Handouts and speaker notes tend to be the
"unwanted stepchildren" of the presentation world, to be completed at the last minute—if time permits. This is wrong. Handouts and speaker notes can make a major contribution to the success of your presentation. What they are and why they're so important
Most presentation programs can create notes and handouts. Each notes page contains a reduced-size image of a single 35mm slide or overhead
transparency plus space for you to enter the ideas you want to discuss while that slide or overhead is being projected. Notes pages help you remember important details and remind you to mention other information that
might not appear on the screen--such as the assumptions or data your slide or transparency is based on.
Equally important, notes are rehearsal tools. You can rehearse your presentation even if a slide projector or
computer—in the case of electronic presentations—isn't available (often the case on airplanes and in airport departure lounges and hotel rooms). Notes also ensure the security of your visuals: you can review your 35mm
slides without taking them out of their carousel and you can review overhead transparencies without chance of adding finger marks, getting them out of order or dropping them on the floor where they'll attract dust
spots.
Audience handouts add tangibility to your presentation. Each handout page contains reduced-sized thumbnails of one, two, three, four, six or eight 35mm slides or overhead transparencies. Handouts give your
audience something to take with them after your presentation is over. They can review your presentation hours, days, or weeks after the lights have come back up. Handouts also permit your audience to share your ideas
with others unable to attend your presentation.
In addition, many presentation programs can create hand-out's with horizontal lines next to each slide. These encourage audience involvement by making it easy to jot
down notes during your presentation.
Formatting and creating speaker notes
The best time to prepare your handouts is while you're preparing each of your slides. Don't fall into the trap of putting-off
preparing your notes until after you've finished preparing your visuals. You're likely to be too tired, and you're likely to have forgotten some of the ideas you wanted to include. Instead, prepare each slide's Notes
page as you prepare each slide. Most presentation programs make it easy to quickly toggle back and forth between Slide View and Notes View. By preparing each Notes page as you prepare each slide, ideas will be fresh in
your mind. Also, the act of creating your notes will force you to take a fresh look at the contents of each slide, helping you uncover new ideas or notice ideas that belong on another slide.
There are two steps
involved in formatting speaker notes. The first is to resize the slide image in your program's Notes Master page. (Most programs have similar titles for similar features.) The default slide size is usually far larger
than it has to be. Remember that the slide image on a notes page is only there to remind you what the projected slide looks like. By reducing the slide image as much as possible—ideally no more than one-fifth of the
height of the page—you'll have more room for the notes.
The second step is to determine the ideal typeface and type size for your notes. Spend some time experimenting with various serif and sans serif typefaces.
Choose a typeface and type size you can comfortably read from two feet away. Add extra paragraph spacing to emphasize each topic.
Be concise when preparing your notes and don't repeat what's on the screen: you'll
inevitably end up reading out loud what your audience has just read to themselves! Instead, limit yourself to keywords and important phrases that will remind you of details and anecdotes you can elaborate on during your
presentation. Don't worry about complete sentences, just jot down "memory joggers."
Formatting audience handouts.
There are three steps involved in formatting audience
handouts:
- Decide on the number of images you want to include on each handout page. The number of images on each page automatically determines their size.
- Determine if you want to add a border around each slide image. (Some programs automatically add these, other's don't.) If you're using light slide backgrounds, borders help define the edges of each slide. You
may also want to add borders around each handouts page, or just add header and footer borders.
- Add iinformation you want to appear on each page. This information might include the title and date of your presentation, your name, the name of the client, prospect or organization sponsoring the presentation
and the page number of the hand-out. Add your firm's logo and address, if appropriate, using the same typeface used elsewhere on your correspondence and brochures. This will reinforce your firm's (or your
client's) corporate identity.
Printing handouts
Spend some time familiarizing yourself with your software program's printing options so you can be proud, instead of ashamed, of the appearance of your
handouts.
If you are preparing black and white audience handouts of color 35mm slides or overhead transparencies, familiarize yourself with the way your software can help you prepare better-looking handouts. Most
presentation programs offer several options which can improve the appearance of color slides reproduced at small size on black and white ink-jet or laser printers. Typical options include:
- Backgrounds
: omitting colored or shaded backgrounds
- Grayscale options
: replacing grays with hatch marks in charts and graphs
- Text
: printing text in solid black (instead of shades of gray normally used to represent different-colored text)
- Borders
:aAdding borders around visuals to define their edges
Whenever possible, reproduce audience handouts in color. Their added impact will be well worth the extra expensive involved.
False economies
Avoid the temptation to print your
handouts on both sides of a single sheet of paper. This projects a cheap impression plus you'll be constantly distracted by the sound of your audience turning the pages over.
Distributing handouts
Decide in advance when you want to distribute your handouts.
If you distribute your handouts too soon, i.e. as people enter the room, they are apt to look them over and form a judgment
about your presentation too early in the game. The ideal situation is to have an assistant that distributes the handouts as soon as you start speaking. This is espeically important if you are providing space for your
audience to take notes on your handouts during your presentation.
One idea that always works well is to prepare a "bonus" or "surprise" handouts that can be distributed at everyone's seat during a morning break or
during lunch. This adds freshness to the presentation and can rearouse your audience's interest.
Conclusion
Speakers notes and audience handouts are a necessity not a luxury.
They
are as important to the success of your presentation as your ideas, your enthusiasm and the tone of your voice.
