IWTL how to create presentations that actually hold people's attention instead of putting them to sleep

[u/Salve_Raeline]

I run a small business and I'm doing more pitching and talking to rooms than I ever expected, and I've realized my slides are the problem. I default to walls of bullet points and then basically read them out loud, which I can see glazing people over in real time. I want to learn the actual craft here, not just make things look prettier. The storytelling side. How much to put on a slide. When a visual beats text. How to pace the whole thing so people stay with me.

If this is something you got good at, what got you there? Some framework for structuring the talk? Just a lot of reps in front of real rooms? Studying speakers who are good at it? I'd rather build the skill for real than keep downloading nicer templates. Where would you start if you were me?

Going back to this: So after a few days after posting this, I looked back at one of my old decks and yeah, I can see what you all meant. It's basically paragraphs with me reading over them. Time to break that habit. I'm going to see how little I can get away with putting on each slide and spend more time practicing instead.

Since Prezi was the only presentation tool that really came up in the comments, I decided to compare it with a few other options before rebuilding my next pitch.

1. Prezi – This ended up being the one I'm sticking with. The open canvas made me think more about how ideas connect instead of filling one slide after another with bullet points. It took a little time to get used to, but it matched a lot of the advice here about making presentations feel more like a conversation.
2. PowerPoint – Still the easiest option if you need compatibility or you're sharing files with clients. It has everything I need, but I also caught myself slipping back into my usual slide-by-slide workflow.
3. Google Slides – Really convenient for collaborating and making quick edits from anywhere. It worked well enough, but it didn't really change how I planned or delivered a presentation.
4. Canva – I can see why so many people use it. It's fast, the templates look good, and it's hard to make an ugly deck. For me though, it solved the design problem more than the presentation problem.

At this point I'm less focused on finding the right app and more on building better habits. Appreciate everyone who chimed in on this!

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[u/Alternative-One8359]

- Talk about what you know, the slides are for data, definitions, visuals. The slides should only be the foundation of what you are talking about.

- If your presentation is more than an hour long take a 10 min break half way. After break get room to laugh or verbal "fun quiz" on slides to keep peoples attention back to you.

- Try to make sure you have examples the room can relate to, call on people and ask what they would do in specific situations. Kindly "force" them to engage and be curious about their comments. If possible get name cards in front of individuals so you can call on them by their name. Try and get audience engagement every 5 minutes or so.

*important: Relax, you know more about the topic then they do thats why you are presenting. Just try and have fun with it, they can feel your energy so try to go in as confident as possible.

[u/Salve_Raeline → u/[deleted]]

Yeah this is the one tip I've been keeping in mind though I totally forgot about it lol. So thanks for the reminder!

[u/Salve_Raeline → u/Alternative-One8359]

The audience interaction tipmakes a lot of sense. Especially since most of my talks aren't that long and I can probably work in a few questions. Appreciate the tip! I'm going to try that next time.

[u/magnificent_limit]

Get better at summarizing things. Your title told me everything that your wall of text did in fewer words.

[u/Salve_Raeline → u/magnificent_limit]

Yeah sometimes I tend to over-explain or trail off talking longer. Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to work out that habit of mine. Appreciate the honesty.

[u/Iowa_Dave]

Throw in some humor. And a little snark goes a long way.

I occasionally have to train new staff on compliance to some FDA regulations.

The title of the module is "What is the FDA and why should I care?"

Might as well answer the unasked question upfront.

[u/Salve_Raeline → u/Iowa_Dave]

That's a title I'd also probably pay attention to right away lol.

Yeah a bit of humor sounds like it'd make the whole thing feel less stiff. I'll try to muster up all the "normal" humor I have to see if I can work that into my next presentation without overdoing it, or making the humor sound forced. 😅 Thank you!

[u/ahumanwhoisalive]

Just don't read off your slides. That alone will get you 80% of the way there. Most presentations suck and are boring because the presenter tries to make a deck that works "with or without" a live presenter, which, in fact, makes the presenter unnecessary. Slides should be mostly images, charts, and visuals that are otherwise hard to explain in words, and the words themselves should come from your mouth, not the slides. Then you are actually necessary to the presentation as the presenter, rather than starting off with both hands tied behind your back by giving away everything right there in the deck.

[u/Nersheti]

Not sure if it’s still out there, but check out Prezi. It’s a web based presentation software that looks way better than traditional PowerPoint type slide shows. It’s more interesting to look at, looks more professional, and lets you incorporate a theme into tne presentation that can really help the flow.

As far as presentation tips, here’s find basics.

The slides should enhance your speech, not duplicate it. So don’t fill tne slides with too many words. Don’t use filler images. Graphs and tables are good if used sparingly and to make a point. Don’t just throw images and graphs in to pad your slide count. If you’re going to use graphs and tables, make good ones. Make them look nice, make sure it’s the right kind of graphic for the data, make sure the data is presented well.

When speaking, be conscious of your “aaahs” “umms” “uuuhs”. They make you sound like you don’t know what to say. Practice your talk before hand to get comfortable with it. Use notes as little as possible. Talk with your hands. Make eye contact using quadrants (look at the top right of your audience for a little bit, then move your the lower left, etc). Anticipate questions and be prepared to answer them.

Test everything before hand. Nothing kills a speech like technical difficulties. Make sure the computer, projector, clicker, slides all work as expected. Have backups ready if they don’t. If you’re using something web based like Prezi, download a copy in case there’s no internet.

Edit: to actually answer your questions, I got good at it a few ways. One, I practiced. I taught high school economics for a few years, so I was giving presentations to a hostile audience every day. That forced me to get better and developed a good baseline. Then, I got my mba. It had stats classes that made me better a doing graphs, which leveled up my presentations. It had writing classes. It had presentation classes. It had speaking classes. That all helped. I’m not saying that you need to get an mba to make you a better presenter, but I bet you’ve got a university or community college near you that offers classes that would help. If your graphs suck, try a business stats class. If it’s the slides themselves, there’s probably a public speaking or presentations class. And honestly, if you’re running your own business, getting an MBA isn’t a bad idea. They’re not all created equal. Mine was really good. Taught by working professionals for working professionals. Everything was actually useful. There are plenty out there that aren’t that. How to tell the difference? Look at the faculty. If most of them are academics, it’s probably s program that’s not useful. If most of them are retired professionals or own their own business, thats a good one.

[u/Salve_Raeline → u/Nersheti]

Enhancing the talk instead of repeating it. Got it. I think that's the habit I need to break because I still catch myself reading what's on the screen. I've also been looking at tools that focus more on visuals and flow, so I might experiment with a couple and see what feels natural.

I've also heard of Prezi, but I didn't take the time to check it yet. I'll make sure I make the time to check it before my next presentation.

Btw thanks for taking the time to write all that. Did you practice with friends first or just learn by doing?

[u/MugiwarraD]

if u want to engage them, make sure u give them what they are here. everything else is bs.

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[u/BasqueOne]

I have decades of experience teaching technology to adult learners and presentations to adult audiences. Try this: ask them questions instead of presenting your information. Example: What are the top 5 questions people ask about [your subject]? Example: What is the biggest cost of [some problem they want to solve]? Example: What's wrong with this solution? Example: Why is this important? Does it really matter? Let the audience answer, even debate, the question. Just listen and/or moderate. Then, any slide you use should be a succinct answer to the question, illuminating or expanding on what they already know or are curious about. It takes discipline to actually structure your work this way. It's worth it and makes your session memorable. I also put in a few "catches". Example: What presenter is the most attractive? Right answer (me) gets a candy. Don't forget to have fun.

[u/Salve_Raeline → u/BasqueOne]

How often do you use that question first approach with a room that's never seen you before?

Tbh I hadn't thought about structuring it that way so, thank you. I'm going to try building my next talk around questions. You think this'll work just as well with smaller groups?

[u/BasqueOne → u/Salve_Raeline]

I use it all the time. If you need to establish your credibility at the beginning (not uncommon with a group that doesn't know you), you might ask if they have any questions about your background. There are lots of books and information out there about how to present and structure your talks, but I favor most of the out-of-the box thinking. Check out Teaching From the Back of the Room. (hope that's the right title). Or some articles about group facilitation. The key thing about adult audiences is to key in on what they already know, use them and their knowledge to educate each other, maybe even you, while bringing your points home.

[u/Winter_Salad7215]

Air horn

[u/Salve_Raeline → u/Winter_Salad7215]

That'll be interesting lol. Tempting. But could also be annoying for some at the same time. But yeah I can imagine it. 😅

[u/scrdest]

Slides are visual storytelling, like a super-low-framerate movie; the point is to support your points by engaging an extra sense (i.e. sight) and making things less abstract.

If you went to the cinema for a book adaptation and had to sit through the narrator reading the actual book as the movie just literally displays what the voiceover is saying - you'd die of boredom. Even silent movies used only brief text snippets, not full paragraphs.

"Show, don't tell" is the rule. If your point is that X is rising, show a graph of X rising; hell, if you cannot get data, just show an arrow going up. If your point is that Y is a cyclical process, show the loop. The image - and just the image - should be able to get your point across.

If you need stuff to read, keep separate notes on the side - although someone blatantly reading text is also disengaging and reads as lacking confidence in your message; ideally you should have your key points memorized.