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5 key rules for creating a killer presentation

Learn how to create a presentation it is effective and unforgettable!

Contents1. Tell us a story2. People are visual3. Monotony:only if you want them to sleep4.Make it short, then cut it in half5. Practice, practice and more practiceIn conclusion

Whether you are a teacher who wants to give an interesting lecture to students in class, a marketer presenting in front of important clients or the CEO of Apple trying to impress his fans at the annual event, you all have the same challenge:how to present like a super star, in a way your audience will never forget.

After analyzing the most successful speakers in the world, we can say that there are five important rules on how to create a presentation that is clear, memorable and, above all, fun.

1. Tell us a story

5 key rules for creating a killer presentation

It's no secret that most people would rather hear a story than the formal lecture of a professor or salesman who simply sticks to the topics of their slides. A good story is one that has a beginning, a middle and an end. Sounds simple, right? How many lectures have you attended where you felt like you didn't understand where the lesson was going?

A good presenter is a storyteller. He will lead the audience step by step through the story. Each step is based on the previous step. The story has a clear logic. There must be a clear connection between the parts of the story.

At the beginning of the story, give as much information as possible so that the audience understands the issue or topic you plan to teach. When you enter the middle part of your story, explicitly mention that you are entering the next stage of the story by saying something like:“And now I will describe the solution” or “Once we understand the problem….” This helps your audience understand that they are entering the next stage of your story.

Now that you've completed the middle section and provided the solution or taught the main topic, it's time to check the audience's understanding of the lecture by moving on to the final part - the summary . You must explicitly indicate that you are entering the summary portion using a simple statement such as “To wrap up our conference…” or“We learned that…”

The self-weight of the story is:

  • 15% for opening and general description
  • 75% for the middle part
  • 10% for the summary of the story

The best practice is to plan your story before you even start creating your slides. Take a blank page, draw three rectangles and write inside as shown in this example:

5 key rules for creating a killer presentation

2. People are visual

Once you've finished creating your story structure, it's time to prepare your slides. The important thing to remember is that the slides are for you, the teacher, not the students. After all, the students came to see and hear you, not your slides. Otherwise, you can just email them your slides, right?

A common mistake teachers make is to load a lot of text into the slides and then turn their backs on the students in order to read the slides. Unless you're a first grade teacher, give your students credit for being able to read the text on their own.

The right way is to use pictures – as big as possible, interesting and, ideally, fun. It's easier to remember an image and relate it to a story than it is to remember the text you've written on the slide.

Still want to add text? It's OK as long as it doesn't exceed 3 lines with a large font. Such text can help you remember the topic you want to talk about. As we said, the slides are for you.

See also:5 steps to planning an effective presentation

3. Monotony:only if you want them to sleep

5 key rules for creating a killer presentation

How many times have you cried laughing at a stand-up comedy show only to find that when you tried to tell your friends the same joke later, no one laughed?

What is the difference? After all, it's the same story, with all the same details and yet it's no longer funny to anyone now.

It all depends on the intonation of the speech. If a slideshow were a movie, the intonation would be the background music. Even the most interesting topic in the world can put the audience to sleep in minutes if the speaker is monotonous.

As history has ups and downs, the plot must follow the same path. Change your tone, play with speed and volume, engage the audience using words of excitement as you enter the climax of the story. But remember to lower your speed and volume and relax listeners in low moments in the story.

"Compose the music" of your conference at home. Speak to yourself and listen to the intonation. If it is pleasing to your ear, it will be pleasing to your students.

4.Make-it-short-then-cut-in-half

Let's do a little experiment. Find a link to a video on a topic that interests you, then tap the link to play it. How many of you checked the duration of the movie for the first few seconds?

Now let's say the duration is 60 minutes. How many of you will immediately stop watching?
Students are much more time sensitive than teachers. Even if you think the lesson deserves its 60 minute duration, just break it up into several parts.

TED talks, which feature the world's best speakers on very interesting topics, are all between 8 and 10 minutes long.

On our website theLearnia where you can create videos in minutes, we have limited the video course duration to 15 minutes. The countdown reminds the teacher to focus on the most important messages in the allotted time. In our observations, we found that students often leave after 4.5 minutes on average.

Even if you have a lot to say, know that no one will be there to listen after the first 5 minutes.

5. Practice, practice and more practice

Take the example of Steve Jobs, who is considered one of the greatest presenters of our generation. He practices for days before the annual presentation of his next product launch.

He enters the auditorium, closes the door to visitors and trains for days. He brings all the props, runs the demo software, and opens the envelopes over and over again, just to make everything run as smoothly as possible.

No one is born ready to lecture. It's a matter of a lot of practice, learning, correcting mistakes and repeating. If Steve Jobs could spend days before a lecture, you can also invest in practice before each lecture, especially if you're not quite up to his skill level.

See also:Overcome your fear of giving a presentation

The good news is that the learning curve is relatively short and each practice will produce a substantial improvement over the previous period. It just gets easier and more professional over time.

In conclusion

You may already know some or even all of the rules specified here. However, I have found that despite having the theoretical knowledge needed to deliver a compelling lecture, most instructors repeatedly step back into their comfort zone. They rush to prepare the presentation, load too much text on their slides and often create a presentation so long that they don't even have enough time to present it.

Remember the old Diet Coke slogan:"Less is more" and plan your presentation according to the rules of this article. Beyond improving your personal presentation skills, you will be surprised by the positive feedback from your students.