1. what is the setting for your presentation

How it works

For Business

Join Mind Tools

Article • 10 min read

How to Structure a Presentation

Choosing the best format for your audience.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Have you ever sat through a rambling, disorganized presentation? If so, you probably found it hard to follow what the speaker was saying.

When presentations don't flow well, it's easy for audiences to get lost. This is why it's important to think carefully about the structure and organization of your presentation.

In this article, we'll explore some common structures that you can use next time you speak in front of other people.

The Importance of Structure

Without a defined structure, your audience may not be able to follow your presentation. When this happens, your opportunity is lost, the communication fails, and your reputation takes a hit. For example, if your aim is to persuade people, you'll want to use a different approach from the one you'd use if you wanted to demonstrate how a product works.

Many factors can influence your choice of structure, but the most important consideration is your presentation's purpose or goal. You need to identify what you want to achieve – do you want to inspire, motivate, inform, persuade, or entertain people?

Your audience's needs also affect the structure you choose. For example, those who are new to your topic need more background information than people with more expertise and experience. So, in this case, you'd want to choose an approach that gives you ample time to explain the context of your subject, as well as to reinforce your main points.

Structures to Consider

Below, we outline several structures that you can use to organize your presentation.

1. Open – Body – Conclusion

The Open – Body – Conclusion approach is one of the most practical structures you can use for presentations. (Click here to download a worksheet that helps you use it.)

People often call it the "tell 'em" approach, because you:

• Tell audience members what you're going to tell them (introduction).
• Tell them (body).
• Tell them what you told them (conclusion).

This structure is simple, effective and easy to remember. Its repetitive nature allows you to reinforce your points, which helps others remember them. It is also flexible: you can adjust the introduction and body to persuade, motivate, educate, or entertain them.

One downside, however, is that repetition can quickly bore people. The approach is also "old hat" to many, which can cause them to lose interest. If you choose to use it, balance repetition with plenty of interesting facts, images, anecdotes, or stories to hold your audience's interest.

Let's look at each stage of the Open – Body – Conclusion structure in detail and discuss the elements that you need to include in each. We'll start with the body, rather than the introduction, because the rest of your presentation will be based on that.

The body of your presentation needs to contain your key points. You should present these in a logical order, so that your audience can follow them easily.

Keep in mind that the body should comprise a limited number of ideas: the more you try to include, the fewer people will remember. A good guide is to cover three to five main points, but no more.

When organizing your ideas, use the chunking principle to put the information into specific units. This will make the concepts easier to grasp, and help people remember what you have told them.

Make sure that you back up your main points with facts. Use good information-gathering strategies in your research, and consider citing the sources that you use. To add credibility to your presentation, consider using the following information to support your ideas:

• Data, facts or statistics.
• Images or diagrams.
• Stories and examples.
• Quotes or testimonials from experts or industry leaders.

Reliable sources will strengthen your credibility , and build trust with your audience.

Your opening, or introduction, has two main purposes: to grab your audience's attention, and to cover the key points that you intend to talk about.

Instead of telling people what you plan to say, you can use a different approach and explain why they are there. What will they learn from your presentation, and how will the content benefit them?

It's also important to get their attention right from the beginning. You can do this in several ways:

• Tell a story.
• Ask a rhetorical question.
• Play a short video.
• Make a strong or unexpected statement.
• Challenge your audience.
• Use a quotation or example.
• Appeal to people's self-interest.
• Request a specific action.
• Use suspense.

If you plan to answer questions at the end of your presentation, it's a good idea to mention this in the introduction, so people don't interrupt you mid-flow.

Many presenters overlook the importance of a conclusion – but the statements you finish with are what many audience members will remember best.

With the "tell 'em" approach, your conclusion summarizes the main points in the body of your presentation. If you want people to take action, be specific about what you want them to do.

Think carefully about how you want them to feel once you've finished; your conclusion is a great opportunity to reinforce this. Why not inspire them with a great story, a quote or a compelling call to action?

2. The Sandwich Approach

The Sandwich Approach is a variation of the Open – Body – Conclusion structure. This three-part structure covers:

• Advantages and/or benefits of your message or idea.
• Risks and concerns.
• How the benefits manage or eliminate those risks.

This approach is effective when you want to persuade audience members, or change their minds.

Having evidence to support your position is critical. However, factual data and reams of spreadsheets and charts are not highly persuasive. What people respond to is "vivid" evidence that brings your concept or argument to life.

To brush up on your persuasion skills, look at The Rhetorical Triangle . This tool asks you to consider your communication from three perspectives: those of the writer, the audience and the context. It's a method that builds credibility, and helps you ensure that your arguments are logical.

3. Monroe's Motivated Sequence

Monroe's Motivated Sequence is another good structure to use when you need to motivate or persuade. This sequence consists of five key steps:

• Getting your audience's attention – Use an interesting "hook" or opening point, such as a shocking statistic. Be provocative and stimulating, not boring and unemotional.
• Creating a need – Convince the audience there's a problem, explain how it affects them. Persuade them that things need to change.
• Defining your solution – Explain what you think needs to be done.
• Describing a detailed picture of success (or failure) – Give people a vision; something they can see, hear, taste, and touch.
• Asking the audience to do something straight away – Get them involved right from the start. If you do this, it's then much easier to keep them engaged and active in your cause.

4. Demonstration Structure

Use a simple demonstration structure when you are unveiling a new product or service.

Start by explaining why the product or service is so good. What makes it special? What problem will it solve for people?

Next, demonstrate what it does. How you do this will depend on your product but, whatever you do, make sure it works! Bring any important points to the audience's attention and provide helpful tips, where appropriate. Show them the results, and finish by giving them useful information, a good understanding of your topic, and something to remember.

Don't get too wrapped up in the detail; remember to keep it simple. Your presentation will be more powerful and your audience will remember more if you highlight just a few of the most important features. This will whet their appetite, and leave them wanting to know more.

5. Opportunity, Benefits, Numbers Structure

The Opportunity, Benefits, Number (OBN) structure is useful when you face busy people who want to hear what you have to say in the shortest time possible.

To use this structure, give audience members a quick summary of the opportunity that they need to consider, and outline the benefits that they can expect. Then, show them the numbers that back up your claims. [1]

For example, imagine you are explaining why your company should implement a new performance management system. First, you might give some background on the proposal – for example, you want to drive a high-performance culture. Then, you could explain the benefits, such as improving organizational performance and profits. Finally, you could compare the cost of bringing the system in with the predicted return on investment, based on a similar system at another organization.

Presentations that lack a clear flow are confusing and ineffective. This is why it's important to pay careful attention when choosing the most appropriate structure.

Different structures fulfill different purposes. Before you begin, think about why you are giving your presentation. Do you want to inform, persuade, inspire, or entertain your audience?

The most common structure for presentations is Open – Body – Conclusion. This is often effective because it gives you the opportunity to repeat your key points a number of times. However, other structures can be more appropriate, depending on the circumstances, such as when you're trying to persuade an audience, demonstrate a product, or provide information in the most time-efficient way.

Download Worksheet

[1] Martinuzzi, B. (2013). '11 Ways to Structure a Knockout Presentation,' from American Express OPEN Forum [online]. Available here . [Accessed 7 August 2014.]

You've accessed 1 of your 2 free resources.

Get unlimited access

Discover more content

Book Insights

The Pressure Principle: Handle Stress, Harness Energy, and Perform When It Counts

Dr Dave Alred

Porter’s Diamond

Shaping Your Strategy to Reflect National Strengths and Weaknesses

Add comment

Comments (0)

Be the first to comment!

Get 20% off your first year of Mind Tools

Our on-demand e-learning resources let you learn at your own pace, fitting seamlessly into your busy workday. Join today and save with our limited time offer!

Sign-up to our newsletter

Subscribing to the Mind Tools newsletter will keep you up-to-date with our latest updates and newest resources.

Subscribe now

Business Skills

Personal Development

Leadership and Management

Most Popular

Newest Releases

Team Management Skills

5 Phrases That Kill Collaboration

Mind Tools Store

About Mind Tools Content

Discover something new today

How do i manage a hybrid team.

Adjusting your management style to a hybrid world

The Life Career Rainbow

Finding a Work-Life Balance That Suits You

How Emotionally Intelligent Are You?

Boosting Your People Skills

Self-Assessment

What's Your Leadership Style?

Learn About the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Way You Like to Lead

Recommended for you

How to create job satisfaction.

Making Your Job Enriching

Business Operations and Process Management

Strategy Tools

Customer Service

Business Ethics and Values

Handling Information and Data

Project Management

Knowledge Management

Self-Development and Goal Setting

Time Management

Presentation Skills

Learning Skills

Career Skills

Communication Skills

Negotiation, Persuasion and Influence

Working With Others

Difficult Conversations

Creativity Tools

Self-Management

Work-Life Balance

Stress Management and Wellbeing

Coaching and Mentoring

Change Management

Team Management

Managing Conflict

Delegation and Empowerment

Performance Management

Leadership Skills

Developing Your Team

Talent Management

Problem Solving

Decision Making

Pain Points

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager
• Infographics
• Daily Infographics
• Graphic Design
• Graphs and Charts
• Data Visualization
• Human Resources
• Training and Development
• Beginner Guides

Blog Beginner Guides

How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

By Krystle Wong , Jul 20, 2023

A top-notch presentation possesses the power to drive action. From winning stakeholders over and conveying a powerful message to securing funding — your secret weapon lies within the realm of creating an effective presentation .  

Being an excellent presenter isn’t confined to the boardroom. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work, pursuing an academic career, involved in a non-profit organization or even a student, nailing the presentation game is a game-changer.

In this article, I’ll cover the top qualities of compelling presentations and walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to give a good presentation. Here’s a little tip to kick things off: for a headstart, check out Venngage’s collection of free presentation templates . They are fully customizable, and the best part is you don’t need professional design skills to make them shine!

These valuable presentation tips cater to individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, encompassing business professionals, sales and marketing teams, educators, trainers, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, public speakers and presenters. 

No matter your field or role, these tips for presenting will equip you with the skills to deliver effective presentations that leave a lasting impression on any audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 10 qualities of a good presentation?

Step-by-step guide on how to prepare an effective presentation, 9 effective techniques to deliver a memorable presentation, faqs on making a good presentation, how to create a presentation with venngage in 5 steps.

When it comes to giving an engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression, it’s not just about the content — it’s also about how you deliver it. Wondering what makes a good presentation? Well, the best presentations I’ve seen consistently exhibit these 10 qualities:

1. Clear structure

No one likes to get lost in a maze of information. Organize your thoughts into a logical flow, complete with an introduction, main points and a solid conclusion. A structured presentation helps your audience follow along effortlessly, leaving them with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Regardless of your presentation style , a quality presentation starts with a clear roadmap. Browse through Venngage’s template library and select a presentation template that aligns with your content and presentation goals. Here’s a good presentation example template with a logical layout that includes sections for the introduction, main points, supporting information and a conclusion: 

2. Engaging opening

Hook your audience right from the start with an attention-grabbing statement, a fascinating question or maybe even a captivating anecdote. Set the stage for a killer presentation!

The opening moments of your presentation hold immense power – check out these 15 ways to start a presentation to set the stage and captivate your audience.

3. Relevant content

Make sure your content aligns with their interests and needs. Your audience is there for a reason, and that’s to get valuable insights. Avoid fluff and get straight to the point, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Effective visual aids

Picture this: a slide with walls of text and tiny charts, yawn! Visual aids should be just that—aiding your presentation. Opt for clear and visually appealing slides, engaging images and informative charts that add value and help reinforce your message.

With Venngage, visualizing data takes no effort at all. You can import data from CSV or Google Sheets seamlessly and create stunning charts, graphs and icon stories effortlessly to showcase your data in a captivating and impactful way.

5. Clear and concise communication

Keep your language simple, and avoid jargon or complicated terms. Communicate your ideas clearly, so your audience can easily grasp and retain the information being conveyed. This can prevent confusion and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message. 

6. Engaging delivery

Spice up your presentation with a sprinkle of enthusiasm! Maintain eye contact, use expressive gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your audience glued to the edge of their seats. A touch of charisma goes a long way!

7. Interaction and audience engagement

Turn your presentation into an interactive experience — encourage questions, foster discussions and maybe even throw in a fun activity. Engaged audiences are more likely to remember and embrace your message.

Transform your slides into an interactive presentation with Venngage’s dynamic features like pop-ups, clickable icons and animated elements. Engage your audience with interactive content that lets them explore and interact with your presentation for a truly immersive experience.

8. Effective storytelling

Who doesn’t love a good story? Weaving relevant anecdotes, case studies or even a personal story into your presentation can captivate your audience and create a lasting impact. Stories build connections and make your message memorable.

A great presentation background is also essential as it sets the tone, creates visual interest and reinforces your message. Enhance the overall aesthetics of your presentation with these 15 presentation background examples and captivate your audience’s attention.

9. Well-timed pacing

Pace your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides, neither rushing through nor dragging it out. Respect your audience’s time and ensure you cover all the essential points without losing their interest.

10. Strong conclusion

Last impressions linger! Summarize your main points and leave your audience with a clear takeaway. End your presentation with a bang , a call to action or an inspiring thought that resonates long after the conclusion.

In-person presentations aside, acing a virtual presentation is of paramount importance in today’s digital world. Check out this guide to learn how you can adapt your in-person presentations into virtual presentations . 

Preparing an effective presentation starts with laying a strong foundation that goes beyond just creating slides and notes. One of the quickest and best ways to make a presentation would be with the help of a good presentation software . 

Otherwise, let me walk you to how to prepare for a presentation step by step and unlock the secrets of crafting a professional presentation that sets you apart.

1. Understand the audience and their needs

Before you dive into preparing your masterpiece, take a moment to get to know your target audience. Tailor your presentation to meet their needs and expectations , and you’ll have them hooked from the start!

2. Conduct thorough research on the topic

Time to hit the books (or the internet)! Don’t skimp on the research with your presentation materials — dive deep into the subject matter and gather valuable insights . The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel in delivering your presentation.

3. Organize the content with a clear structure

No one wants to stumble through a chaotic mess of information. Outline your presentation with a clear and logical flow. Start with a captivating introduction, follow up with main points that build on each other and wrap it up with a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.

Delivering an effective business presentation hinges on captivating your audience, and Venngage’s professionally designed business presentation templates are tailor-made for this purpose. With thoughtfully structured layouts, these templates enhance your message’s clarity and coherence, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for your audience members.

Don’t want to build your presentation layout from scratch? pick from these 5 foolproof presentation layout ideas that won’t go wrong. 

4. Develop visually appealing and supportive visual aids

Spice up your presentation with eye-catching visuals! Create slides that complement your message, not overshadow it. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean you need to overload your slides with text.

Well-chosen designs create a cohesive and professional look, capturing your audience’s attention and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your message. Here’s a list of carefully curated PowerPoint presentation templates and great background graphics that will significantly influence the visual appeal and engagement of your presentation.

5. Practice, practice and practice

Practice makes perfect — rehearse your presentation and arrive early to your presentation to help overcome stage fright. Familiarity with your material will boost your presentation skills and help you handle curveballs with ease.

6. Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and seek feedback from friends and colleagues. Constructive criticism can help you identify blind spots and fine-tune your presentation to perfection.

With Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature , receiving feedback and editing your presentation is a seamless process. Group members can access and work on the presentation simultaneously and edit content side by side in real-time. Changes will be reflected immediately to the entire team, promoting seamless teamwork.

7. Prepare for potential technical or logistical issues

Prepare for the unexpected by checking your equipment, internet connection and any other potential hiccups. If you’re worried that you’ll miss out on any important points, you could always have note cards prepared. Remember to remain focused and rehearse potential answers to anticipated questions.

8. Fine-tune and polish your presentation

As the big day approaches, give your presentation one last shine. Review your talking points, practice how to present a presentation and make any final tweaks. Deep breaths — you’re on the brink of delivering a successful presentation!

In competitive environments, persuasive presentations set individuals and organizations apart. To brush up on your presentation skills, read these guides on how to make a persuasive presentation and tips to presenting effectively . 

Whether you’re an experienced presenter or a novice, the right techniques will let your presentation skills soar to new heights!

From public speaking hacks to interactive elements and storytelling prowess, these 9 effective presentation techniques will empower you to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make your presentations unforgettable.

1. Confidence and positive body language

Positive body language instantly captivates your audience, making them believe in your message as much as you do. Strengthen your stage presence and own that stage like it’s your second home! Stand tall, shoulders back and exude confidence. 

2. Eye contact with the audience

Break down that invisible barrier and connect with your audience through their eyes. Maintaining eye contact when giving a presentation builds trust and shows that you’re present and engaged with them.

3. Effective use of hand gestures and movement

A little movement goes a long way! Emphasize key points with purposeful gestures and don’t be afraid to walk around the stage. Your energy will be contagious!

4. Utilize storytelling techniques

Weave the magic of storytelling into your presentation. Share relatable anecdotes, inspiring success stories or even personal experiences that tug at the heartstrings of your audience. Adjust your pitch, pace and volume to match the emotions and intensity of the story. Varying your speaking voice adds depth and enhances your stage presence.

5. Incorporate multimedia elements

Spice up your presentation with a dash of visual pizzazz! Use slides, images and video clips to add depth and clarity to your message. Just remember, less is more—don’t overwhelm them with information overload. 

Turn your presentations into an interactive party! Involve your audience with questions, polls or group activities. When they actively participate, they become invested in your presentation’s success. Bring your design to life with animated elements. Venngage allows you to apply animations to icons, images and text to create dynamic and engaging visual content.

6. Utilize humor strategically

Laughter is the best medicine—and a fantastic presentation enhancer! A well-placed joke or lighthearted moment can break the ice and create a warm atmosphere , making your audience more receptive to your message.

7. Practice active listening and respond to feedback

Be attentive to your audience’s reactions and feedback. If they have questions or concerns, address them with genuine interest and respect. Your responsiveness builds rapport and shows that you genuinely care about their experience.

8. Apply the 10-20-30 rule

Apply the 10-20-30 presentation rule and keep it short, sweet and impactful! Stick to ten slides, deliver your presentation within 20 minutes and use a 30-point font to ensure clarity and focus. Less is more, and your audience will thank you for it!

9. Implement the 5-5-5 rule

Simplicity is key. Limit each slide to five bullet points, with only five words per bullet point and allow each slide to remain visible for about five seconds. This rule keeps your presentation concise and prevents information overload.

Simple presentations are more engaging because they are easier to follow. Summarize your presentations and keep them simple with Venngage’s gallery of simple presentation templates and ensure that your message is delivered effectively across your audience.

1. How to start a presentation?

To kick off your presentation effectively, begin with an attention-grabbing statement or a powerful quote. Introduce yourself, establish credibility and clearly state the purpose and relevance of your presentation.

2. How to end a presentation?

For a strong conclusion, summarize your talking points and key takeaways. End with a compelling call to action or a thought-provoking question and remember to thank your audience and invite any final questions or interactions.

3. How to make a presentation interactive?

To make your presentation interactive, encourage questions and discussion throughout your talk. Utilize multimedia elements like videos or images and consider including polls, quizzes or group activities to actively involve your audience.

In need of inspiration for your next presentation? I’ve got your back! Pick from these 120+ presentation ideas, topics and examples to get started. 

Creating a stunning presentation with Venngage is a breeze with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates for all your communication needs. 

Here’s how to make a presentation in just 5 simple steps with the help of Venngage:

Step 1: Sign up for Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account or simply log in to access your account. 

Step 2: Pick a design from our selection of free presentation templates (they’re all created by our expert in-house designers).

Step 3: Make the template your own by customizing it to fit your content and branding. With Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily modify text, change colors and adjust the layout to create a unique and eye-catching design.

Step 4: Elevate your presentation by incorporating captivating visuals. You can upload your images or choose from Venngage’s vast library of high-quality photos, icons and illustrations. 

Step 5: Upgrade to a premium or business account to export your presentation in PDF and print it for in-person presentations or share it digitally for free!

By following these five simple steps, you’ll have a professionally designed and visually engaging presentation ready in no time. With Venngage’s user-friendly platform, your presentation is sure to make a lasting impression. So, let your creativity flow and get ready to shine in your next presentation!

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

Partner Center

Improve your practice.

Enhance your soft skills with a range of award-winning courses.

How to Prepare for a Presentation, with Examples

February 15, 2021 - Dom Barnard

This guide covers everything you need to know to prepare for your presentation. including what you need to think about beforehand, during and after the presentation.

1. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse (always aloud)

Once you have your presentation worked out, you will need to practice it, but even though you might think it’s the best way to have a flawless presentation, don’t memorise what you’re going to say.

That might sound like incredibly bad advice, but here’s why:

• If you memorise your speech, you’ll get stuck in thinking you can only deliver your ideas in that way, and that stifles your creativity, and the chance for new thoughts and ways to put things that come up as you speak.

Not only that, but every  audience is different . Sometimes they laugh out loud, sometimes they sit and smile, and you never know which type of audience you’ll have until you’re live.

Practice Presentation Skills

Improve your public speaking and presentation skills by practicing them in realistic environments, with automated feedback on performance. Learn More

If you’re going off a memorised presentation, it’s much more difficult to break away from that to go with the flow on the day, and respond naturally to your audience.

• If you forget your speech in the middle of it, you will be thrown, and you’ll have more chance of complete brain freeze, which really will knock your confidence.
• Memorising your presentation gives you a false sense of security, which could leave you high and dry if something goes wrong. If you’ve only got your memorised speech, for example, what will you do if your PowerPoint freezes or your props break, and you can’t do what you were going to do?

Rehearse in front of colleagues, friends, a mirror, in virtual reality – always aloud. Make sure you spend plenty of time practising your presentation, it will make you feel much more relaxed if you know your material.

Courses where you can rehearse with interactive exercises:

• Essential Public Speaking
• How to Present over Video

Video showing how you can prepare for your presentation using virtual reality.  Learn more about virtual reality training .

2. Memorise your opening line

Do, however, memorise your opening line. If you know how you’re going to begin, you’ll get a strong start and that will build your confidence.

Many speakers and stage actors find that the minute they’ve actually delivered their first line, the nerves are gone and they’re well into their stride.

3. Practise your speech from written notes

Writing your presentation out in your own handwriting will help you clarify your ideas and may well bring you new ones.

• How to Write a Speech to Engage your Audience

4. Practise presentation flow

As well as practising for the ideas and what you want to say, practise how you want your presentation to flow. Think of it almost as a symphony, with high points, slow movements and crescendos. If it’s important, think about how you want your audience to feel, what emotions you want them to have, and when.

5. The power of silence

Don’t be afraid to pause and use the power of silence. A good pause can have a huge emotional impact. It allows people to really absorb what you are saying and react, and it’s vital to pause if you’re using humour so that the next part of your presentation doesn’t get lost underneath people’s laughter.

For more on the ‘Power of the Pause’, watch this short from video Brian Tracy:  The Power of the Pause

• 10 Effective Ways to use Pauses in your Speech

6. Have a backup

There’s nothing worse than the projector dying or finding that your laptop won’t communicate with the projector for some reason. If you know you have a backup, even if it’s only a pre-prepared flip chart, you’ll feel better, and you’ll be more confident.

7. Arrive early

Following on from that, arrive at least half an hour early so you aren’t feeling rushed, and so you have time to check your equipment and get your notes laid out ready to go. That gives you time to breathe and relax before you go on, knowing everything is as set as it can be.

8. Use physical props for a demo

Use physical props, if possible, for a demo. This can make you stand out and be more memorable among all the other speakers who only use PowerPoint, and it can add greatly to the impact of your presentation.

Video showing an example of using physical props during a live demo.

9. Structure your presentation

First, find out how much time you have to present, is it 10 minutes, 15, an hour? Prepare enough material for this time and have a couple of extra slides as backup – we tend to speak much quicker when nervous so you might find you finish your presentation too early. At some large conference events, timings may change on the day, be aware of this have a shorter version of your presentation in mind (i.e. know which slides to skip over).

• How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples
• Examples of Corporate Presentation Structures

10. Prepare for questions

Have a few backup slides for questions you think will arise from your presentation. It is sometime a tactic to explain a section briefly in your speech, so that you get a question about it afterwards. If you don’t understand the question, ask for it to be rephrased.

If there are no questions, it is not an indication how good or bad your presentation was. You many have explain your material extremely well, or simply that people are tired at the end of the day and want to go home.

• Guide for Handling Questions after a Presentation

11. Prepare for where you are presenting

If you can, go to the room you are speaking in before the actual event. It gives you an idea of furniture layout, podium height, location, room size, audience size and lighting. You can then visualise the room while practising and avoid the shock of suddenly being faced with a huge room when you expected a tiny one.

Ask the organiser if you need any particular props, for example a table to help with your live demo.

Additional planning to think about before your presentation:

1. Purpose  – what outcome are we trying to achieve? How can results be measured? What will success look like?

2. Topic  – Novelty? Complexity? Technical?

3. People  – Who should attend? What do they already know? How are they going to help?

4. Timing  – When will it happen and how long will the presentation take?

5. Location  – Where will the presentation be held? Do you have access to the correct facilities for the presentation?

6. Papers  – Who is keeping minutes? Do you need to send out an agenda before the presentation? Background information required?

7. Visual aids  – Is a  projector required ? Boards?

8. Style  – Structure or unstructured, discussion style? How assertive should you be? How should the meeting items be organised?

12. Choose the signals to give to your audience

Before the presentation, think about these 5 topics:

• Eye contact
• Facial gestures
• Body language

Decide how you will use each of these to reinforce your message. Use the table below for help.

Additional courses to help you prepare for your presentation:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

Example from Steve Jobs

Think about these 10 techniques while you are preparing your presentation..

• Planning in Analog.  Tell a story, create stunning visuals and videos to complement video, use demonstrations and other speakers, keep the audience engaged.
• Creating a Twitter-Friendly Description  Single description sentence, condensed his message into 140 characters.
• Introduce the Enemy  Story needs villains or a problem to be solved. Jobs highlighted IBM and useless mobile phones (during iPhone release) as his villains.
• Focusing on Benefits  Keep reinforcing the benefits of your product, create top 10 lists, understand this is what customers care about.
• Sticking to Rule of Three  Classic Literary technique, things are best remembered and reinforced in threes. Read this article on  Literary Techniques  for more detail.
• Sell Dreams, Not Products  Create a vision people believe in, create a vision which will make people’s lives better
• Create Visual Slides  Use as few words as possible and use colourful graphics on the slide to highlight points.
• Make Numbers Meaningful  Compare large numbers to things people understand.
• Use Plain English  Use easy to say and easy to remember words, keep it simple.
• Large Reveals  Due to Apple secrecy, Jobs was able to deliver unexpected products to the world at his product launches.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

9.4 – How to structure your presentation

Learning objectives.

• organize your presentation into a clear, simple structure
• use valid resources and avoid plagiarism

There are lots of ways to structure a presentation, but we like this one best. It’s clear, simple and fits most presentations. This structure has 10 parts:

• Grabber/hook: A very brief and interesting statement or question that grabs the audience’s attention
• Self-introduction including full name & credential: Who you are and why you’re qualified to present this content
• Thesis: What you’re going to speak about
• Overview of main points
• Key point 1
• Key point 2
• Key point 3
• Conclusion: Restate the thesis
• Summary of main points: Restate the overview
• Call to action: What you want the audience to do

In this part of your presentation, you’ll capture the audience’s attention, tell them who you are, and give them a preview of your presentation.

• Grabber/hook   (Goes before or after the self-introduction) A very brief and interesting statement or question that grabs the audience’s attention. See Grabber Types below for more details.
• Self-introduction  (Goes before or after the grabber ) Tell the audience your name and credentials. For example: I’m Minh and I’ve been a professional presenter for 10 years.
• Thesis   The main point or argument of your presentation. Be brief and precise, not general or vague. For example: I’m going to show you how practicing your presentation 10 times will improve your grade by 20%.
• Overview of main points  Briefly outline the main points that you’ll cover in your presentation. To help your audience, do list these in same order that you’ll deliver them later on. For example: First, we’ll talk about what makes presentations great, then I’ll share some data on how practice affects your confidence and performance, and finally we’ll look at how to practice.

In this part of your presentation, you’ll deliver the detailed information of your presentation.

• Key point 1   A major point that supports your thesis and may have supporting sub-points
• Key point 2   Another major point that supports your thesis and may have supporting sub-points
• Key point 3   The final major point that supports your thesis and may have supporting sub-points

In this part you’ll remind the audience of what you told them, and tell them what to do next.

• Summary of main points   (Can be merged with your conclusion) Clearly restate your three main points in the same order you delivered them. It’s the same as your overview but in past tense. First, I described what makes presentations great, then I shared data on how practice affects confidence and performance, and finally we looked at how to practice.
• Conclusion   Restate your thesis in past tense. For example: I’m showed you that practicing your presentation 10 times will improve your grade by 20%.
• Call to action   Give your audience clear, active and compelling direction, based on what you told them. For example: Practice your presentations ten times and start collecting those A-plusses!

Grabber types

Remember that the grabber’s job is grabbing the audience’s attention, so it must be surprising, fascinating or intriguing. It must also be related to your presentation’s topic. Here are some descriptions and examples:

• An opinion or view that may be extreme, perhaps even shocking. “Gambling in all forms should be completely banned!”
• A strong statistic is a fact from a reputable source. “More Canadians die each year as a result of a tobacco-related disease than due to traffic accidents in Canada and the US combined.”  Source:  The Canadian Lung Association [New tab]
• A story is a great way to capture your audience’s imagination and get them to “project” themselves into your presentation. Powerful stories are often emotional. They could be about you or someone else, or may be allegorical. In 1964, I was a little girl sitting on the linoleum floor of my mother’s house in Milwaukee, watching Anne Bancroft present the Oscar for best actor at the 36th Academy Awards. She opened the envelope and said five words that literally made history: “The winner is Sidney Poitier.” Up to the stage came the most elegant man I had ever seen. I remember his tie was white, and of course his skin was black. I’d never seen a black man being celebrated like that. And I’ve tried many, many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl — a kid watching from the cheap seats, as my mom came through the door bone-tired from cleaning other people’s houses. … In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille Award right here at the Golden Globes, and it is not lost on me that at this moment there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award! ~ Oprah Winfrey accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards
• Rhetorical: you ask a question without expecting an answer. For example: Have you ever wondered how electricity works?
• Closed-ended: you ask the audience to respond. For example: Raise your hand if you’ve ever wondered how electricity works.
• Open-ended: where you don’t give options to the audience and they can answer freely. For example: What’s your favourite candy?
• It’s important to consider that they audience might not respond exactly as you expect. So prepare responses for what you’ll do based on a variety of responses.
• Similar to a story, an invitation to imagine something is powerful because it gets the audience to use their imaginations, and can transport them “into” your presentation. You could ask the audience to imagine something extremely positive, or could have them imagine something very negative.Example : “I want to invite you all to close your eyes and imagine that the term is over. You earned an A+ in 1500, Covid is over, and you’re on vacation on a lovely tropical beach. You can hear the soft ocean waves and feel the warm breeze as you sip an ice cold drink. You’re in paradise, and think to yourself… I don’t have a care in the world… everything is perfect.” 

A quote is something that a famous person said. The person should be credible / well known.

Example : “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”  John Lennon Example : “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take .”  Wayne Gretzky

• A proverb is a common saying. These can be somewhat cliché, and less than exciting because we’ve heard them a lot. To keep things interesting, you could consider introducing a foreign proverb to the audience:Example : “the first pancake is always ruined” (Russian proverb conveying that things might not be perfect at first, but will improve as you continue to practice. Used in a presentation designed to convey that you should never give up)
• Alternatively, you could “twist” a common proverb and contradict it:Example : “I’m here to tell you that an apple a day doesn’t keep the doctor away!” (Used in a presentation on diabetes and being mindful of sugar intake)
• A prop is a physical item that you can show to the audience. Make sure the item is large enough to be easily seen.Example : Wearing a jersey and showing a basketball for a presentation on Michael Jordan
• In presentations that include slides or other media, you can briefly show or play video, audio or images. Make sure the media isn’t too long – remember the audience is here to see you speak.Example: A short drone video of beautiful Thai beaches for a presentation designed to convince people to visit Thailand
• You can use humour or a joke as a grabber, but be careful that that everyone will get the joke and it won’t offend anyone.
• Example : Playing a guitar and singing (for a presentation on the mental health benefits of music)
• Example : Beatboxing (for a presentation on the basics of beatboxing)
• Example : Describing a lovely scene, then making a shocking noise (at the start of a presentation on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster)

You can also mix and match grabbers. For example, you could show an image and ask the audience to guess what it is.

The length of your grabber is relative to your total presentation time. For a 2-minute presentation, it should be quite brief – maybe one sentence. For a 16-minute team presentation, a 45-60 second grabber would be appropriate.

Outline your presentation

The fastest way to create a successful presentation is to start with an outline.

Use an outline, not a script; this will allow you to be more natural and let you look at the audience or camera. Reading is a guaranteed way to make your presentation boring.

The easiest way to create your outline is to work in this order:

• Determine your thesis and write this as a full sentence
• Determine your 3 Main Points
• Add key supporting points for each of your Main Points
• Complete the other parts – introduction, grabber, call to action, etc.

Working in this order is fast because it’s easier to create the conclusion and grabber when you’ve already decided on the content. Also, after you have the main structure it’s easy to add details, examples and stories that make your presentation interesting and convincing.

Another benefit of outlining is that you can use the outline as your presentation notes.

Presentation Model – Test your Knowledge

Label each part of the presentation correctly.

• Call to Action
• Key Point 2
• Key Point 1
• Key Point 3
• Introduction

Presentation part

• Hello, my name is Sarah Green and I have been a barista for two years
• There is a famous company that was founded in Seattle, has a mermaid for its logo, and has over 31,000 stores worldwide. Can you guess which company it is?*
• I am here today to tell you why you should patronize Starbucks Coffee*
• because of convenience, quality, & amazing food
• Starbucks is Convenient~ many locations, mobile app, quick service*
• Starbucks has Quality~ arabica beans, top ingredients, staff trained to make drinks and food properly*
• Starbucks has amazing food~ grab and go, hot food, prepackaged meals*
• Today I told you why you should patronize Starbucks*
• because of its *convenience*, *quality*, and *amazing food*
• So, what are you waiting for? Go to a Starbucks store today and order an amazing coffee!*

Check your Answer: [1]

Activity source: “ How to structure your presentation ” In Business Presentation Skills by Lucinda Atwood & Christian Westin licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 .

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, this chapter (text & H5P activities) is adapted from “ How to structure your presentation ” In Business Presentation Skills by Lucinda Atwood & Christian Westin licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 . / Grabber types converted to HTML from H5P.

• 1. j, 2. g, 3. c, 4. f, 5. e, 6. b, 7. h, 8. i, 9. d, 10. a ↵

Communication Essentials for College Copyright © 2022 by Jen Booth, Emily Cramer & Amanda Quibell, Georgian College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• Use Presenter view Video
• Set up your presentation Video
• Deliver your presentation Video

Set up your presentation

Before you give your presentation in front of an audience, you can rehearse it with your slides. Watch this video to find out how.

First, go to the SLIDE SHOW tab and make sure Use Presenter View is selected.

For rehearsal, you can press ALT+F5 to display the Presenter view on a single screen.

Rehearsing this way will help you get comfortable with your slides, and give you practice using the Presenter view.

View your speaker notes as you deliver your slide show

Draw on or highlight slides during a presentation

Turn your mouse into a laser pointer

Add speaker notes to each slide in a presentation

Before you give your presentation in front of an audience, you can rehearse it with your slides using the Presenter view.

During the show, you'll use dual monitors, but for rehearsal, you can press ALT+F5 to display the Presenter view on a single screen.

Keep in mind that when you are using the Presenter view, you are in Slide Show mode, so you can’t edit your slides or notes.

This is good, because it prevents you from unintentionally altering your slides during a show.

Laptops are used by many presenters for both creating and running their shows.

Most laptops available today have dual monitor capabilities built in.

So when you arrive at the presentation room, all you have to do is plug the presentation projector or monitor into the connector on your laptop and you are ready to go.

Start the show to make sure everything is working.

If you want to change which monitor shows the Presenter view, click DISPLAY SETTINGS , and then, click Swap Presenter View and Slide Show .

Before the audience arrives, run through some your slides to make sure everything works and you can see your laptop.

Also, make sure any non-essential programs, like email and browsers, are closed and your desktop is clean.

These other programs slow down your computer, and can cause a distraction if the audience sees them.

The last thing to do is start the Slide Show .

Plan your PowerPoint presentation, so the audience sees a welcome slide as they enter.

This way, the audience will know immediately that you are ready to begin.

Up next, we'll give the presentation using the Presenter view.

Need more help?

Want more options.

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

Microsoft 365 training

Microsoft security

Accessibility center

Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.

Ask the Microsoft Community

Microsoft Tech Community

Windows Insiders

Microsoft 365 Insiders

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Presentitude

Presentitude creates visual and powerful presentations using effective and visual PowerPoint templates.

Presentation settings for different rooms

August 21, 2014

One presentation really doesn’t fit all situations. Depending on the room, the setting, the purpose of your upcoming presentation, the slides have to be optimized. Your preparation will differ. This is a quick guide to how three different settings effects three aspects of your presentation.

Slides for seminar setting

Contrast – avoid being a shadow.

In a dark conference room, slides with a white background will be really bright and you might appear like a black shadow in front of them (and you do want nice pictures on Twitter from your presentation, don’t you?). Make sure the color of the slide background fits the lighting of the room.

Images in the right size

Images are always important (one picture is worth more than… you know… yada yada yada) – but in a seminar setting they will have an even bigger impact. You have to choose images carefully. Use only high resolution images (please, please, don’t take them off Google Images!) Make sure your presentation has the same aspect ratio as the projector (so your pretty 4:3 presentation isn’t stretched and all your great images are being shown in an unplanned 16:9 view).

Speaker notes  and practice

If you’re presenting in a seminar setting, maybe even when your face is up on a side screen, your speaker notes needs to be larger and shorter – probably only keywords. You need to have practiced and practiced again (unless you plan to stand behind a podium and read from a script and getting pictures of your top of your head on Twitter, while they go hard your presentation skills). Every “uhm” and “so” becomes more obvious on a seminar stage.

Slides for workshop setting

Are you ready for improvisation.

Workshops are, if done right, a explorative maze of great conversations. Regardless of your planning, workshops outcome are usually not very linear (workshop attendees have the annoying habit of bringing up subjects you had plan to present on slide 54). You need to be able to improvise live and your slide deck needs to work for improvisation (nice, slow slide transitions might not be the best when you quickly have to move from slide 2 to slide 54).

Intelligent slides

Being able to move around your slide deck quickly also calls for a very different navigation setting of your slides. You might need to connect different decks and move seamlessly between them without losing time – or focus. You might need to move quickly between different parts of your presentation. This is a great time to learn you to utilize the hyperlink function in your presentation software.

Prepared workshop notes

You probably want the participants to have notes from your workshop even though you can’t be sure where the workshop conversations will take your presentation. You might want to prepare ahead and create a practical handout template which will accommodate notes and sketches from your presentation – while still using the carefully crafted outline in your workshop slide.  Or bring along a coworker who continuously through the workshop can make notes directly into a prepared template, ready to be distributed electronically right after the workshop.

Slides for formal setting

The smart intro.

When meeting a prospective client or partner for the first time most people tend to want to divulge into the “About us” slides to legitimize themselves and the reason they have been invited. But most often the prospective client or partner actually knows your company- they might have been the ones to invite you. This is a good time to learn how to do a smart intro – how to connect your “about me”-slides to the “about the client”-reality and keep it short, simple and engaging (an un-smart intro is the ones where the default “About us” slides are all about us, us, us).

Time smart presentations

Even though you did think you had 60 minutes to prepare, the client was late coming in, introductions and chit chat took place and the client has to cut the presentation short and you end up with 15 minutes to present. Is your presentation time smart? Do you know how to cut it short without stressfully clicking away with the clicker (because you did bring one right?), while watching the slides go by faster than a high speed train?

Dual purpose presentation slides

Often the prospective clients want to have your slides and you want to save time – so you’ve crammed a lot of info on your sides (really they’re probably more a document in slide mode than a presentation). This is the time when you have a great handout template with all information and the fine print added, while still presenting nice, pretty, story focused slides and leaving the small text for reading later. You can even save your slides as a pdf from the handout mode and everything will be there when you hand it over to the client (or beam it with your super connected device).

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

How can we help you today?

Do you want to know more about our services, stay in touch or get access to content?

• PRESENTATION SKILLS

What is a Presentation?

Search SkillsYouNeed:

Presentation Skills:

• A - Z List of Presentation Skills
• Top Tips for Effective Presentations
• General Presentation Skills
• Preparing for a Presentation
• Organising the Material
• Writing Your Presentation
• Deciding the Presentation Method
• Managing your Presentation Notes
• Working with Visual Aids
• Presenting Data
• Managing the Event
• Coping with Presentation Nerves
• Dealing with Questions
• How to Build Presentations Like a Consultant
• 7 Qualities of Good Speakers That Can Help You Be More Successful
• Self-Presentation in Presentations
• Specific Presentation Events
• Remote Meetings and Presentations
• Giving a Speech
• Presentations in Interviews
• Presenting to Large Groups and Conferences
• Giving Lectures and Seminars
• Managing a Press Conference
• Attending Public Consultation Meetings
• Managing a Public Consultation Meeting
• Crisis Communications
• Elsewhere on Skills You Need:
• Communication Skills
• Facilitation Skills
• Teams, Groups and Meetings
• Effective Speaking
• Question Types

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and start improving your life in just 5 minutes a day.

You'll get our 5 free 'One Minute Life Skills' and our weekly newsletter.

We'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time.

The formal presentation of information is divided into two broad categories: Presentation Skills and Personal Presentation .

These two aspects are interwoven and can be described as the preparation, presentation and practice of verbal and non-verbal communication. 

This article describes what a presentation is and defines some of the key terms associated with presentation skills.

Many people feel terrified when asked to make their first public talk.  Some of these initial fears can be reduced by good preparation that also lays the groundwork for making an effective presentation.

A Presentation Is...

A presentation is a means of communication that can be adapted to various speaking situations, such as talking to a group, addressing a meeting or briefing a team.

A presentation can also be used as a broad term that encompasses other ‘speaking engagements’ such as making a speech at a wedding, or getting a point across in a video conference.

To be effective, step-by-step preparation and the method and means of presenting the information should be carefully considered. 

A presentation requires you to get a message across to the listeners and will often contain a ' persuasive ' element. It may, for example, be a talk about the positive work of your organisation, what you could offer an employer, or why you should receive additional funding for a project.

The Key Elements of a Presentation

Making a presentation is a way of communicating your thoughts and ideas to an audience and many of our articles on communication are also relevant here, see: What is Communication? for more.

Consider the following key components of a presentation:

Ask yourself the following questions to develop a full understanding of the context of the presentation.

When and where will you deliver your presentation?

There is a world of difference between a small room with natural light and an informal setting, and a huge lecture room, lit with stage lights. The two require quite different presentations, and different techniques.

Will it be in a setting you are familiar with, or somewhere new?

If somewhere new, it would be worth trying to visit it in advance, or at least arriving early, to familiarise yourself with the room.

Will the presentation be within a formal or less formal setting?

A work setting will, more or less by definition, be more formal, but there are also various degrees of formality within that.

Will the presentation be to a small group or a large crowd?

Are you already familiar with the audience?

With a new audience, you will have to build rapport quickly and effectively, to get them on your side.

What equipment and technology will be available to you, and what will you be expected to use?

In particular, you will need to ask about microphones and whether you will be expected to stand in one place, or move around.

What is the audience expecting to learn from you and your presentation?

Check how you will be ‘billed’ to give you clues as to what information needs to be included in your presentation.

All these aspects will change the presentation. For more on this, see our page on Deciding the Presentation Method .

The role of the presenter is to communicate with the audience and control the presentation.

Remember, though, that this may also include handing over the control to your audience, especially if you want some kind of interaction.

You may wish to have a look at our page on Facilitation Skills for more.

The audience receives the presenter’s message(s).

However, this reception will be filtered through and affected by such things as the listener’s own experience, knowledge and personal sense of values.

See our page: Barriers to Effective Communication to learn why communication can fail.

The message or messages are delivered by the presenter to the audience.

The message is delivered not just by the spoken word ( verbal communication ) but can be augmented by techniques such as voice projection, body language, gestures, eye contact ( non-verbal communication ), and visual aids.

The message will also be affected by the audience’s expectations. For example, if you have been billed as speaking on one particular topic, and you choose to speak on another, the audience is unlikely to take your message on board even if you present very well . They will judge your presentation a failure, because you have not met their expectations.

The audience’s reaction and therefore the success of the presentation will largely depend upon whether you, as presenter, effectively communicated your message, and whether it met their expectations.

As a presenter, you don’t control the audience’s expectations. What you can do is find out what they have been told about you by the conference organisers, and what they are expecting to hear. Only if you know that can you be confident of delivering something that will meet expectations.

See our page: Effective Speaking for more information.

How will the presentation be delivered?

Presentations are usually delivered direct to an audience.  However, there may be occasions where they are delivered from a distance over the Internet using video conferencing systems, such as Skype.

It is also important to remember that if your talk is recorded and posted on the internet, then people may be able to access it for several years. This will mean that your contemporaneous references should be kept to a minimum.

Impediments

Many factors can influence the effectiveness of how your message is communicated to the audience.

For example background noise or other distractions, an overly warm or cool room, or the time of day and state of audience alertness can all influence your audience’s level of concentration.

As presenter, you have to be prepared to cope with any such problems and try to keep your audience focussed on your message.   

Our page: Barriers to Communication explains these factors in more depth.

Continue to read through our Presentation Skills articles for an overview of how to prepare and structure a presentation, and how to manage notes and/or illustrations at any speaking event.

Continue to: Preparing for a Presentation Deciding the Presentation Method

See also: Writing Your Presentation | Working with Visual Aids Coping with Presentation Nerves | Dealing with Questions Learn Better Presentation Skills with TED Talks

Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Claim Your FREE Training Module and Get Your Time Back!

Set Up Slide Show: Customize how your PPT presentations run

• PowerPoint Tutorials
• February 29, 2024

The Set Up Slide Show command opens the Set Up Show dialog box, which is where you customize how your PowerPoint presentations run when giving a presentation. In other words, it is how you change the default settings that PowerPoint starts with, to whatever settings make the most sense for your presentation.

Read on to learn more about this command, and a few common things you might want to customize about how your presentation runs.

Table of Contents

NOTE: You can access all my premium PowerPoint training courses (and live monthly training sessions), inside the PowerPoint Pro Membership here . It’s only $37/month and you can cancel at anytime.

What is the Set Up Show dialog box?

The Set Up Show dialog box is where you customize how your presentation runs, while giving your presentation. 

Two common things presenters adjust in the Set Up Slide Show dialog box are:

#1. Change the default PowerPoint laser pointer between red, green, and blue. This is useful when the default red laser pointer does not stand out enough against your PowerPoint template. For example, a red laser pointer on a red slide background, is not very easy to see.

To learn how to impress your boss and client during your next PowerPoint presentation by using the hidden PowerPoint laser pointer, read my guide here .

#2. Set your presentations to run in resizable windows on your computer (instead of the default full screen). This allows you to run two or more presentations at the same time on your computer.

For example, let’s say you are working on a project in China, and you are asked to run both an English and Chinese version of your pitch deck to Chinese investors. This is when you will want to set your presentations to run as window slide shows, instead of full screen slide shows, so that you can run them side by side in presentation view at the same time. To learn how to do this, read my guide here .

Where is the Set Up Slide Show command?

To access the Set Up Show dialog box, you need to use the Set Up Slide Command.

• Click the Slide Show  tab
• Select the Set Up Slide Show command

Where are these slide show settings saved?

When you change the setting for your slide show using this dialog box, those settings are saved only to your current presentation. They do not affect any of your other PowerPoint presentations.

For example, if you change the laser pointer color from red to blue for Project Bluefin presentation, only the laser pointer in the Project Bluefin presentation is changed to blue. All your other PowerPoint presentations are not affected until you change their individual settings.

To discover how to use the hidden PowerPoint laser pointer (which will make you look like a pro), read my guide here .

NOTE: Another presentation level setting you might want to turn off, is the Popup Toolbar. To learn how to turn the Popup Toolbar off, see my toolbar guide here . 

Now that you know how to custmoize how you run yoru PowerPoint presentations using the Set Up Show dilaog box.

PowerPoint is an amazingly flexible problem once you dig beneath the surface, allowing you to customize it to meet your needs. The more of these nuances you understand, the better off are in the corporate world.

To learn more about our PowerPoint training services and how to improve your presentation skills, visit us here .

🔒 Unlock the PowerPoint Shortcuts Trusted by Industry Leaders KKR, American Express, HSBC, and More!

Join over 114,880 professionals from diverse fields including consulting, investment banking, advertising, marketing, sales, and business development who have supercharged their PowerPoint game with our proven methods.

✅ Customize compelling presentations effortlessly.

✅ Master time-saving techniques for faster deck creation.

✅ Boost your career prospects with top-notch PowerPoint skills.

Get FREE access to the Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts module of our premium training course by entering your name and email below.

DISCLAIMER: PC Users Only!

We respect your privacy and will keep your info safe and confidential.

Related Articles

About the author.

Popular Tutorials

• How to Strikethrough Text (l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶) in Word, Excel & PowerPoint
• How to Make Animated Fireworks in PowerPoint (Step-by-Step)
• Strikethrough Shortcut (l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶) for Word, Excel & PowerPoint
• How to Create a Flash Card Memory Game in PowerPoint (Like Jeopardy)
• Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working: Solved

PowerPoint Tutorial Categories

• Strategies & Opinions
• Shortcuts & Hacks
• Presentation Design
• Pictures, Icons, Videos, Etc.
• New Features
• Miscellaneous
• Charts & Data Viz

We help busy professionals save hours and gain peace of mind, with corporate workshops, self-paced courses and tutorials for PowerPoint and Word.

Work With Us

• Corporate Training
• Presentation & Template Design
• Courses & Downloads
• PowerPoint Articles
• Word Articles
• Productivity Resources

Find a Tutorial

• Free Training
• For Businesses

We help busy office workers save hours and gain peace of mind, with tips, training and tutorials for Microsoft PowerPoint and Word.

Master Critical PowerPoint Shortcuts – Secure Your FREE Training Module and Save Valuable Time!

⌛ Master time-saving expert techniques.

🔥 Create powerful presentations.

🚀 Propel your career to new heights.

We value your privacy – we keep your info safe.

Discover PowerPoint Hacks Loved by Industry Giants - KKR, AmEx, HSBC!

Over 114,880 professionals in finance, marketing and sales have revolutionized their PPT skills with our proven methods. 

Gain FREE access to a full module of our premium PowerPoint training program – Get started today!

We hate spam too and promise to keep your information safe.

• Public Speaking Classes
• Corporate Presentation Training
• Online Public Speaking Course
• Northeast Region
• Midwest Region
• Southeast Region
• Central Region
• Western Region
• Presentation Skills
• 101 Public Speaking Tips
• Fear of Public Speaking

Proper Conference Room Setup Makes Presenting Much Easier

The downside is true as well. Improper conference room setup can actually make you more nervous and make delivering the presentation more difficult.

This post has two parts. Part one is about The Different Conference Room Styles . In that section, I’ll give you different conference room setup options with pros and cons of each. Then, in Part Two, I’ll give you the Best Practices for How to Set Up a Conference Room and how to set up a meeting room. These best practices will help you avoid some of the big mistakes that presenters make when they set up the tables, chairs, and audiovisual for meetings.

Part One: The Pros and Cons of Different Conference Room Styles.

For instance, when I teach a leadership development class, I sometimes change the room set up at each break. This is helpful, because the purpose of the class is to increase the :comfort zone” of the participants. So, changing the way the chairs are set up or the way the tables are set up makes the participants have to move to a new seat each time.

When I teach the group how to remember names, a u-shaped room is ideal. That way, each person is able to view every other participant in the room. (They aren’t looking at the back of anybody’s head.)

However, when I cover a module on presentation skills, a chevron style classroom setup is better. This style allows the presenter to be the center of attention. It also lets every person in the audience have a great view of both the speaker and the speaker’s visual aids.

Then, in the same class on the afternoon of the first day, we cover meeting skills. In that session, I push two classroom tables together to make bigger meeting tables. And I put six to eight chairs around each table. This allows each table to operate as a separate group.

However, unless you are covering multiple topics in the same presentation, you shouldn’t need to do this, by the way. For example, when I teach a regular two-day public speaking class , I keep the same chevron-style class setting throughout the entire class.

The point is to alter the conference room set up to fit the needs of the audience. And when the needs change, alter the conference room set up as well.

List of Different Conference Room Styles:

• Theater/Auditorium

Boardroom Style: All the Participants Gather Around a Single Long and Skinny Boardroom Table.

One major advantage of the boardroom style is that almost every building has some type of conference room. Another is that the table is already set up in the room. Finally, this style is ideal if you want the participants to communicate with each other (from a seated position.) Everyone in the room can see each other face-to-face.

The major disadvantage, though is that the audio and visual components are often built into the room. So you lose a lot of flexibility with this room style. Also, when people design boardrooms, they often make the screen or display the center of attention. As a result, the presenter will often have to deliver the presentation from either side of the screen.

The other major disadvantage of this style is that if you have more than 12 people, the style doesn’t work very well. The room is too crowded and people have a hard time moving around to go to the restroom or get a coffee refill.

Still though, for a small group, a boardroom is often the best option.

U-Shaped Style: Tables Are Set in a Square Shape with One End Opened for the Presenter.

This room setup is also very easy. All you need is a minimum of three tables to set it up. The major advantage of the U-Shaped style is that the entire group can still see everyone in the room face-to-face. So, this setup is ideal for team meeting where you want the audience to communicate with each other and share ideas.

Just like with the boardroom style, though, the major disadvantage is the group size. As the group gets larger, you lose the major advantages. So, if you have 14 or 16 people, you get the same advantages of the boardroom even though the group is a little larger. However, at 18, 20, or 22 people, you begin to lose this advantage. It will be difficult and impractical to get all 22 people to participate in a discussion.

So, since you lose this value, as the group gets bigger, you may want to switch to a classroom setup.

Just as an FYI, there is an alternative style called the “open square” style. It is the same as U-Shaped, but the open end is closed off. Between you and I, I have never really found any value in this style. You lose a lot of the advantages of the U-Shaped style without adding ANY advantages.

Theater Style or Auditorium Style: Chairs Set Side-by-Side as in a Movie Theater.

The major advantage of the theater style is that you can comfortable seat a large number of people. The entire room will be able see and hear the main speaker (or speakers.) So, if you are organizing an annual meeting for hundreds (or thousands) of people, you might use this style for an opening introduction. Or, if you invite a keynote speaker or comedian to speak, this room style works well.

However, this style has a huge disadvantage. The audience has no place to write or take notes. So, if your audience has handouts or printed content, avoid this conference room style. (Use the classroom style instead.) The other major disadvantage of this room setup is that it will be very difficult to get the audience to interact each other or the speaker. So when organizing a big meeting, this conference style doesn’t have as many uses as other styles.

Classroom Style: A Series of Six foot by One Foot Tables Set Up in Rows.

The advantages are that you can comfortably fit more people using this style and everyone in the room can see the presenter. Also, every audience member has his or her own space. And no one has to sit with their back to the stage. Another huge advantage is that the speaker has more control and authority in the room. It is easier to get and keep the attention of the audience.

The only real disadvantage to this style is that you’ll have difficulty getting groups to interact in teams. If you want to create small groups to discuss items from the meeting, you may need to get a row to turn around. When you do this, you’d need to leave the stage to give instructions.

Still though, this is the conference room style that I use most often when I set up meeting rooms.

Banquet Style: Six to Ten People Gather Around Big Round Tables.

Each audience member styles gets adequate space. They also get to see the people at their table face-to-face as with the boardroom style. So, this conference room style is kind of a hybrid between classroom style and boardroom style.

A major disadvantage, though, is that this style takes up a lot of space. So, it is more expensive if you are renting space from a hotel or convention center. The other major disadvantage is that some people at the table with have limited view of the stage. They often have to turn their chairs when speakers are talking. So, they lose the advantage of having the personal space.

Still, though, this style has works well if you want a big group of people to interact with each other. It allows you to have tables discuss items with each other and brainstorm solutions to challenges.

Part Two: Best Practices for Proper Conference Room Set Up for Presentations (How to Set Up a Meeting Room.)

For instance, if you cram 20 people into a boardroom, they will be uncomfortable. You may be presenting well, but the facial expressions from the audience may be less-than-cordial. If multiple people in the room are giving you negative facial expressions, you might begin to feel a little more self-conscious.

Basically, the way you set up the conference room can either make presenting easier or make it harder. Improper room setup can cause challenges that you just don’t want or need when you present.

Below are some of my favorite ways to set up a conference room for a presentation. These are the “best practices” that I have discovered over 20 years of presenting.

1) Present from the Short-Side of the Conference Room.

In the podcast that I did about eye-contact, I gave an example of how this can cause challenges. The analogy that I used there was to think about sitting in a movie theater with only three rows of seats. If you happen to be on either end, your view isn’t great. If you are the speaker, it is even worse. It is difficult for you to keep eye contact with the people on either side of the room.

To fix this, just present from the “short” side of the room. If you are presenting in a rectangular room, you will have two short walls and two long walls. Present from the short wall that is farthest away from the main door to the room.

By the way, a good A/V person can make presenting on the long-side of the room better. They will often set up big screens on both sides of the stage. This allows the audience to be closer to the speaker and still see the visual aids. Still though, this is just fixing a symptom caused by another problem.

2) Make Yourself the Center of Attention, Not the Visual Aid.

When presenters violate this room setup tip, it can cause some major problems with delivery. For instance, the speaker will often move to the side of the room and look at the visual aid screen as he or she speaks. Obviously, the audience will look at the screen as well. Now that the visual aid is the center of attention, the speaker will often move behind the audience to continue to speak. Instead of being an interesting dialogue between the speaker and the audience, the presentation will become a monologue.

This room setup for a presentation can lead to the click… talk… click… talk method of delivery. (This is really boring.) So, move your screen to the side.

3) Get Rid of the Lectern.

If you feel like you need to have notes to deliver your presentation, make sure to read How to Memorize Your Speech . This post gives a number of tips that will allow you to deliver your entire presentation without notes.

Just so you know, standing behind a lectern is a technique that presenters sometimes use to feel more comfortable. In reality, though, it often makes people more nervous. Any time we feel threatened, we want to put something between us and the potential threat. In martial arts, students are taught to put their hands (fists) between themselves and the threat. For presenters, we put a lectern between us and the threat. A good example of how the demeanor of a presentation changes with a lectern is political debates. Candidates who feel like they have an advantage connecting with voters on a personal level always favor “town hall” style debates. (Just as an FYI, audiences do too.)

4) Place Whiteboard or Flipchart to the Proper Side When You Set Up Your Room for a Presentation.

If I forget and place the board on the wrong side of the room, I will have to cross in front of the board and stand on the opposite side to write. I makes for an awkward transition in the speech.

Also, since I’m left-handed, I pay attention to moving the whiteboard for each presenter. Just before I introduce the next speaker, I will move the stand over for a right-handed person. Obviously, if you are the meeting leader and every speaker is right-handed, this is much easier. But you’ll be surprised at how many speakers are left-handed. So, pay attention.

5) Chevron Style Room Set Up Is My Favorite Conference Room Setup Style.

Basically, you set up your room classroom style. This is rows of six-foot tables straight across. However, put an isle in the middle of the room that is maybe six-foot or so wide. Then, move the edge of the table that is on the isle back about three feet, so that the tables now angle toward the front-center of the room. Instead of the rows being straight across, now, they will be slightly “V” shaped.

When you set up your room for a presentation this way, you are creating a stage to present from. Basically, you can now walk into your isle to be closer to the audience. However, when you do, the folks on the front row don’t have to crank their necks to follow you. They will be looking directly at you.

Best Practices for Room Set Up for a Presentation in a Boardroom

If you are presenting in a boardroom, many of the tips still work. You still want to present from the short-side of the room. If the room has a dropdown screen that is in the center of the room or on the long-side of the room, you can always just project onto a whiteboard. (I do this a lot when I use boardrooms.) It allows me to be able to write on my slides as well, so it is really helpful.

The biggest suggestion I can make about presenting in a boardroom is to stand up when you speak. If everyone is seated in the boardroom (including you) when you start your presentation, just stand up to call attention to your visual aid. (Then don’t ever sit back down.)

Never, ever, ever sit on one side of a boardroom table and use visual aids on the opposite side of the table. This is the HUGE mistake that amateur presenters make that will cause your presentation to be so boring, you will put your audience to sleep. Avoid it at all costs. Stand up and use your visual aid to add to your verbal presentation — not replace it.

Podcasts , presentation skills

View More Posts By Category: Free Public Speaking Tips | leadership tips | Online Courses | Past Fearless Presentations ® Classes | Podcasts | presentation skills | Uncategorized

• Presentation Science

Setting Your Presentation Goals

• By: Amy Boone

Before you stand up to give a presentation, you probably set goals for yourself, right? Things like present with confidence. Get through without too many “ums.” Or make good eye contact. But have you ever set goals for your audience before giving a presentation?

Audience goals keep you focused on the exact change you are hoping to accomplish. It might be to help the audience understand a new policy, to join a work team, or to purchase a product. Best-selling author Dr. Stephen Covey says you should “ begin with the end in mind .” In other words, you should know what you hope to accomplish before you start writing your presentation. And that’s what we are talking about today.

If you are preparing a presentation in hopes that it will be effective, you need to understand how humans learn and then set specific learning goals for your audience. So let’s talk about different levels of learning and how to leverage these in your presentations.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

In 1956, Benjamin S. Bloom created a hierarchy of learning that is known as Bloom’s Taxonomy . Bloom’s guide helps us understand the different levels of learning. In 2000 Anderson and Krathwohl updated Bloom’s original language as shown in the table below. Bloom’s taxonomy moves from the lowest level of learning, which is remembering, to the highest level of learning found in creating.

As a presenter, this hierarchy can help you set appropriate goals for your presentation. Before doing that though, let’s learn a little bit more about each level. The Teaching and Educational Institute of The University of Queensland in Australia defines each level like this:

• knowledge: can recall of specific items
• comprehension: can recall, but can do a little more (e.g. paraphrase, define, discuss to some extent)
• application: can take information of an abstract nature and use it in concrete situations
• analysis: can break down a communication into its constituent parts, revealing the relationships among them
• evaluation: can make judgements about the value of materials or methods
• synthesis: can pull together many disorganized elements or parts so as to form a whole

Looking at those levels, ask yourself, what is it that I want my audience to be able to do at the end of my presentation ? If you simply want them to remember the key terms or points, a presentation focused on remembering is fine. But if you want them to be able to apply the information you are presenting, you’ll need to aim a little higher.

Let’s discuss some specific ways to accomplish each learning level goal in your presentations. Keep in mind that they are cumulative; they build upon each other. So if your ultimate goal is to get your audience to the application level, you need to also use the tips in the lower levels that come before application. Let’s get started.

If your goal for your audience is remembering:

Keep the main terms in your presentation the same. If you tell your audience you are going to cover “how caffeine affects your brain and body,” don’t switch that to “cerebral and physical effects of caffeine” later in your presentation. Certain words become anchor points for your audience. They are listening for them. And they use them to orient themselves within the presentation, so don’t switch them up.

Also, repeat the terms or points that you want the audience to retain at least 3 times. Once in the introduction, once in the body of your message, and once as you are reviewing in your conclusion.

If your goal for your audience is understanding:

Move beyond definition to illustrations and examples that connect with your audience. Words don’t mean much until they connect to something we know. Connection is the start of understanding. Here’s how to make that happen. In their 2019 article, “ Unleashing the Power of Examples ,” Dr. Ken Alford and Dr. Tyler Griffin share a story originally told by Dr. Kim B. Clark of an elementary teacher who taught his fourth graders about German theologian Martin Luther. Following his lesson, the students took a quiz, but they bombed the quiz. They answered the questions as if the quiz was about Martin Luther King Jr., the American civil rights activist and leader.

The next time the teacher taught this same lesson on Martin Luther, he started his presentation like this: “How many of you know who Martin Luther King, Jr. was?” When all of the students raised their hands, he asked, “Do any of you know why his parents gave him the name of Martin Luther?” As Alford and Griffin write, “He then shared the  same  information he had presented to the first group, but the students heard his lesson  differently  because it built on information they already understood.” The second group of students passed their quizzes easily. The first level of learning, remembering, is aimed at basic memorization. But the second level, understanding, connects new information with what the audience already knows.

If your goal for your audience is applying:

The above example gets partly into application because the students were asked to take a quiz on the information. That shows that they were able to apply what they had learned. But I’m guessing you aren’t planning to give your audience members a quiz following your presentation. Instead, you can achieve this level of learning by asking your audience to provide some examples of their own. Once you’ve explained a point or concept, ask for feedback either by opening the floor for them to share examples or by asking them to share examples in small groups.

If your goal for your audience is analyzing:

At this stage of learning, you should start to view your audience members not as students, but as decision makers. In order for your audience make the best decision, they have to be able to analyze your ideas, so you need to help them understand all the component parts. Say for example you are giving a sales pitch. Helping them analyze might mean that your presentation needs to cover the history of your product, the motivating factor for its creation, the ways in which it solves problems for other customers, data on its cost effectiveness, statistics on how it compares to its competitors, etc. This stage illustrates why Bloom’s taxonomy can be so helpful for setting your audience presentation goals. If your audience doesn’t need to analyze or make decisions, you can leave out some of this more detailed and granular information.

If your goal for your audience is evaluating:

With this level of learning, you are helping your audience form opinions about your ideas. You are asking them to assign value and judge something to be right/wrong, good/bad, helpful/not helpful, true/false, and so on. One of the main goals of information presentation is to help your audience get to the place where they judge your content to be worthy of their time, attention, money, respect, or support. In order to do this, you need to show how the information you’ve presented affects their daily lives in a positive way. Without this explicit connection, the audience can too easily dismiss your presentation as irrelevant.

If your goal for your audience is creating:

The highest level of learning is synthesizing or creating. Remember that all the levels of learning build upon each other. So in order to get to this last and highest step, you need to move the audience through the other levels first. It could be that your presentation goal is to get your audience to take what they’ve learned from you and use it to create new ideas, new products, or new policies of their own.

In these cases, you need to focus on inspiration and motivation. Don’t waste time on things the audience already knows. Instead, spend your energy actually getting them to act. For example, if you are launching a recycling initiative at your workplace, don’t bog them down with recycling stats and why recycling is good for the planet. You may touch on this briefly, but don’t spend too much time on it because the audience already accepts that recycling is a worthy cause. Instead, figure out how to convince them to actually start acting on this initiative and creating new initiatives of their own that coincide with those of the company.

When you know what your goal is for your audience members, you can start to balance your presentation content accordingly. What do you need to spend the most time on? Is there anything your audience doesn’t need to know that you can take out? What do you need to accomplish first before moving on to higher levels of learning? Bloom’s taxonomy helps you ask the right questions so you develop the right presentation to get the right results.

Ready to take your presentation to the next level? Find out how Ethos3 can help.

Join our newsletter today!

© 2006-2024 Ethos3 – An Award Winning Presentation Design and Training Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Diversity and Inclusion

• Tips & Tricks
• PowerPoint Templates
• Training Programs
• Free E-Courses

How to set a clear presentation objective

Home  >   Presentation Outline >  Presentation Objective

Ask any presenter, and they will tell you that it is essential to set a presentation objective. However, when asked how to go about setting these objectives, they often draw a blank. The term 'objective' is often used quite casually by many presenters, without fully understanding its importance.

Most presentation objectives tend to sound like this: "I want everyone to appreciate my unique ideas, leave a strong impression on my audience, and make a great presentation." However, these goals are too broad and lack specificity to help a presenter create a presentation that will truly resonate with their audience.

The objectives of a presentation are not vague statements of presenter goals.

They follow a clearly defined structure.

You need to use that structure for setting your objectives because…

A clearly defined presentation objective is the first step to a remarkable presentation.

A clear and meaningful presentation objective determines…

• How  confidently you deliver your presentation
• How much your audience trusts your suggestions
• How you prioritize your points and  structure your presentation
• How your presentation ends – i.e. whether your presentation ends with polite claps or with a clear decision to address the next steps.

In this article, we will show you  Minimal® process  for setting up clear objectives for presentation in a step-by-step way.

What is the process for setting the objective?

Setting an objective for your presentation involves answering three essential questions: Who, What, and Why.  

• Who is the intended audience? 
• What action should they take?
• And why should they take this action? What is in it for them?

 Let's delve into each of these questions in turn.

WHO – Who is the last person in your audience?

The last person is the one who must take action based on your presentation. This could be the ultimate decision-maker or someone who has an influence on the decision-making process.

 If your presentation is purely informational , such as a training presentation on products, the last person is the one with the least amount of knowledge on the subject.

When crafting your presentation outline or story, it is important to keep the last person in mind in order to ensure that the information is presented in a way that is understandable and engaging.

Why do you need to define the last person for your presentation?

It is to focus your message. The clearer you are about the last person, the more focused your message gets:

• By understanding the knowledge and experience level of the last person, you can plan the extent to which you need to build the  context and background.
• By understanding the motivation factors, you can determine the  nature of your offer.
• By understanding the preferences, you can decide the  extent to which you need to use data and emotions  in your presentation.

If you don’t determine the last person, you end up with a vague and boring presentation. Remember, when you want to appeal to everyone, you convince no one.

So, setting a clear presentation objective is the critical first step in creating your presentation.

Your action step

Determine the last person for your presentation. Create a thumbnail profile – like the age, work experience, job responsibilities, awareness levels etc. If possible, get a picture of the last person and stick it in front of you.

This person represents your audience. Check if your presentation would appeal to this person.

Page 2 What is in it for me?

Return to Main  Presentation Outline Page

Return to Top of Presentation Objective Page

Share these tips & tutorials

Get 25 creative powerpoint ideas mini course &  members-only tips & offers. sign up for free below:.

Giving a Presentation? Here’s the Top 22 Practical Tips

Itamar Goldfeld

As a sales or marketing professional, presentations are simply a part of everyday life. Whether pitching a product or setting a new strategy, your presentation is a tool to help you sell.

Your audience may be a client, your boss, or another team in your organization – whichever it is, you need to create a presentation that will get them to align with your agenda. Sometimes, it can be quite a challenge…

In order to help make sense of the process, I like to use the concept of the 3Ps (and not the usual 4Ps or 7Ps of marketing you’ve probably heard of).

The 3Ps of presentations are P reparation, P resentation, and P ost-Meeting, and they cover the entire lifecycle of the presentation – from development to delivery, to follow up.

Want to rock your next presentation? Here are 22 helpful tips from my own experience, both as a presenter and as a participant, divided into the 3Ps. So let’s start at the beginning:

Preparation

• Define 1-2 goals you want to achieve in the meeting. A meeting without actionable’s is like a ship without a sail. You can’t get to where you’re going without knowing your destination and how to get there.
• Try to see things from the perspective of the audience. Find out everything you can about their agenda and interests. Ask yourself the question: “What’s in it for them?” and develop your presentation accordingly.
• Conduct brief, preliminary research about the people participating in the meeting. You can do this by checking their social profiles (LinkedIn/Facebook), and go over previous correspondence to see if you can glean any interesting or important information. Knowing your audience is the best way to know what “persona” you should project.
• Tailor the presentation to your audience in terms of content, depth of detail, technical level and more. Make sure you are speaking the ‘language’ of the participants, so they everyone understands you perfectly.
• Practice, practice, practice! Make sure you know the pitch fluently, and that you have mastered control of the presentation’s flow. Each slide should have a purpose and an important and coherent point. Ask a colleague or friend to let you practice on them.
• Always follow best practices! There are plenty of tried-and-tested ways to create the best possible professional presentation. Check them out here .
• If you have a roadshow pitch, be sure to update it regularly and even change it occasionally. It’s important to keep it fresh, so you can avoid sounding stale or – even worse – burning out.
• Make sure to check and double check all the technical aspects of your presentation.  Is the video playing properly? Do you have the right adaptors to connect your PC? It’s always best to come super-prepared. It would be a shame to mess up a great presentation because of an overlooked technical detail.
• Don’t be late! Make sure to arrive early enough to set up your presentation without undue pressure. On the other hand, don’t show up too early. You don’t want to inconvenience your host or audience.

Presentation

• People love hearing themselves talk ; that’s just human nature. Besides, it’s hard to stay focused for an hour or more listening to a monologue, so break up the time with audience interaction. Encourage debate and discussion. Ask leading questions, offer quizzes and invite people to share their opinions. Lead the audience to articulate your conclusion. A message is always conveyed better when a person says it for themselves.
• Keep it interesting. Use humor, personal anecdotes, ‘wow’ facts, statistics  or anything else that might pique the audience’s interest. In the end, it’s all about making a personal connection with participants.
• People are much more open when they feel accepted . Validate the questions and comments raised by participants. Even the most confident CxO likes a bit of positive feedback now and then.
• Be agile – don’t take a die-hard approach about sticking to the pre-planned flow. If a particular question is asked prematurely, don’t respond with “We’ll get to that later”. Be flexible and take the discussion to the place that interests the people in the room. (Unless of course, they are totally off point. Then you can gently steer the presentation back on course.)
• Be relevant. Don’t settle for generalities. Use examples and case studies that the specific audience can relate to. People appreciate it when they feel you’ve done your homework and tailored the presentation to make it interesting for them.
• Be a pro. Convey a sense of confidence and authority. That doesn’t necessarily mean having all the answers. But it does mean that you are able to find the right answers and come back to the audience with the information they want.
• Pay attention to everyone in the room. Sometimes when presenting, we tend to focus on one or two people, but it is important to make every participant feel included. The best way to do this is by making eye contact.
• Be prompt and practical. if you happen to finish before schedule, don’t fill the time just for the sake of it. Finish a bit early – the participants will appreciate the unexpected free time in their schedule. And whatever you do, do not exceed the time allocated to you. It will just inconvenience the audience.
• Bonus! Don’t show up empty handed. Even the smallest giveaway can be a great ice breaker and will be appreciated by the audience. Also, don’t refuse a glass of water or coffee if offered to you. This is a gesture of hospitality, and it is polite and appropriate to accept it.

Post-Meeting

• Make it easy for participants to be in touch with you . Leave a business card, and add your email address to the final slide of the presentation.
• Send out a summary up to 24 hours after the presentation . Compliment the participants on their contribution to the meeting. If necessary, make sure to include clear action items and assign them to the person in charge of each task.
• If you were assigned tasks or questions that require follow up , be sure to get it done within 48 hours.
• If objectives weren’t met, send a follow-up email a week after the meeting to further clarify.

They say that good things come in threes. That’s definitely true when it comes to presentations. The 3Ps – Preparation, Presentation, and Post-Meeting – is an effective approach to managing the entire process, making sure every aspect of your presentation, from initial idea to final follow-up, is fully optimized.

So next time you need to give a presentation, follow the 3Ps and the 22 tips above. You’ll be that much closer to achieving your aims.

Launch your Campaign!

Create full funnel campaigns that drive real business results..

Related Articles

Laura Kloot

Camilla Salemme

For Advertisers

• Advertise with Outbrain
• Native Advertising
• Contextual Advertising
• Demo Outbrain
• How to Buy Outbrain
• Outbrain Academy
• Advertiser Guidelines
• Advertising FAQ
• Advertising Glossary
• Vertical Insights
• Vertical Hub
• Affiliate Marketing
• Affiliate Hub
• High-Conversion Content
• Repurpose Social Campaigns

About Outbrain

• Company Overview
• Cultural Manifesto
• Trust & Transparency
• For Publishers
• Thought Leadership
• Outbrain Blog
• Resources Hub
• Case Studies
• Performance Marketing
• Advertising Academy
• Publisher's Directory
• Help Center

Ready to start?

Try Outbrain for Advertisers today

• Interest-Based Ads (Opt Out)
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use

Define Goals for Your Presentations – Here’s How to Succeed Every Time!

The way it often goes is that you start with a great idea, and eagerly start to work towards realizing it.  Your goal seems clear!  Then as you go along, more goals start to sprout . 

New ideas and new goals can quickly crowd out your original clarity, and as your thoughts are a mess, the whole project falls apart. To avoid this, it’s absolutely essential that that you define goals as soon as possible.

Why is defining goals so important?   

Goals are totally necessary to success in any situation. Having a fixed goal in mind helps to focus and realize your wishes and ideas, and also helps to measure how close you are to that goal.

Goals also serve as an incentive; when achieved, they boost self-confidence. Without goals, people can become aimless and waste a lot of energy. Whatever the goal is, (e.g. getting a raise, saving enough money for a vacation, completing a qualification) – achieving those goals makes us feel happy and confident.

The Importance of Goals in PowerPoint Presentations

Goal setting is also important in the context of PowerPoint presentations. This is because when you put a presentation together, there is an intention behind that presentation, whether it’s sales-oriented or purely informative. What is the purpose of your presentation? Why do you want to talk about a certain topic? Learning to define concrete objectives helps you create a really effective presentation around your goal.

Goals are also beneficial in these areas within presentations:

• Goals as a guide for the presentation process

Goals serve as a guide in the planning and creation of a PowerPoint presentation . They help structure the entire presentation process and ensure that all content, slides, and arguments align with the desired goals.

By defining clear goals, you can better plan the flow of the presentation and ensure that all relevant information is covered.

For more tips on how to prepare your presentations properly, you can also refer to the article “ Preparing Presentations: 11 Tips “.

• Goals to enhance clarity and effectiveness of your presentation

Defining goals significantly contributes to the clarity and effectiveness of your PowerPoint presentation . When you know exactly what goal you want to achieve with the presentation, you can select and present the content more purposefully.

Goals help avoid irrelevant information and focus on the essentials. This makes the presentation clearer and more concise , facilitating your audience’s understanding and absorption of the message.

• Goals as a guide for your audience

Goals also serve as a guide for the audience. When the audience is aware of the presentation’s goals, they can better understand what is expected and which information is relevant.

Goals help the audience recognize the underlying structure of the presentation and process the information more effectively. By defining clear goals, you ensure that your audience perceives the presentation as relevant and valuable and actively engages with it.

Bring Order into Chaos

You need to get clear and keep in mind why you want to give your presentation and what you want to achieve with it . A structured plan will help you to get chaotic thoughts in order. The ideal way of doing this is to use the SMART method . This article will go through what it entails and how to use it to set effective goals for your presentations.

Here are the steps to define your goals in PowerPoint presentations:

• Analyze the presentation context

The first step is to thoroughly analyze the presentation context . This includes considering the audience, occasion, time frame, and expectations of the presentation. Having a clear understanding of the context allows you to define goals that are appropriate and tailor the content and presentation style accordingly .

It is important to have a basic understanding of your target audience to adapt the presentation to them and choose goals accordingly. Read more in the article “ Target Audience Analysis”.

• Identify the main message

It is important to identify the main message of the presentation. What is the central statement or primary goal that needs to be conveyed? By establishing a clear main message, the presentation becomes focused and concise.

Learn how to identify, define, and communicate your main message in the article “ Developing Key Messages for Presentations “.

• Set specific goals

Building upon the main message, you can define specific goals. These goals should be clear, measurable, and realistic.

For example, a goal could be to convey specific information, promote certain behavior, or elicit a particular response from the audience. The goals should be aligned with effectively communicating the main message.

• Assess goal attainment possibilities

Before finalizing the goals, it is important to assess the possibilities of achieving them . Consider the available resources, time, and the presenter’s skills. It is important to set realistic goals that are achievable and do not exceed the scope of the presentation.

By carefully following these steps, a clear goal definition can be achieved in PowerPoint presentations, supporting the success of the presentation and achieving the desired impact.

Define Goals Optimally with Information Questions

Before we go into more detail about the principle of SMART goals, it’s useful to revisit some basic tips on the subject of goal definition. To be able to grow both professionally and personally, we need goals that help us to make progress. The same applies to companies: it is essential to define goals and to realize visions in order to grow.

Who is giving the presentation?

Even setting a goal can be a challenge. Setting a goal that is too high to reach, or too low to ensure progress, is counterproductive. A good way to help define goals is to ask information questions. When preparing a presentation, it’s really useful to ask yourself the following:

What topic are you covering?

Why this topic, exactly? What in particular do you have to say about it?

What does your audience expect from you?

How will you convey your key messages? How do you want your presentation to look; how can you optimize your slide design to help?

When are you going to give your presentation? Do you have enough time to prepare?

Where will your presentation be taking place? Does it have suitable equipment, such as a projector and screen?

Defining Goals with the SMART Formula

As mentioned above, the SMART method offers a solidly useful way to define goals.

SMART is an acronym for the following terms:

S – Specific : Formulate your goals precisely so that you know exactly what you want to achieve.

M – Measurable: Define clear criteria to measure your goals.

A – Attainable: Make sure your goals are achievable and can be practically implemented.

R – Relevant : Make sure your goals align with your overall vision.

T – Time-bound: Set a deadline for yourself.

Here’s an example of how to apply the SMART method in practice. We’re going to use the goal of “more Facebook fans”, which can obviously also be applied many other things.

1. The specific goal is to reach 50,000 fans.

2. This is measurable as Facebook counts your fans for you.

3. Since you already have 45,000 fans, this is a goal that is achievable. Sufficient funds and time are available for acquiring the additional 5,000.

4. This would benefit your company, since more fans ensure higher traffic.

5. This is scheduled and should be achieved by the end of the year.

SMART Method PowerPoint Templates

In order to help you define your goals as effectively as possible, we offer numerous templates around the topic of Smart working. These can help you to design a PowerPoint presentation around your goal easily and optimally. Our Smart Goals PowerPoint template slide set offers practical working aids, explanations and overviews around the Smart method, and checklists for defining goals and creating presentations.

WOOP – an Alternative to the SMART Method

Like the SMART method, the WOOP method, is an acronym intended as a tool for defining and achieving goals. The method was developed by Professor of Psychology Gabriele Oettingen. The individual letters stand for the following terms :

W – Wish: The starting point is defining what you want to achieve.

O – Outcome: The next step is to visualize the result. What will change if you implement your wish? Will your business be positively changed by the goal? Does thinking about this step fill you with the energy needed to implement it?

O – Obstacle : What are the obstacles that might prevent you from reaching that goal? This is when you identify and and all reasons that may keep you from achieving your goal.

P – Plan : Plan how you will break down these barriers and work consistently toward your goal.

Conclusion: Define Your Goals and Achieve Success!

We hope the above article, setting out really effective means such as the SMART method for defining goals, will mean you are optimally equipped for your next presentation. Get your next presentation in order with a structured plan, and persuade your audience without any difficulty.

If you have any questions about the SMART method and define goals, or about PowerPoint presentations in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected] .

Other articles which may be of interest to you:

• Use Handouts to Enhance Your Presentations
• The best presentation structure: tips&tricks
• Create a PowerPoint Presentation: helpful tips

Share this post

• share  
• save  

Design Thinking: Problem Solving with a Difference

Why Corporate Mission Statements Are So Important

7 Tips & Learnings from the Apple Keynote

Google Slides: How to change the size of your presentation slides

G oogle Slides has an impressive number of templates for creating beautiful presentations. It's been the go-to choice for many users who don't use Microsoft PowerPoint and an easy-to-access alternative for well-equipped Chromebooks . If your slides are too small or too wide, they may not scale well to the content shown on the screen. This guide teaches you how to change the size of the slides in your Google Slides presentation on a browser to ensure you use the correct size.

What's the difference between Google Slides templates and themes?

Which size works best with google slides.

It depends on where the presentation is viewed. Most computers use a 16:9 aspect ratio, but mobile devices prefer a 4:3 ratio. If unsure, test the slideshow on multiple devices and decide which gives the most optimal viewing experience.

How to resize your Google Slides on a Windows computer

You can decide the size of your slides before creating your presentation. Alternatively, open an old presentation and choose to resize your slides. Check the steps below to get started.

Changing Google Slides size on a new presentation

• Open a web browser and sign in to Google Slides .
• Go to File .
• Click Page setup .
• Click the drop-down box in the Page setup window to select the aspect ratio. Choose Standard 4:3 , Widescreen 16:9 , Widescreen 16:10 , or Custom .
• After making your selection, click Apply .

All the slides maintain the same aspect ratio you selected. If you're uncertain whether any default options suit your presentation, tweak the ratio by choosing Custom .

Changing Google Slides size on a saved presentation

• Navigate to File > Open .
• Select a saved Google Slides presentation and click Open .
• In the opened Google Slides presentation, go to File and select Page setup .
• In the Page setup window, choose another aspect ratio option from the drop-down menu and click Apply .

After swapping the aspect ratio, you may need to adjust your Google Slides presentation. In this example, we swapped the aspect ratio from Standard 4:3 to Widescreen 16:9, which changes the alignment of images and text on each slide.

How to resize your Google Slides on a Chromebook

You're likely sticking to Google's ecosystem while working on a Chromebook. Google Slides becomes an essential tool when building a presentation. Google Slides works like the Windows computer version, so changing the slides' size is simple. Here's how to do it:

• On a Chromebook, open Google Slides on a Chrome tab.
• Start a new presentation or open an existing one by going to File > Open .
• Click File > Page setup .
• In the Page setup window, select the drop-down box and choose Standard 4:3 , Widescreen 16:9 , Widescreen 16:10 , or Custom .
• Click Apply .

The Google Slides app works on Chromebooks but has the same (limited) functionality as the mobile app (the app you download from the Google Play Store is the Android app ported to Chromebooks).

How to expand the size of your Google Slides presentation

Sometimes, presentations can start in the wrong view. Fullscreen mode ensures the set aspect ratio of the slideshow remains the same on the screen. However, the audience may see another view if you select the wrong mode before starting your presentation. The view you can accidentally click is Presenter View.

Inside Presenter View, the audience sees a fullscreen presentation of your Google Slides (if presented on a different screen), while you see the speaker notes written below the slides and some settings. Seeing a busier screen can distract the speaker, especially if the slides remain in autoplay . As a result, you may prefer to set up fullscreen mode. Below are the steps to ensure your Google Slides start in fullscreen mode.

How to enter fullscreen mode on Google Slides

• Open a saved Google Slides presentation on your computer.
• Click the arrow at the bottom of the Slideshow button and select Start from beginning .

Clicking the Slideshow button also puts your presentation in fullscreen mode.

How to resize your Google Slides on mobile

The slide size in Google Slides on the Android and iOS mobile apps cannot be manually changed. To get around this, open Google Slides on a computer and follow the steps above to adjust the size of your slides.

Revamp your Google Slides presentation

Does your current Google Slides presentation need a boost? Check out the best templates for Google Slides . Spice up your presentation to look more professional or change it to something more colorful and snappy. Google Slides also supports audio files from your Google Drive, so add audio to keep your audience engaged. Google Slides has several tools to make your slideshow stand out.

What the National Association of Realtors' settlement means for consumers and real estate brokers

A groundbreaking $418 million settlement announced Friday by the powerful National Association of Realtors is set to usher in the most sweeping reforms the American real estate market has seen in a century. It could dramatically drive down homebuyers’ costs — and push some real estate brokers out of business.

Here’s a look at how we got here and what to expect in the months ahead.

NAR already lost a big case

For decades, the NAR has required home sale listing brokers to provide an offer of compensation to a buyer’s agent up front. That usually comes out to about 6%, split between a seller’s broker and a buyer’s agent.

But that model has come under intensifying scrutiny from critics who have likened it to a cartel . Late last year, a jury in a Kansas City federal court found the longstanding practice to be a form of collusion that artificially inflated real estate fees, awarding a massive $1. 7 8 billion judgment against NAR .

What changes now for homebuyers and sellers

If the settlement announced Friday is approved by a federal court, the standard 6% commission goes away. Sellers would no longer have to make a compensation proposal to prospective buyers and their agents. Critics have said the encouraged brokers to push their clients toward more expensive properties.

Another new rule would see homebuyers having to sign an explicit deal with a broker before they start working with one — something experts say would lead many homebuyers to forgo using brokers entirely.

The new rules would kick in within months of approval, currently expected around mid-July.

What about the next few months?

Everyone involved in the market should expect “a certain amount of uncertainty for the coming months,” said Marty Green, principal at mortgage law firm Polunsky Beitel Green.

“The industry will be in transition as everyone digests the settlements and market forces begin working,” he predicted. “We will begin to see some creative buyer’s agent arrangements that may have been harder to get traction on before.”

Home buyers and their agents will need to decide on a commission and put it in writing. Sellers, likewise, will need to work carefully with their listing agents as the new rules come into effect.

U.S. consumers might save in the long run ...

The changes could mean buyers will save on commissions, eventually bringing U.S. fees more in line with the much lower transaction costs seen in other residential property markets around the world.

Some commissions could even be cut in half, Jaret Seiberg, housing policy analyst for TD Cowen Washington Research Group, told clients in a note Friday.

The new rules “should lead to commissions falling 25% to 50%, which we view as benefiting online real estate brokers,” Seiberg wrote, but he warned it’s too early to declare “the end of local real estate agents given their local expertise and reputation in neighborhoods. It is why we do not see this following the travel agency model in which online eclipsed local offices.”

... but buyers could face more confusion

Holden Lewis, a home and mortgage expert at NerdWallet, warned of a “potential negative trade-off”: “Buyer-seller negotiations will become more complex, and buyers with plenty of cash might navigate the process more easily than buyers who don’t have a lot of savings,” he said. Seiberg flagged a similar concern in his note, saying it could particularly affect first-time buyers with limited means to pay for an agent.

Brokers and agents have come out against the settlement, saying it will make the home-buying process more byzantine for consumers and discounts the important role agents play in helping them navigate it.

“I’m a full-service real estate agent, so when I go to list my client’s house, I align their goals with my goal, and that goal is selling for the highest amount possible,” said Roy Remick, a realtor based in Northern Virginia, who said he often pays thousands of dollars of his own for services like staging homes to aid the sale process.

“This is ultimately someone saying, ‘You guys make too much money,’ which I don’t think is right for someone to dictate,” he said.

Buyers’ agents will be left “flying blind” since they won’t know how much they’ll end up making from a given home, Remick warned. “We’ll have to make a bunch of phone calls, because now we don’t know what [the commission] is because we can’t see it in the MLS. But we’ve already got an agreement with buyer how much they’ll be able to compensate us.”

Christine Romans is the senior business correspondent at NBC News.

Rob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Here's what happens if Trump can't pay his $454 million bond

Andrea Bernstein

Rachel Treisman

Forty Wall Street, a Trump-owned building, stands in downtown Manhattan. Former President Trump says he can't secure a bond to appeal the $454 million penalty in his civil fraud case. But New York Attorney General Letitia James says she is prepared to seize the former president's assets, including the building at 40 Wall Street, if he is unable to pay. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

Forty Wall Street, a Trump-owned building, stands in downtown Manhattan. Former President Trump says he can't secure a bond to appeal the $454 million penalty in his civil fraud case. But New York Attorney General Letitia James says she is prepared to seize the former president's assets, including the building at 40 Wall Street, if he is unable to pay.

Former President Donald Trump needs to arrange a $454 million bond to comply with a New York court ruling in less than a week, but the presumptive Republican presidential nominee says he can't find a company to put up the bond.

Trump's lawyers are asking an appeals court to stay the judgment, but the clock is ticking.

How did Trump come to owe the state of New York some $454 million?

Trump ordered to pay over $355M for fraudulent business practices in New York

This is the ruling that Judge Arthur Engoron issued last month , after finding that Donald, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., along with Trump Organization employees, engaged in a decade-long conspiracy to lie about the value of their assets.

In New York, if you make money by persistently committing fraud, you owe the ill-gotten portion back to the state. In this case, Judge Engoron determined that Donald Trump made over $350 million more than he should have if he'd been honest and when you add in interest, you get to $454 million.

Why does Trump have to come up with the money now?

Trump doesn't have to actually pay that money now, but he has to get a company to make a guarantee to the court that they will pay the money if he loses his appeal. That's the bond part.

But to get a bond, you have to put up assets, and in a court filing Monday Trump lawyers said they'd approached 30 companies but that getting a bond was a "practical impossibility," because they'd need a billion dollars in cash, which they don't have.

Trump unable to post $450M bond in New York fraud case, his lawyers say

They submitted an affidavit from an insurance executive who had testified at trial, and whom the trial judge had already discredited.

Trump says he's a billionaire. Why can't he just come up with the money himself?

Trump said during a deposition for this case, taken about a year ago, that he had plenty of cash. He said, "I believe we have substantially in excess of $400 million in cash ." And, he added, it's "going up very substantially every month."

News organizations have estimated that Trump actually has about $300 million in liquid assets — but he already had to set aside $100 million or so to put up a bond to pay the verdict in the E. Jean Carroll civil case . The rest of his money is largely tied up in buildings and golf courses, and while he could sell a property, that can't happen right away. Trump said Tuesday that would be a "fire sale," though he said many times during the trial he could always find a buyer to pay top dollar.

Jury orders Trump to pay $83 million for defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll

While Trump's political action committees have spent millions of dollars on his legal fees, they're unlikely to be of help to him in this case because of campaign finance laws .

Trump has accused the judge in the case of trying to take away his rights, posting on social media that any assets he may be forced to sell would be gone even if he ultimately wins his appeal.

That's a concern that any defendant could raise, whether they're liable for $450 or $450 million, says Adam Pollock, a former assistant attorney general in New York.

"But if you want to bond the appeal — stop enforcement of the judgment — you have to put up the full amount," he told Morning Edition . "That's what the law says. And that's a policy decision that Albany has made."

The deadline is Monday. What does Trump do if the appeals court doesn't rule his way?

He can appeal to New York's highest court and ask that court to stay the judgment. If they don't, he can ask a benefactor or he could try and stall some more until he comes into money from the upcoming sale of his social media company, or he could — though it has many disadvantages — declare bankruptcy.

But New York Attorney General Letitia James has been clear: If Trump doesn't pay, she will move to seize his assets.

"If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court," she said. "And we will ask the judge to seize his assets."

Trump's noncash assets run to $3 billion, Forbes estimates, so there's plenty of value there. The law limits the AG to seizing properties that were a part of the case, but there's about two dozen of those, everything from the Doral Golf Club to 40 Wall Street to Trump Tower. She's not limited to New York properties, though there are extra steps if she chooses to go out of state.

She could, in theory, send a sheriff or a marshal to enforce the judgment, and that brings on another legal process with many more opportunities for delay.

Can Trump be forced to pay up?

James can begin enforcement of the judgment immediately after the 30-day grace period expires next week, says Pollock. And there are several devices she can use to try to get him to pay.

For one, he says, she could serve Trump a restraining notice that would restrict his spending in other areas until he pays his bond.

"The restraining notice would say: 'Don't spend money, don't fill up your jet at the pump, until you pay the state of New York, or you'll be held in contempt of court,' " Pollock says. "And my impression is that ... Engoran, the judge here in New York, would be quick to hold him in contempt of court."

He says it's theoretically possible that James' could consider settling, especially if Trump were to write a check for something like $250 million. But short of that, he doesn't see any reason for her to proactively lower his bond, especially since she has the tools to go into banks and drain his accounts.

"The entire trial was effectively a roadmap to his financial assets," Pollock adds. "She can now send out a sheriff or a marshal of the city of New York to go walk into a financial institution holding what's known as an execution and empty his bank account short of $3,000, which is the statutory floor."

Pollock acknowledges that Trump has said he doesn't have $450 million in cash. But if he wants to stave off enforcement, "he needs to find a way to raise it."

• Letitia James
• court ruling
• Donald Trump

‘Lost Restaurants of Downtown Cleveland’ author to give presentation

• Updated: Mar. 21, 2024, 5:48 a.m. |
• Published: Mar. 21, 2024, 5:30 a.m.

Bette Lou Higgins is scheduled to give a presentation based on her book, “Lost Restaurants of Downtown Cleveland.”

• Marc Bona, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Author Bette Lou Higgins is offering a storytelling program based on her book, “Lost Restaurants of Downtown Cleveland.”

The “tour of Cleveland Restaurants in 30 minutes - more or less!” is based on Higgins’ book, which came out in 2021. The storytelling program – which is designed to take you back in time to “visit” the forgotten eateries – is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, at Columbia Library.

Stories by Marc Bona

• Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens to host eclipse watchers
• ‘CLE South’ breweries schedule 3rd annual crawl
• 2024 Lenten fish frys in NE Ohio: Here’s our updated guide

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Watch CBS News

The Fed is meeting today. Here's what experts are saying about the odds of a rate cut.

By Aimee Picchi

Edited By Alain Sherter, Alex Sundby

Updated on: March 20, 2024 / 3:22 PM EDT / CBS News

Update: The Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged .

Americans are bearing the financial burden of higher costs for every type of loan , from mortgages to credit cards, after two years of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. With the central bank meeting today, economists and consumers alike have one question on their minds: When will the central bank start cutting rates? 

The answer: Almost certainly not this month, and probably not at its next meeting, according to Wall Street forecasters.

Most economists polled by financial data company FactSet think the Fed will keep its benchmark rate steady on Wednesday, as well as at its following meeting on May 1. Consumers holding out for lower borrowing costs may have to wait until the following month for relief, with about half of economists now penciling in the Fed's June 12 meeting for the first cut in four years, FactSet data shows. 

The Fed kicked off its flurry of rate hikes in March 2022 as inflation soared during the pandemic, reaching a 40-year high in June of that year. Although inflation has rapidly cooled since then, it remains higher than the Fed would like, which is why economists believe the central bank will keep rates steady this week.

That doesn't mean that the Fed won't say anything noteworthy. Experts said the Fed's latest economic outlook could provide hints about when rate relief might be in the cards.

"The Fed is going to be taking a lot of the oxygen out of the room this week as they conclude their March meeting on Wednesday afternoon," said Sam Millete, director of fixed income at Commonwealth Financial Network, in an email. "We've seen some mixed economic data to start the year. It's going to be interesting to see how the Fed reacts to that, especially in Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference."

Here's what to know about Wednesday's Fed meeting and what it means for your money. 

When is the Fed meeting this week?

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meets on March 19-20. The rate-setting panel will announce its rate decision at 2 p.m. Eastern time on March 20.  

Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday to discuss the FOMC's rate decision and provide information on the central bank's outlook.

When and by how much will the Fed cut interest rates?

The Fed on Wednesday is expected to maintain the federal funds rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%.

The question is whether the central bank might provide guidance about the expected timing of what would mark the first rate cut since March 2020, when the economy was in free fall due to the pandemic, prompting the Fed to slash borrowing costs to buoy the economy. 

On Wednesday, analysts expect Powell to reiterate that the Fed wants to see continued improvement in its battle against inflation before cutting rates.

"The Fed will keep their forward guidance unchanged while stressing that they need further evidence that inflation is on a sustainable path toward their 2% target before cutting interest rates," Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist with Oxford Economics, told investors on Monday in a report. 

Economists still think the Fed could cut rates several times in 2024, although some economists are now projecting fewer reductions than they had forecast earlier. For instance, Goldman Sachs on Monday said it is penciling in three cuts in 2024, down from its earlier forecast for four cuts this year.

That change is "mainly because inflation has been a bit firmer than we expected," Goldman Sachs economists said in a research note.

What is the inflation rate in 2024?

In February, consumer prices rose  3.2% on an annual basis , faster than January's 3.1% pace and well above the 2% target sought by the Fed. 

To be sure, inflation has cooled considerably after touching a four-decade peak of 9.1% in June 2022, but it remains higher than its pre-pandemic levels of about 2% and represents one reason why economists believe the Fed will push back rate cuts until at least June.

If inflation is down, why isn't the Fed cutting rates?

Powell has repeatedly noted that cutting rates too soon could spark a resurgence of inflation, causing more financial pain for consumers and businesses.

"The Fed does not want to repeat the same mistake made in the 1970s by declaring that they have conquered inflation too soon, only to have it reemerge," said Villanova University economics professor Victor Li, a former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, in an email.

He added, "But the Fed knows they can sabotage the soft landing that they created by holding rates too high for too long and causing a recession."

The good news, said LendingTree economist Jacob Channel, is that the Fed also isn't likely to raise rates even with  inflation cooling less quickly than investors had hoped and amid signs that economic growth remains robust.

"Fortunately, while cuts might still be a few months (or more) off, it doesn't look like the Fed is going to raise rates again anytime soon," Channel said in an email. "We'd need to see inflation growth pick up far more steam that it currently has before the Fed starts seriously considering more hikes."

How will the Fed's rate decision affect your money?

If the Fed keeps its benchmark rate steady on Wednesday, borrowing costs will remain high, impacting everything from credit card rates to loans for auto purchases or homes , experts say. Credit card APRs, for instance, are at their highest levels since the Fed started tracking them in 1994, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

There is a one upside to elevated interest rates: Savers can get robust returns by parking their money in high-yield savings accounts or CDs .

"Some of the highest CD rates are found in shorter-terms right now, so they remain accessible if you need access to the cash in 6 months or one year's time," noted Elizabeth Renter, data analyst at NerdWallet, in an email. 

• Jerome Powell
• Federal Reserve

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

More from CBS News

5 great ways to avoid bankruptcy

4 things to avoid doing when your CD matures

Does a short-term or long-term CD make more sense this spring? Experts weigh in

3 times you should get a HELOC (and 3 times you shouldn't)

• Anniston/Gadsden

What Charleston said about Alabama’s NCAA Tournament 1st Round victory in Spokane

• Updated: Mar. 23, 2024, 11:45 a.m. |
• Published: Mar. 23, 2024, 11:34 a.m.

• Nick Alvarez | [email protected]

Charleston players were prepared for the spotlight, but not the offensive firepower. Alabama basketball ended the second-longest active winning streak in the country on Friday night, ensuring it wouldn’t be the victim of an upset from a dangerous 13-seed.

The Tide weathered an early stretch, using a mid-first half run to erase a six-point deficit to a 17-point halftime lead and eventual 109-96 final score . Postgame, head coach Pat Kelsey and his players broke down the loss:

“I want to start off by congratulating Alabama. They have a very good team. Nate (Oats) is a terrific coach,” Kelsey said. “They played exceptionally well tonight. I just feel really blessed to have coached this team this year.”

Both teams entered with explosive offenses, KenPom predicted 175 points combined. They averaged 36 and 34 percent, respectively from 3-point range. But while Alabama found success behind the arc, Charleston’s hustle on second-chance points made it 6-2 Cougars early and then 17-11. In the game’s opening three minutes, the Tide committed three turnovers and allowed three offensive rebounds amid a scoreless stretch.

The extra opportunities eventually dried up, however. And the Cougars missed 13 of its initial 15 3-point attempts. It kept trying to initiate offense through screens or hand-offs behind the arc. Alabama sent white jerseys further up-court and clogged passing lanes. Aside from Frankie Policelli hitting some deep shots, the Tide smothered Charleston.

“Obviously, (Alabama is) a super talented offensive team. Just kind of digging in and trying to get the stops and let the offense flow a little bit more. I think we did a good job of that early and just tried and do a better job of keeping that more consistent,” Cougars point guard Reyne Smith said.

The star of the game was Mark Sears and Charleston didn’t have an answer for his 30 points, six assists and four rebounds. When UA needed to stop a run, it was Sears who drove inside, drew a foul and converted his free throws. He went nine-of-11) from the stripe, scoring Alabama’s 100th point late in the second half after beating his defender near the rim and picking up another call.

Sears became the fifth Alabama player to score 30 points in an NCAA Tournament game. Should Alabama reach next weekend’s regional round, Sears could threaten Reggie King’s all-time program record for points in a season (747 in 1979).

“He gave us a handful tonight and maybe let’s take a little bit more pride defensively as an individual and really studying maybe a little more on personnel,” Smith said. “But, yeah, he’s a handful to guard and unfortunately just couldn’t get stops when we needed, fouled a little too much on his drives, kind of being a little too handsy. But got to give him credit, he’s one hell of a player.”

“They run really good actions for him, and he got going. You let a great player like that get going early, the rim starts looking really, really big. You let him shoot 15-foot charity stripe shots to get his confidence up even more. He got on a flow. He had 20 at half, I felt like he had 40,” Kelsey added.

Sears will guide Alabama on Sunday at 6:10 p.m. against upstart No. 12 Grand Canyon.

More Alabama basketball coverage

• Alabama scouts Grand Canyon ahead of NCAA Tournament: ‘Pretty much a high-major’
• Alabama prepared for Grand Canyon’s ‘home’ atmosphere in NCAA Tournament
• Latrell Wrightsell rests after bloody nose, Alabama updates status for Round of 32
• The bench moment that sparked Alabama’s NCAA Tournament 1st Round win over Charleston

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected] .

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.