Why are good presentations so difficult?

Herrmann: Good presentations are hard. No wonder most people give pretty bad presentations—I certainly did at first. You can get significantly better, but only with practice and by making conscious decisions during preparation.

There are hardly any good textbooks on presentations; what I’m sharing here are collected experiences from practice. Some of my tips are pedantic, but they work—at least for me—very well. Others contradict what you read elsewhere—and that’s fine. There’s more than one right way.

Where does a good presentation actually begin?

Herrmann: Definitely not with the slides. The most common mistake, in my opinion, is opening PowerPoint and seeing what happens.

Instead: First, you should define a core message and the three main points that should stick. That ultimately defines 90% of the remaining work. If you don’t have that clarity, your audience won’t either.

Tell more stories. People love stories, even in academic presentations. A fictional story that sparks curiosity is better than a boring true one or none at all. The children’s university keeps you grounded: If 9-year-olds won’t listen to you, it’s not the 9-year-olds’ fault.

The 30/30/30 rule: 30% of the presentation should be understandable to everyone (say, your own parents), 30% only to colleagues in your field, 30% only to absolute experts. Sounds good at first, but it’s not always right. There are presentations where 5/5/90 is okay.

From practice: I structure presentations from the end backwards: What should remain in people’s heads at the end? Then I work backwards to “How do I get there?”

This is actually harder than it sounds. During research, you might find interesting content that you personally find very inspiring. Then I often find it very difficult not to integrate it into the presentation—or, even worse, to remove it again when it comes to cutting to meet the time limit. But there’s no way around it: “Kill your darlings!”

So less is more?

Herrmann: Yes! No design experiments. Fancy templates wear off, distract, and annoy. PowerPoint templates with shadows and gradients are from the 90s—they can stay there.

Fonts: Please, no Comic Sans. Aptos, Calibri, Helvetica, Roboto, Lato, Myriad Pro work well—large, bold, easily readable. One font is enough. Any deviation from a consistent font subtly communicates an emphasis or difference—but usually that’s not even intended. That just causes unnecessary confusion.

Use color consciously. Not because multiple colors are pretty, but because they mean something. But there are many pitfalls here: Red and green don’t work well for colorblind people; they’re also signal colors that carry a message. And: Projectors have less contrast than laptop displays; often the colors are much less recognizable to the audience than you think.

Animations are a trap. Everything except simple slide transitions makes you look like a kindergarten teacher. What is often good, though: Gradually revealing text blocks on a comprehensive slide, without big movement, just appearing.

Title slides: Name, title, a cleverly chosen image that fits the topic or introduction. Done. No university logos, no template elements.

Closing slide: No thank-you slide with a smiley, better a summary and a few provocative statements for discussion.

From practice: I’ve become obsessive about aesthetics and design. I’ve seen too much bad design. Obsession pays off.

But how do I keep people engaged?

Herrmann: Important in any case: Don’t read from the slides. The audience is then busy reading along instead of listening. That’s exhausting for everyone.

Master the content. This is the most important advice of all. When you know your material, everything else becomes easier. Practice is boring and exhausting, but it solves 90% of the problems during the presentation.

Body language is important. What to do with your hands? Not in your pockets, not fidgeting with your face, not standing rigidly. If necessary, a laser pointer helps as a prop. Maintain eye contact; in videos, look at the camera every few seconds.

Pauses are okay. You bridge awkward silence by counting quietly to three. Feels like forever, but in reality it’s only a second.

Don’t apologize for typos or small mishaps. The audience wants you to succeed.

From practice: My first presentations were terrible—stiff, nervous, too fast. It gets better, but only through practice. When I’m nervous, I always memorize the first three sentences; that helps.

Video presentations: What’s different there?

Herrmann: You can achieve a good image with almost any camera. What’s crucial is bright and even lighting of the face and background. Daylight alone isn’t enough—too unpredictable. Additional light on the face (LED panel, desk lamp) makes the difference between “looks professional” and “looks like it was shot in a basement.”

Camera at eye level. Not below—then you’re talking down to people. Don’t film in front of a window unless you have very strong additional light.

Standing is better than sitting. You have more air, a stronger voice, can gesture. Makes a huge difference.

Audio: Laptop mics work, headsets are compact but sound “like on the radio,” studio mics are naturally the best. Lavalier or shotgun mics are often better than large-diaphragm mics; those sound great when you get really close to the mic, like in podcasts or radio interviews.

The “poor man’s green screen” trick: With white or gray slide backgrounds, you can use a color-key filter in OBS. Then you appear “behind” the slides, your face is large enough to see, and you have room for gestures. Works really well.

From practice: I film 16:9 presentations with appropriately prepared slides that are only half-filled horizontally; I place my video prominently next to them. The standard “postage stamp” solution for the video image doesn’t work well—way too small and it might cover part of the slide.

What else is important?

Herrmann: Preparation takes longer than expected. For a 20–30 minute presentation, I plan about a day’s work if I don’t already have material ready. I usually start too late. For important presentations, sometimes two weeks in advance. Yes, really.

Practice pronunciation. “Cache,” “Gauge,” “Queue”—these words always trip you up in English if you’ve only read them. Many people also confuse “Thread” vs. “Threat.”

Your own style develops. You can copy good practices, but your own style comes with time. Mine has developed over years—from “terrible” to “very elaborate and unconventional” to “works reliably with reasonable effort.”

Feedback is valuable. Even after years, I’m still learning. Criticism of my presentations and links to good presentations are always welcome!

Closing Thoughts

Where can interested people learn more about these techniques?

Herrmann: Tips for good presentations are always a topic in our seminars—there in much more detail, with illustrations and as part of a video series. In the seminars, we look at old and current presentations of mine together and dissect them: What works, what doesn’t, how has my style developed over the years?

Students can have their practice presentations filmed to see and improve their speaking technique. That’s often an aha moment—you only notice where your own weaknesses lie when you watch yourself."

What’s the single most important piece of advice?

Herrmann: Patrick Winston was right: ‘Your success in life will be determined largely by your ability to speak, your ability to write and the quality of your ideas. In that order.’

Presenting is a craft. You can learn it, but it takes practice. The time invested pays off—not just for the next presentation, but for everything that comes after.