What should audience be focusing on, your slides or you?
The most important thing to remember when presenting with visuals is that you must always be the centre of attention. While you’re talking, the audience should be focusing on you and only switch their attention to your slides when you indicate that they should do so.
For this reason you must make sure that the visuals tie in with your talk.
Display them only while you are referring to them.
Don’t read straight from slides.
Never ever speak with your back to the audience
Always aim to maintain eye contact with your audience.
If you want to be free to move around, use a remote “clicker” to change slides, so you don’t have to be near the computer.
And just because it’s a fun tool, don’t use the laser pointer to show irrelevant details … or blind your audience.
And one last suggestion: if you want to givethe audience handouts, wait until the end of the talk. If you don’t, everbody will be looking down at their handouts rather than looking at you and may lose track of what you are saying.
