for another article.)

• Tip 1: If you’re in control of how the room is laid out, make sure the PowerPoint screen is located off to the side. This makes it easier for you stand “center-stage,” the most powerfully persuasive position.
• Tip 2: Here’s a tip I learned from another motivational speaker. Don’t fall into the easy trap of reading from your PowerPoint slides. Make a specific effort to maintain eye contact with your audience. (Remember, you have the task of persuading the audience, not the slides.) Incidentally, eye contact is a core technique keynote speakers use to “wow” an audience. As you can see from this motivational speaker groupie, it’s very effective.
• Tip 3: While you will have to dim the lights a little bit so attendees can see your slides, don’t let the event organizers switch off all the lights completely. You become a less effective presenter when the audience can’t see your body language. Also attendees will be tempted to fall asleep…Not good! (Rather than being unnecessarily confrontational, explain that you can’t see your notes…The event planner has little choice but to adjust the lighting.)
• Tip 4: Have specific strategies for drawing the audience’s attention away from the PowerPoint slides. For example, consider using other media (like a flip chart) in conjunction with your PowerPoint slides. You can then springboard from the bullets on your slides and expand on each point using the chart.)
• Tip 5: Don’t hold projector remote with both hands…gripping it like grim death.
• Tip 6: Always turn off the projection (not the projector) when you’re not actually referring to a slide. This is so audience members can refocus on you and your body language.

Here’s how: If you hit “B,” the screen fades to black. If you hit “W,” the screen fades to white. Repeat the keystroke to return to your presentation. (FYI: If – under pressure - you forget the keystrokes, simply place a piece of stout card over the projector lens.)

• Tip 7: Rehearse with your PowerPoint slides beforehand. Just because your main bullets are on your slides doesn’t mean you can “wing it”. Make sure you know the order of your slides and how long each one takes to explain.

One final point…
The commonest time for a keynote speaker, salesperson or industry educator to mentally lose their place in a speech occurs as they transition between one content block and the next.

One of the best things about using PowerPoint slides is that your blocks of content are pre-organized. And so you can rest confident in the knowledge that you won’t “forget your place”. (If necessary, you can simply glance at the new slide to be reminded of your next subtopic.)

This leaves you free to focus on being your persuasive best so you can sell your product or motivate your team…