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Copyright©2016RaymondEe,MBA,AMBCI,ACTA

Powerful PowerPoint Presentation 7 Tips to Help You Stand Out

Death-By-PowerPoint Inmyworkasamanagementconsultant,I’vehadmanyopportunitiestowitnessgreatpresentationsas well as presentations that failed badly. Most presentations fail because the speaker isdisconnectedwith theaudience.Often thedisconnectioncomesaboutwhen the speakermisusesPowerPointslides. Insteadofbeingusedasatool forvisualcommunication,PowerPointslidesaremisusedasreportsorinstructionmanualsasshownbelow.

Whenyouarepresentinginfrontoftheroom,what’sthemostimportantelementhere?Itisn’tthequantityofthedata.

It’syour….message!

Everything you do as a power presenter must enhance your message and that includes usingPowerPointslides.Yourslidesshouldnotbecomeabarriertoyourcommunication.Itshouldnotbethemagicpotionthatputseverybodytosleep.DeathbyPowerPointissomethingthatallpresentersshouldavoidatallcost.

SowhydopeoplestillinsistonusingPowerPointtopresenttheirdocuments?

MostpeopleabusePowerPointbecausetheybelievethattheyarebeingproductivebytryingtokilltwobirdswithone stone. Theybelieve that by creating their documents in PowerPoint, they canproduce“sliduements”quicklytomaketheirdocumentsreadyforpresentations.


Theprojected slides shouldbe as visually appealing aspossible and support ourmessagequickly,effectively,andpowerfully.Theverbalevidence,energyandemotioncomemostlyfromourspokenwordstofurtherreinforcethemessageduringthepresentation.Ourdocumentsortheotherhand,are completely different. They’re written to provide the required depth and scope of thepresentationsandtobereadbytheaudienceattheirowntimewhenthepresentersarenotaround.

However, when we use slideuments we fail on both sides. As a slide, it isn’t effective forcommunication and it isn’t pretty either. As a document, it lacks the professionalism of concisewriting.Mostofthetime,a20-pageslideumentcanbecondensedintoa5-pageWorddocument.

Slidesarenothandouts,souseslidestofocusonyourmessageonly.Yourdocuments,ontheotherhand,shouldbegivenawayashandouts.

Tip #1: Avoid Using Sliduments Thisistheoptimalwayofpreparingforapresentation.

ThreePartsinaPresentation

Slides–Toenhanceyourmessageandpointbutnottoreplaceyouasaspeaker

Notes–Usedtoguidethespeakersonthepointsheorsheneedstodeliver

Handouts–Contentthattheaudiencecanbringawaysothattheycanstayfocusedonthespeaker


Tip #2: One Point at a Time Avoidusingbulletsbecausebullets literallywillkillyourpresentation.Whenusingbullets,youwilltendtofilluptheentireslideswithpoints.Theidealwaytopresentyourpointandmessageacrossistodoitonepointperslide,augmentedwithimpactfulphotosorgraphics.

Shouldyouneedtousebulletsonaslide,doyourbesttorestrictittothreepointsandanimateeachpointtoappearonlywhenclicked.

Tip #3: Use Infographics Most audience are visual. The best way to presentnumbers and statistics is to use infographics.Infographics breath live into your presentation bymaking your points stand out beautifully and clearly.The infographics on the left drive home instantly thehighmortalityratewheninfectedwithbirdflu.

Touse infographics effectively, thegraphicsmustbe clean, clear and with transparent backgroud.Youneedtoavoidusingclipartsandgraphicsthatmakesyourslideslooklikeapatchwork.Theslideon the right is an example on how NOT to useinfographicsinyourslides.

Tip #4: Choose the Right Room Layout

Whengiventhechoice,alwayschoosearoomconfiguredtoLayoutBasshownabove.Awideroomwithtwoscreensisdifficultforthespeakertoengagetheaudience.Whentheaudiencelookatthescreensatbothsides,theywillnotbeabletofocusonthespeakerinthecentreoftheroom.

Avoidcliparts.Itisoutdatedanditdistracts.


Tip #5: Use a Slide Clicker Onetoolthatwilldifferiateyouasanameturespeakeroraprofessionalspeakeristheuseofaslideclickerduringyourpresentation.Usingaslideclicker,thespeakercanmovefreelyaroundtheroomto interactwith theaudience.Thespeakerwillnotbe restricted to thepodiumor theconferencetablewhere the laptop is located. The usage of a “human clicker” is also not advisible because agood speaker can time the appearance of the slidesmore accurately with a slide clicker. If yourpresentationrequirestheuseaalaserpointer,useaclickerwithagreenlaseroveraredlaser.Thegreenlaserisbrighterandmorevisible.

Tip #6: Don’t Go Crazy with Laser Normally,theslidescreatedforaseminarshouldnotrequiretheuseofalaserpointer.However,ifyoumustusealaserpointerduringapresentation,pleasedon’ttrytounderlineorcircleanythingon your slides repeatedly. Please keep your laser pointer still on the slide but don’t point at thescreenfortoolong.Alasermovingacrossthescreenaimlesslyisverydistractingandannoying.Catsliketoplaywithlaserbutunfortunately,ouraudiencearehumanbeings.Yourabilitytousethelaserpointerappropriatelywillonceagaindeterminetheprofessionalismofyourselfasapresenter.

Tip #7: Don’t Read Off the Slides Mostofthetime,theaudiencecanvisuallyreadtheslidefasterthanthespeakercanverbalizethecontentontheslides.It’saboringandineffectivewaytoengagetheaudience.Itmakesthespeakerlooksunpreparedandunprofessional. Ifyouhavetopresentadefinitionofa termused,highlightkeywordsintheparagraphwithadifferentcolour.Takeaquickglanceatthescreentoscanthekeywordsandexplain thecontentusingyourownwords.Youaresupposed tobe thesubjectmatterexpert.

Final Words Whether you are speaking in a seminar or conducting a training or workshop, learning caneffectivelyhappenonlywhen there is sufficientenergy in the room. It’s the jobof the speaker tocreateandmaintainthatenergyleveltofacilitatelearningandunderstanding.Thisisnormallydoneviaanengaging facilitation styleof conductinga trainingor seminar.Audienceengagement is thekeytogettingtheirfullattention.

Thereisasaying,“Whereattentiongoes,energyflowsandresultshows”.

Sodazzle your audiencewith yourmessage anddelivery.Make learning an enjoyable journey foreveryone.

Alltheworld’sastage.Whenyougetinfrontoftheroom,youdon’tjustpresent.Youputonashow!

Useful Resources FreeGraphicsEditor:https://pixlr.com/

SearchforFreeGraphics:https://search.creativecommons.org/

http://www.freeimages.com/

BookonSlidesandPresentation:PresentationZen

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