To use notes for a big presentation?

[notetakerforlife]

NC so not linked to other posts.

I am short on time and could memorise it but it would take hours many hours if my life however it's a big presentation I have approx 20 minutes, and I want it to be great.

Do you feel the quality of a presentation is regarded when someone uses their notes?

Please be honest or is content more important?

We always reckoned you need to an hours presentation prep for every minute.

a good tip is to know your transitions between slides really well - which comes from knowing what your story is and how you are telling it.

so you have one slide up, discuss it, then for example pose a question which you will answer on the next slide, or you say let’s drill down a bit more and that’s on the next slide - you get the idea. Working on the flow, and what each slide is for, will help you make the key points and not waffle.

and most important, enjoy it! You have something to say and they are here to hear you say it. You all are invested in it going well! Stand tall, on the balls of your feet, make eye contact, don’t grip your podium, smile and move! You got this!!

@WorkingItOutAsIGo ok fair - so I've spent double the usual guideline (which hs about right as I'm a stressed lol and not a frequent speaker!)

Would it be worth expanding your slides more to contain your key prompts? Or at least the most important ones. At least then it will give you confidence that you won’t get lost. So to use a pp example:
— Cars

• wheels
• colour
• engine

Then your sentences would be something like: There are numerous things to think about when checking out a car. The most important are whether it has the correct number of wheels - 4 is most common etc

Good luck!

I write out what I am going to say and read it aloud a lot. That usually means I know they key points enough to do it without the prompt.

I'd take all, script, prompt cards, whatever. You never know when you may get interrupted by a fire alarm and lose your thread. Be prepared and have backup and then it will flow whatever.

One of my tricks, if it's possible, is to greet people at the door, hang out in the audience area with the first attendees, ask some questions, find out a little about why they're there.

Then you'll see them in the audience and can say, "as Bob and I were discussing beforehand, cars have wheels" or "I know you Sue were interested in windscreen wipers". Somehow it's less nerve-racking just talking to individuals, makes you look very caring and attentive and at Bob and Sue will give you great feedback.

Nowhere has the OP said that this presentation is about her.

........except in the 3rd post down on P2 and again in the 7th post down on P4, where someone else has double checked if they had mis-understood the first time she said it was all about her.

Op, how did it go?

@notetakerforlife slides should be clear and concise but the notes but that only you can see (print it out) should have notes/bullet points of the key talking points

Practice actually saying out loud, and not in your head, to a mirror.