Keeping an audience engaged is always a challenge. The way in which you present information definitely impacts your audiences’ level of engagement. For example, slide after slide, bullet after bullet, likely won’t result in an engaged audience. As you’re building your presentation, think hard about the way you are presenting the information. Is the information presented in the same way, slide after slide? Are there very few elements other than text? Is everything presented at the same speed? If so, you presentation is likely very dull and you need to incorporate some of the tips described below to liven up the presentation.

• Look for opportunity to add in some high quality graphics. This will add some visual interest to your presentation. Better yet, look for text that can be replaced by graphics as well know people generally respond better to visually appealing pictures.
• Mix up a bit by adding in some audio. One idea is to add in audio to mark the beginning of a new topic or section. If you are using audio, remember to keep it simple. Too many sounds can have the opposite effect and annoy the audience.
• Vary the timing between slides. If you’re using the automatic timing feature of PowerPoint, shorter slides should require less time. A side note on timings, having your slides advance automatically, as opposed to advancing them manually, reduces the chance of going off topic.
• Make bullets more visually appealing by selecting custom bullets. If you’re feeling really creative, you can even use your own artwork for bullets.
• Go for a fresh new background instead of the standard backgrounds within PowerPoint which many people are likely familiar with. There are many web sites that offer fabulous (and free) backgrounds that offer a refreshing change.
• Add a few animation effects to your diagrams. It may seem unnecessary, but some amount of movement throughout a presentation can help break up slides that may otherwise seem monotonous.

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