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For most of us we will have to make a presentation at least once in our life. This may be in front of 2 or 3 people or it could be an audience of over 500. However, the important thing is not the size of the audience but how effective your presentation is. An effective presentation is one that gets your message across clearly and is understood by the audience. An effective presentation relates to your audience and it ensures they learn something new.

As well as the content of your presentation how you present it will also determine how effective it is. When you begin your presentation follow the tips below to make a good impression.

1. It is normal to be nervous before you give a presentation. Actually it is better to be nervous because you can use that energy to your advantage by giving a more energetic and interesting presentation. Although, it is good to be nervous you have to use it and channel it correctly otherwise, the nerves will get the better of you. The first thing to do is to relax. You have prepared and practiced your presentation that you could do it blindfolded. Have all your notes, handouts and PowerPoint in order. Use the 5 or 10 minutes beforehand to breathe deeply and visualise that you are going to give a confident performance.

2. Many people who give presentations to large audiences on a regular basis arrive early and introduce themselves to members of the audience. This is a great way to engage with your audience and bring down any barriers before giving the presentation. By engaging with them beforehand you will find the audience more receptive and warmer. This will also help you to keep calm and more relaxed.

3. If you are giving a presentation at an event it is likely that you will be introduced by the main presenter or organiser. It is good practice to pick up what is said about you as your introduced. During your introduction people will mention your background or interests and you can follow up on these as you begin your presentation. This can be used to introduce a little humour to warm up the audience.

4. Before you start make sure you have your audience’s attention. The main person introducing you will be able to do this. However, if there is no one to introduce you then, you need to do this yourself. This can be achieved by standing there silently for a few moments or if that does not work then, begin with a few light coughs and introduce yourself.

5. If you have prepared in advance you will have set a time limit to finish the presentation. It is important that you do not overrun as this will delay the organisers schedule.

We’ve all sat through those presentations where someone bored us to death with slide after slide of text, dated images or graphs crammed with information.

That’s why the phrase “Death by PowerPoint” was invented.

Many organisations have responded to this by banning the use of PowerPoint in any presentations. In some cases, they allow other programmes, such as Prezi, but some ban the use of visuals altogether.

Are they right to do this?

I can certainly sympathise. Most speakers I see use PowerPoint very badly. Their main crimes are:

• using slides as a crutch for themselves, in effect writing out their presentation on PowerPoint and using it as their notes
• writing PowerPoint slides which they intend to print off as handouts
• hiding behind the slides so the presentation becomes little more than a voiceover
• using the basic templates in PowerPoint to produce endless bullet point lists or repetitive slides with a heading and a tiny picture

This may be partly because of lack of time, or lack of expertise or just plain laziness.

Whatever the reason, the result is that thousands of people have to endure dreadful presentations and the whole dreary PowerPoint experience continues.

So I can see why some places might be tempted to just ban the whole thing. And I would be happy if one result of this was to force speakers to concentrate on keeping their audience’s attention by having great content and developing their delivery skills.

I’m all for developing a much higher standard of oratory amongst presenters!

But there are some problems with banning slides altogether.

Powerful visual aids can play a huge part in getting across key points with impact and helping an audience to listen, learn and remember.

Used well, visuals can:

• grab, and keep, attention
• explain a point more clearly than words
• form a strong emotional connection between the audience and the subject matter
• leave a lasting impression which fixes the point in the audience’s long term memory
• introduce humour in a relevant and appropriate way

Of course, the key point is that they do have to be used well. The way most slides are used, they do none of these things.

But that’s not the fault of the medium itself – it’s not really PowerPoint’s fault, it’s the fault of the speakers who use it.

And I have to say, it’s not just PowerPoint, I’ve seen people using other packages just as badly.

So perhaps banning PowerPoint isn’t the answer. Because banning visual aids cuts off what could be a massive asset for a presenter and a massive benefit for the audience.

The answer is to give people the training they need to use PowerPoint the way it should be used – so presenters can speak with more impact and audiences can be spared the “death by a thousand slides” which they have to endure at the moment.

Also with the competitiveness of the market to get your money, it means that prices are lower than ever before, so if you do your research thoroughly online, you should be able to make some good savings on your Christmas shopping. Buying the latest gifts is not always the way to go as there are many non-technology based gifts that are still excellent such as football shirts and sports accessories.

So after looking online and doing some pretty in depth research we have managed to make a short list of what we class as ‘cool Christmas present ideas’.

1. iPod
Now this is not the cheapest gift idea in the world however it is also not the most expensive and for the use that you or a loved one can get out of it, then the price is definitely a bargain. Sometimes if you are buying it for a mother or father to get them into the modern technology world then you can always team up with a sibling to help you afford this gift.

2. Football Kit
This Christmas gift idea is an age old classic but still is extremely popular especially among young men within the UK. Buying a loved one the full football kit of their favourite football team is a great gift idea but you need to make sure that you get them the right kit for the right team and so you need to do your research. For example if they support Arsenal, then you need to get them the full Arsenal kit.

3. Books & Media
Both books and media are great gifts for anyone at Christmas and can really help you fill up the stockings in an affordable way. You need to get them books on topics that interest them so favourite football players or musicians are always good places to start. By media we mean items like DVD’s which you can get some great deals from stores on the high street like HMV or online from places like Amazon.

4. A Watch
This is a very understated Christmas gift however is definitely worth considering due to the cool design companies offer and the low prices that you can get them for nowadays.

5. Sports Tickets
Depending on who you are buying the sports tickets for will decide what sports match you buy them for. So if the person is into football and supports Arsenal then you will want to buy the tickets for an Arsenal match. However if they prefer golf as a sport then you will want to find out when the next big match is on and buy tickets for that instead.