Effective Teaching & Lecturing Presentation

No matter how often you carried the position as a presenter, teacher or lecturer; being new doesn’t mean to be less capable. You’ll be able to perform an effective presentation as long as you know the basic ingredients in making your presentation, teaching or lecturing works well for you and your audience.

Master your subject or topic
The most important key is that you must master the knowledge that you are about to transfer, whatever the subject might be. The more prepared you are in understanding all the necessary aspect to support your subject, the more effective the knowledge would be transferred to your audience. The more you knew, the more they will learn (from you).

Know your personal style
Everyone have their own style based on their personal power and limitation. You should have a unique presentation style. But if you decide to expand your skills, you must prepare yourself with a powerful presentation tool. Remember that you should be careful when it comes to include a joke, because in the certain audience’s mood or perception — sometime it could become a boomerang for you.

Know your audience.
To make an effective presentation you must know your audience before you start your presentation. Relevant topics would make a better perception for your audience. If you haven’t got the chance to do it before the presentation occurred, you must get to know them by asking them what you want to know in the beginning of your presentation. This way you are set for a collaborative, two-way interactive meeting.

First impression does matter.
You always start with an impressive intro to catch their attention. Take half a minute to introduce yourself to all your audiences; you can also use it as an opportunity getting use to the new stage environment. You should also pay a serious attention to what you are wearing and how you are carrying yourself in front of audiences.

Make a catchy intro.
Make a brief & interesting intro on the subject of the presentation. Take a few minutes to talk about the background, history, related supporting topics, etc. It also a good thing if you spare the time to explain the bigger picture of your presentation. So it would be guidance through the topics you will cover — both for you and your audience to stay focus on the given roadmap.

Don’t under estimate an ice breaker.
With an icebreaker, you can bring more enjoyable & informative experience for your audience. As a presenter you can sneak in some witty words or inspirational motivation to your audience to keep their spirit high tuning into your word — until the last session of your presentation. An ice breaker would be more effective if you know your timing.

Make a necessary pause & punctuation.
When delivering your presentation, make sure to take necessary pauses & punctuations, so it won’t sound like you are rambling. It is essentially important if you are a fast talker by nature, or when you are easily carried away in enthusiasm explaining about other supporting topic. Even if you do this to cover up your nervousness, you should give your audience an opportunity to digest all the information while digesting it through for a minute or two.

You’re not suppose to do all the talking!
Just because you are the presenter, teacher or lecturer — it doesn’t mean that you are the only one to do all the talking. By making a two-way interactive conversation you could prevent your audience getting bored by your speech. It is a good way to make an organic interactive presentation, because it means your audience is getting little closer in understanding what you explained earlier to them. You can use it as a brief moment to help you relax and refocus to the next topic in your roadmap.

Invite questions from your audience.
A good presenter would always find a way to invite audience to ask some questions & let everyone participate. You can also pass the wild ball around the audience to measure how much they keep up with what you were saying. It also makes them to pay a better attention & keep them away from sleepiness.

There is a never ending process to be a great presenter, teacher or lecturer — because all great one is come from ongoing practices to shape their perfection.

7 Speaking Trends — How to Make a Powerful Presentation Today

The fundamentals of a great speech stay the same. (Develop one strong idea. Focus on the audience. Be authentic, clear, and committed.) But styles change with time. These are the latest trends in speeches and presentations.

1. Keep it Short

People want information, but they’re already overwhelmed by too much information. If you give them what they need to know in a way they can quickly understand and apply, they’ll love you. Get to the heart of the matter in as few words as possible. Say what you have to say. And stop speaking — even if you haven’t spoken for the allotted time.

2. Let’s Get Personal.

In this age of Oprah, interactive websites, and blogs, formal presentations are out. Instead, savvy speakers are speaking conversationally. They’re less likely to “make a speech,” more likely to talk to their audiences. They move away from podiums. They use personal stories and anecdotes. They say I and you, we and us. They encourage audience interaction.

3. Simple Is Chic.

Sophisticated technology is simple — at least for the end user. A point-and-shoot camera takes in all sorts of data and makes innumerable, complex calculations so you don’t have to. Successful speakers do the same thing. They do their research. They decide what’s important. And they present what the audience needs to know in a way the audience gets.

4. The Love Affair with PowerPoint(TM) Is Over.

Audiences are no longer wowed by PowerPoint(TM). They take it for granted, and if anything they’re a little bored by it. Use it as a tool, a way of presenting information. But don’t let it upstage you. Keep yourself up front and personal.

5. Recycling Is Good for What Ails You.

Creating a good speech takes a lot of time. So once you’ve created a presentation, reuse it. Don’t think you have to come up with something new for each occasion. You can give the exact same speech word for word to a different audience, and it becomes a different speech. Take bits and pieces from one presentation and repackage them. Trim a 45-minute in-depth presentation into a 15-minute overview of your topic. Or use your 15-minute overview as an outline for a longer presentation.

6. Mark your Territory.

It’s almost impossible to come up with something brand new and original to talk about. After all, how many news ways are there to make a sales, a speech, or a successful relationship? Winning speakers take the best of what’s already known and make it new by making it their own. They put their own spin on it, using a unique (and consistent) choice of words and phrasing. Think Chicken Soup for the Soul, the One-Minute Manager, and Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. New stuff or clever packaging?

7. Everyone Wants a Security Blanket.

It’s a scary world, and people are afraid of losing what they have. They want something or someone who will make them feel safe. If you’re going to challenge them to change, you need to show them why. And you need to reassure them that what they get will be better than what they leave behind. Threats — implied or explicit — will make people react in the moment, but they won’t sustain people’s long-term efforts.

4 Tips of Choosing the Right Laser Pointer for Your PowerPoint Presentation

Laser pointer is an important instrument which determines the success of your PowerPoint presentation. This special equipment helps you to gain full attention from your audience. Let me share with you some practical tips on how to select the right laser pointer which suits your needs most:

Tip No. 1: Decide on the color of your laser pointer

Different lasers come with different colors, such as red, red-orange, blue, green and yellow. Different colors have different wavelength. You need to decide on the wavelength or color before you purchase a pointer. Red lasers are usually the weakest with the wavelength of 632nm. Due to this reason, the cost of getting a red laser is always the lowest. Green laser is stronger than red laser with the wavelength of 532nm. The most expensive and strongest pointer is the blue pointer with the wavelength of 473nm. Yellow is considered a unique color. If you want to make yourself different, you are recommended to get a yellow pointer which comes with the wavelength of 593.5nm.

Tip No. 2: The batteries used

In general, most of the laser pointers in the market require triple A batteries. You are reminded not to choose those pointers which require special batteries. Less common batteries are hard to find. You may have difficulty replacing the batteries. There is nothing more irritating than running out of battery power for your pointer in the middle of a presentation if you fail to get spare batteries on time.

Tip No. 3: Decide on the output power

How powerful you want your laser pointer to be? It depends much on what you want to show to your audience. To be frank, a low output power, say 1mW, is ideal for indoor use. It works well for presentation in the meeting rooms or seminar halls. If you need the pointer to be used outdoor, you can try those with output power at around 2-5mW. You need to bear in mind that any laser with an output power of greater than 5mW is illegal to be used outdoor in United States. If you are not very sure about all these, you are advised to check with the providers for their professional advice.

Tip No. 4: Determine the style of your laser pointer

You spend a lot of time to make your PowerPoint presentation as interesting as possible. You also need to get a stylish laser pointer to match your presentation. In order to create an outstanding personal image, you are advised to find a “great looking” pointer. Besides, in order to present your slides in a smooth manner, you need to make sure that you are comfortable with the pointer you choose. You must find out whether it can be operated easily. Some laser pointers come with LED light. You are reminded to find out whether the pointer you choose has such feature if you really need small flashlight.

Although the cost of getting this tool is not very high, it is better for you to spend some time to find the right one for yourself so that you can achieve great success in your PowerPoint presentation.