Congratulations to all presenters for the next Ignite! This will be a fun, challenging and exciting experience for you. As you prepare your presentation you may want to watch a few videos of past speakers to get an idea of how an Ignite talk should run.

Here are a few helpful tips and links gathered from experienced Ignite presenters from several different cities:

  • You get 20 slides that automatically advance after 15 seconds totaling 5 minutes to talk about whatever topic you like.
  • Your Ignite topic should be something of general interest. Ignite talks are not to be used for marketing your products or services.
  • It is recommended you do not use any animation, videos or sound in your presentation
  • Start preparing your presentation by creating a PowerPoint slide show. You could  find a template by visiting:
    http://www.templateswise.com/
    http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101450161033.aspx
  • Avoid lots of text on your slides as it can be distracting. The audience will read your slides rather than listen to your presentation.
  • Focus on using less text (maybe 2 or 3 keywords per slide) and more visual aids, such as pictures and graphics. Remember to keep the focus on you and not your slides.
  • Use one idea per slide, this trims the fat from your presentation and allows you to focus on what is really important. Remember you only get 15 seconds per slide, so get rid of clutter and extra wording to help your point come across efficiently.
  • A picture is worth a thousand words; however we recommend that you do not violate copyright laws. You can find great images by visiting:
    http://www.freestockimages.org/
    http://www.stockvault.net/
    http://www.dreamstime.com/free-photos
    http://www.everystockphoto.com/
    http://www.turbophoto.com/Free-Stock-Images/
    http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
    http://www.sxc.hu/
  • Consider adding your twitter handle to the bottom corner of each slide so that the audience can visit your twitter afterwards, or tweet about your presentation as it is happening!
  • Delivery is key to an ignite presentation so be sure to rehearse as much as possible. This will help you become comfortable with your subject manner and fine tune your presentation.
  • When rehearsing make sure you go through your presentation from beginning to end each time. This will help you practice recovering, and improvising.
  • Give yourself breathing room between your slides.  Sometimes you’ll need to add lib to fill time between slides, others you may need to speed up on a point to catch up. All these practice runs will help you to sail through your slides smoothly on the night of the Ignite.
  • Find the story in your topic. The audience will be more engaged by your presentation.
  • You may want to record yourself practicing your presentation. This helps you discover and eliminate distracting habits.
  • Start off with a bang. The Ignite team will introduce you and your topic before you get on the stage so take advantage of your first slide to engage the audience in your topic.
  • If you choose to, you can leave a slide blank. But remember that the slides act as an anchor for your presentation points so you may want to put a single word on a slide instead of leaving it blank.
  • You can include a slide that encourages further learning. Put up URLs for people to visit if they want to learn more about the topic you presented. You can even put up your email address.
  • Remember to have fun!

Helpful Links:

http://userfirstweb.com/328/successful-ignite-presentations/
http://www.markpollard.net/8-tips-for-your-ignite-presentation/

Watch this helpful video from Ignite Phoenix:

Ignite Presentation Tips

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