I’ve done my share of presentations, good, bad, and terrible ones. I have learned many many things not only from personal experience but also by watching a lot of people doing amazing and just god-awful presentations in the past. Here are some pointers that might help you out (in no particular order):
- Avoid jokes.
I actually make smart-ass remarks only in 3-day events when I get to know my audience accordingly and I know I am guaranteed to get some sympathy back. Otherwise take yourself seriously, otherwise no one else will. - Avoid cliché greetings.
If I ever listen to a non-spontaneous “oh I see a lot of familiar faces in the audience” I will go mad. - Use Virtual Machines for Demos
Undo disks can be a blessing when demoing something. Save state and test it – if it worked, restore to your saved state. Ceteris Paribus at its maximus
- Demoing? Be prepared!
Demos will not work every now and then, but make sure you test your demos on the hardware that will actually be used to reduce the chances of a live breakdown. Most demo failures I have seen could have been easily avoided if only tested properly - Avoid remote desktop connections when demoing (if possible)
Unless you really really need to, avoid remote connections to a machine. There are a large number of factors that can cause everything in your demo to fail (network latency, disconnections, remore power outages). If you need to demo an OS that is not on your podium machine, consider using a virtual machine - Don’t drink (heavily) the night before
I don’t think this needs an explanation. - Know your stuff
You are teaching your audience something. In other words, you are the expert on the subject you are exposing (if not, why are you there in the first place?). Be prepared and try to formulate tough questions beforehand when you practice. If possible, have a colleague listen to you while practicing and have him/her destroy you with questions. - Don’t BS you audience
You don’t have to answer every question that is asked. You are an expert, but you are not a know-it-all. Guessing the answer to a questions can only result in loss of credibility, and once you lose that, your word is pretty much nil. - Demo not Working? Avoid desperation noises.
While you are trying to fix whatever it is went wrong in your demo, avoid making noises that will show your desperation. Chuckling noises or “ah” and “damn” and so on are really really bad. Hold your stance and try to recover without recurring to desperation. - When disaster strikes, INNOVATE
In one presentation I quickly opened my slide deck for revision. I quickly tested a demo which failed immediately. Instead of showing the demo, I took the slide that referenced the demo out, included some screenshots and went on. I guess this is the same as “always have a backup plan” - Repeat the question.
Not only does this give you enough time to re-think a tough question but it also makes it possible for everyone to engage in the topic. When you don’t repeat the question and only talk only to the person who addressed the question, the other audience members will feel left out and will quickly stop paying attention. - Use large font size when showing code or commands from a command promt
Not everyone has eagle-eye vision. I usually use 16 point font. I also set the command prompt backcolor to a dark tone with bright font-color (other than black on white)
