Lets face it, delivering a PowerPoint presentation can be an awkward experience. It is times like these that a good friendly environment can make a world of difference, and what better way to change the mood of the room than by being entertaining.

Being lively and entertaining while delivering a presentation helps engage the audience and makes for a more memorable experience for them. But how do you deliver a PowerPoint presentation in an entertaining way? Here are some tips to get you on the right track.

Delivering a PowerPoint presentation - Frank Schulenburg giving a presentation at Wikimania 2011 - Featured -- FreePowerPointTemplates

Start With A Funny Story

Maybe you’ve seen this in action before. If the presenter tells something funny when they start delivering a PowerPoint presentation, then it sets the mood for the slides to come. This can be done by talking about something ordinary and saying something funny about it. The audience should not see the joke coming. It should happen when they’re not really expecting it.

Use A Prop As A Metaphor Or Analogy

Props can make a boring presentation more colorful and interesting. Anything can be used as a prop. Things like hats, images, a quote, candy bars, really anything. You can insert a prop in the PowerPoint slide if you want to lighten the mood.

Try Using Humor

Humor is indeed a very useful tool when talking about something that is otherwise rejected. It lowers people’s guard and helps them think about what is being said. The humor should be relevant to the topic, and should not be inappropriate to people in the audience. Ethnic, racist, political and religious jokes should be avoided.

Use Gestures And Move Your Body

The gestures you use when delivering a PowerPoint presentation are different than the ones you might use when talking to someone face-to-face. When standing on a stage, your gestures need to be bigger and more expressive. Move your hands in larger motions and a bit more slowly. These movements can greatly enhance the delivery of your presentation.

Repeat Your Core Message

When you talk to an audience, repeat. The bigger the audience is, the more you need to repeat what you say. You don’t need to say the exact same thing over and over again, but make sure to repeat a particular sentence after changing it a bit. This makes sure that the audience retains your message.

A Long Break Doesn’t Need To Be Boring

Long breaks in a presentation can be really excruciating for the audience. Keep your audience entertained during a break by playing some music in the background and pass out words to a song. If the audience enjoys the experience, then their retention increases. Don’t be afraid to be theatrical and funny.

Finish With A Group Activity In The End

This depends on the type of audience and topic you have. After delivering a PowerPoint presentation, you need to get people to act. If you can get people to huddle together, you should have them repeat a cheer together like a football team does right before a match starts. This helps raise people’s spirits and leads them to take action.

Image: [CC BY 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons