Some Tips for Creating Better Presentations

Creating presentations is a skill that is often overlooked by software developers, but it can be one of the most important parts of a developers toolbox. Getting a clear message across to your colleagues or management is vital. Of course, if you plan on presenting at a conference, writing a good presentation is even more important. The following set of slides from @jessedee, give a great set of tips to presenters:

One of the tips highlighted here is that Powerpoint, or at least the templates that you get from Powerpoint, forces your presentation into a boring format. It's something that we've all seen - too many bullet points and too much text. This leads to the audience doing more reading than listening. When it gets to this stage, you wonder why not just send around a document. 

Another great resource for aspiring presenters is Presentation Zen. Steve Jobs is always quoted as an example of a great presenter.

Everything mentioned so far is fine more marketting or high level presentations. A lot of developers think that a technical presentation can't conform to the above rules. But why not? You should still get the point across with an impressive visual presentation - the idea is to inspire people, or to convince them that you know what you're talking about. Supporting documentation can be provided to the audience after the presentation.

What tips have you got for creating brilliant presentations? Are there any examples you'd like to share to highlight the very good (and the very bad!).