2 Comments

  • bitkahuna says:

    great article. so if people ask for a copy of a presentation, should i give it to them? i put a lot of work into it, and am concerned about how it might be used by those i give it to (if i did).

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Bitkahuna, Great question. Instead of sharing the slides, I suggest creating a separate 1-page handout that summarizes a few key points from your presentation and includes links to any resources you mentioned during your presentation. Attendees get a precise summary of takeaway messages, and presenters get peace of mind.

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    How Do You Know When You’ve Given a Great Presentation?

    Updated on: Apr 27th, 2012
    Presentations
    , , , , ,
    Ann K. Emery of Depict Data Studio sitting at a computer and speaking into the webcam.

    I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about great presentations, trainings, and workshops as part of the American Evaluation Association’s Potent Presentations Initiative (p2i).

    Here’s something I’ve been pondering: How do you know when you’ve given a great conference presentation? My ideas so far:

    • People walk up to the front and talk to you before the presentation gets started (because they’ve already heard about you/your presentation and are looking forward to it)
    • People walk up to the front and talk to you after the presentation
    • People want your business card after the presentation
    • People ask questions throughout the presentation (and not necessarily only when you’ve paused to ask them whether they’ve got any questions – asking questions throughout is generally a great thing)
    • Barely anyone is playing on their cell phone (exception: if they’re tweeting about how much they’re learning in your presentation)
    • People are willing to sit on the floor or stand in the back of the room to hear your presentation
    • People are taking notes, sometimes furiously, to capture what you’re saying
    • Months later, you run into people at other evaluation brown bags or happy hours and when they greet you, they say, “Oh I know you already, I saw your presentation at the conference!”
    • Afterwards, people comment, “I learned so much!” or “You changed my entire way of thinking!”
    • People email you afterwards and ask you to co-present with them next year
    • People email you afterwards and ask for a copy of your presentation
    • People email you afterwards to offer you a consulting opportunity

    I didn’t start writing this post with audience engagement in mind… but I suppose that’s what my brainstorming points to?

    P.S. While I’ve accomplished a few of these, I’ve by no means accomplished all of them (yet!). These are things I’m aiming for and things I’ve seen happen as a result of other evaluators’ great presentations.

    More about Ann K. Emery
    Ann K. Emery is a sought-after speaker who is determined to get your data out of spreadsheets and into stakeholders’ hands. Each year, she leads more than 100 workshops, webinars, and keynotes for thousands of people around the globe. Her design consultancy also overhauls graphs, publications, and slideshows with the goal of making technical information easier to understand for non-technical audiences.

    2 Comments

  • bitkahuna says:

    great article. so if people ask for a copy of a presentation, should i give it to them? i put a lot of work into it, and am concerned about how it might be used by those i give it to (if i did).

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Bitkahuna, Great question. Instead of sharing the slides, I suggest creating a separate 1-page handout that summarizes a few key points from your presentation and includes links to any resources you mentioned during your presentation. Attendees get a precise summary of takeaway messages, and presenters get peace of mind.

  • Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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