Presentation Secret: "B" heard.
When you're standing in front of your audience, remember this: You ARE, and ALWAYS will be, the presentation.
Your presentation can't exist without you. Your slides, alone, can't carry your message. It all rests upon your shoulders. Often times we tend to depend on our visuals for our delivery. Slide deck design has become a really big element when discussing presentations. Yet, think of all the best speeches in history. Imagine Martin Luther King Jr. up on a stage delivering his "I have a dream" speech with PowerPoint slides running behind him. Obviously, we're not giving speeches; we are presenting. But the lesson remains: Keep the focus of your audience where it should be - ON WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. Lucky for us, PowerPoint has included a little shortcut to help with this endeavor. Yet, few of us know about it. I'm talking about the letter "B". Hitting "B" on your keyboard blacks out the screen until you hit it again. This time can be taken to emphasize a really important point in your presentation without any visual distractions. Experienced presenters make good use of this technique because they know the effect it has - and it's a powerful one if you do it correctly.
If you use the blackout tip several times during the same presentation, it can get distracting. It is definitely a technique that needs practice. The timing has to be right and the content matter has to be appropriate. When these two conditions are met, hitting "B" on the keyboard can take your presentation to the next level. Get Presenting.
