What Makes a Great Presentation?

I was recently at a talk on the 24th of November by Prof. Joe Schwarcz at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW).  The talk was entitled 'Are cows more trustworthy than chemists?'.  Prof. Joe Schwarcz is well known for giving informative and entertaining talks, helping the general public tackle many misconceptions that they have in terms of what scientists do, and understanding science in general.  He also has many published books in the area of scientific literacy.  If you have time I would recommend watching his talk on Science and the paranormal.  Needlesstosay I enjoyed his talk at VUW.  Joe's talk got me thinking about a number of different things, but what I wanted to consider in this blog post is what makes a great presentation?  Some of the presentations I have enjoyed watching are Bill Strickland (who I saw presenting at the University of Limerick in 2009), Prof. Randy Pausch, Sir Ken Robinson, and Prof. Hans Rosling.

Thoughout my PhD I have attended workshops on presentation skills that highlighted many effective aspects inherent in a great presentation.  I feel I definitely took something from these workshops and from observing other presenters in action, as I managed to win an Irish national competition involving a public presentation.  However, I have given bad presentations along the way too (See Don McMillan for a humorous account of common misuses of PowerPoint).  Doing good presentations is definitely a learning curve and I doubt few people start off as great presenters.  However, taking Joe's presentation and the other presentations noted above into account, many features of what makes a great presentation can be identified:

1. Eye Contact.
2. Movement.
3. Projection.
4. Tone.
5. Confidence.
6. Physical Objects.
7. Knowledge of the presenter.
8. Timing.
9. Progression.
10. Humour.
11. "Invisible" technology.
12. Pictures.
13. Rehearsel.

From considering these different features there is one common thread through which all the features can be tied to: Great story-telling.  The art of good story-telling has, is, and always will be valued by people, both young and old.  The features I have noted above are some of the devices used to enhance how the story is told.

1. Eye contact.  It is important to look at the audience so that you are not just telling a story, but you are telling 'them' the story.  Oftentimes, presenters appear to tell their slides or the back wall the story, instead of the audience.
2. Movement.  Movement can encompass walking across a room, using hand gestures, and various facial expressions.  This gives energy and enthusiasm to the stories within a presentation.  However, a lack of movement can also be useful depending on the point you want to get across.  It is valuable to invest in a PowerPoint clicker, so that you can move freely during a presentation.
3. Projection.  People need to be able to hear the story!  However, talking louder than normal at times can be useful to add emphasis to parts of a story.
4. Tone.  Distinct from projection in that emphasis can be put on particular syllables in different words without a relative change in volume.
5. Confidence.  Not an easy feature to develop and espouse considering most people's number one fear is public speaking.  However, nerves should be seen as a good thing, and even though you are nervous, it does not mean the audience notice at all.  Confidence can be reflected in the previous points above, but even a clear stance can show confidence.  Slumped shoulders should be avoided.
6. Physical objects.  The old cliche of a picture paints a thousand words, but so do other objects.  Unsubconsciously, people can also appreciate that you have went to the effort of adding variety to how you tell the story.
7. Knowledge of the presenter.  To tell a story, you need to know the important elements of the story and how these elements fit within the overall story.  An important aspect of being knowledgeable is that you have novel ideas to share with the audience you are speaking to.
8. Timing.  Certain parts of a story are told better in a fast or slow manner, depending on the feelings a presenter wants to evoke in the audience.  It is typically combined with other devices already noted, i.e., movement, projection, etc..
9. Progression.  It is important that the presenter does not over concentrate on certain points that do not enhance the overall impact of the story.  People's capacity to listen to one story being told is short.  Also, linked with timing, people can be frustrated when a story goes over the time they expected to give to it.  If a presenter has 30 minutes to speak, they should finish within this time.
10. Humour.  This can vary for different people.  Something funny for one group of people might not be funny for the next group of people.  Certain visual images can be a useful device for humour, beyond the characteristics of the presenter themselves. 
11. "Invisible" technology.  In any good modern day presentation, the technology fades into the background.  People hardly notice it, as they are more, or hopefully are more, engaged in the story the presenter is telling.  When technology becomes an issue, the flow of the story is interrupted.  Steve Jobs, who is typically cited as a great presenter, even ran into the issue of technology not working during one of his presentations.  Technology not working in a presentation highlights the importance of preparation.
12. Pictures.  Pictures give a quick snapshot of aspects of the story and add to the overall appreciation of the story.  In what may be viewed as more academic presentations, some presenters tend to load their slides with a lot of text.  In an academic context, an audience are willing to accept a certain amount of text on slides, particularly quotes.  However, as the presenter you are there to add meaning to the quotes and not simply read off the slides.  It is also confusing to an audience when there is a lot of text to read and the presenter is still talking.  Not many people are good are listening and reading at the same time.
13. Rehearsel.  Telling any story for the first time can sound a little bit rusty and rough around the edges.  In any great presentation, the presenter is sure of the key points they want to make and has rehearsed the presentation beforehand.  It becomes very obvious from watching a presentation if the presenter has rehearsed it.

These are some of the features that stand out to me in terms of what adds to the core aspect of a successful presentation: great story-telling.  It is no easy feat to encompass all of these aspects within one presentation, but to aim in the general direction is certainly a good start.  Please feel free to comment and let me know if there are other ones that I have left out.