J.Randolph Radney's List: Presentations

• Powerpoint could be the most powerful tool on your computer. But it’s not. Countless innovations fail because their champions use PowerPoint the way Microsoft wants them to, instead of the right way.

    

  Communication is the transfer of emotion.

• Here are the five rules you need to remember to create amazing Powerpoint presentations:

    
  1. No more than six words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken.
    
  2. No cheesy images. Use professional stock photo images.
    
  3. No dissolves, spins or other transitions.
    
  4. Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have. If people start bouncing up and down to the Grateful Dead, you’ve kept them from falling asleep, and you’ve reminded them that this isn’t a typical meeting you’re running.
    
  5. Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They don’t work without you there.
• Fourth, create a feedback cycle.
• Third, create a written document.
• Second, make slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them.
• Four Components To A Great Presentation
  First, make yourself cue cards. Don’t put them on the screen.

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