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Learning the New Rules. More and more presentations are being given over the Web. Companies are seeing benefits in posting presentations for training purposes. There are some significant benefits. For instance, some presentations on the Web let viewers go through at their own pace. Web-based presentations also significantly reduce a company's travel expenses. There are also new and different technologies out there to help with the interactivity. These features include polling, giving tests, desktop sharing, and many more.
There are two types of Web-based presentations: interactive and self-paced. For interactive presentations, the presenter is there to guide the participants through, usually via a conference call. For this type of presentation, typical design rules generally still hold true. In the case of a self-paced presentation, you must take a different approach. When presentations are on the Web for viewing, people expect them to be more like Web pages -- quick loading, lots of information, and easy navigation. As there is no presenter there to elaborate on the slides, short bulleted phrases may not be enough. You need to fill in the gaps in information, but be careful not to put too much on each slide.
Make the Best Use of Handouts. Think about what you want to give out as handouts and when you want to give them out. If you hand out your presentation slides ahead of time, you take away the element of surprise. Wherever possible, it is preferable to distribute handouts after the presentation. This keeps the audience's attention focused on you. But if they are the type of audience that likes to take notes about the slides, then give them the handouts before your speech.
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Use a Reviewer. Ask someone to review your presentation, preferably someone who knows as much about the subject as your audience. You may hear suggestions that will enable you to create more effective slides.
Transitions, Builds, and Interactivity
In electronic presentations, transitions and builds can lead your audience from one slide to the next. They control the viewer's attention between messages. They also influence the pace of the presentation. The question you face is: "How do I use the transitions and builds to enhance the effectiveness of my presentation without overloading it with too many effects that distract my audience?"
The trend by software companies is clearly to offer users more and more transition and build options. These features can add value to the presentation so the audience leaves impressed and clear about the key points. Or they can create such a blur of special effects that the audience leaves agonized by the technology and confused about the key points. In short, just because the software company includes a certain feature does not mean it must be used in every presentation.
Some Guidelines for Transitions and Builds
Use the following guidelines as you design your presentation:
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