How to Speak - a Sketchnote on Creating Presentations That People Want to Hear

And why I like paper over digital sketchnoting

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The other day I read this question on Mastodon from Austin Govella:

What should you put on the last slide of a presentation?

One commenter, Jorge Arango, recommended a video called How to Speak, from a presentation given by Patrick Winston, an MIT professor who passed away in 2019. I wrote my answer to the slide question before watching the video, saying I thought the last slide of a presentation should be some kind of call to action.

How would you have answered?

After watching the video, which is general in nature but covers many universal principles, I realised that while what should go on the last slide of depends in large measure on the aim of the presentation, there are some things you should never say when trying to be an interesting, informative, persuasive presenter, or, indeed, as the last thing you say when trying to convince someone of something in general:

• Too much

• Thank you for listening

• Thank you in any form at all!

While watching the — admittedly long — video, I created this rough sketchnote: