How to Create a Good Handout

How to create a good handout

1. Prepare your handouts in plenty of time

Don’t wait till the last moment to create your handout. Most people are more concerned about the actual presentation, and then 30 minutes before your presentation you realize you should have a handout and hurriedly put something together. Handouts are much too important to be relegated to an afterthought.

2. Ensure your handout reflects your presentation

Your audience should be able to relate the handout to the presentation they’ve just attended. If you use the Notes pane of PowerPoint this will happen naturally as you’ll be guided by the visuals you’re using in the presentation. Your handout should have the same title as your presentation and should follow the same structure so that audience can easily find the information they want.

3. Add more information

Presentations are not a good format for transferring a lot of information. However, they are good for inspiring people to find out more about a topic. That extra information can be in the handout. And if you’re the sort of person who wants to tell the audience everything you know about the topic… you can put it in the handout.

4. Consider creating an action sheet

Handouts are a great place to help people put ideas from your presentation into action. You could either list a series of actions that people can take, or provide a worksheet that people fill in on what actions they will take as a result of your presentation. Have people fill in the action sheet near the end of your presentation.

5. Make your handout stand-alone

The handout may be passed onto people who were not at your presentation. Or an audience member may look at it a year from now when they’ve forgotten most of your presentation. Make sure that it will make sense to them. For people who weren’t present include brief credibility-establishing information about you.

6. Make your handout look professional

The handout is the concrete reminder of your presentation. It may also get passed onto other people who were not at your presentation. So it should enhance the perception people have of you. Make sure you have someone proofread it and create a consistent look and feel with your brand (this may include a logo and colors).

7. Do tell people if it’s not in the handout

Finally, if you go off on a tangent in reply to a question, do let them know that the answer is not in the handout.