How to Have Fun Giving Your Presentation 

• Smile. Try it right now. You feel better, so will your audience.
• Don't be serious. Unless there is danger ahead, lighten up. "Did you hear about the ...."
• No paper. Let people go to the web after your presentation to get a copy. After your presentation.
• Tell the story. Hopefully you don't sit around with your friends after work shouting stats at each other. You tell stories. People want to hear stories. So find the story in your subject and tell it.
• Maybe do slides. Your slides are shown behind you for a reason - they backup your story. People too often start with the slides. Less slides, the less you have to worry about "next slide please" and typos. Or is that typoes.
• Simple = effective. Simple is also hard work. So keep working and you'll have a simple story that people will remember.

How To Make Better Presentations 

Seth Godwin "Really Bad PowerPoint"

"Really Bad PowerPoint and How To Avoid It" is a 10 page pdf ebook in 2001. Several million presentations later this is still a good read. He states that you don't need all of those wizards built into PowerPoint and that they just hurt your efforts to communicate. Instead, "make slides that reinforce your works, not repeat them. Create slides that demonstrate, with emotional proof, that what you're saying is true not just accurate." He recommends no more that six words per slide. Yes, six words.

Another resource every couple weeks....

more to come.

Getting Over Be Scared 

• Practice. Everyone needs to practice. Especially when you have not given many presentations, practice. Open your bedroom window and give your presentation. Do it while driving. Walk around the block practiving. You must speak it. About 20 times is about average.
• Practice again. This time find someone to listen to you. You'll be surprised how much people are willing to help you with this. Just ask.
• Less slides. Nothing worse that having to worry about your slides.
• Everyone in the audience is .... naked? dumber than you? People sometimes use tricks to make the audience seem less intimidating. If it works for you fine. Just remember, regardless of how well your presentation goes, at some point, they'll be looking for the restroom too. We're all human.
• Okay to be nervous. Everyone is. Most people in the audience are probably glad they aren't up front. It will pass.
• Smile. Practice smiling when you practice speaking your presentation. It will make you feel better. And your audience will probably smile back making you feel better.
• Say good morning. A greeting helps break the ice. You might even hear a good morning back. It also gives you a chance to warm up your voice before you get into your subject.
• Water. Take a bottle of water up with you. You might need it in case your throat dries out. More importantly, it gives you the opportunity to pause in case you need a break during your presentation. You might want to practice with a water bottle in front of you at least once. But don't use this safety net more than twice.

Zlides Blog 

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Further Reading 

Other Squidoo Lens on Presentations

Common errors presenters make when choosing slide backgrounds

Four tips from Senior Designer at poweredtemplates.com

PowerPoint. Presentation. Design.

List of blogs that focus on presentations plus some stuff you just read above too.

Suggestions Welcomed 

How did you get beyond being scared to give a presentation?