What is Serif and Sans Serif?

You have probably heard these two terms sometime in your academic career (my guess would be collegiate, but it's just a guess.) So what does it actually mean? Urbanfonts has created this awesome infographic that really lays down the law between serif and sans serif! Take a gander!

tldr: Use Sans Serifs for presentations!

Font Tips for Presentations

This post was written by Tommy Gugino of Double the Trouble: My Life as a Fraternal Twin. For more shenanigans, visit his blog here.

My name is Tommy Gugino and I am a senior communication major with an emphasis in public relations from Las Vegas, Nevada.

So being a PR major, I look at a lot of advertisements and presentations every week with some of the ugliest fonts I have ever seen. If you know me you know that I am actually quite a font snob especially when it comes to presentations. Nothing bothers me more than a presentation with terrible font choices in them.

Here are six tips to consider when you build your next presentation.

1. Have a sharp contrast between the font and your background
2. Don’t use too many fonts in your presentation
3. Use readable fonts
4. Don’t capitalize all your letters
5. AVOID script fonts
6. Use italics sparingly

Sony's Embarassing PowerPoint according to @Gawker

Oh my goodness. This recently released PowerPoint from Sony is a tragedy, a trainwreck, and a perfect example of what NOT to do. Sony, please hire me and let me fix your mistakes.

Talk about too much text, inconsistency, and what the font choices?!

Check out this mess out for yourself.
 
Sony's Embarrassing PowerPoint

How to Create Presentations that Don't Suck according to @Lifehacker

Here's a super useful article on Lifehacker.com written by Melanie Pinola about creating presentations that don't suck. I strongly agree on with problem 1. Too many ideas can really clutter your slide and your audience. Read through the article here

Top 10 Do's for Presentations: Delivery

Welcome back! Here are the top 10 do's.

1. Dress appropriately
Depending on your topic and your audience, you will want to dress appropriately. For example, if you're presenting to your classmates, I highly recommend at least business casual. If you're unsure of the dress code, ask your professor.

2. Note cards
If you are allowed to use note cards, use note cards, not paper. Note cards are more subtle and not as distracting as a flimsy loose paper. The paper will make you look unprepared whereas note cards are used as nice little references.

3. Project
Last blog post, I talked about mumbling and speaking too fast. Here I want to touch upon projection. Use a clear, loud voice. Make sure the people in the back of the room can hear your voice.

4. Leave time for questions
Sometimes your audience may want to know more information about your topic. Leave some time for them to ask their questions. Get them involved!
                                                                  
5. Enunciate
Speak clearly. Don't slur your words or clip the endings of them.

6. Smile
Sounds cheesy, right? But really, show some humanity and spread the goodness of a smile! It may lighten up the mood.

7. Breathe
Don't starve yourself of oxygen because you're scared! Just remember to breathe!

8. Good posture
As mentioned before in the last post, stand up straight and proud. Slouching will give off a bad vibe.

9. Stick to your time limit
I can almost guarantee you that most people despise presenters who go over their time limit.

10. Have fun!
Honestly, have fun with your topic. If you show enthusiasm and are generally having fun, it will rub off on your audience. Good vibes are always welcome and contagious!

What are some other pieces of advice you would recommend to someone for tips on the 'do's' of presentations? Leave a comment below!

Top 10 Don'ts for Presentations: Delivery

It's that time of the year for presentations! Here are some tips in no particular order of things to avoid while speaking.

1. Sitting down
Sitting down undermines your credibility. Take the presentation seriously and show the audience you are being serious by standing up and moving around just a little bit. It also can make the audience feel like they can't trust you if they can't see you.

2. Mumble
It can be scary to speak in a group of people but the entire process will be even more painful if you audience doesn't hear a single word you said because now you've just wasted your time and theirs. Clear your throat and speak up.

3. Monotone
Nothing puts people more to sleep than a dreary, monotonous voice. Show some enthusiasm when you're speaking especially if you're passionate about your topic!

4. Reading off the slides
Your PowerPoint or Prezi or Keynote or whatever medium you choose to use is not the literary tool; it's a visual there to aid you. Speak to the audience, not the projected screen!

5. Lack of eye contact
You are speaking to real, live human beings who want to be connected with what you're saying (unless this is over webcam but that's another blog post.) Avoid staring at the ground or the screen and try to have eye contact with your audience.

6. Leaning on the wall
By leaning on the wall, you might give off the impression that you aren't interested in your own presentation or idea. How can you convince or inform your audience if you seem laid-back and aloof about the situation? Stand up straight and proud!

7. Chewing gum
This can be a huge distraction for your audience especially if you start smacking it while talking. There's also a possibility it will fall out of your mouth mid-sentence. Do yourself a favor and just spit it out before the presentation.

8. Talking too fast
Woah there, slow down. Take a breather and talk at a slower pace so that your audience can digest the information. How fast and how slow? Well it really depends if you're shooting out statistics or fun facts about history. You'll need to gauge the speed yourself or ask a friend when you practice.

9. Pacing
Please don't walk back and forth especially across the screen. It's a huge distraction.

10. Hands in your pockets
Take them out. Having them in your pockets gives off a 'I don't care' attitude. We also trust people more when we can see their hands!

Were you aware that you do some of these things? Don't know if you do? Give a mock presentation to a friend and ask them to watch for these things! Check in the next few days for some tips for the "do's" of presentations. Also, leave a comment if you have thoughts on other things that speakers should avoid to do!

Technical Difficulties in Presentations

 
Let's talk technical difficulties. It happens. Sometimes in the worst way possible and sometimes it's mild. I had the awkward experience of dealing with it this morning in class. It's frustrating when something you've worked hard on doesn't get conveyed properly. Nevertheless, the presentation must go on. When you run into technical difficulties, you may lose your visual aid or certain pictures or your video clips. If this happens, you need to improvise and adapt. Improvisation and adaption is key to a good presentation because:

1. Practice really does make perfect.

By knowing your content and material, you will still be able to convey your information through your mouth instead of visually. It will be easier for you to adapt and improvise if you know your speech inside and out.

2. Presentations are your visual aids, they are not your speech.

Most people have this misconception that presentations can convey by itself what needs to be said. That is wrong because you are the speaker. You are the one the audience will be focusing on. Presentations are the visual aids that help support what you are saying.

Try to avoid hardware malfunctions by making sure what you needed is present such as

• the updated software to present on the device that is being used (Prezi, Keynote, PowerPoint)
• e-mailing yourself your presentation or keeping it on Google Drive, the iCloud, Dropbox or any type of storage mediums
• bringing a copy on a USB  

Remember to practice, adapt, and improvise!

Nancy Duarte's Ted Talk

 

I wholeheartedly could not even begin to explain the phenomena that Nancy Duarte so simply shares in this wonderful Ted Talk. Please take a few minutes to watch this Ted Talk by Nancy Duarte about why some presentations work and some do not. You will have a greater understanding of why some ideas win over others and what makes a fantastic presentation. This speech truly inspires me to change the world with my ideas and I hope it does the same for you.

If it does, I highly recommend reading Resonate by Nancy Duarte!

Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking

Do you have a fear of public speaking? If so, is this what happens to you?

Fear of public speaking is a real thing. It's actually called glossophobia or speech anxiety. Many people have glossophobia including possibly you. And you know what? That's okay. It's okay that you are afraid. Just know that there will be times when you will be asked to speak up in front of a group of people.

Have you spoken in front of others before? Think about it. How did you do? Did you survive? Are you alive? I sure would hope so considering you're reading this. I don't expect you to overcome your fear of public speaking overnight, but I do want to help you fight it over time. Here are some tips that can help you combat speech anxiety.

1. Relax - Seriously, just breathe. Take a deep breath before your speech. It's okay to be nervous and sweaty, but take some time to breathe and put reality back into place. Whatever you are speaking for or however long, it will not last forever. It could be a 5 minute presentation or a 60 minute presentation. Either way, it is not infinite. It will end. Breathe.

2. Body position - Try to keep your weight even. A lot of speakers will tend to lean on one leg or the other which applies pressure and can be stressful. It's okay to move a little while speaking. Find your space by extending your arms out. Try to stay in that amount of space when moving and avoid pacing back and forth.

3. Practice - Practice, practice, practice. This cannot be stressed enough! Most people feel that they are not good at speaking in front of others because they lack experience. Practice your speech or presentation by yourself, in front of a mirror, in front of a friend, in front of a family member, and then in front of a group. It sounds tedious, but like most things in life, you need to work hard to get the results you want.

Knowing your audience and establishing credibility

Knowing your audience and credibility can be two things that highly influence each other. Let's talk about credibility first. What is credibility? According to Merriam Webster dictionary, credibility is defined as the quality of being believed or accepted as true, real, or honest. As a presenter, you will want to establish credibility so that your audience can take you seriously and see you as a reliable source of information. This can be established in many different ways, but I'm going to discuss how credibility can be established through sharing a personal experience or story.

Let me tell you how credibility was established in one of my most recent presentations. My colleague and I presented in front of the principals in the Iron County School District for the Cedar City Water Conservancy District. As a 21 year-old student, it was extremely nerve-wracking to stand in front of twenty-five or so important officials. Even as a child, everyone at one point of time must have been a bit afraid to be in a room with a principal; now I was standing in front of at least twenty-five. To establish credibility with these education officials, my supervisor, Sage Platt, started the presentation with something like this:

"Jessica's family is originally from Cambodia. They were in the middle of a war and each member separated from each other as they stayed in different refuge camps. After being sponsored to come to America, her family now lives here in Utah. Her mother did not attend college and her father cannot speak English fluently. Jessica is now a 1st generation student who knows the importance of education."

Sage was able to establish credibility for me because she knew my audience. This opening statement resonated strongly with these principals because they work in the education field; they take pride and joy in education.

Research who your audience is and share a personal story to establish credibility.

Better Business Presentations, according to @Inc

Here is a great article about business presentations. I especially appreciate number three because of how important it is to know your audience. You've got to really know who your audience is for your message to really reach them.

Read this article for eight useful tips on building better business presentations!

Building Better Business Presentations

How many bullet points should you be using?

• Bullets are meant to help outline concepts or list ideas.
• They are meant to be short and sweet, but tend to lean on the lengthier side of the slide.
• They are also purely text-based taking away from the visual possibilities. 
• Are you still reading this?
• Bullets can be boring.
• Did you read the first three and then jump to this one?

The answer to the title question is none.

Wherever possible, avoid using bullets. Everything you put on the screen is a graphic. Visually the eye perceives every letter, every period as a graphic. Try to limit the amount of information being put on the slide as it can take away from the oral presentation. If you want to keep your information concise, avoid putting too much information on the screen so that the slides won't look so cluttered. For example look at the following slides:

A. With bullet points

B. Without bullet points

Do you see how the subtopics are still listed in the exact same format for both slides? All the bullet points in Slide A did was just add an extra visual for the audience to look at and it doesn't enhance the slide in any way. Slide B looks less cluttered from Slide A, giving it a cleaner look. Try to avoid bullets if at all possible!

Vibrant backgrounds for presentations

Remember when we talked about colors a little while ago? Here are a few examples of awesome backgrounds vibrant with color:

Be cautious of bright colors that may burn the eyes of your audience and dark shades that make the test difficult to read. Go out and find what fits you and your message best! It might take you a few extra minutes, but it'll be worth it. Just remember, it's the little things that add up to the bigger picture.

The Psychology of Colors

Here's an amazing infographic (too tiny? do click!) that describes the different meanings of colors in different settings.

Thank you Painters of Louisville for this awesome infographic!

The bottom left and top right of this infographic will be the most helpful for you concerning presentations. 

Think of your idea and the colors that are associated with it. For example, the history of royalty would couple well with purple. Maybe you're talking about finances; green would be complementary. Be cautious of yellow since it most likely strains eyes or causes eye fatigue. Red may make your audience more hungry than attentive to your message. In that case, use blue to curb that appetite and provide a calmer ambiance. Orange will raise that awareness, possibly resulting in excitement or caution. Carefully plan out how colors can help you and your presentation!

Using Colors in Presentations

Have you ever sat in a presentation where the background was plain white? How boring was it? Maybe you sat in a presentation where the colors were awfully random and all over the place proving to be quite the distraction. Does that sound all too familiar? Honestly, do tell because I know I've been stuck in that boat numerous times.

For those of you who breeze by with that plain old white background, get some excitement in there, show some spunk! As for those of you who are way too sporadic with the colors, pause and pick a color scheme that fits your message. Just remember, colors evoke emotions.

Maybe you're thinking "Why does it matter what colors I use in my presentations?"

A good question, my friends. I have asked the same question myself. I found my answer when I gave an informative speech on color psychology. Using the right colors can help to add or subtract from your presentation. Let's talk about the meaning of colors.

Red - love, passion, romance, daring, expressive, competitive, and aggressive. 

Yellow - joy, happiness, cheery and energetic.

Blue - stability, reliability, trust, and confidence

Orange - harvest, cleanliness

Green - nature, health, and freshness

Black - formal, elegance, rich, power, but can be associated with death and evil

White - purity, cleanliness, innocence

Brown - dependability, durability

It's good to think about these things because you are essentially selling what you are presenting. What do you want your audience to really see and hear? If you're going to talk about trust and dependability, would you want to have a bold red background or a dreary black background? Blue would probably be the better option. Distinguish what colors fit your idea best. For example, brown can mean dependability and durability. UPS has used that in their logo to invoke those emotions in their consumers. You will want to have the color of your background really accent your idea or story or whatever it is you are presenting. 

Remember, colors evoke emotions.