Wednesday, March 26, 2008

How to make a killer power point presentation

You need a killer PowerPoint Presentation (PPT).
You want to impress your audience.
You have to say a lot, so you build slide after slide after slide…..
Then you present it, and find out that time is running out. So you skip the last couple of slides, and those of less importance. Your audience is getting antsy.
Sounds familiar?
If the above ever happened to you, join the club!

As with most collateral, the best way is to keep it short, simple and sharp.
Before even starting, find out what your time slot is. You need at least a minute per slide – if your speaker slot is 20 minutes, don’t build a 40-slide presentation!
For in-house presentations, 10-15 slides are optimal, since the average attention span of your audience doesn’t exceed 45 minutes, Q&A included.
Take into account that some will quite likely come late or leave early.

Make sure that you use a clear and large font and don’t put too many information on each slide. Who has the patience to read 20 bullet points?

Only use animation when it makes sense – like showing a flow of information or distribution pattern. Don’t use it to be “cute” – the time of jumping animation characters is passé.

Be careful with humor; depending on your audience, an off-colored joke or political reference can mean professional suicide (in worse-case scenario, you could even be liable).

Make sure your presentation is “lawyer-proof”, especially if you are a public company.
Don’t use trademarks, logos or customer references without permission!

What does an average business presentation consists of?
  1. Introduction
  2. Problem/market challenge
  3. The company’s answer /business solution
  4. Company overview (management, offices)
  5. Product/technology overview
  6. Market overview (the whole market + the company’s market share)
  7. Company’s marketing and sales (history, current, projected)
  8. Competition and market threats (legislation, tax)
  9. References (customers, analysis quotes)
  10. Summary and call to action
Last but not least: ask before you start presenting that all mobiles, blackberries, sidekicks and laptops are closed......I know it's wishful thinking, but still worth the try!

Success with your presentation - wow them!

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