1. !
PRESENTER
DOs & DON’Ts!
Helpful Tips
DO - Think Before You Design
!
‣ Work with moderator (if applicable) to
understand the overall purpose of session.
‣ Brainstorm away from computer about the
story you want to tell.
‣ Use whiteboard, sticky notes, notecards,
pen/paper, or whatever else helps you
think creatively.
‣ Outline your goals for the presentation –
your core point, key themes, flow, and how
it all fits together.
‣ Give yourself enough time for thoughts to
marinate and coalesce.
!
DON’T - Design Impulsively
!
‣ Let your thinking be boxed in by a
common presentation format, like
Powerpoint (you may decide to use
another format like Prezi, video, or even
role playing, to visually present your
content)
‣ Start typing bullets or adding content
without rhyme or reason.
‣ Try to fully recreate your paper or
abstract in bullet form in your visuals.
!
DO - Plan for Engagement
!
‣ Simplicity – keep it simply focused on
driving home your core point. Everything
you present should support that.
‣ Unexpectedness – Surprise your audience
with something they didn’t already know,
to stimulate interest.
‣ Concreteness – Use natural speech and
real examples to be relatable.
‣ Credibility – Let the moderator sing your
praises, to imbue credibility,
‣ Evoke emotion – Show your passion and
excitement for what you are presenting.
‣ Tell a story – Take attendees on a journey
through your content.
!
!
!
DON’T - Forget Your Audience
!
‣ Overcomplicate things and overwhelm
your audience by trying to stuff too many
key messages into your presentation.
‣ Deliver expected, dated or known
information and insights.
‣ Toot your own horn and go on and on
about your own accomplishments in your
introduction and throughout your
presentation.
‣ Approach content and delivery with a flat
and detached sensibility.
‣ Think all that matters are facts and
statistics that are devoid of context and
bigger meaning.
PLANNING

2. DO - Follow Design Best Practices
!
‣ Remember that design is not for design
sake, but for directing attention to core
messages.
‣ Match presentation software to your
presentation goals (for example,
Powerpoint is great for fact-telling; Prezi is
great for non-linear presentations).
‣ Incorporate visual imagery. Pictures tell a
thousand words and images help people
retain information.
‣ Use color to create interest, highlight core
points, and reinforce branding.
‣ Apply a less-is-more approach for content,
colors, text, images, charts, etc.
‣ Make font readable – if you can read it in
Powerpoint’s slide sorter, you can read it
from the back of a conference room.
DON’T - Forget Clean Design
!
‣ Put the focus on you, but instead on what
you are trying to convey.
‣ Put random things on slides with idea of
“decorating” them.
‣ Force people to read and listen at the
same time by including large amounts of
text in visuals.
‣ Use and be constrained by pre-loaded or
software-provided templates.
‣ Use tiny font sizes, busy charts, and
chaotic imagery.
‣ Feel compelled to fill all available space in
a visual.
‣ Use boring and expected clip art; and
expensive stock imagery, unless you have
to.
‣ Be afraid of white space.
!
DO - Bring out your inner TED
!
‣ Practice, practice, practice; try multiple
sessions with different audiences, using
increasingly refined visuals and speaking
points.
‣ Start with a script to accompany your
visuals, and refine down into concise
points, with word/symbol prompts.
‣ Provide moderators with information about
yourself related to the specific topic.
‣ Ensure moderators have your correct name,
title, and spelling.
‣ Respect conference protocols for timing,
structure of Q&A and other requirements.
‣ Repeat audience questions, if the
moderator or MC does not.
‣ Show your enthusiasm, passion, and
interest in what you are presenting!
!
DON’T - Fail to Engage Audience
!
‣ Assume you can wing it and succeed, or that
your charm, outfit, or results alone can
replace planning, clean visual design, and
practice.
‣ Present thinly veiled or blatant sales pitches
about either you or your company.
‣ Write full sentences on your notes or note
cards, because it will be tempting to read
them.
‣ Read your talking points verbatim.
‣ Distribute handouts during your
presentation that will distract the audience.
‣ Wait too long to get the audience involved;
the longer you wait, the harder it will be to
engage them.
‣ Forget to thank your fellow presenters and
panelists, moderator, audience, and AESP.
DESIGN
PRESENTATION