Your boss just told you have to give a presentation next week in front of a client or your superiors and your first thought is running far far away just like the penguin here.

And yet, you know that the ability or talent to create and deliver a great corporate presentation is a very powerful tool in business and in life – the power of convincing, just like Don Draper from Mad Men.

Creating or presenting – both sometimes seem like daunting task, however we at Design My Slides, offer Powerpoint Design services and here are some tips that can help you care your corporate powerpoint presentation design.

 

 

1. You are presenting for the audience, not for yourself

What do all public speakers have in common? It’s not a powerpoint, although as much as visual aid helps – its simply their ability to keep their viewers engaged and captivated.

And what’s the secret behind it?
Only present what your audience wants to know.

As Roosevelt once said: “To persuade an audience find out what they believe in and then tell them they’re right.” The presentation is all about the audience, understand what they want to hear and tell them your point of view on it and why it should matter to them.

Pro Tip:
To figure out the above, simply picture yourself in the audience and try and understand why they are there and you will have your answers.

 

2. Know your audience – and create a custom fit. One size doesn’t fit all.  

To do this one simply needs to research the audience being presented to. A good idea of the people you are presenting to – demographic, professional backgrounds or even if you can know their individual names. What this will with is preparing content for your corporate presentation that is custom made for them.

This research will help you address the key issues they are facing and understand it from their perspective.

Pro Tip:
Once you know the names or the kind of audience or the organisation they belong to – try Googling their publicly available data to understand how they thing.

 

3. Just like a 100m sprint – they start matters

The starting is sometimes what can make or break your presentation. If the start is good it instantly pulls your audience in – be it the design of your powerpoint or be it your opening statement supported by visuals. Few things you can try:

1. Try telling a story: Try starting with a story, possibly with a human theme. Storytelling is something that always wakes people up.
2. An Analogy – Draw a comparison to something current, something interesting to describe an abstract idea – give it life and your presentation will be off to a good start. For example, I once gave a presentation to college students about life post Uni – I compared it to an F1 pitstop where everything is about speed, motivation, competitiveness, future etc.

Often people try starting presentations with quotes, but that’s something we would advise against. Quotes are done to death and not something that should be used in modern day corporate powerpoint presentations.

4. Structure, structure, structure – first thing to do when creating your presentation

We always believe in these this simple rule for presentations –

1. Tell them what you’re about to tell them
2. Tell them
3. Tell them what you just told them.

The complete presentation should have well defined structure that you show your audience in the very beginning – whether its breadcrumbs or simply a single slide that talks about what you will cover in the presentation.

Few tips to follow:

Keep it sequential / chronological
Look at the past, present and the future and frame your content accordingly. Also remember to have a binding factor leading on the next section from the previous section.

Challenges and its recommendations
Highlight the key challenges or issues you will address in the presentation and show your audience how you will solve the challenges.

Visual Cues
You’ve probably read this before – keep it as visual with less text. The minimal the better.

You could also follow Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule of Powerpoint

1. 10 slides are the optimal number to use for a presentation.
2. 20 minutes is the longest amount of time you should speak.
3. 30 point font is the smallest font size you should use on your slides.
   

 

5. Finally, a good Powerpoint presentation.

The first thing to point out is that a Powerpoint is only for support  and doesn’t replace your presentation skills. It’s a very powerful communications tool and should be used for the betterment of your presentation but unfortunately bad powerpoint presentations have become a world standard now. Now you might be thinking how do you create an impactful presentation – read this link on how to. But here are some tips at a high level:

Interesting thought provoking imagery, minimal use of text and inclusion of videos where possibly if only useful. As mentioned earlier it should only be used for support and not replacing your voice.

Let’s take an analogy of a new channel or news anchors – they show big words and numbers and then do the speaking.

To sum it up, your presentation is not a document but its a performance. Get in touch with us for more pro tips on creating your powerpoint presentation and ace how you present it.