• KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid!
  Your audience's attention is limited, and the amount of information they can absorb in the time frame of your presentation is also limited. Do not go into too much detail on any subtopic, but make sure you give enough information that you do not lose your listeners.
• Time: about 30-45 minutes
  We usually have one presentations per one hour meeting. About ten minutes per meeting will be lost to introductions, etc.
• Prepare yourself
  Don't expect to be able to walk up to the podium and make it all up off the top of your head. Have some sort of plan before presenting. We prefer that you make a slide show, if it is appropriate for your presentation. Practice your presentation to a friend at least once before presenting it!
• Graphics: not too little, not too much
  Use at most one graphic per slide. More than that will only distract from the main attraction, the presentation itself. Likewise, don't be too sparse - graphics add concrete visual data to your presentation and are usually the most memorable part. Don't be afraid to take a screen shot of whatever it is you're talking about!
• Test before you demonstrate
  If you will be demonstrating some technology in your presentation, test it out before your presentation to make sure it works. This includes testing on the wireless network, writing down the necessary command line parameters, etc.
• Assume your audience knows nothing
  Always start at square one, and let your presentation flow from there. If you leave out the basics, even if most of your audience already knows that stuff, the one or two people who don't will be lost from the beginning, and they will get nothing from your presentation. Still, don't spend too much time on the basics - just enough to make sure that everyone is up to speed before you start in on the meat of your presentation.
• Ask for questions
  Don't forget to see if anyone has questions about your presentation when you're done. You may have left out something important, or there may be something someone is not clear about.
• Research and references
  Be sure that you've done your homework. When you do research on a topic, be sure to put a "resources" page at the end of your presentation where you list the most useful resources (URLs, etc.) you found.

Last Updated Wednesday, January 03 2007 @ 03:42 PM EST