Instead grab the audience's attention with a powerful opening like a startling statistic, a story or a clever definition or quote. He began with a brief summary of the state of the economy, including statistics of job losses and financial collapses. Although this did set the tone for the reminder of his remarks, he could have opened with one of the poignant stories he used later on, or with a series of statistics [for example] about how many Participants in my presentation skills workshops typically cite concerns about not being credible to the audience as one of the key contributors to their presentation nervousness and anxiety.

He says they're 'fluff.'" This comment always irritates me, but what else should I expect? Don't fool yourself into thinking that the more statistic- and text-laden your PowerPoint is, the more effective it will be. Others may call it "fluff," but images and other kinds of visual, auditory, verbal and physical stimulation will keep your audience focused on you and your message, not using your presentation for every child's all-time favorite part of school: nap time . ...Tags: I've heard this several times from clients who've come to me for help with their slide shows: "My boss/conference organizer/client wants me to take all the images out of the PowerPoint.