Make Your Presentation’s Visual Aides Easy to Follow

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When presenting, it’s essential to keep your audience clued into where you are in your speech. Structure helps them follow along and receive your message. But if you’re using slides, the repetitive use of an agenda can be annoying, and even patronizing. Instead of littering your presentation visuals with this device, focus on creating a straightforward narrative.
Look at a panoramic view of your slides. Then rehearse your presentation aloud several times, moving from frame to frame. Along the way, you may want to add, delete, or shuffle slides to improve the flow. Come up with verbal connections that link the slides together. The result: a story that’s easy for you to deliver, and more importantly, easy for your audience to follow.

Adapted from “When Not to Tell ‘Em What You’re Gonna Tell ‘Em” by Jerry Weissman.

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