Leave Fingerprints

Honestly I don't remember exactly who it was at the University of Virginia who gave this advise, but, as crazy as it sounds, I've done it every time since I heard it, and I think it is a good idea.

I give lots of presentations. A good number of those presentations have a deck or a PowerPoint slideshow to help deliver the content. Someone at the UVA criticized me and others for not touching the board or the screen. I mean literally touching the screen.

For example, if you are talking about a business process and you have a model of the business process on the slide, you should touch the blocks as you narrate through the business process. If you are talking about the 4th quarter sales, you should touch the slide where the 4th quarter data resides.

This simple thing draws peoples' attention directly to that spot of content and they can't help but pay attention. I started employing this device during my presentations, mostly at the school to get a good grade. But I do it at work because it actually is effective in drawing attention to the point I intend to make. I recommend it for everyone.

The thing I don't recommend is a laser pointer. It is impersonal, and seems lazy. Get up there, get animated and get people excited about what you have to say.