No. Do not switch off the lights if you are on stage and you are talking to the audience. In case you are playing a video, you can switch the lights off for a better experience. The audience has come to listen to you. They have come to see what you have got for them. You are the hero of the presentation. Not your slides. Many times you don't even need slides.  When you switch off the lights, you shift the focus of the presentation to your slides and your voice goes into the background as if it is not important. How will you engage the audience and establish eye contact if you are hiding in the dark? Never switch off lights unless there is a better reason that what I have given above.

The assumption behind this question is that a better software will make you a better presenter. This statement is only partly true. Software has a role to play but beyond that it's you who has to deliver. If you are using the latest Keynote or MS PowerPoint, you are good. Now stop bothering about which software is better and focus on your content, your message. If you are using MS PowerPoint 2003, wake up and switch to 2007 or 2010.  The new version make your job easier. You save a lot of time in making slides and it also has new features. Don't really worry about Prezi or other such cool sounding stuff. Your presentation will succeed because of what you say and how you say it. Your software has very little role to play.

Whenever such a question bothers you, ask "Does it really matter?" and you will have your answer. So today's question is, which side of the screen should you stand? The answer, how does it matter? You should stand where you are comfortable. Once you start speaking, it is your content and your confidence that will matter. Who cares where you stand. Point #1. Stand where you are comfortable. Point #2. It is better if you keep moving. Stand on the left and talk for a while. Then move on to the right side of the screen. This way you get to increase your eye contact. You should not leave out any part of the audience. Caution: If you happen to speak at an event where they are going to record you (eg. Ignite, Pecha Kucha or TED), check with your organizer if you can choose where to stand. Can you move around? If they insist you need to be on the left side of the screen, practice standing only on the left. You don't have a choice in this case.

I wish someone had asked this early in my presentation career. This is a really good question; the answer to which I finally know. In MS PowerPoint 2010:  Under Home Tab  you have Replace on your extreme right side. Click on the down arrow and choose Replace Fonts . Select which font you want to replace with which font. Click on Replace and kaboom.... It's fantastic... surely one of my favorite tricks in PowerPoint.

This is a wrong question to ask. There was no thumb rule and there cannot be any thumb rule. How many minutes should you speak per slide is a wrong question because there is really no need to ask such a question. It does not matter. What matters is how much time you speak (all slides put together) and what you speak about. If you have a picture on a slide, you might talk for about 1 minute on that slide. On another slide, you might have a complex table which will need a long discussion. So no thumb rule can be there. When you are preparing for your presentation and you have been asked to present for 20 minutes, ensure you rehearse well and stick to the time limit. How much time you spent on which slide does not matter.

In my years & years of blogging experience this has been one of the most asked questions. How many slides should my PowerPoint presentation have? The answer is very straightforward - It does not matter. The number of slides does not matter.  Stop asking this question and stop worrying about it. What matters is how much time you take and what you talk about. Your audience does not know or want to know how many slides you have. If you want to present for 10 minutes, make your slides and then rehearse your presentation. If you exceed 10 minutes, cut down on content. It does not matter how many slides you have. It's that simple!

I am making a list of Presentation FAQs . It is going to be an exhaustive list of frequently asked questions. If you have any doubt/question about presentations or PowerPoint software share with me by leaving a comment or email it to me at vivek [@] all about presentations [dot] com . I will answer all the questions.

In an earlier  post , we looked at the 7 challenges you face in every presentation you make. These challenges are  get audience to pay attention, retain their attention, make them understand, make them remember, make them believe, make them care and make them to act . Is each challenge equally challenging? Do you need to prepare equally hard to tackle each challenge? The answer is No. You face all these 7 challenges in every presentation but the degree to which you face these challenges is not the same. Some challenges are tougher and some not so much. We will understand this with the help of examples. Scenario #1: You are presenting to your CEO and you are recommending why your company should launch a new product Since you are going to talk about a new product launch, getting CEO's attention is not a problem but to retain attention, you need to be short and simple. S/he will need to understand what all you said so take care. The toughest parts are: Convincing the...