It’s important to be able to provide the best PowerPoint presentation possible, whether it’s in a professional or an informal setting. Education is the name of the game and if it doesn’t appeal to the audience then the messages and the ideas, won’t be communicated across to the audience properly.
Keep it Small
The magic number is six slides. Six slides are enough to outline the problem, how it can be solved, why it’s better than anything else, the cost, the action, and how much research has been carried out on the solution.
One Line One Bullet
Bullet points should be able to fit on one line, without wrapping of any text, and no more. A bullet point is supposed to be part of a list that’s readable and easily scanned. Irrelevant words and conjunctions can be removed if the item would still make sense without them.
Dull Design
Surprisingly, the best way to get a point across is to make the design as dull as possible. The worst thing that can happen is that the audience is concentrating exclusively on the eye catching design. Concentration should all be directed towards the energetic and enthusiastic speaker.
Contrasts
Make sure that the text stands out from the background. The dull design point applies to this as well. People should be directing their focus on to the point and not any colours or designs. Contrasts can gently guide them towards the points that are been outlined on the slides.
Simplicity
The words on a PowerPoint slide are there as prompts for the speaker and the audience. The bulk of the explanation should be coming from the speaker. The adage of ‘less is more’ really does apply to giving a sumptuous presentation.
Questions
Hold off on answering any questions until the end. Two reasons are why this is a good idea. Interruptions can ruin the flow of any presentation, and if the speaker isn’t experienced then they are going to have trouble keeping everything on the subject at hand. Later slides tend to reveal the answers to any immediate questions anyway.
Time Limits
No audience appreciates being kept for longer than they expected. If the presentation is supposed to last for half an hour then keep it to half an hour. But even if there’s no time limit it’s a good idea to keep it short as engagement does evaporate over time, no matter how exciting the subject happens to be.
Do you have questions on how to use PowerPoint to give powerful presentations? Give us a call today and a member of our IT consulting team will be more than happy to help you.
