Episode #094: My Best Presentation Tips and Tools - a podcast by Jeff Brown

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at the Podcast Movement conference. It was easily one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended. Hard to believe it’s only in its second year.



It was an honor to share the stage with some pretty big names! And though I’d like to believe I bring my “A” game every time, finding myself in this group would require me to pull out all the stops.

Thankfully, my speaking opportunities have increased considerably in the two years since launching this podcast, giving me the chance to hone my skills on smaller stages.



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In today’s episode, I cover:



How I gather and organize my presentation content

Leveraging Canva to create your slides and wow your audience

The importance of placing emphasis on images over text

And a lot more!





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Over the last four to five years, I’ve read my share of presentation-related books and blog posts to further refine my approach, not to mention the experts whose advice you and I have benefitted from here on the show (some of whom have written books on the topic, and many others whom I’ve asked to share their best presentation tips).

Content is Key, But…

Content is key, of course, but where I find many people get stuck is when they attempt to translate that content to slides. It can be a tedious process for some, but it happens to be one I thoroughly enjoy. I’d like to believe my passion has helped me get pretty good at it.

Since delivering my Podcast Movement presentation, I’ve received a number of questions about how I attack the process. If you’d like to improve your presentation preparation process and have attendees buzzing about your talk afterwards, I encourage you to employ these simple but effective tips and techniques.

Start With An Outline

A key first step in preparing any talk is developing an outline. Surprising as it might sound, I find most people never bother to do this. I am guilty in the past of only developing my main points before moving on to creating my slides. I strongly recommend, however, that you fully flesh out your entire talk, including your supporting points, before you even entertain the idea of slides. The benefits are numerous.

First, an outline helps give you a birds-eye view of your talk throughout the entire process. I’ve found an outline to be by far the best way to lay out my talk than any other method I’ve tried (Post-It Notes anyone?).

To do this,

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