Git is the poster child of a great product in a terrible presentation. You would almost think software engineers aren’t known for their soft skills! Crazy, right?
Presentations don’t have to be THAT bad though. (Yeah, that’s right! Another weak Git segue!) We are just used to bad presentations from engineers. But there are a few things that make them better. At least for some definition of the word “better”. Maybe for you it’s just making it out without boo’s. That’s still something! Dream big!
If your powerpoint is just text with words on it and your presentation consists of you reading those words, then welcome to the group! That’s where we all start. But it doesn’t have to be where you stop. Ideally though your presentation should add to what you’re saying, not just duplicate it (next post: examples of great presentations!) Let’s use an image of a dashboard. When you create the slide go to the dashboard and set it to show something interesting, then screenshot it. That is your image – and then when you talk about what the dashboard can do, use Powerpoint’s animation feature to fade arrows or circles in and out to point out what you’re saying. Don’t go nuts on animations, but they are pretty cool sometimes!
But that means you’ll need a script so you can keep in sync with the slide! You can keep notes in Powerpoint that you can see while you present, I’ve also printed out the slides and written notes on the relevant ones so I can keep in sync, remember what comes next, etc. It doesn’t have to be a full script with every word you’ll say – just enough to keep you on track.
Scripts though … for a lot of people, brief notes and a walkthrough or two is better than a full script. Software developers are TERRIBLE at reading scripts. I’ve heard way too many presentations where someone is chatty and friendly and then they start on the script, and suddenly their voice is largely monotone while they woodenly read. It’s like the story of Pinocchio in reverse! Watch while the human being turns into a wooden puppet! (And for the nerds in the group, I know I mentioned Puppet but this is not the right time to tell me how Ansible or Chef is a better system.)
That is why sometimes a few words to keep you on track is better than a full script – but in a situation where you have to be really careful with words yes, go for the script, but try to say the words like you’re talking to me, not quite so woodenly.
And hey, if you really want to work on things like that – you have a cell phone, set it up and record yourself. Then watch it and see what you think. Or set it up to record everyone else, and are they watching or are they all tuning out and doing something else?
Or plan B, study hypnotism and try to hypnotize people during your presentation. I mean, it COULD work, you don’t know! Not for sure!