The do's and don'ts of successful presentations

When it comes to giving a successful presentation, there is not a clear-cut method on how to do it. Most of it depends on your confidence, the audience, and the material you are presenting. Some presenters will make the mistake of just jumping right into the material without introducing themselves to their audience. Other presenters will spend too much time on the introduction that the audience has already tuned out before they have even started. Here are some of the do's and don'ts of successful presentations that may help you deliver a solid performance:

The Do's
Keep your presentation short, simple, and to the point. If you use PowerPoint, try to keep it short. You don't want to cram a slide in for every minute you talk or else you will be constantly flipping through slides and struggling to keep up with them. If your slide show is long, try to trim it down as much as possible. The slides should also be clean and easy to read. When you have too much going on with the slides, it can be hard for your audience to keep up with them. Text on slides is usually hard to read so opt for a picture that clearly explains what you are talking about.

Engage your audience as much as possible. If they are starting to fall asleep, try to get their attention by offering a short video clip. You need to do something that will spark their attention again. Practicing your presentation multiple times before you give it can help you figure out where the drag areas are so you know when you need to focus more attention on your audience.

Provide your audience with factual information. While the information you are presenting is coming from you, it helps to offer some quotes from other associates that share your opinion. This helps to validate the information and helps the audience build a stronger opinion of your credibility.

Always research your audience before you present to them. There is nothing more embarrassing than saying a bad joke and offending the audience. Understand who your audience is and know what their sensitivities are so you don't offend them.

The Don'ts
Do not have a PowerPoint that is lengthy. Using PowerPoint is a great addition to your presentation, but it can also be a great burden. You need to watch your slides to keep them clean and simple. Adding too many pictures or too much text to a slide will make it hard for your audience to read all of the information as you go along. Having too many slides makes your presentation turn into story time where the audience is simply looking and reading along while you talk.

Don't apologize or show weakness to the audience. Your audience does not need to know that you put the whole thing together in a day; they just need to know how well you can present this information to them. Admitting weakness to the audience will run your presentation because people won't take you seriously and many of them will tune you out immediately.

Don't allow your body language to jeopardize your presentation. Since most people get natural before presentations, they tend to let out this nervous energy through body language. Some of the common things include shaking of the knees, constant movement of the hands, or pacing the stage. Use a video camera and practice your speech several times, this will help you figure out if you have body language problems that need to be controlled.

Don't use filler words when you lose your place. "Umm" and "uhh" will completely destroy your presentation. If you lose your place, grab the water and have a sip while you try to find your place. It is better not to talk than to sit there and say "umm" for 30 seconds.