Presentation courtesy

When you are going to a presentation that is for a community, please remember that there are certain courtesies that you must consider because yes, the event might be free to attend, but there are guidelines that you should respect because there are others that are attending the event as well.

1. Silence your device – it is important that you silence your device so that it doesn’t interpret the presenter or any other attendee. Just putting your device on vibrate and then putting it on a table isn’t respecting those around you because it will disturb others around you.
2. Food and how much to take – yes, the food might be available for free because you are attending the event but make you that you are taking just a reasonable amount and not taking what could look you are taking stuff home to have later on. For example, if the pizza is party size, please remember that taking over 4 slices are going to be noticed even if you go back two, three or four times because people will notice you. When you end up taking 12 pieces of pizza people are going to wonder where you are putting all of that.
3. Arriving after presentations have start – mark sure you walk in quietly and DO NOT go and pick up pizza and pop because you are interfering with the presentation and not showing courtesy to the presenter or other attendees. Yes, you might want to have some pizza, but you are going to have to wait until there is a break and then you can get some pizza. I know, it is going to be cold by then, but you know when the presentations start so if you want to ensure you get warm pizza make sure you show up early. If you are thinking that the pizza is so important, it isn’t because you are not just showing disrespect to the presenter you are also disrespect to other attendees because you are blocking their view of the presentation.
4. Getting pizza at break or just before presentations start – if you are someone that is taking some pizza but before presentations start or during break make sure that you close the lid of the pizza box because you are blocking part of the screen from others that are attending the presentation.
5. Clean up after yourself - another thing that is extremely important is to make sure that you clean up after yourself at these events. A lot of the spaces are donated and one of the rules is leave the place as you found it. If the garbage can is full in the room where the event is being held, take the garbage out and find another garbage can because there are going to be other garbage cans out in the hall.

Yes, a lot of community presentations are there for a community, but you also have to show that you respect both the presenter and other attendees. Make sure that if you want to be part of the community make sure you show up ahead of the scheduled presentation time and if you can’t do that just come in quietly and take a seat and at break you can then enjoy any pizza and/or pop that remains.

 

  

Dos and Don'ts at Presentations

We have all been at presentations that there is someone that seems to think that they are more important than the presenter. I know that I have seen this too many times, and it can get very frustrating when it is a presentation that you want to listen to and gain some knowledge. I have put together some of the simple does and don’ts for when you are at a presentation.

Do

• Ensure your mobile device is set to either silent or vibrate so it doesn’t interfere with the presentation if you happen to get a call or text.
• If you need to take a call during the presentation, quickly leave the room and take the call.
• Be where you are instead of being everywhere else at the same time. Try and focus on the presentation and not everything else.
• Respect those around you, as it is important to know that others are there to hopefully learn something from the presentation.

Don’t

• Don’t constantly socialize with others around you because you are being rude to the presenter and others around you can’t hear the presenter very well.
• If you must leave the presentation for some reason, don’t make lots of noise doing so because that disrupts others
• If you are using a computer for notes, don’t constantly flip between different applications, as that can be very distracting for others around you.
• If there are tables, don’t put your phone on the table if it is on vibrate, as it will bother those sitting at the same table.
• If you ask a question, make sure that it is a question and not a sales pitch for your own product or service.
• Don’t try and take over the presentation by asking lots of questions that may be answered later in the presentation.

It is important to respect the presenter as well as the others that are attending the presentation. If doing work and socializing is what you really want to do, that is best done outside the presentation room. There are lots of things that are important to each of us but when we are in a presentation, we need to remember that there are others around us that are trying to listen to the presentation and if you are a distraction that doesn’t help them learn. So next time you are attending a presentation, remember these points, and maybe you will be a better attendee and maybe even help those around you as well.

Death by PowerPoint

 How many of us have gone to a meeting or conference and suddenly, a PowerPoint presentation starts to be shown. There are so many people that try and put everyone on the slides instead of just those few key points.

Something that is very important to think about when you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation is how much information you should be putting on a slide. The less is more rules apply here because the less words you can put on a slide the better. Keep the slides to only the key points and not every word you are going to be saying during the presentation.

Here is an example of an about me done in two different ways, and think about what would look better on a slide:

About Me

-          Small business co-owner

-          Project Manager

-          Bookkeeper

-          Enjoys crafting as a hobby

 

About Me

-          Small business co-owner of Konecny Consulting Inc

-          Project Manager and have my CAPM, which is Certified Associate Project Manager

-          Bookkeeper and I have my CPB, which is Certified Professional Bookkeeper

-          Enjoy crafting as a hobby and I enjoy doing a lot of the needle arts, such as knitting, cross stitch and others

As you can see, I have shown two different about me slides that I might use when I am giving a presentation myself. There is only one that I would use, and it would be the first one because those are the key talking points and I can add all the extra details when I am speaking. Besides keeping the words to a minimum, I would also try and keep the font that I am using very simple and easy to read.

When you are preparing a presentation, you must think about the background colour of your slides as well as the colour of the words on the screen. The lighter the background the better, and try and stick with darker colours for the words. Do not try and put light colour words on a light background because that is extremely hard to read. Also, something else that you need to think about is all of those GIF’s and flashing things that you add to your presentation. These can affect people in so many ways. Keep any GIF as a quick thing and don’t leave it up on the screen for very long because you could be risking the health of someone else.

After you have finished preparing your presentation, put it up onto your screen, but then stand back from where you normally sit and see what the presentation looks like. Do you have to add more pages because of your talking points, or do you need to increase the size of your font so that people at the back of the room can see what you are trying to say.

PowerPoint or any slide presentation system can be a useful tool but using it wisely is important. The keep it simple rule applies and if you are trying to show a screenshot on a slide, make sure that you aren’t showing the entire screen just what is key to what you are talking about.

Example:

To reboot your computer, go to the window button, click on it and then select the power button which is on the right of the window.

Trying to read that from a distance would be a real challenge, especially if you have that at the top of the slide and the rest of the slide is blank. So, remember any presentation tool can be useful if used wisely and make sure you have done a spell check of the entire presentation before you give it as you wouldn’t want to be embarrassed because of some silly spelling errors. The last point I want to make is once you have completed your presentation have someone else look at it and see what they think because they might spot errors that you haven’t.

 

Common courtesy during presentations

I have attended lots of conferences and here is something that I needed to write about.

During presentations, please respect others and keep personal conversations for breaks or out in the hall, but not during a presentation. I understand that conferences are sometimes the place where you can catch up on personal stuff with co-workers, but please not during presentations. 

What I am talking about is conversations about activities you did last night or plans for the upcoming weekend. For those of us that are not part of the circle, we aren’t interested in your plans but want to hear the presenter. I understand that everyone wants to catch up with each other, but can you please respect the others of us that are attending as well. The social conversations should take place during breaks or out in the hall. If you are socializing you mustn’t be hearing the presentation so, why sit in the room. Also, if you take the conversation out in the hall, make sure you are away from the door of the presentation room because sometimes your conversation will be heard back in that room as well.

I was at a presentation once when the presenter stopped the presentation and asked someone if they wanted to share their conversation with everyone because it must have been important. The presenter was able to hear parts of the conversation, and it was impacting their presentation. Yes, the volume you are talking and the location of where you are sitting can also mean that more people are hearing you than you think are.

The personal conversations during presentations really do show a lack of respect to the presenter. I know this may sound harsh, but you are communicating that your conversations are more important than what the presenter has to say. Please, for the rest of us trying to hear the presentation, can you take your conversation out of the room.