10 things to keep in mind to give a good (PowerPoint) presentation.

   1. Arrive early
Don’t even think about arriving late or cutting it close. Audiences will lose patience quickly if you waste valuable time at the beginning of the presentation fiddling around. If you are delivering the presentation in a new environment for your audience, arrive even earlier. Get comfortable and familiar with the space. It will help minimize distractions if you can easily answer commonly asked questions, like where the bathrooms and power outlets are.

2. Check the set up
Make sure the room is set up so everyone in your audience can easily see you and the screen. If some chairs or tables need to be moved to make it easier for everyone to participate, do it. If anything is blocking access for people to see you, move it. When people are uncomfortable trying to see, it will negatively impact your presentation. I’ve seen key decision makers come late to meetings, and sit in the last seats open. It is awkward and disruptive if they ask other people in the front to switch with them, and negative for your message if they get frustrated and leave because they can’t hear or see whats going on.
3. Test all technology before going live
Make sure your computer is plugged in or fully charged. If you don’t need wifi during the presentation, shut it off. If wifi is necessary, connect to the network beforehand. Turn off all notifications, shutdown Skype and all IM services, and close any extraneous webpages. If you will be sharing your screen or desktop, make it clutter free. If using fancy technology, make sure you are comfortable with it, and it doesn’t take over. Don’t overuse the laser pointer. Simply put: eliminate any distractions that could interrupt or distract from your presentation.
4. Mix it up
If your presentation is long and goes all day, or for a few days, consider breaking up the powerpoint to include video, a product demo, or a breakout session where people can talk. Play music before the presentation and during breaks to keep the energy level high. People generally have short attention spans, so jazz it up. I’ve noticed that most people’s attention begins to tap out around an hour of straight powerpoint.
5. If another person is going to “drive” the slide-show, or if you will be using a remote, make sure to practice
It is distracting and hard to focus when the presenter and the slideshow are out of synch. It also breaks the flow of the presentation if the attention shifts from the audience to the driver / computer / remote to move the slideshow forward. I generally prefer using a remote. Just make sure you are comfortable with the controls and don’t accidentally go to the beginning or end of the presentation when you just want to move one slide forward.
6. Maintain eye contact as much as possible
Try not to spend too much time looking at your computer, or the presentation screen. Look at your audience. As Mark Suster writes in a great blog post on Quick Practical, Tactical Tips for Presentations: “Your goal is to work the room, look people in the eyes, judge people’s responses to your presentation and engage.” It’s difficult to effectively communicate your message if you aren’t engaging with your audience.
7. When standing: If you’re in a culture that reads left to right, stand to the left of the projection screen
The audience’s attention and eyes will instinctually go to the left and follow you. If you stand to the right, many people will be following the left side of the screen, and it will be harder for them to follow you. If you’re presenting in a culture that reads right to left, stand on the right side of the screen. When traveling, bring a remote so you can easily move around if the podium or docking station is in the wrong place.
8. When sitting: Don’t sit at the opposite end of the table from the presentation! Sit close to the screen
If you sit across the room from your screen, your audience will need to choose between looking at you and looking at the screen. They will spend a lot of unnecessary time whipping their head back and forth, and you won’t be able to naturally engage with them.
9. When presenting with just your computer or deck: sit where it will be most natural for them to look
If your audience is right handed, it will be easier for them to follow your presentation if you sit to their right. Similarly, when giving the presentation to a left handed person, sit on their left. Left handed people will naturally gravitate towards looking towards looking to their left.
10. Plan to end 5 minutes early
People are busy. Respect your audience’s time. Start the presentation promptly, and plan to end a bit early. Watch your pacing throughout the presentation and make sure you aren’t spending too much time on any one point. By giving yourself a buffer, you’ll avoid rushing towards the end. If you have a few minutes left, let the audience know you will stick around if they have any follow up questions or comments. Don’t run late. Even finishing 5 minutes late can inconvenience your audience and leave people feeling rushed and anxious — not the feelings you want the audience to feel leaving your presentation. Always end on a high note.

forbes.


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Sandhurst's sheikhs: Why do so many Gulf royals receive military training in the UK? A parade outside the building at Sandhurst Continue reading the main story In today's Magazine The death list that names 5,000 victims Is this woman an apostate? Voices from a WW1 prison camp The Swiss selfie scandal Generations of foreign royals - particularly from the Middle East - have learned to be military leaders at the UK's Sandhurst officer training academy. But is that still a good idea, asks Matthew Teller. Since 1812, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, on the Surrey/Berkshire border, has been where the British Army trains its officers. It has a gruelling 44-week course testing the physical and intellectual skills of officer cadets and imbuing them with the values of the British Army. Alongside would-be British officers, Sandhurst has a tradition of drawing cadets from overseas. Many of the elite families of the Middle East have sent their sons and daughters. 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Sheikh Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, King Abdullah, Sultan Qaboos Sandhurst alumni: King Hamad of Bahrain, King Abdullah of Jordan and Sultan Qaboos of Oman It's a place where future leaders get to know each other, says Michael Stephens, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute, Qatar. And Sandhurst gives the UK influence in the Gulf. "The [UK] gets the kind of attention from Gulf policy elites that countries of our size, like France and others, don't get. It gives us the ability to punch above our weight. "You have people who've spent time in Britain, they have… connections to their mates, their teachers. Familiarity in politics is very beneficial in the Gulf context." "For British people who are drifting around the world, as I did as a soldier," says Brigadier Peter Sincock, former defence attache to Saudi Arabia, "you find people who were at Sandhurst and you have an immediate rapport. I think that's very helpful, for example, in the field of military sales." The Emir of Dubai Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum with his son after his Passing Out Parade at Sandhurst in 2006 Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai, with his son in uniform at Sandhurst in 2006 Her Majesty The Queen's Representative His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, The Emir of Qatar inspects soldiers during the 144th Sovereign's Parade held at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on April 8, 2004 in Camberley, England. Some 470 Officer cadets took part of which 219 were commissioned into the British Army Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar until 2013, inspects soldiers at Sandhurst in 2004 Emotion doesn't always deliver. In 2013, despite the personal intervention of David Cameron, the UAE decided against buying the UK's Typhoon fighter jets. But elsewhere fellow feeling is paying dividends. 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In 2013 he was one of the key figures in the Egyptian military's removal of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, now rewarded by a post in President Sisi's inner circle of advisers. In the late 1990s there were moves by the British government under Tony Blair to end Sandhurst's training of overseas cadets. Major-General Arthur Denaro, Middle East adviser to the defence secretary and commandant at Sandhurst in the late 1990s, describes the idea as part of the "ethical foreign policy" advocated by the late Robin Cook, then-foreign secretary. Tony Blair and Robin Cook Tony Blair and Robin Cook at one point planned to end Sandhurst's training of overseas cadets The funeral of King Hussein in 1999 appears to have scuppered the plan. "Coming to that funeral were the heads of state of almost every country in the world - and our prime minister was there, Tony Blair," says Major-General Denaro. "He happened to see me talking to heads of state - the Sultan of Brunei, the Sultan of Oman, the Bahrainis, the Saudis - and he said 'How do you know all these guys?' The answer was because they went to Sandhurst." Today, Sandhurst has reportedly trained more officer cadets from the UAE than from any other country bar the UK. The May 2014 intake included 72 overseas cadets, around 40% of whom were from the Middle East. "In the future," says Maryam al-Khawaja, acting president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, "people will look back at how much Britain messed up in the [Middle East] because they wanted to sell more Typhoon jets to Bahrain, rather than stand behind the values of human rights and democracy." "It's one thing saying we're inculcating benign values, but that's not happening," says Habiba Hamid. Sandhurst is "a relic of the colonial past. They're not [teaching] the civic values we ought to find in democratically elected leaders." line Who else went to Sandhurst? Princes William and Harry, Winston Churchill, Ian Fleming, Katie Hopkins, Antony Beevor, James Blunt, Josh Lewsey, Devon Harris (From left to right) Princes William and Harry Sir Winston Churchill Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond (but did not complete training) Katie Hopkins, reality TV star Antony Beevor, historian James Blunt, singer-songwriter Josh Lewsey, World Cup-winning England rugby player Devon Harris, member of Jamaica's first bobsleigh team line Sandhurst says that "building international relations through military exchanges and education is a key pillar of the UK's international engagement strategy". Sandhurst may be marvellous for the UK, a country where the army is subservient to government, but it is also delivering militarily-trained officers to Middle Eastern monarchies where, often, armies seem to exist to defend not the nation but the ruling family.

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