On: The single most important thing you must do to imp...

[wanorris]

I'm old enough to have presented from transparencies on an overhead projector, though I've never had occasion to present using an actual slide carousel.

BTW, I'm not sure I understand why you think it's so important to present with a Powerpoint (or similar). I tend to think Powerpoints get overused, and I often like to present working just from notes (3x5 cards, since I'm bad at memorizing) or from a demo when appropriate.

What's the win of working with a deck, in your view?

[raganwald → wanorris]

There are two questions: what's the best presentation for a given subject and audience, and what's the best way to improve your skills.

IMO, a good presentation with whatever-you-call-the-visuals is more difficult to do well, therefore that's what I think you should practice.

Speeches and demos are always easier to give. They may be more appropriate for certain subjects, no doubt.

[notauser → wanorris]

Slides can help:

- Add structure in a visual way.

- Provide graphics to illustrate your points (including code).

...and really that's about it. I keep my slides to one graphic or max five words, plus a little flow chart of progress through the presentation along the bottom. Depending on what I am talking about I might use as many as 2 slides a minute, but usually one every 2-3 minutes.

This is the same for monthly reporting (twenty graphs, with a page number on each) through to conference speaking (scripted and learned, lots of pictures, little navigation helper on each page).