If you're a business professional, you've certainly created your fair share of PowerPoint presentations or at the very least had to sit through them. These presentations can be a useful tool for disseminating information, but if done poorly, they can also come across as dull and monotonous.
Planning carefully and paying close attention to detail are essential while creating a PowerPoint presentation. There are some crucial recommended practices to adhere to whether you are giving the presentation in person or designing a self-guided review for specific audience members:
K.I.S.S. - Keep in mind that it's crucial to keep your slides straightforward and tidy. Use bullet points to emphasize important ideas and limit the number of bullets per slide. Too many font and color variations might be distracting, so keep them to a minimum. Instead, stick with a uniform layout that uses the same font, color scheme, header, and footer on every slide throughout your presentation. (Tip: Check out Envato Elements for a large range of reasonably priced, ready-made templates.)
Images - High-quality photographs can help to illustrate your arguments and improve the visual attractiveness of your presentation. (Just make sure to give any photographs you use due credit.) As a general rule, avoid using "old school" clip art or pixilated images you nab from the internet and ALWAYS avoid using watermarked images.
Motion - Use animations and transitions carefully and in moderation. While they can offer some visual interest, applying these effects excessively can be off-putting and detract from the presentation's content. (Tip: Visit Unsplash.com for free, high-quality pictures. This site also allows easy access to citation information so you can do things the right way!)
Practice - Regardless of how nicely your slides are designed, it's imperative to prepare your presentation beforehand. This will make you feel more at ease and assured when you deliver it. To see what you can improve on, try practicing in front of a mirror or recording yourself and watching it back. Better yet, if you can practice in the location where you will deliver the presentation, by all means, do so. More than one fabulous presentation has been ruined because of technical difficulties!
In-Person vs. Self-Guided - Whether you are making a self-guided review or giving the presentation in person, the strategy you choose in terms of structure may vary:
Live! - It's crucial to include and maintain the interest of your audience during a live, in-person presentation. Make eye contact, utilize gestures to help express your message, and think about posing queries or inviting participation from the audience. This might make your presentation more participatory and keep the audience interested.
Message In A Bottle - On the other hand, it's crucial to make sure that your presentation is structured and simple to follow if you are making a self-guided review for certain audience members. To arrange your slides in a logical order, use the outline view. You might also want to think about including notes on each slide to provide more context and information.
No matter the scenario, it's critical to concentrate on your audience's wants and needs. When designing your presentation, take into account what they already know about the subject and what they still need to learn. By adhering to these best practices and taking your audience's demands into account you'll be well on your way to creating PowerPoint presentations that are efficient, expertly laid out and entertaining.
Allen L. Abbott, MBA
Ascent Executive Coaching LLC
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