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Month: November 2015

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Presenting to Millennials: What Not to Do In Front of Gen Y

Posted on by Rick E

With their generation being one of the largest in history, millennials are bound to be future game changers of the global economy. Despite the negative image given by mainstream media, presenting to millennials is easier than it seems. It isn’t that hard to appeal to their ideals.

However, there are some red flags to watch out for when appealing to this demographic. Taking time to look up their culture as a generation would tell you what to avoid during a presentation. If you don’t have the time to browse through all of them, we compiled three of millennials’ biggest pet peeves.

Stereotypes and Insensitivity

This goes on top of the list. Also known as Generation Y, there are plenty of stereotypes perpetuated about millennials. While not all of them are bad, Generation Y has probably heard most, if not all, of them. Don’t fall into the trap of using any of these to try and relate to your audience. This will more likely than not annoy them.

Antagonizing their generation isn’t going to get you any positive feedback either. Generation Y culture is known to be passion-driven and creative, so using conservative ideas may not sit well with them. Instead of banking on common stereotypes, do thorough research on your audience’s preferences and incorporate these into your content.

Your target market will be happy you made the effort.

Lack of Relatability

Millennials value memorable and authentic experiences over anything. This has led some to label them a self-absorbed and superficial generation. But they’re actually more up to date than anyone else. With their proficiency with social media, they’re sufficiently well-informed about current events apart from their friends’ lives.

Millennials are also one of the most educated generations. A Chris Altcheck and Pew Research Center showed that 54% hold college degrees. It’s not that Generation Y doesn’t care for hard facts, it’s that they prefer palatable visuals and content.

Presenting clear and readable visuals can actually make more of an impact than a slide saturated with too many numbers and data. Use graphic design to present data in a visually appealing way. If you’re having trouble deciding how to use visuals to your advantage in the face of a millennial audience, consult with a presentation expert.

Once you master the general Generation Y visual language, you’ll get better responses.

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Non-Interactive

The average human attention span has evolved to be less than a goldfish’s. You can’t expect millennials to sit through an entire two-hour lecture without fidgeting towards the first half hour. To get attention, you don’t have to be too flashy. Keep your performance simple and forward.

This allows listeners to digest the information quicker and more efficiently. But it doesn’t have to be extremely brief or boring, either. Aside from a well-designed PowerPoint and a strategic speech, you have to make sure to involve people.

The AMA Playbook compiled eight tips from public speaking coach and Well Said founder, Darlene Price, on engaging and interesting an audience. Keep people attentive by prompting them with questions and asking them to participate. This strengthens your connection with them, making sure they invest in your presentation.

Conclusion

Millennials are a very diverse generation. Being grouped together doesn’t necessarily mean that their preferences are all identical. However, you can learn to appeal to them by incorporating a few techniques in your presentation.

You can also avoid the ire of your young audience by avoiding things that they commonly dislike. Using stereotypes inconsiderately, being unable to explain yourself, and being downright stiff may bore Generation Y. Always consider the audience in planning your presentation.

Making that effort can ensure a positive response from people.

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References

Almond, Meredith and Mandi Cox. “Five Major Millennial Misconceptions Marketers Miss.” Sparkloft. Accessed October 11, 2015. www.sparkloftmedia.com/blog/thoughts/millennials
“Millennials Infographic.” Goldman Sachs. Accessed January 5, 2016. www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/pages/millennials
“Presentation Tips: 8 Ways to Captivate and Engage Your Audience .” AMA Playbook. June 1, 2014. Accessed October 11, 2015. www.playbook.amanet.org/presentation-tips-8-ways-to-engage-your-audience
Watson, Leon. “Humans Have Shorter Attention Span than Goldfish, Thanks to Smartphones.” The Telegraph. Accessed October 11, 2015. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11607315/Humans-have-shorter-attention-span-than-goldfish-thanks-to-smartphones.html

 

Featured Image: “Young man and woman taking pictures of each other” by ralphbijker on flickr.com

Presentation Tip: Handling Difficult Questions

Posted on by Rick E

Poorly fielded questions can make or break an otherwise excellently delivered presentation. When you don’t know how to address concerns, your credibility as a speaker is reduced. Don’t shy away from answering questions. They can help clarify your information to the audience.

Preparation is key to make sure you can answer anything pertaining to your topic. Despite your best efforts, there are still questions that you may not have the answer for. Don’t resort to answering with filler words when you do encounter a difficult question.

Be honest about what you know and answer honestly.

Rogue Questions

A thoroughly planned and researched topic won’t leave any stone unturned. When you cover every possible area, then answering any related question shouldn’t be a problem. Preparation should include the limitations of your topic, and the planned time to answer questions about your presentation. If you do encounter a difficult question, simply focus on how to handle it rather than forcing yourself to come up with an answer.

Brand communications expert, Carmine Gallo, gives a few pointers on how to face these tough questions. First, listen to the question carefully. Take into account the acoustics of the room and the noise coming from the audience. Make sure you get the question right by repeating it back to the questioner. Once the question is clear, directly answer for the questions that you’ve prepared for.

Your answers should be brief and concise, keeping in mind your scheduled time. But if it’s beyond your scope, be prepared to how to handle it.

More Questions

According to leadership coach, Andrew Bryant, when you’re at a loss for words, it’s alright to say that you don’t know. This removes the stress of trying to grasp straws. But instead of stopping with this statement, restate the limits of your presentation. These limits were set in place to ensure that discussion of the topic will be organized and delivered within a reasonable timeframe.

Return to certain key points in your presentation to further explain why and how these limitations were set in place.

Trick Questions

Acknowledge every question that comes your way, even if you can’t answer them for different reasons. This includes inappropriate or ill-timed questions. If setting limits won’t stop interruptions, acknowledge the question but delay the answer. There are questions which require such a lengthy response, making your presentation look like a one-on-one discussion.

State politely that you’d like to give others the chance to ask their questions and that there will be another opportunity to contact you for further clarification. After entertaining all questions, make sure to end your Q & A session with your final message.

This appropriately concludes the discussion on your terms.

Pass the Test

Be prepared for what to say even if there isn’t a clear-cut answer. Unlike a real test, we don’t have the answers to everything. Listen to the question carefully and see if the content of your presentation already has the answers. And if not, focus only on what you know and why this works to everyone’s advantage.

Some questions can’t or shouldn’t be answered. But they still warrant your time and attention as the speaker, so treat every concern with respect. Once you’ve finished handling difficult questions, end the presentation with your final message.

With all concerns addressed, your listeners will find you more convincing and credible as a speaker.

 

References

Bryant, Andrew. “Presentation Skills – Dealing with Difficult Questions.” Self Leadership International. April 7, 2009. Accessed October 12, 2015. www.selfleadership.com/blog/training/presentation-skills-dealing-with-difficult-questions
Gallo, Carmine. “How to Handle Tough Questions.” Bloomberg Business Week. January 20, 2009. Accessed October 12, 2015.www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2009/sb20090120_668348.htm

 

Featured Image: “Interviews” by Stephan Roehl on flickr.com

3 Ingredients to Serve a Great Presentation Feast

Posted on by Rick E

 

On Thanksgiving Day, let’s all take time to remember one tool that got us our great business partners: the PowerPoint presentation.

Without it, and applications like it, we would all have a significantly harder time making all our sales pitches visually appealing.

We could even say that your slide deck is like the turkey of every Thanksgiving dinner: It’s what everyone sees first. This is why we need to take some time to prepare it carefully.

Just like how no one wants to eat half-baked turkey, no one wants to see a slide with unreadable walls of text. It won’t do your company any favors, and will just paint your brand in a negative light.

Think of how you invite guests over for dinner. It’s the same when coming to your client’s boardroom and giving the pitch.

If you want them to bite into your proposal, you need to give them something that makes them hungry for a partnership with you.

And the key to that lies in your presentation.

Gather what information you can about your company, your products and benefits, or even stories of how you built your company.

Think of it as, considering what to prepare for your dinner guests – know what dish works for whom you’ll be serving.

Once you do, study your client’s problems and how you can best solve them. Warm them up to your pitch by giving them an offer that’s hard to resist.

Adding images that best illustrate how your proposal works will also solidify what you want to give them.

Try to invest in more time building your slide decks. After all, they’re one of the first things you offer for your potential investors.

Consider using a recipe you may not have tried before – it could make your audience crave for more.

If you’re interested, click here to read more about serving a great presentation feast.

 

Featured Image: “Turkey Carving” by Rhett Sutphin from flickr.com

Rock the Presentation Floor in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! [Infographic]

Posted on by Rick E

Love to take in information by looking at compelling visuals? Just scroll down all the way to the bottom for an infographic version of this post!

Do you have a presentation to make, but don’t know how exactly you should get started?

Here’s an easy solution to your problem:

Take a break, listen to the radio, and start counting in your head.

You might be thinking: wait a minute. What do numbers have to do with crafting a winning pitch?

If you know how to count all the elements that make up a great presentation, you’ll survive having to craft one – almost as if you were learning the steps to a new dance.

First, identify your central theme. Everything you do – your style, your content, your design, your delivery – will depend on this.

Once you’ve decided on your theme, move on to the second step. Map out good combinations to juggle, that is, what are some great comparisons and contrasts you can take advantage of to make your point clearer?

Then, focus on three important parts of your pitch: the beginning, the middle, and the end. Make these sections flow in a way that make sense, but don’t forget to make them memorable so that you get your audience’s full attention.

Anticipation is the fourth helpful step, where you use some forethought. Think ahead – what can happen after the presentation? List down every possible event that might happen in order to look and sound prepared.

Finally, wrap up your speech in the last five minutes. Don’t end it without having completed your story or message. There are many ways to end your presentation with impact – it’s up to you to decide what final thought you want to leave your audience with.

Numbers are great problem solvers. Work from the basics to come up with a great formula and solve the equation of masterful pitches that seal the deal.

Learn how to rock the presentation floor with this infographic from the presentation experts here at SlideGenius.

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Polish Your Point with PowerPoint’s Comments Feature [Infographic]

Posted on by Rick E

Want to digest this blog post in a more visually-compelling manner? We’ve repurposed this topic into a handy infographic. Just scroll down to the bottom of this article to check it out!

What if there comes a need to revise particular copy in each slide, and adding remarks to someone’s deck is the only way to track specific elements?

PowerPoint is more than just a software for creating presentations.

Not only does it allow you to create a visually-appealing deck, but it also lets you pinpoint what needs to be improved and removed to deliver an error-free presentation.

Are you still worrying about how you can give comments without messing up the slide itself? PowerPoint can address your concerns and reduce your workload without missing a spot.

Presenting… PowerPoint’s Comments Feature!

With PowerPoint’s Comments function, you can insert feedback into certain slide objects, allowing you to add, modify, and delete text or visual elements, while giving comments and suggestions to specific objects.

This limits the use of text boxes and shapes, where you can also type in your observations. This method, however, makes it harder for you to adjust and place your remarks on specific slide texts or objects without getting in the way.

Comments enable users to point out unnecessary words or information that can negatively affect your presentation’s overall message.

So before presenting in front of a crowd and delivering your message with informative copy and visuals, make sure to check if:

  • Each point supports the presentation’s main idea to provide a more comprehensive message.
  • There are filler words you can eliminate to convey a more direct and concise approach.
  • Every word or statement is free from any issues regarding punctuation, spelling, or verb tenses.
  • The sentence structure and organization of ideas promote consistency for a smoother presentation flow.

Refine your deck by identifying all the details that can either make or break an otherwise effective presentation.

Here’s an infographic to give you an overview on what to look out for when adding comments and recommendations to specific slide texts with less hassle.

Share this infographic!

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Bird’s the Word: Branding Lessons from Thanksgiving Turkey

Posted on by Rick E

The turkey’s branding as the Thanksgiving centerpiece was achieved with a mix of cost-effectiveness and unexpected marketability. If you want to make your own product stand out in the market, take some tips from the Thanksgiving turkey.

Things like value proposition, or the solution you offer to a specific problem in the market, factor in a lot when it comes to attracting customers. At the same time, you have to stay realistic with your budget. The Thanksgiving turkey has done just that.

1. Stuffing the Market

The Thanksgiving turkey is such a staple in most American households that it’s become symbolic of the holiday. That’s why it comes as a surprise that turkey wasn’t on the first Thanksgiving menu. But compared to beef, which was actually there, turkey turned out to be more popular. Like any product in the market, it needed a solid value proposition that could be pitched to potential consumers. The greatest benefit it offered to breeders and buyers alike was its cost-effectiveness.

Although the native turkeys were smaller than the ones we see today, they were still bigger birds that didn’t cost as much to raise. They had plenty of meat to feed large families. Similarly, building a feasible value proposition for your brand is important in reaching out to your prospects. Customers always look for what they can get from you.

Address a specific problem in the market and be clear about the benefits you have to offer. Make your solution as concrete and relevant as possible. It could be in terms of your innovation or effectiveness, as long as it prioritizes customer comfort.

2. Roasting Competition

The turkey’s supremacy over all the other main course meals was cemented by years of consumer loyalty. The widespread attention to turkey was partly due to the promotion of several famous figures of its time. Among these personalities, Charles Dickens established the popularity of turkey as a celebratory meal when he featured it in A Christmas Carol, which was widely popular among American readers.

The key takeaway from this anecdote is the role a strong presence plays in getting a brand out in the market and keeping its prospect’s attention. Aside from traditional marketing strategies, businesses can get the help of influencers to do part of the marketing for them. Influencers are prominent figures in society with a large following who could greatly boost your image.

In the present day, famous bloggers and celebrities are some of the most common influencers businesses court when it comes to building their brand. Their impact on a significant number of people helps word-of-mouth about your product travel faster.

3. Serving the Customer

The turkey-farming business further catered to an evolving market when farmers began raising turkeys like chickens in the 1940’s and 50’s. Until then, wild turkeys were originally gamey and lean. Raised turkeys found a niche in the market and were eventually mass bred into the turkey we know and love. If you look at the trajectory of its evolution, the Thanksgiving turkey maintained its hold on the holiday by adapting to new expectations. In the same way, a modern marketing strategy requires companies to look beyond the first business deal.

Customer engagement means ensuring brand loyalty through repeated transactions. You have to take care of existing clients to keep their favor, even as you anticipate the arrival of new customers. This means addressing people’s changing needs and wants, which includes thinking of innovative ways to expand your business network.

Doing market research helps you determine what direction to take in your new ventures. Don’t just adjust your products or services. Keep your overall vision in line with people’s current needs as well.

Fowl Games

Even before the upsurge of holiday retailing, the Thanksgiving turkey’s image set the bar for holiday marketing. Its cost effectivity endeared it to both sellers and consumers, trumping other celebratory meals with visible exposure from different prominent figures during its time. In its unassuming simplicity, the turkey’s long-standing holiday reputation is something businesses can learn from.

Create a good value proposition that prioritizes your customer’s needs and highlights the benefits they can get from engaging with your brand. Catching the attention of influential people helps introduce your product to their followers. Look up your target market and adjust your brand accordingly to their present preferences.

Appeal to your prospects’ tastes by flavoring your brand with some Thanksgiving turkey marketing wisdom.

 

References

Butler, Stephanie. “Turkey Talk: The Story behind Your Thanksgiving Bird.” History. November 15, 2013. Accessed on November 10, 2015. www.history.com/news/hungry-history/turkey-talk-the-story-behind-your-thanksgiving-bird

3 Keys to Emphasizing an Important Point

Posted on by Rick E

Your audience won’t be paying attention 100% of the time. Some will be more interested while others will be momentarily distracted.

Bring audience attention back to you when the time comes to deliver your most important point.

Pay attention to the central message, since this what the audience should remember after listening to your pitch. Use body language, vocal timing, and slide positioning to let the audience know when it’s time to hear the main part of your presentation.

Maximize Audience Attention

Citing Susan Weinschenk’s best-selling book, 100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People, media trainer Brad Phillips estimates a 10-minute cap on people’s attention spans. The brain can only hold attention for about this long before losing focus. Make it a habit to scan the audience for their reactions every 10 minutes or earlier. When the audience starts to look uninterested and listless, establish eye contact with them.

Make sure to look at each and every person in your field of vision while speaking. In a large crowd, scan the first row, the middle, and then the furthest in the back. Doing this shows that you’re paying attention to them, and makes them feel they’re part of the discussion.

This is also a subtle way of getting each person’s attention without making them uncomfortable. The direct and stronger approach would be to point with your finger, but this can be misconstrued as rude and imposing. When you have their attention back, proceed to introduce your main point.

Command with Your Voice

Lowering instead of increasing your voice’s volume invites the audience to listen more closely. This doesn’t mean that you should whisper for your entire presentation. Speak in a hushed tone just before you say something important as if telling them a secret.

Signal the audience that you’re about to deliver a crucial part of your presentation. You can do this with phrases like “what this is all about”, “the main thing to remember”, “this is important,” etc. Then pause every few words, effectively slowing down your speech.

This builds up anticipation and also gives you a chance to take a break. Reveal the information when the audience is already attentive.

The Big Reveal

There should be one slide that encapsulates your entire idea in as few words as possible. A single word filling up the entire slide creates a bigger impact than an entire paragraph. Some remember information better when they see a visual aid, so choose a relevant image with your concept.

Continuously refer back to this slide to repeatedly emphasize your point. But going back to previous slides disrupts the flow of your speech. Instead of going back through slides, repeat the same slide throughout the presentation.

Since repetition helps in memory recall, you can drive your point home using this method.

Orchestrate Events

Know when and how to reel your audience back to you. Start by gauging the attentiveness of your audience through eye contact, then invite them back. Make them feel how important what you’re about to reveal in the next few moments is.

Gently persuade them through carefully timed pauses and vocal tone. Dedicate one slide for your big reveal. This can be a single word, phrase, picture, or any combination of each.Repeat this slide throughout your deck so you don’t have to keep going back. Create the upwards momentum using these methods when emphasizing an important point.

3 Presentation Transitions and What They Mean

Posted on by Rick E

The flow of a good PowerPoint should feel like watching a film. A pitch shouldn’t just be slide after slide of information. Including a narrative can make your topic engaging and relatable to the audience. Film creates that narrative by editing frames. This process also applies to presentation transitions in PowerPoint slides.

Cut, Fade, and Wipe are three subtle effects that are widely used in editing film and on transitions in PowerPoint.

Slides and Frames

These three can be found under the Transitions tab and are the most versatile ones to use.

fig1-cut-fade-wipe

Treat each slide like a frame in a film to direct the eyes of the audience. The audience will use these transitions as clues to put the presentation together in their minds. A beginning, middle, and end to a presentation can be hinted at using these effects. You can find these under the Subtle category. These transitions can make moving to the next slide less distracting.

The icons are arranged according to the subtlest effect from left to right. The first icon begins with no effect or None. Clicking on this icon does not place any effect on a slide. The rest of the subtle effects use more complicated animations, and can be customized further under Effect Options.

Cut

fig2-cut

The animation immediately cuts to the next slide, similar to how cuts work in film. This allows you to navigate through slides quickly. Unnecessary slide animation can hinder a presentation that’s exceeding the scheduled time. Use a simple transition effect like Cut to reduce lag between slides.

Fade to Black

fig3-fade

This effect causes the whole screen to slowly fade, revealing the next slide. Additionally, Fade to black to the next slide under Effect Options.

 

Transitions>Fade>Effect Options>Through Black

fig4-Through Black

Fade out to black is a film editing technique that’s traditionally used to conclude movies. During a pitch, the transition can give the speaker time to pause and slow down the pace of their speech.

While Cut gives the impression of energy, Fade gracefully transitions to the next slide. A presentation can also end using this transition to signal the audience that they’ve reached the end.

Wipe

fig5-wipe

This effect causes the screen to fade in from any direction. This dynamic, yet subtle transition can direct the eye of the audience. You can access additional animations under the Effect Options icon.

 

Transitions>Wipe>Effect Options>From Right…

fig5-wipeoptions

 

 

The unpredictable motion of the slides adds an element of surprise to your presentation. But using too many words with this transition can easily overwhelm the eyes. So minimize this transition to keywords or single phrases.

Storytelling Through Slides

Play around with the Cut, Wipe and Fade transitions. Observe some films which make use of interesting editing techniques. Convey action in your slides and use a combination of the Wipe and Cut transitions. The Fade transition animates slowly, adding intrigue and building up anticipation for the next slide.

Create a presentation that tells a story today.

 

References

Chandler, Gael. Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. Studio City, Calif.: Michael Wiese Productions, 2009. 193.

Featured Image: “Film” by Leo Hidalgo from flickr.com

Save Painful PowerPoint Presentations with Twitter

Posted on by Rick E

Millions of Twitter users collectively ruffled their feathers when rumors spread that Twitter lifted its 140 character limit. Those who weren’t quick to jump the bandwagon checked Twitter’s official announcement on the change. They were assured that the change only affected Direct Messages in Twitter.

And so, Twitter users were put at ease and continued to publicly broadcast their tweets. But what if something similar happened to PowerPoint? Let’s say that Microsoft announced that PowerPoint slides were now limited to a hundred per deck. And each slide will be limited to a hundred characters each.

Presentations will be forced to be more concise now that each pixel on a slide is prime real estate. But at least the files are going to be much smaller.

Rock the Nest

The above scenario is not as bad as it seems since this limitation shouldn’t obstruct a good pitch. Twitter and PowerPoint are at ends with each other on the surface. One could say that you chat in Twitter and then discuss on PowerPoint. But we learn more through our differences than our similarities.

A pitch is allotted a specific time and place to get all its ideas across, but a tweet will need to fight for attention and space on the web to get noticed. In the same way, not everyone gets the chance to have a time and place to be heard. Even with the prepared audience in presentations, you still need to fight to keep their attention focused on you and your topic.

Try to have a bigger stage in mind when delivering your pitch and aim to be understood on a greater level.

Speed Up

While Twitter rapidly sends out millions of tweets a day, PowerPoint presentations gradually spread out information per slide. This isn’t to say that presentations won’t be as effective when slides move fast. On the contrary, if you spend more than ten minutes to explain a slide, the audience will begin to expect the next slides to last just as long.

Avoid preemptively boring the audience by changing up your presentation’s pacing. Breeze through several slides, each containing only one main point. Make each slide memorable, or #tweetable.

Engage

A trending tweet is a force to be reckoned with. Getting a tweet to trend is the addicting and engaging aspect of Twitter. It’s like being placed in the spotlight over the Internet. And you can do this regardless of who you are, so the playing field is evened out. This is a large contrast to being a speaker.

Professionals, businessmen, and important personalities are expected to be knowledgeable in their fields. The experience they have makes them stand out from the average person. They already have the spotlight placed on them. It’s a matter of making themselves relatable to everyone.

Work with Your Strengths

The focus of the presentation is on you. Your deck is there to compliment you while you deliver your speech. There is enough time to get all your ideas across with this. If 140 characters are enough to spark discussions, a few slides surely can. Hasten the pace of your speech by making your slides keep up with everyone’s attention.

If possible, encourage the audience to take pictures of your slides, and let them tweet. Make others connect to your passion, help them understand what you can offer through your words and your experience. And most of all, value the spotlight placed on you.

 

References

Agarwal, Sachin. “Removing the 140-Character Limit from Direct Messages.” Twitter Blogs. August 12, 2015. Accessed October 8, 2015. www.blog.twitter.com/2015/removing-the-140-character-limit-from-direct-messages

 

Featured Image: “Hainan Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis hainanus)” by Sheau Torng Lim from flickr.com

Crafting Content: How to Conduct Presentation Research

Posted on by Rick E

An effective presentation needs appealing content backed up by facts and plenty of investigation.

But how exactly does a person approach researching slide content?

Hoarding random data is obviously detrimental to your presentation research. You have to learn to filter the information you collect.

Turning on your internal data filter is a tough choice in itself, but here are a few tips on narrowing research to your advantage:

Ask Questions

First, figure out what you want your speech to focus on and narrow down your material. This is different from having a general idea for your presentation. But it’s good to base your questions on this rough draft. Thinking of questions you want your research to answer will define the structure your work will take on.

Start with the basic questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. If affected by mental block, use the audience’s characteristics as a springboard for research. This allows you to engage people during your speech with relevant information.

Asking questions about your intended listeners’ preferences clues you on how to approach your presentation.

Use Social Media to Your Advantage

The increasing rate of modern technological advancement and social media connectivity should free you of traditional research methods. You can extract statistics from outlets other than published surveys and journals. According to brand manager Anny Smarty, browsing social media trends through hashtags and online keywords can help gauge the current popularity of a subject.

You can cite these sources if you’re in need of fresh material. The audience will appreciate the effort to put in sources that are relevant to their immediate lives. Looking up content connected to yours also widens your scope.

Online material relevant to the subject makes you sound timely. But at the same time, this could keep you grounded on your topic. If you plan on going off tangent in your speech, related issues are always safe territory to touch on.

Check Your References

Don’t forget to double-check your sources. Look for more references that support your primary research material. Just make sure they all remain directly relevant to your presentation’s overall flow.

Don’t forget to check if they’re just as credible as the initial source.

Otherwise, you’ll lose a bit of your own credibility as well. These secondary sources don’t have to be directly included in your slide deck, or even in your speech. You only need them to assure you that your research is supported by other qualified opinions.

While overloading with too much material is bad, thorough research is necessary for creating quality content.

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Research is the backbone of your content. Choosing your sources wisely will determine what kind of output you produce. Always take the time to dig through source materials to produce quality work.

Ask questions, use social media to your advantage, and verify your sources through others’ research. If you need help deciding which data to include and keep outside your visual presentation, you can consult with our PowerPoint experts today!

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