For many people, just thinking about having to give a presentation is hair-raising… and that’s before they’ve even considered having to put together the content. Here are some tips to help you create an effective and memorable (for the right reasons) presentation in 2021! **Hint, as long as you are comfortable with your subject matter, actually creating the slide content is going to be a piece of cake!
One of the biggest mistakes made in presentation content is trying to put everything you want to say ON the slide… (and no, bullet points won’t make it better in a case of content overload). The above-mentioned Seth Godin is famous for stating a slide should never have more than 6 words on it. While I’m not THAT stringent about keeping words off of slides, trust my nearly 20 years of graphic design experience when I tell you, less really IS more. The fewer the words on the page, the more likely your audience will both read, and retain the info.
In presentation design, a picture really does present a thousand words. Use images that are of good quality and convey the emotion or concept you want your slide to represent to your audience.
Each slide should be attention-grabbing and get your main point across, but the words should be coming out of your lips, not your slide. You want the slide to highlight your point, but you want your audience’s attention on you and what you are sharing. This visual highlight will help make what you say more memorable.
Again, don’t fill your slide with text, or unrelated info, or anything that requires concentrated effort to understand. You want your audience listening to you and not spending the presentation reading while you’re speaking, and consequently, both ignoring you, and not retaining what they read due to their distracted state.
Steve Jobs has become synonymous with the effective presentation. Notice his slides say almost nothing, but build drama and draw your attention to what he would say next. Apple does an amazing job of using strong graphics and minimal wording to appeal to their customers’ emotions.
Let your audience know right up front that there is no need for them to take notes during your presentation, as you have a sign up sheet and after the presentation you will send the presentation slides and notes to anyone who would like a copy. You can also start with a slide that gives your email information to allow them to contact you for the slide. Suggest they take a photo or send a text from their phones right before you begin so they can put their devices away and be fully involved in taking this journey on your topic, with you.
Bonus – this will also allow you to build your email list, should that be of value in your business.
If your information is so detailed that you’re filling slides with text you can’t possibly delete, you might be better off writing a report and sending an email. If your presentation is a MUST, why not write the detailed report and share that with your audience after you give a highly engaging presentation on your topic that does not included bulleted slides of doom!
While your first slide may technically be your name, topic, and date, your first slide of content could be an interesting quote that highlights your subject matter and puts your audience in the frame of mind of your topic, For instance, rather than launching into your talk on why your garbage cans are the best, why note start with a quote by an expert:
Now that you’ve got your content together, make the most of your time and budget and hire a presentation designer to help you make your slides look professional and brand-appropriate. Could you format the presentation yourself? Sure you could, but unless you have an education in design, and are very comfortable working in PowerPoint or other design software, you’ll likely spend many hours and have a less impressive end result. When you look at the cost of doing it yourself, you’re very likely to come up much higher than it will cost you to have a professional take care of it for you.
