Powerpoint still seems to be the cornerstone for many companies. As tools such as Prezi and CustomShow hit the market offering more sophisticated better looking, we thought it would be nice to provide some basic but nonetheless powerful strategies people can employ into their presentation. The powerpoint presentation ideas can span beyond just powerpoint.
Don’t put too much information on the slides
Slides with too much text significantly decrease the audience’s attention, and thus the effectiveness of your presentation. If you are talking over a slide with a lot of text, your audience will only be able to focus on one of the two things in front of them – the slide, or the speaker. If you want to be heard, and viewed, you have to keep less text on the slides. Let your slides breathe, it lets your audience listen to you. Break up your bullet points into separate slides.
Make use of images
Images say more than a thousand words. Images make the message more powerful. Your prospects/customers are human. And as humans, they are easily distracted and are quick to lose interest. Images will keep them engaged. Don’t go overboard and forget to include important text, but make sure to illustrate some of your main points with images.
Include videos (with caution though)
Like images, videos will engage your audience. Plus, they give you a break from talking. When a video clip is playing, people tend to watch and pay attention more than they do during a long spoken presentation. If you want to get fancy, you can includes video background on a couple slides in order to really wow and capture the audience. But as a warning it is not good to have too many videos in your presentations. For one it can slow down and load up if you are using an internet connection. Two, it’s the
Annotate your slides using PowerPoint’s annotation tools
Annotation tools help you brainstorm, or to call out a specific portion of the screen. You can use these annotation tools to highlight or add notes on presentation content.
Use a variety of media – slides, videos, props
You can keep your audience engaged if you change up the way you present. Use a few slides, then pass around an infographic. Then switch back to slides, then play a video clip. This will keep your audience from staring off into space and losing interest.
Include “proof slides” with statistics to show how successful you actually are
It is important to back yourself up. It is easy to claim something positive about your company or business. Anybody can make up a reason they are awesome. But if you are really awesome, you’ll have proof. Put that proof in your presentations.
Use the right font – don’t be silly, but don’t be boring
Times New Roman is a crappy font. It’s boring, and drab. Comic Sans is a ridiculous font. It’s childish, and nobody takes it seriously. Helvetica, now that’s a good font. Helvetica looks good in everything. iOS 7 uses Helvetica and it looks new and fresh. RUN DMC uses Helvetica Black, and it looks fly.
Create your own slide design
Try to exhibit your creative side. Instead of using the typical PowerPoint layout, make your own. Use different color combinations and fonts to throw together a really eye-popping design for your presentation.
Use varying color
Play with colors. Contrast is awesome. Matching is fun. including color in your presentation These small details including background color on a presentation can really make a difference. Another important area is to try and match the brand coloring with the presentation but you do not always have to stick to this rule.
Bigger is better
Think big. Think bold. View every slide as an advertisement that should catch the audience and amaze them. The bigger you get, the more memorable your presentation becomes. Without being obnoxious, try to grab their attention this way. This is what we call risk taking. This allows you to step out of your comfort zone and try something that you normally would not have.
Infographics are your best friend
If you want to present information, use infographics. They grab people’s attention and they spark interest. Infographics can be simple and yet will still be more exciting on your slide than a pie chart or a bar graph.
Don’t use too many animations
In the business world. While you still aim to entertain and catch your audience, you don’t want to go overboard with animations. Using too many whiteboard animations will make your presentation seem immature and not serious.
Keep your formatting consistent
Don’t use more than 3 different fonts. Even three can be too many. Keep your indentation consistent and the way you set up each slide relatively consistent. Inconsistency makes your presentation more difficult to focus on. It gets distracting trying to keep up with how each slide is set up. If all of your slides are similarly formatted, then your audience will be comfortable following along.
Include some audience participation
Having audience interaction makes your presentation more interesting and easier on everyone. It engages the audience so that they stay focused. It’s helpful to have strategies to get the audience involved early and often, so that the audience is prepared, and gets into the flow of the presentation. People will pay attention if they know that at some point, they’ll have to participate.
Get moving
Standing stationary at the front of the room is boring. If you constantly move around it keeps your audience focused and prevents them from losing interest. Also, if you walk around the room it’ll be a more personal presentation and your prospects will feel more comfortable with you.
Use charts and graphs
Charts and graphs bring your presentation to life. They provide data to support your claims as well as further illustrate your points. Make a few slides with charts and graphs and then talk about them and explain them to your audience.
Include Q & A time
It’s good to give your audience the opportunity to ask questions. This way you can make sure they know everything they need and want to know by the end of the presentation. It also makes you seem more personable and approachable, which appeals to prospects.
Don’t be cliché
Using clichés in your presentation makes you the opposite of memorable. If you want to stand out, be different, be unique. Surprise your audience so they remember you and so that your business excites them and entices them.