Speaking tips: using a projector without reading from it

Having a slide show built into your show is a great way to engage the different learning styles of your audience. But don’t trust your projector to give you the presentation! Whether you’re a novice or advanced speaker, reading your slides shows a lack of preparation. For the audience, it means that you are not familiar with your own material. In fact, a speaker reading your slides is the number one complaint that comes up in audience polls.

Here are some tips to help you break this unpleasant habit.

Weaning off the notes

If you know your material, the most you’ll need to do is look at the slide as it appears to make sure it matches where you are in the presentation. That’s.

* Professional point: never, and I mean never, never turn your back on your audience to look at the image projected on the wall. You lose your audience and it makes you look like a hack. Turn your laptop towards you so you can see the slide that is being projected. There is no reason to look at the projection behind you. Forever.

If you need to read your slides or a packet of paper with the printed slides, practice until you no longer have to. Your audience is there to see you, not you reading aloud.

With that said, you may need to proofread your slides. If you are tempted to read your presentation off the projector, then a lot of what you are there to say is on your slides.

You are the source, not the slides

I can’t say this enough – if you can read your presentation outside of your slides, then you have too many words on your slides. There is simply no reason to have text-heavy slides. Your audience is there to interact with you, the speaker. They did not wake up early, did not bathe, shaved, dressed, and traveled so that they could participate in the group reading. They could have stayed in bed and read. What do they need you for?

You are the subject matter expert, so you were asked to present the material first. Through your knowledge and experience, your audience will learn more, faster, than they could if they just read one book.

When you practice your presentation, ask yourself two questions:

  1. Does the audience need me? They often ask me to send my slideshow in advance, which I do with joy, after assuring them that it will not help those who do not attend the program. If you can send them your slideshow and they will get all the information they need, what do they need it for?
  2. Would my presentation work without the slides? If you can’t answer yes, then you have too much on your slides. What if the power goes out or you have an equipment failure? Don’t depend on your projector.

Participate in the rule of three

If you must use bullets, remember the rule of three: people cannot digest more than three points at a time. Two, they feel incomplete. Four, and their brains fall out. Have no more than three main points on a slide. If you must dissect each point on a separate slide, do so.

This also works to your advantage. If you only have to remember three things at a time, you are less likely to have to turn to notes.

Show, don’t tell

If you design your presentation so that the slides are almost entirely visual cues (photos, clip art, clear graphics, etc.), you will have nothing to read!

An example would be that you are quoting Martin Luther King. Instead of having a bunch of words on the screen, just have a photo of the man himself. Then you can deliver the quote with all the excitement it deserves, which drives home the point.

Your audience will pay more attention to you and learn more as well.

Use multiple media

In addition to your visual slides, you can include a musical cue. You can also have a lined brochure for them to complete. Try to engage the three main learning styles: visual, audio, and kinesthetic (learning by doing). If you are doing this for your audience, it will also help them remember.

Divide it into segments

Another effective way to not only help you ensure that your presentation flows but also engages your audience is to segment it. Here is an example:

After your attention-getting introduction, start with the basics – what you’re going to talk about and why it’s important. You already know, so there is no need to read anything here.

Tell that personal story that relates to the topic at hand. This is your story. Have fun telling it, no need to read it from a slide.

Next, discuss the three main points and provide a little information on each one. You’re fairly familiar with these concepts, so you won’t even be tempted to read your slides.

Use a group activity. This will give you time to set up your next segment, take a look at the notes if you need to, and you won’t even need a slide for it.

Get together and discuss what the group learned from the exercise. No reading of slides here for sure.

… and so …

If you absolutely, positively, must read your presentation word for word …

Use a second computer as a teleprompter. I strongly recommend that you do not use this method, as it separates you from your audience. But, if you were told the night before that you are presenting someone else’s material, this may be an alternative to getting it done on the first try. Don’t wear it for the next one.

Imagine yourself in your audience

Be honest: If you were a member of your own audience, you would be insulted if someone just read aloud to you. You would frustrate yourself. You are better than that.

If you use the tips above, you will find that the slides enhance your presentation rather than become it. You won’t even be tempted to read your slides.

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