Presentations of Value

A professor of mine once gave a presentation on....well, presentations. She had attended a workshop on giving 'Good Presentations'. She had some good points that she discussed with class - some I agree to whole heartedly, while others...eh.

• Write the title of each slide in full sentences covering the topic of the slide.
• This was one of the ones that I'm not sure I fully agree with. A short topic title does the job of explaining what the slide is about just as well as a full sentence. I think the reasoning behind is that long presentations tend to bore people and they lose focus. When they come back, they can just read the title and understand where they are.
• Give an image on each slide.
• Oh I totally agree with this one. From my point of view - give an image even if you don't have text for that slide (Example - class diagram overview). In fact sometimes I find it better not to have text at all, just image and you can present it however you want.
• Do NOT write text on the slide in full sentences, just a brief description.
• I like this one. It saves a lot of space and gets the point across easier when you give the presentation.
  

This point is mine, from my experience (limited as it is)

• Spend as much time on your presentation slides, making them, remaking them, rewording them, organizing, outlining etc. as much as possible. Even if it takes a 1/2 day. Do NOT take it lightly thinking "Oh, presentation is easy, I can make the slides in 20 min".
• I say this because, the more time you spend on your presentation, the more you know of the material on it, the better you can present it. Which is better - constantly looking at the slides and interrupting yourself, nervous that you would forget what you are presenting, or, confidently presently, only occasionally glancing at the text to know your place? Believe me, I've done both and I found the latter more rewarding.
  

These points are actually only helpful when you are giving formal presentations. For more informal ones, there is no need to spend so much time, find images if a simple text can get your point across, and definitely no need for full sentences.

But if you are giving the presentation to a CEO of a company or your probable customers, it always pays to put a little more effort and make it worth THEIR while.