Not as an event, of course. What I’m talking about is how to make and deliver them, understanding the mechanics that separate a good presentation from a bad one.
Most of the presentations I was attending were horrible. Today’s one was no exception. The company I’m currently working for got an intern whose job is to keep track of the shooting projects and as a little extra, we were told, he was good at doing Powerpoint stuff and could help us set up our presentations. It turns out that knowing Powerpoint has nothing to do with knowing how to set up a presentation (which is why I prefer to do it myself).
You’ll guess what’s next: We saw slides literally covered with text, 8 bullet points with 2 full lines of text each, and the ones who were presenting had the printed version in front of them, reading from the top. Layout was absent. No sense of typography. You had no idea what the point of each slide was.
In case you forgot: The purpose of a slide is to help you sell what you’re talking about. No less, no more. Keep your audience focused, because the purpose of a presentation is to make one or more points. Details are for the handouts you can give away afterwards. Always make stuff you would want to see. When in doubt, ask someone who has a sense of design. Keep it simple. Practice before you step in front of your audience. And double-check on spelling.