Presentation patterns

What Hacker News says

1. jedbergMar 2020
   This book completely changed how I give presentations.

   https://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Patterns-Techniques-Craf...

   You can find it on the internet at various price points.

   I even had a chance to give a technical presentation in front of the author and he said it was excellent, so apparently I internalized it’s lessons.

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2. rajuJul 2017
   I am a speaker on a national circuit, and many of the comments here resonate with my experience

   - Start small.

   I started with brown bags at my company, then moved to our quarterly company meetings, then user groups (I spoke in multiple user groups any chance I got), then a local conference, and finally with the big ones.

   - Topic choice

   Always speak about something you know well. Audiences will often throw a curve ball at you and you should be able to step away from the main script, answer a question and then arch the conversation back to the main talking point.

   A good starting point, once you have a topic in mind, is to read a book on the subject (or at least glance at the table of contents) or watch someone else's video on the subject. This usually gives you a (good) starting point to frame your agenda.

   - Practice practice practice!

   Even after doing this for many years, I incessantly practice my talks. Do it out loud and it will help highlight rough edges when segueing from one section to another, or even gaps in your own understanding.

   As other commentators have said, it also improves timing. I now have a gut feeling on how much material fits in a 60 or 90 minute talk, or even a half/full day workshop. It will come.

   Finally, get your significant other/kids/friends/colleagues to watch you give a talk and provide honest feedback. Body language, tone, inflection all matter.

   - Slides are good, but not important

   In other words, slides are props, you are the main act. I have never appreciate it when conferences ask you to email a PDF of your slides, because invariably my slides contain at most a word or two. They do not and cannot stand by themselves.

   - Again, start small, get a feel for it, then read a book or two. One I highly recommend is Presentation Patterns - https://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Patterns-Techniques-Craf... [Disclaimer - All 3 authors are friends of mine]

   Speaking is like running. Till you don't do it, reading a book on it seems to add little value. Once you have a little bit of experience sections of these books will pop out at you, revealing places where you can improve

   At the time of giving the talk, just remember,

   - It's OK to be nervous. If you are not nervous then something is wrong. I still get butterflies in my stomach every single time - The audience WANTS you to succeed. They are going to spend the next 60/90 minutes of their lives watching you speak, and they want it to be a productive time.

   Good luck!

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3. jedbergJul 2016
   I've seen 100s of demo day pitches, and here are three more slide tips that most do not follow but should:

   1) Do not include the same words on every slide as a footer, like your twitter handle, website or company name. It's very distracting. You should mention your company name a few times through the presentation, and you can finish with a slide that has your company name and website as a refresher.

   2) Transitions should not be abrupt. You should use a fade or other similar transition between every slide. Watch any Apple presentation and you'll see they always have a fade.

   3) Do not use animations. They generally look bad. Exception: If you're a pro presenter, there are some animations and transitions that can look good if done right.

   These tips come from my experience giving 100s of presentations and keynotes to sometimes very large audiences. They also can be found in the book Presentation Patterns and on their website. [0]

   Edit: Thought of one more. Don't use a pointer. If you find a slide where you need to point at something, change your slide to highlight that thing, or add another slide, so you don't need the pointer.

   [0] http://presentationpatterns.com

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4. ghaffMar 2020
   Presentation Patterns, which a couple of people have mentioned, is probably more practical than most in terms of giving bite-sized advice though a lot of it is overkill (and not really even appropriate) for giving a manager a couple of slides about something.

   The thing with most of the presentation books out there like Presentation Zen is that they're really oriented towards a good presenter up on a keynote stage at an event using slides as a supporting element of a well-rehearsed presentation.

   That's not your typical presentation--and certainly not your typical internal monthly status meeting or project update.

   Presentation Patterns also seems to do a better job than most at acknowledging the realities of material that's both presented and needs a leave behind. The "standard" advice is that you should have two separate documents but that's really not practical in a lot of circumstances.

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5. jedbergJun 2015
   It's a book you have to pay for, and you can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Patterns-Techniques-Craft...
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