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Month: May 2018

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Typography, Is It Really Important?

Posted on by Rick E

The font you use for your deck is part of presentation design. If your content is mostly text—facts and other relevant information, you should be mindful of which ones you use.

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Good fonts might go unnoticed in an awe-inducing presentation. If you make a bad choice, there is nothing that could hide it—not the colors, not the images.

If you get your presentation customized by a PowerPoint expert, take note of how they make everything come together, even when there are two to three different fonts in the deck.

What is Typography?

To get technicalities out of the way: typography is a type of visual art. It refers to the creation and arrangement of written words. This encompasses all aspects of the text, from font to readability.

In presentation decks, typography is not only used to convey ideas, but to also set the mood and evoke emotion from the audience.

So, you might be asking why it matters—the answer is simple: it retains reader attention. As a writer, designer, and presenter, your audience’s attention is the best gift you can ever receive. Earning their trust and engaging them at the first slide are as valuable as maintaining this until the end.

Here are a few things to remember if you’re applying typography to your presentation:

  • Match the typeface to the brand’s message
  • Avoid clashing colors or backgrounds
  • This is meant to engage and not distract

Fonts and Information Retention

Designers always take these two functions into consideration. Look at it this way: while they would purchase a fancy display font for the header, using the same font for the article below it would be difficult to read through.

This all depends on the designer and how they’re going to incorporate intricate fonts into the presentation as these are helpful when it comes to retaining information—it doesn’t matter if it’s about art, history, or science. In fact, in a study published in Cognition, an academic journal, psychologists from Princeton and Indiana University conducted an experiment where they had 28 men and women read about three species of aliens.

Half of the participants that read in easy-to-read font (Arial, black, 16 pt) answered correctly 72.8% of the time while those who reviewed the material in hard-to-read font (Comic Sans MS or Bodoni MT, lighter shade, 12 pt) got it right 86.5%.

Apart from the layout, design, and content of your custom PowerPoint presentation, typography is one of the aspects that you wouldn’t want to miss out on. While everyone is attentive about the substance of your pitch, your audience will still look at how you present your words on the screen.

If you want to create a presentation, but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to right place. With SlideGenius, we help you get the word out by creating professionally designed decks. Feel free to browse our portfolio and see what we’ve done in the past!

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References:

Donahue, Elisabeth. “Font focus: Making ideas harder to read may make them easier to retain.” Princeton University. October 28, 2010. www.princeton.edu/news/2010/10/28/font-focus-making-ideas-harder-read-may-make-them-easier-retain

Carey, Benedict. “Come On, I Thought I Knew That!” The New York Times. April 18, 2011. www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/health/19mind.html

The 10 Most Important Slides in Every Presentation

Posted on by Rick E

Pitch decks are important if you’re looking to introduce a new product or service to the Board or a group of potential investors. This should excite them about your idea and engage them in a conversation that, hopefully, leads to an investment or approval.

If you’re looking for investors, you could start by customizing a PowerPoint presentation that has all the necessary information that potential stockholders may ask from you.

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Elevator Pitch

This section should contain the main idea of your presentation. State the key takeaways that your audience can expect by the end of your pitch. If you can, try explaining it in one or two sentences.

Problem

Why do stockholders need to invest in the product or service that you’re pitching? Address the issues that customers face—tell a story and make it relatable. State why these need to be solved—consider this a prelude to the solution that you’re about to introduce.

Value Proposition

Identify your target market—demonstrate its size and if it’s niche, much better. State how you hope to position yourself within it and use the data to scope the problem you’ll be solving.

Product/Service

Introduce the product or service that should solve the issues you’ve suggested earlier. Go through its specifications and how it differs from what the competition offers. Here’s where you prove its uniqueness and value for necessity.

Business Model

Explain how the product or service will generate revenue. Clarify whether this is a premium or budgeted offering and how its pricing fits into the existing landscape.

Roadmap

If you already have early adopters of the product, then talk about that. Your investors will want to hear about their feedback and see tangible proof validating that your solutions work to solve the problems addressed earlier.

You can also talk about your milestones on this slide. State some goals that you have achieved so far and identify the next steps you plan on taking.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

Outline the marketing and sales plan. Identify key tactics to get the product to prospective customers.

Gaining customers can be difficult, especially if you’re an emerging company in an already-existing market. Because of this, it’s vital that you show that you have a solid grasp of how you’ll reach your target market and have a clear understanding of which sales channels you’ll be using.

People behind the Product

Introduce your team—everyone who had lent a hand in the research, development, and manufacturing process of the product you’re presenting. Talk about the management team’s experience and expertise as well.

Competition

Whether you’re operating in existing or niche markets, give potential investors a rundown of the qualities and other attributes that set you apart from the competition. Show them why they should pick you instead of the other players on the market.

Financials

Your audience needs to see sales and cash flow forecasts in your presentation.

When you show these to the panel, don’t overwhelm them by providing spreadsheets that are difficult to read. Instead, use graphs, diagrams, and charts that will show financial information vital to the discussion.

The goal of your presentation deck is to pique your investor’s interest. It has to provide the necessary information about your company, as well as the products and services you offer. You want them to ask for more details, which is why a solid custom deck is vital for your sales pitch.

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References:

Lavinsky, Dave. “Marketing Plan Template: Exactly What To Include.” Forbes. September 30, 2013. www.forbes.com/sites/davelavinsky/2013/09/30/marketing-plan-template-exactly-what-to-include/#4c9610a33503

Ashe-Edmunds, Sam. “How to Introduce Teammates During a Presentation.” azcentral. April 13, 2018. yourbusiness.azcentral.com/introduce-teammates-during-presentation-10553.html

James, Geoffrey. “How to Give a Flawless Elevator Pitch.” Inc. July 2, 2014. www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-give-a-flawless-elevator-pitch.html

Are Visuals in Business Presentations Actually Helpful?

Posted on by Rick E

Visual aids upgrade your speech, as the combination of content and design add flare to your presentation. These make your pitch more understandable and allow your audience to follow the discussion with their eyes.

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Before making a customized PowerPoint presentation, your goals must be clear—you should be sure of the message you want to convey. When you have a plan, you’ll know what you have to work on to achieve your objectives.

So what exactly is so important about visual aids that it’s imperative that you prepare one for your business presentation?

It conveys the message loud and clear.

Visuals help you catch your audience’s attention and engage them throughout your presentation. With these, you can communicate complex ideas in an understandable way. Rather than “telling,” you’re “showing” the audience exactly what you want to say, allowing them to make connections on their own—given that the graphics you use are relevant to your discussion.

Approximately three-quarters of adults in America own a smartphone, making it one of the most quickly adopted consumer technologies to date. Apart from this, they spend almost five hours on their phones. Why is this number important?

As a presenter, you’d want to keep your audience’s eyes on you. So, to keep their attention off their phones, you have to make your visual aids appealing. Add graphics, images, and animations relevant to the topic at hand and you’re good to go.

It elicits emotions.

Images are highly subjective. That said, there are certain categories that are more likely to elicit strong emotional responses compared to others. Images can help establish a long-term connection with the hearts and minds of your audience.

Rather than using bullet points, images that resonate with the audience inspire them to act. Plus, this makes it easier for them to retain information for a longer period.

It saves processing time.

A picture paints a thousand words and it holds true to this day. Using visuals relevant to your presentation is less time-consuming compared to writing a few hundred words. Apart from that, you’d only need to make sure that what you say revolves around that.

In addition, because your audience’s brain works overtime to process all the information fed to them, visuals prove to be the most efficient way to make your discussion easier to understand.

Your visual aids shouldn’t distract your audience, but rather help them reach the core of your presentation. These can either make or break their first impression of what you are pitching and you as a presenter. Simplicity is key when it comes to customized PowerPoint presentations—the best way to keep your audience’s attention is by removing clutter.

Nothing else maximizes efficiency and effectiveness quite like professionally designed visual aids, but take note: you may have the best PowerPoint design, but its purpose is only to add interest and enhance the way you convey your message. You’re still the star of the show, which is why you still have to do well with your speech.

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References:

Miltner, Olivia. “You’re Not Addicted to Your Smartphone – You Just Really Like People.” OZY. April 1, 2018. www.ozy.com/acumen/youre-not-addicted-to-your-smartphone-you-just-really-like-people/85737

Tierney, Leah. “6 Types of Images That Elicit an Emotional Response.” Shutterstock. May 5, 2017. www.shutterstock.com/blog/6-types-of-images-that-elicit-an-emotional-response

“Using Visual Aids.” University of Pittsburgh. www.speaking.pitt.edu/student/public-speaking/visualaids.html

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