Your PowerPoint presentation as a handout

Reading time 3 minutes

At some point, you may want to hand out your presentation in paper form or perhaps electronically. This may sound simple, but there are a few things you should consider first. In our experience, there’s more to this than simply clicking “print” or “attach file”. Why? As is so often the case – the devil is in the detail.

When might you want to use a handout?

As advance information prior to a particular presentation
As a reminder, after the presentation has taken place
Immediately before the meeting or seminar begins, so that people can make notes during the presentation/event
To give to a conference organizer in advance for their approval, or so that they can circulate it to the participants

Does there always have to be a handout?

Although a handout might seem to be a fairly insignificant by-product of your PowerPoint presentation, it’s still important to think about the aims and tactics of using one. If you want to provide a handout, here are some general thoughts and questions regarding the right time to circulate it and the psychological aspects.

In general

Do your printed slides speak for themselves? Perhaps they’ve been designed to provide a visual accompaniment to your presentation. Experience shows that a presentation often doesn’t work well as a handout, and that you have to edit and expand your slides into a usable handout.
What about the background you’ve chosen for your slides? Is it suitable for printing and making notes on, or is it too dark?

Before, during or after – according to the situation

A meeting organizer wants to see your slides in advance. Just to check that you’ve followed his briefing instructions, and so he can prepare a download or handout to circulate to participants. That’s understandable, but you should still ensure that your presentation is not made available to participants before the date itself, so you don’t end up giving a talk that everyone already knows.
You circulate your presentation in advance as a kind of agenda, so that everyone knows what it’s about and what to expect. Please don’t! Make the effort to prepare a separate agenda. Nobody is really interested in hearing about something that they’ve already read. Furthermore, they might not have interpreted your slides as you intended, and may come to the presentation with false preconceptions or with their minds already made up. Reversing this will cost you a lot of energy.
You circulate a handout of your presentation immediately before you begin. Consider carefully whether this is appropriate in your particular presentation situation. You can be sure that your audience will immediately start leafing through the handout and anticipating what you’re going to say, instead of focussing on you and your presentation. It might be better to distribute paper copies of particular slides as and when you need them. To illustrate or support a point – or simply as a dramatic device to physically focus the audience’s attention onto something important. Ensure that the slide layout gives people space to make notes. In the case of longer training seminars, it may help participants to have the most important slides at the beginning, e.g. as two-to-a-page handouts with space for notes. Remember, though, that making things easy for your audience generally means they retain less of what they should be learning: the physical process of note-taking helps people commit things to memory.
You circulate your presentation after the event as an aide memoire. Remember to edit it accordingly (e.g. with your contact details on the last slide) and make sure the printout is easy to read.
If you want to distribute your presentation after the event in electronic form, a PDF file is a good choice. Depending on the situation and the recipient, it might be a good idea to add a footnote with your copyright. Just to be on the safe side.

Although providing a handout seems a simple enough idea, you should definitely give it some prior thought. It can help you attain your presentation goals – but when used incorrectly, it can hinder you. Don’t leave things to chance!

Use orientation to gain and maintain attention

Reading time 2 minutes

Orientation: a basic need

Humans are complex creatures. Yet, in some ways they’re pretty simple. Just by following a few basic rules, you can really help your audience to concentrate on your presentation. And what’s great is that applying these rules helps drive the success of your presentation, without any effort needed from your audience. An easy-to-use approach is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggested we’re only able to immerse ourselves in something if we’re first reassured that all our basic needs are being met.

Will I go hungry?

To give you their full attention, your audience members need security. They need to know where the nearest restrooms are, and that they won’t go hungry or thirsty during the meeting or event. They also need other details: How long is this going to take? Where are we exactly? Who’s that at the front? Who are all these other people?

This might sound obvious, but if just one of these queries hasn’t been completely resolved in the minds of your audience, their attention is going to wander. You, as speaker, will have to battle against a front you’re barely aware of, and it’s going to cost you energy to keep everyone’s attention on your presentation.

Create a feeling of security

Prior to your presentation, spend some time sorting out mundane things, such as signposting the meeting room and opening doors. If your audience isn’t familiar with the location, make sure there are clear directions and signs for restrooms and checkrooms, as well as fire exits.

Explain where everyone can get themselves something to eat or drink, or where and when refreshments will be served. State the times of planned comfort breaks. Clarify the rules – is it OK for people to get up and help themselves to food and drink during the presentation, or should they wait until a set break?

Suggest rules for asking questions and generating discussions throughout the presentation – or maybe limit this to the end, depending on the context and your goals. State the agenda and sequence of topics – but if you specify times, stick to them! If you run overtime for any section, your listeners will become restless. You’ll lose their attention.

If participants don’t already know each other, briefly refer to the people sitting in the room. For instance, “It’s my pleasure to welcome 50 IT-specialists from the pharma industry who …” If there’s a full list of participants, mention it. If you’ll provide a handout or download details after the presentation, tell your audience up front, or suggest they take notes on anything they consider important.

And you are?

Our society dictates that modesty is a virtue, but you should at least explain to your audience who you are, and why you have the expertise to stand at the front and speak. Be clear about your role. Then no-one in the audience needs to question whether to believe you or not. That said, keep this part brief. You audience needs orientation, but not your whole resume!

Not a saber-toothed tiger in sight

Orientation is a basic need. It gives us the security we need to concentrate on a particular situation, subject or speaker. No one has to worry about a thing, because that archaic part of us feels safe in the knowledge that our basic needs are being met, and there’s no saber-toothed tiger prowling up the corridor.

Philipp Tekampe