Make a Powerful Point the next time you present

“A person can have the greatest idea in the world. But if that person can’t convince enough other people, it doesn’t matter”.

Millions of people around the world create thousands of presentations everyday. It is likely that you would have made quite a few of them yourself. However, the general stigma attached with presentations is they are meant to be boring and monotonous.

Imagine how refreshing it would be if your next presentation can actually catch your audience’s attention, invoke their curiosity and ultimately help you do better in your business! Surprisingly, it’s not that hard to achieve. Here are a few simple tips to help you get more out of your presentations.

An effective presentation must get three components right — Content, Design and Delivery.

Content

The idea of a presentation is to get a point across. You need to have a clear picture of what you are trying to put forward in your presentation before you even launch Power Point. Ask yourself — “What is the real purpose of my talk?”. And then base each and every slide around that answer.

1. Keep it short. Do not exceed 10–12 slides per presentation.

2. Do not copy the full text of what you plan to speak into the slide. Instead, pick out keywords and bullet point the most important ones.

3. Make only one point per slide.

Design

“Only when the design fails does it draw attention to itself; when it succeeds, it’s invisible.”

1. Keep the font-size large so that the slides are clearly visible even from a distance.

2. Avoid inconsistent use of fonts, font sizes and color. You should prefer sans-serif fonts since they look neater and are more legible.

3. Slide transitions are acceptable but don’t over do them. A smooth fading effect works most of the time.

4. Your presentation should highlight your business, not your Power Point skills. Avoid unnecessary flyer’s, including fancy bulleting, flying images etc.

5. Avoid flashy clipart. Use real photos instead. There are plenty of professional stock photography sites which you can use to download free high quality images.

6. If you’re presenting something outside your company, add your company logo on every slide. It makes the slide look neat and more professional.

Delivery

The biggest mistake people make while presenting is that they make the PowerPoint the presentation’s focus. The focus should be on the presenter and on the compelling story that he has to tell. PowerPoint is most effective at providing supplementary information. If all of the information is on the screen, then there’s no need for the presenter!

1. Tell a story that makes the audience into the protagonist, then demonstrate how your solution to solving their problems will help them win.

2. Never start with the details. Present the key idea first and then slowly move into the specifics.

3. Reading out from the presentation is possibly the biggest mistake one can make. You’re trying to form a connection with the audience! Do not look at the screen. Never.

4. Do not hand out presentation notes or memo’s before your presentation. That will split your audience’s attention since they’ll be reading your notes while you speak, instead of actually listening to you.

5. Use a remote and switch slides yourself. It is very distracting for both the presenter and the audience having to tell an attendant to switch to the next slide.

6. PowerPoint has a little known but incredibly useful “Presenter Mode” which allows the presenter to see a different version of the presentation compared to what is being shown on the projector. You can use this in a variety of ways.

7. While you present, keep the lights on. Modern projectors are bright enough to keep the screen legible. This helps keep the focus on you — the presenter.

8. Keep it short. any longer than 20 minutes and you’re risking going out from the attention span of your audience.

9. You can use statements like, “that’s a really good question,” or “I’m glad you asked me that,” to buy yourself a few moments to organize your response during the QnA session. Cheeky but works well.

10. People might ask you for a copy of your presentation later. Do not bother passing around pen drives. There are plenty of online services (like SlideShare) which will let you share your presentation files publicly or with a private audience.

With these tips, you can ensure that your next presentation stands out from the rest and make the event something your colleagues can eagerly look forward to.