NSA New England, Which style works for you?

I attended an informative, actionable and fun meeting at NSA New England chapter yesterday. Six professional speakers shared their insights and experiences with members. If I read 100 books on Professional and Public Speaking, I would not have received this volume of timely and valuable information.

My head is swimming with all of the ideas and information I received. Professional speakers implement different speaking models and each model has benefits and drawbacks. The perfect fit is one with benefits that suits your unique needs as a speaker.

This is the same with PowerPoint presentations. You need to find the presentation style that works for you, if you want to deliver memorable presentations. Do you prefer a fast-paced slideshow style? Or do you prefer to spend 2 to 4 minutes on a slide while you tell a story about your point and then engage the audience with personal examples?

I strongly believe in very few slides, with notes that display in the Presenter View of PowerPoint and coach clients to use this approach as well. Few slides with personal examples put you as the speaker in the desirable position of speaking directly to the audience with heartfelt conviction. Your audience senses that you are totally sincere in this situation and you prove that you are presenting for the benefit of the audience.

Try various PowerPoint Presentation styles and see which pace and style works best for you. Stay within the guidelines documented in "Dodging the bullet points", such as minimal text and generous use of high-quality photographs. You audience benefits as you discover your best presentation style.