"How to take the zzz out of presentations"

In "How to take the zzz out of presentations," Meryl K. Evans advocates some simple steps for keeping your audience's attention.

Her main points:

• "10 slides in 20 minutes with 30-point font. Yes, that's 30 points, not 10 or 12."
• KISS - keep it short and sweet
• Show what's in it for them

Reading her article made me wonder how well my Boston Security Analysts Society presentation on "The Six Deadly Sins of Investment Commentary, or How to Write What People Will Read," complied with these suggestions.

My presentation:

• 16 slides for a one-hour presentation -- This may not seem like enough, but my presentation was interactive.
• Font size was generally 28-32 point -- To make up for small typeface on some pages, each audience member received a hard copy handout. But perhaps I should have broken up some content into two pages instead of one.
• I showed the audience specific ways to make their investment commentary more interesting to their readers.