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A Presentation Expert’s Guide to Great PowerPoint Ideas

Posted on by Rick E

A professional presentation takes time, not just in making the actual pitch deck, but in planning how to make it.

Presentation experts (even the ones behind Apple’s and TED Talks’ presentations) recommend spending the majority of your time planning for how to make and deliver the sales pitch. According to brand communication expert, Carmine Gallo, this takes at least 90 hours, with only a third of that time used for building the actual deck.

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The rest of the time needs to be spent on knowing your client’s expectations. Qualtrics’ Scott Smith presents seven customer expectations to watch out for, so make sure to dedicate your time to researching the topic, and developing an effective method of delivery.

Ask yourself:

  • What problem am I trying to solve?
  • Is there an applicable solution that I can use?
  • How will I solve the problem then?
  • What advantage can I offer that the competition can’t?

A secret to getting effective PowerPoint ideas is planning ahead of time.

Let’s go into detail about how to plan your business presentation.

Step 1: Write Everything You Want to Say

Make a list, sit down with your colleagues, consult your company’s production/research teams, draw quick sketches and draft a script. Just get something, anything on paper when you start.

This way, you’ll have an easier time sorting through PowerPoint ideas that work from those that don’t.

Both professional presenters and advertising experts talk about similar methods. Whether it’s planning on paper or, as ad veteran Luke Sullivan suggests, sticking drawings of your best ideas on the wall, the best way to get your sales pitch idea is to dump everything into an empty space and sort them out.

Step 2: Be Your Own Coldest Critic

Once you have everything you can think of in one place, be it an empty Microsoft PowerPoint file or on blank sheets of paper, start judging. Using the questions listed above can work as your guide.

Everything you place in your PowerPoint deck stems from two sources: the client’s problem and the product or service you’ll use to solve it. The strategy is up to you. Consider the following questions:

  • Do you want to bank on your company’s reputation for being the best in the business?
  • Do you want to highlight one advantage you have over the competition?
  • Do you want to introduce a game-changing solution to an old problem?

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Your ideas must fit whatever strategy you choose.

If you want to pitch for a car-rental service provider, or sell your electronics to a local distributor, ask yourself about the workability of your idea (for example, displaying consistent sales numbers or user testimonies). If you think it’s doable, keep it.

Step 3: Once You Have the “Eureka” Moment, Stay on It

One benefit of dumping your ideas and being your harshest critic is that you arrive at your winning sales pitch idea faster.

Everything you say and write will flow by themselves if your idea and strategy are sound enough. The best thing to do is stay with it.

Write down your script and slide content while your thoughts are still fresh in your mind. Delaying it will interrupt your train of thought, wasting time better spent on finalizing your PowerPoint deck.

The Lesson to Learn

Don’t be afraid to critique your own ideas. A sales presentation is all about testing ideas against the client’s problems and coming up with your best solution.

If it works, come up with an appropriate strategy to sell your proposal better than the competition does. Keep at it until you find your selling idea.

To help you come up with it even faster, spend time with a PowerPoint presentation expert. It’s worth the investment. (All it takes is fifteen minutes.)

 

References

Gallo, Carmine. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York. McGraw-Hill, 2010
“Plan Ahead to Avoid PowerPointless Presentations.” SlideGenius, Inc. May 27, 2015. Accessed July 15, 2015.
Smith, Scott, “Customer Expectations: 7 Types all Exceptional Researchers Must Understand.” Qualtrics. Accessed July 15, 2015.
Sullivan, Luke. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This! A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Hoboken, NJ – J. Wiley & Sons, 2008

 

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3 Effective Tips for Simplifying PowerPoint Slide Designs

Posted on by Rick E

We’ve said before that simple slide designs are every professional presenter’s bread and butter. Whether they’re TED Talk speakers or Steve Jobs, all of them rely on slides that feature one visual and one caption, allowing them to get their point across clearly.

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These slides aren’t used as scripts. After all, professional presenters use them to help the audience visualize what they say while they use an informal, conversational tone. According to brand communications expert, Carmine Gallo, they also support their speech with at least three important points centered on a main idea.

While we can talk about the benefits of simplified PowerPoint slide designs, it’s also important to know exactly how to do them.

Ad veteran Luke Sullivan cites top advertising professionals as those who make simple, effective advertisements by boiling them down to one main element.

Three Simple Questions to Answer

A typical PowerPoint slide contains an image, a headline, a caption, body text, and sometimes lists and bullet points. While they contain the information you need, slides like these can end up overloaded and confusing.

Reduce your slides to the essentials with these questions:

1. Can You Make Your Slide Work Without the Body Text?

Pasting text on the slide and reading it out ends up alienating you from your audience and cutting potential for interaction with them.

Don’t recite a script. Instead, tell them a compelling story and giving them reasons to invest in your proposal. Remove the text from your slides if your visuals can work without them, no matter how well-written they may be.

This will make your layout cleaner and let you talk more. Your presentation is there to help your audience visualize what you’re supposed to say, not give you an on-stage script.

2. Is Your Caption Bringing Any New Information?

Your caption should support your image.

Let’s take a look at one of Gallo’s examples — Steve Jobs presentations. The caption “1000 songs in our pocket” was superimposed with the image of an actual pants pocket to show the iPod Nano’s main feature.

This is similar to author Jim Aitchison’s example of the style used in the Volkswagen ad featuring a lunar landing craft with the caption “It’s ugly, but it gets you there”. These effective captions bring new information that’s not seen in the visual, but if your image can work without it, so much the better.

A print ad for The Economist only had the image of a keyhole with the magazine’s logo at the bottom.

While part of a campaign, this showed that the publication was the key to unlocking useful industry secrets and information that only its readers can enjoy.

3. Do You Need a Title, or Can the Visual Speak for Itself?

Sometimes, presenters use titles on top of their slides to separate different sections.

In theory, this sounds logical, but if your visual can speak for itself, or if you tell your audience what you want to talk about in the next part of your PowerPoint, why use a title?

A simple headline on the slide itself or a single image shown front and center works better.

Ensure that only one element is prominent in your slide. This makes it easier for your audience to read your text, and keeps their attention focused on you.

Keep the Audience’s Eyes on You

You can make PowerPoint slide designs comparable to those used by Steve Jobs and TED speakers by following this principle of simplicity.

This exercise is difficult when you’re tempted to paste everything into your slides. You’re the one giving the pitch, not your PowerPoint. Keep your audience focused on what you say.

To help you make simple but effective PowerPoint slides, all you need is fifteen minutes to get in touch with our presentation experts.

 

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References

Aitchison, J. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore; New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Gallo, C. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
“Reduce and Simplify Like a PowerPoint Professional.” SlideGenius, Inc. May 25, 2015. Accessed July 8, 2015.
Sullivan, L. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
“The Economist: Keyhole.” Adsoftheworld.

PowerPoint Presentations: Do You Really Need Them?

Posted on by Rick E

PowerPoint is the undisputed king of all presentation software. With about 500 million users relying on it to create their visual aids, no one can deny its dominance.

Aside from the contemporary presentation designs it offers, we need them to enhance and support our core message.

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We still get questions from some presenters, wondering if they even need slides to go with their speech. To answer this question, let’s first examine how they benefit your presentations:

All-Around Usefulness

What helps PowerPoint immensely is its inclusion in Microsoft Office.

Its similarity to Word (and even freeware Word variations) means that it’s convenient for all types of users and purposes.

This software has basic photo-manipulating capabilities, whereas animations and image placement are easy to do. It’s also made it easier to edit and layout text. With these advanced features, sharing visual information has become easier to plan for and execute.

According to tech guru, Aaron Parson, most presentations will benefit from PowerPoint’s versatility. It can be used for pitching, selling, teaching, and even entertaining. It lets you draw diagrams, assorted graphs, charts, and even basic illustrations, with possibilities for online sharing.

Notable Exceptions

While PowerPoint exhibits all-around usefulness, there are still some situations where you shouldn’t depend on it.

Motivational speeches often don’t need accompanying visual aids. They require greater focus on the presenter’s body language and facial expressions – things that projected slides could distract from.

Speeches that focus on a speaker’s personal experiences generally don’t need an accompanying deck. Better described as performances, presenters serve as their own visual aids through non-verbal communication.

PowerPoint by Default

Determine from the beginning if your presentation needs an accompanying deck. This allows you to better divide and plan your time and resources for maximizing your speech.

Knowing that you almost always need a deck to back you up, it pays to know what makes for effective PowerPoint presentations.

Conclusion

PowerPoint remains a vital tool to complement your message visually because of its convenience and ease of use.

Knowing from the beginning whether you need to include a PowerPoint deck will help you plan for it, or prepare to present without it.

Certain types of presentations lend themselves to PowerPoint decks. If you’ll be giving a speech based on personal experience, without needing to explain complicated facts, people will focus more on your facial expressions and body language. In the instances you do need to use slides, learn the various factors that determine its success or failure.

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References

“3 Reasons Why PowerPoint Presentations Are Still Effective.” SlideGenius, Inc. August 6, 2015.
Parson, Aaron. “5 Uses of PowerPoint.” EHow. June 2, 2015. Accessed July 6, 2015.
“PowerPoint Usage and Marketshare.” Infogr.am. Accessed July 6, 2015.

3 Expert Tips on Making Your Ideas PowerPoint-Friendly

Posted on by Rick E

An effective presentation deck simplifies collected data to inform and entertain an audience. Contrary to popular belief, bare and uninspired decks won’t make your ideas stand out.

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Your audiences are people too, and that means that like the rest of us, their attention spans have made a drastic drop in the past few years. Keep them interested with slides that bring your ideas to life.

In order to be called a PowerPoint expert, you need to experience translating ideas into effective visual, statistical, and textual content.

Here are three ways to turn your ideas into effective slide designs:

Why Use Paragraphs When You Can Use Sentences?

Long paragraphs clutter a slide. This is a common symptom of a presenter pressed for time, unable to sort out his thoughts or a lazy presenter who intended to read off of his slides.

We’ve previously discussed the importance of having perceived credibility. By minimizing text, you’ll give the impression of taking your presentations seriously and knowing what you’re doing.

Set clear objectives from the beginning, then retain the minimal amount of words that can still meet these goals.

Translate Numbers into Narratives

Numbers have the power to inform or to distract. A set of slides with many numbers are tiring to understand and are boring to look at. It would be wise not to test your listeners’ patience with a numerical overload.

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Instead of throwing numbers and statistics around, give them meaningful connections that tell a story. Ensure that this story relates properly to your presentation’s message and purpose, or else your flow will get stilted.

Pure numerical data is useless without the relationships and connections that a story can bring. As with text, cut back those numbers and do yourself a big favor.

When Possible, Show Don’t Tell

Pictures can tell a thousand words. You should let them. They’re effective at portraying narratives in shorthand.

Given that most people learn visually, images are helpful tools that can both teach and amuse. They offer a break for the eyes when an arresting image is used. In addition, they complement your message or your deck’s theme.

They also illustrate or demonstrate concepts that can take more than two sentences in written form, making your presentation more streamlined and interesting. Don’t forget to explain it in person when you’re on stage.

Conclusion

Letting your ideas run wild can make fully engaging presentations, but overdoing it can divert attention and cause confusion.

Short and concise sentences, descriptive and narrative representation of numbers, and generous use of images are just three of the most important ways to get your message across. Always take a step back and practice restraint to best translate your ideas to your slides.

Need a deck that can communicate your ideas perfectly? Contact our PowerPoint experts and receive a free quote.

 

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References

“Craft Your Corporate Presentations into a Great Story.” SlideGenius, Inc. May 15, 2015. Accessed June 29, 2015.
“How Long Should a Paragraph Be?” About.com Education. Accessed June 29, 2015.

Ad Agency PowerPoint Visual Design Tips: Making Your Point

Posted on by Rick E

Visual designs contribute the most benefits in PowerPoint presentations, letting audiences visualize exactly what you want them to imagine, be it the client’s current problem, the seriousness of a situation, or a different perspective.

Once you paint a clear picture in your audience’s minds, support that with facts and guide them to the outcome you want: investing in your idea.

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While deck designs don’t only impose mental images, they help clients remember enough of your pitch to take a second look at it after you’re done presenting.

Many TED Talks or three-subject pitches rely on simplicity for catchy PowerPoint visuals. But how do you emulate these works?

Advertising agencies make their ads focus on one main idea and show it in an interesting way.

Here are three PowerPoint visual design tips on simplicity:

Make Your Idea Straightforward Enough to Be Flexible

There’s only room for one main idea in your visuals.

According to ad veteran Luke Sullivan, if you know what your pitch is about and make it straightforward, you’ll have a number of great ways to visually represent your ideas.

In the MINI Cooper ambient ads, the ad agency highlighted one main feature of a small yet spacious car.

Some of the MINI Cooper ambient ads focused on how spacious the small vehicle was, while others went the opposite route and focused on a small vehicle’s benefits. An example of the latter: a billboard that had the tagline “cops hide here,” complete with an arrow pointing to a bush under it.

Whatever the execution, the idea in each was clear. All that was left was to come up with interesting ways to show it.

Focus on One Consistent Style

The early Volkswagen print ads showed a big or small vehicle, then focused the text on a main idea. Renowned author Jim Aitchison cites these ads and taglines as those which highlight the main theme of practicality:

“How to save up for a Porsche.”
A picture of a moon-landing craft with the caption “It’s ugly but it gets you there”
A small Volkswagen beetle with the tagline “Think small”

There’ll always be a consistent style of showing the vehicle, a headline and the body text, all centered on a straightforward idea.

Show a Common Message with Different Elements

Combining your images and text to illustrate a situation is effective, but even more so when you disrupt normal perspectives and present familiar things in a new and interesting way.

The award-winning French anti-illiteracy ads’ visual elements posed as advertisements for different things: cars, computers, even resorts and makeup.

These ads focused on one main message: there’ll always be people who’ll misinterpret the advertisement because they can’t read.

All these three tips rely on one thing: strategy, a single effective path to bringing your message out in the image.

Do you want to highlight how much space your Cooper can have? Do you want to show that your product does what it’s made for? Do you want to show how serious a problem is?

The key to simplicity is making your viewers focus on one dominant element in your visuals. Make your main message clear in both the text and the image, then find interesting ways to consistently prove your point.

It takes an award-winning visual design method to make an award-winning PowerPoint Presentation. To help you get that edge, get in touch with a presentation designer from SlideGenius today!

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References

Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore; New York: Prentice Hall.
Great V Ads. Accessed June 19, 2015.
“Maximize the Rule of Three: Brand-Building for Presentations.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2015. Accessed June 18, 2015.
Sullivan, L. (2008). Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
“The World’s Best Print Ads, 2012-13.” AdWeek. Accessed June 19, 2015.

Great PowerPoint Presentations Need Great Main Ideas

Posted on by Rick E

Every effective proposal begins with a main idea. Brand communication expert Carmine Gallo (2010), recommends identifying that idea and explaining why it matters.

This grounds your presentation on a specific topic and keeps you from straying too far from what you want your audience to remember.

Getting to that point is tricky, but don’t worry, every problem has its own unique solution.

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If your company needs to introduce a new product in a technology expo, how will you go about explaining this new device? Will you start with its specs, or elaborate on how it stands above your competitors?

All great PowerPoint presentations begin by asking these kinds of questions. Regardless of the specific problem and approach, there are three things that can flesh out your main ideas:

Identifying the Problem

A sales pitch is directed to address an issue. It could be anything—low sales returns, re-branding, or it could simply be the need to introduce a new product.

Find the root of your client’s dilemma to keep your pitch focused on presenting an on-strategy solution.

Once you have this information, the next question is: “Why?”

Why is the product necessary? Why do your clients have to listen to you? Why shouldn’t you let that issue go unsolved?

Addressing the whys define the gravity of the situation.

It also establishes the relevance of your idea, helping you find the necessary insights to back up your claim.

Target Audience

An idea can affect people, especially if it agrees with what their beliefs. This is why it’s crucial to know exactly who you want to talk to.

These people are the ones looking for the cures to their headaches. You have to show them that you share something in common.

Try to remember the last product you bought. It could be a gadget, a car or even a pair shoes. If you bought these from specific brands, think about why these companies gain the most attention from consumers.

According to Chuck Brymer’s article on Marketing Magazine, the reason the best brands stay the best is because they give you what you need and strive to stay relevant.

They also use common values their customers relate to.

Every company stands for something. Some want to provide a fun experience by creating superior products while others may believe in making things more convenient by engineering easy-to-use technology. As long as a brand lives, its values should never change. It needs to keep itself relevant as time passes.

When pitching an idea, always keep your company’s beliefs in mind—make sure these beliefs match those of your client’s.

Aligning with the Client’s Strategy

Insights work both ways. While your insight inspires strategies, make sure that whatever solution you come up with doesn’t conflict with your client’s corporate values.

For example, would Apple accept a cheaper but less reliable supplier? Since Apple offerings are known for being stylish and easy to use, they probably wouldn’t if it compromises their overall product quality.

Compare your proposals with your client’s business goals. Propose alternative insight to an idea that might negatively affect your client’s business.

This part of the process is arguably the strictest of them all. It tests whether your offer is resilient but flexible enough to adapt to your client’s needs.

Once you satisfy this condition, you’ll have an easier time outlining your topic in PowerPoint form.

—

Offering answers won’t do any good if you can’t justify them. That’s why simplifying your pitch ensures clearer communication between you and your audience.

To better remember these techniques, condense this three-step process into a single formula—find the root cause of the client’s dilemma, and find the insight that will lead to the answer.

If this is in line with the client’s corporate beliefs, it’s a valid solution. If not, consider an alternative.

Once you consider these questions when pitching a topic, you’ll be more likely to get on-point with your target market’s needs.

Understanding the main reason people need your company’s work makes it easier for you to convince others that they should get on board with your idea.

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References:

“A Presentation Expert’s Guide to Knowing the Audience.” SlideGenius, Inc. Accessed April 28, 2015.
Brymer, C. “What Makes Brands Great.” Marketing Magazine. 2004. Retrieved from:
Gallo, Carmine. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
“Using Common Values in PowerPoint Presentations.” SlideGenius, Inc. Accessed April 21, 2015.

 

Featured Image: Stock Photography of A businessman working on modern technology on fotosearch.com

A Guide to Making a PowerPoint Style Guide

Posted on by Rick E

Corporations and organizations often use a style guide to ensure that all their visual materials maintain a consistent and cohesive look.

Because it’s impossible to keep track of every PowerPoint deck created in such an environment, a style guide guarantees that every presentation will correspond to your organization’s brand identity.

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Before starting on your style guide, familiarize yourself with PowerPoint’s Slide Master function to create and customize templates first. This makes it easier to accomplish once you begin distributing it throughout the organization.

Here are areas you need to focus on:

Leverage branding

Every design rule or suggestion that you put down should contribute to your branding efforts. As we’ve discussed in the past, an easy way to integrate branding into PowerPoint design is through the clever use of colors.

Set down some rules on the color scheme that everyone should use for presentations. Keep your brand’s logo and overall aesthetic in mind, making sure your rules for the color scheme goes well with both. Let your colors stand out so that the audience can see that your slides are part of a larger, unified whole.

Another way to leverage branding is by using visual metaphors that correspond to your brand identity. Include suggestions for images and illustrations people should use in their PowerPoint designs.

Establish rules following best PowerPoint practices

Aside from branding, a PowerPoint style guide also helps you maintain the quality of all the slide decks presented in your organization’s name.

As such, it’s important that you establish key rules that follow the best PowerPoint practices. Be strict about the use of bullet points and the amount of text included in a single slide. Establish pointers on how data should be presented. There are different ways to do it, but all in all, you should make sure that charts and graphs don’t get too overwhelming by inputting only the content that matters to your pitch.

Something else you can consider is making suggestions that can help manage the length of your company’s presentations.

In this PowerPoint style guide from the American Marketing Association, there’s a suggestion that a PowerPoint deck should match its length in number of slides. For example, 10-minute presentations should have no more than 10 slides.

Add reminders for presentation delivery

It might seem unnecessary, but you can also include a few reminders on how presentations should be delivered.

While a PowerPoint style guide may be focused on design, its overall objective should touch on improving presentations delivered throughout your organization. Also remind others to be more careful with the way they present their slides. After all, the point of creating PowerPoint slides is to enhance the message people are delivering with their presentations.

At the end of the day, what matters is what audiences are left with. If the delivery is improved, you can expect outcomes to improve as well.

—

A PowerPoint style guide is a way you can make sure presentations are organized and consistent with the company’s overall message. Have a clear vision on how you want these presentations to look like, and what kind of impact you want them to leave on audiences.

These are the things you need to have defined and clarified in your PowerPoint style guide:

  • Use of logo
  • Color scheme
  • Font type and size
  • Use of bullet points
  • Use of images, icons, and illustrations
  • Presenting data in charts and graphs
  • Editing and cutting back on slides
  • Pointers on presenting slides to make the most of the visual aids

Keep these in mind and start establishing some rules and pointers to maximize your use of effective visuals.

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References:

Chapman, Cameron. “Why Your Brand Needs a Style Guide, and How to Create One.” Webdesigner Depot. Accessed March 6, 2015.
“Design Ideas: How to Improve PowerPoint Templates.” SlideGenius, Inc. December 9, 2014. Accessed February 4, 2015.
“Improve Your Presentations with the Power of the Metaphor.” SlideGenius, Inc. November 17, 2014. Accessed January 12, 2015.
“PowerPoint Style Guidelines.” American Marketing Association. Accessed March 6, 2015.
“The Top 10 Best PowerPoint Design Practices.” SlideGenius, Inc. November 18, 2014. Accessed March 6, 2015.

 

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Sound Slides: A PowerPoint Tutorial on Music and Sound Effects

Posted on by Rick E

Your presentation audience makes use of their visual and auditory senses the most during your pitch.

Because we often emphasize the importance of visuals in PowerPoint design, it’s time we consider audio, especially if you’re planning to share your presentation online.

Sometimes, it’s not enough to enhance your PowerPoint deck with eye-catching pictures and illustrations. There are moments when you need to add another dimension to your presentation design. A careful mix of visuals and audio can really add life to your slides and take your presentation further.

Add life and sound to your slides in three easy steps:

Step 1: Insert audio file

For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll be using PowerPoint 2010.

Get started by looking for the Media group under the Insert tab.

From there, choose the Audio icon and select what type of audio file you’d like to insert into your PowerPoint presentation. You can choose an audio file that’s saved in your computer, record your own, or use a file from the Clip Art gallery.

powerpoint tutorial audio 01

If you’re going to use something that you already have saved or that you downloaded from the Internet, make sure the file is compatible with PowerPoint. They have to be in any of the following formats:

  • Windows Media Audio (.wma)
  • Windows Audio (.wav)
  • MP3 (.mp3)

Step 2: Preview selected audio file

After successfully inserting your chosen audio file, you will see a sound icon appear on the slide you’re currently working on. When you select it, a toolbar will appear. This is where you can press Play to preview your audio.

powerpoint tutorial audio 02

Always check to see if the music or sound effects you’ve chosen are working properly. If the audio skips or lags, you might want to use a file with a smaller size.

Step 3: Select playback option

Lastly, choose a play back option for your audio file. After selecting the sound icon, go to the Playback tab under Audio Tools. Among the following options, choose the one that’s most applicable to how you envision your PowerPoint deck.

powerpoint tutorial audio 03

  • Automatically – The audio file will start to play as soon as you reach the current slide
  • On Click – Play the audio on demand by clicking the icon
  • Play Across Slides – The audio file will play throughout the entire PowerPoint deck
  • Loop Until Stopped – The file will play loop unless you move on to a new slide

You can also opt to hide the sound icon if you don’t want it cluttering the look of your slide. After you’ve selected the playback option that suits your presentation, tick the box for Hide During Show that’s under Audio Options.

It’s easy to take a simple PowerPoint presentation and turn it into an experience that the audience won’t soon forget. This PowerPoint tutorial is perfect for anyone looking to make sure their presentations are a little bit better than before.

Sprinkle a few sound effects to add impact to your presentation. For online presentations, use these steps to integrate a voice over to your slides. Contact our PowerPoint experts to learn how else you can improve your PowerPoint designs and presentation outcomes.

 

References

“Add and Play Sounds in a Presentation.” Office Support. Accessed March 5, 2015.
“Visual Simplicity Is Captivating in Presentations.” SlideGenius, Inc. September 30, 2014.Accessed March 5, 2015.

 

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Make an Impact and Deliver Better Business Presentations

Posted on by Rick E

For most professionals, typical business presentations include having to sit through monotonous discussion while trying to decipher the small text projected in front them.

While these scenarios are common, bland business presentations shouldn’t be the norm.

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For your big presentation, turn the situation around and deliver something memorable that will leave a lasting impact on your audience. That’s why we decided to review the different things you can change and emphasize for your business presentations.

Take note of these essential characteristics and learn to apply them to your work:

Authenticity

The problem with most business presentations is that they often lack emotional impact.

Because they’re delivered in formal settings, presenters think that business presentations need to focus on the hard facts.

While data is obviously important to help build the credibility of your presentation, you still need to add a human element in order to create a connection with the audience. What better way to capture their attention and keep them engaged than by building this important rapport?

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to try and move your colleagues to tears or leave them rolling on the floor with laughter. Your goal is to build an authentic experience for them. Instead of presenting overwhelming amounts of charts and data, try to integrate a story to your presentation.

Thorough

Following our previous point, you’ll know that business presentations commonly suffer from information overload.

Without setting a clear goal, presenters tend to add too much to their content and end up prolonging the discussion with repetitive details. That’s why business presentations need to be thoroughly prepared. Solve the dilemma of an unorganized discussion by defining a clear objective.

From there, meticulously curate your content to make sure everything is aligned with your goals. Cut back on the data you present and include only the numbers that are most important to help drive home your key takeaways.

Compelling

To make an impact with your business presentations, you also have to focus on how well you face the audience and deliver your speech. If you want the audience to sit up and listen, focus on creating a compelling and engaging atmosphere.

As you start your presentation, catch their attention through nonverbal cues. It’s not enough to speak with confidence, you also have to exude the same amount of credibility in the way you dress and carry yourself. Avoid slouching or gestures that make you seem closed off or aloof.

Don’t be too stiff—try to strike a balance between both feeling comfortable and commanding authority in front of an audience.

Visually Stimulating

Finally, business presentations also need to break out of the “Death by PowerPoint” mold.

Instead of undecipherable PowerPoint slides, you need to come up with a presentation deck that is visually stimulating and interesting.

This will elevate the message presented in a presentation. That said, it shouldn’t overshadow the core message with walls of text and misused bullet points.

Appeal to the visual sense of the audience. Apart from carefully curating your content to make sure you don’t end up with too much text, choose high-quality images to visualize your points.

Don’t forget to pick out a striking color palette and a few interesting fonts as well.

Looking for inspiration from design experts? Take a look at our design portfolio or contact us for a free quote today!

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Your business presentations do not have to lull the audience to sleep. Keep your colleagues engaged by making an impact they won’t soon forget. Take note of these 4 essential tips and deliver the best business presentations they’ll ever see.

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References:

“3 Lessons on Choosing Fonts for Your PowerPoint Design.” SlideGenius, Inc.. January 14, 2015. Accessed February 26, 2015.
“Hook, Line, and Sinker: What Makes a Great Presentation Story.” SlideGenius, Inc. December 11, 2014. Accessed February 26, 2015.
“Non-Verbal Communication.” Skills You Need. Accessed February 26, 2015.
“Understanding Information Overload.” Infogineering. Accessed February 26, 2015.
“Where to Find Unique Images for Your Presentation Design.” SlideGenius, Inc. December 18, 2014. Accessed February 26, 2015.

 

 

Featured Image: Startup Stock Photos

3 Ways to Cut Back Your Text-Heavy PowerPoint Slides

Posted on by Rick E

The most effective PowerPoint slides are often simple and concise. As branding experts TRAY Creative put it: cluttered slides will only put your audience to sleep.

Effective decks help the presenter discuss a topic with memorable and arresting visuals. In other words, a PowerPoint presentation isn’t there to act as your script or teleprompter.

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If your presentations are always burdened by text-heavy PowerPoint slides, it’s time to dial back and strip your deck bare.

Try the following suggestions to make sure you don’t have walls of text blocking the audience’s interest in your discussion:

Strip your content down to its essentials 

Cutting back on text-heavy PowerPoint slides rely on your ability to edit your own content.

Before you start making your PowerPoint deck, review the draft you’ve prepared and see how you can simplify your points even more. Your goal is to strip down your content to the bare minimum.

You don’t have to waste space on your slides to elaborate particulars. Your slides are there to highlight the main points and takeaways.

Everything else that needs to be discussed or described is for the presenter to do on his own.

Use multiple slides to split up bullet points

Bullet points are often maligned in PowerPoint design because of constant misuse. A lot of presenters insist on presenting text through a bullet point list, even if the text requires a lengthy paragraph description.

Bullet points are meant to simplify content and list down key information. If you’re going to use it to cram several paragraphs on a single slide, you’re not utilizing bullet points properly.

Split up your content across multiple PowerPoint slides. Even if you end up with 10 more slides than you originally planned, your deck won’t look poorly designed.

Spreading out your PowerPoint to tackle one point at time will help you make sure your slides aren’t dragged down by too much text.

Represent content visually

I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Remember to keep it in mind when making PowerPoint slides, because it’s extremely crucial to presentation design.

Sometimes, it can be hard to cut back on content because there are things that require several sentences to describe.

Luckily, PowerPoint is a visual tool. Instead of using up slide space on lengthy descriptions, you can represent certain parts of your content through pictures or graphics instead.

Turn a discussion on a particular process into a flowchart. Find pictures that represent your brand values. Think visually and use images to relay what might need several sentences to say.

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In general, try to keep your PowerPoint slides visual. Use text to enhance the meaning of particular images or graphs, and do it by using the simplest sentences or phrases. Remember, a PowerPoint deck is a visual aid. It shouldn’t overwhelm your audience with too much information. As the presenter, it’s your job to take the stage and discuss your presentation accordingly.

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References:

“Visual Storytelling: How Stories Are Told in Pictures.” SlideGenius, Inc. October 27, 2014. Accessed February 24, 2015.
“PowerPoint Insight: Reconsidering the No Bullet Points Rule.” SlideGenius, Inc. August 21, 2014. Accessed February 24, 2015.
“7 PowerPoint Mistakes That Put Audiences to Sleep.” TRAY Creative Seattle Marketing Branding Web Design. Accessed February 24, 2015.

 

Featured Image: Hernán Piñera via Flickr

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