Has Presentation Design Passed You By?

Presentation design has changed a lot over the past few years. We think it's important that businesses stay updated about new trends and developments pertaining to the topic. Here's one that's sure to have affected many businesses.

Every few years, Microsoft Office rolls out a new update or version of Office. Sometimes the changes are minor and sometimes they're extreme. They often deal with the layout and usability of Office programs.

PowerPoint has probably changed more than any other Microsoft Office program. It all really depends on which version you're upgrading to and which version you're leaving. If there are a few updates in between, the transition will likely be more difficult. 

Remember all the commotion that the end support of Windows XP caused? A lot of those businesses who never upgraded from XP were probably still working with Microsoft Office 2003. The 2003 programs were fine, but they had a much different layout in comparison to the new ones. 

A recent Business Management Daily article describes the transition from older vision of Microsoft Office to newer versions. The article suggests that businesses inform themselves about the new programs before they actually use them:

"If you missed transitioning through Office 2007 or Office 2010, Office 2013 may be a culture shock. Before embarking on PowerPoint particulars, it’s best to become familiar with the new geography and vernacular of all your Office 2013 applications, namely: tab, group, and button."

Presentation design is different on PowerPoint 2013 than it was on PowerPoint 2003. Especially when users are actually creating and editing the presentation. 

It's important that businesses learn about the new versions of office before significant presentations or meetings. The last thing they want is a malfunction due to a different feature or new keyboard shortcut. 

If you would like to talk to us about presentation design, contact us today. Thanks.

Creating a Winning Presentation Design

No one wants to sit through a boring presentation. End of story. A presentation that loses its audience by including wordy slides, lengthy lists, or too many statistics can easily miss the mark. The key to creating a winning presentation design is to get the audience excited about the topic or product, share your passion, and be involved. The way you do that isn’t hard, it just requires you to remember some important points when designing it. By keeping these points in mind, you can design a presentation that knocks their socks off.

Start on paper - While your first impulse may be to jump right in and start creating the presentation in PowerPoint or other presentation program, stop yourself. This can lock you into their design and their templates. Instead, get out your sticky notes and start there. Create a sticky note for each point you want to make and stick them onto a sheet of paper in the order you want. It’s common to reorder, add, or throw away ideas in this phase. But getting it right before you start can help you visualize the presentation and create a good flow.

One idea per slide - You may want to share every statistic you know about an item, or try to cram several thoughts in at once. But the key to a good presentation is having your audience remember what they hear and see. Pick a fact or statistic that is dramatic, big, or important and focus on that. Nail each slide with something important and the audience will remember it.

Use awesome graphics - Too flashy, too plain, too small, too big. Much like Goldilocks, you have to find the right graphic for each slide. Simple, uncluttered images work best. But don’t be afraid to use humor either. A simple comic that makes a point can be a winning point. One effective tool when choosing graphics that ties a good presentation together is to select a theme and stick to it for the whole presentation.

Tell a story - The same lessons you learned about writing a story in English class can apply to creating a great presentation. Make sure that the slides, the speech, the flow, all come together to tell a clear story. Including elements such as conflict and humor can add to audience engagement and involvement.

Provide a payoff - People are generally egocentric. They care about themselves and their lives. One of the biggest ways a presentation succeeds is by showing the audience how the product will help them make their lives better. People who can see themselves using the product will buy it. If they don’t see that payoff or benefit, the presentation will not have done its job.

Having a product you believe in and sharing it in the presentation isn’t enough. It is essential to create a presentation that engages and helps the audience feel the same way about the product. Following these key points can help you achieve that goal. A well designed presentation will have people asking question, talking about your product, and sharing it with others. For more information on how you can create winning presentation designs, as well as other marketing tools, contact us. We specialize in help you with all your marketing needs.

5 Tips to Create an Engaging PowerPoint Presentation

Sitting through a boring PowerPoint presentation is agony. Any business presentation is meant to inform, motivate and deliver some kind of call to action. Here are some things you can do to make your next PowerPoint presentation a bit more engaging.

• Use it as a tool - Don't forget PowerPoint is a tool for making visual presentations. It is not a place just to dump your data or a word processing program. As you prepare your slides, think of yourself as a presenter not a writer. A presenter mind set give your presentation a more natural flow, and make you someone the audience wants to engage with.
• Keep it simple - An unfettered look works best for your presentation. While this is clearly a generalization, using simple, but powerful messages and images is usually a good way to stir emotion. And despite what people like to think, emotion is what spurs people to act.
• Don't tell, show - This old adage is especially true when it comes to presentations. Talking on and on is a great way to lose your crowd. It is true that "a picture is worth a thousand words.” Whenever possible, use images to deliver your message. Your autience wants to "see" your talk, not read it.
• Surprise them - Does it seem like someone wrote a template and everyone follows it when give a business presentation? To stand out and really engage your meeting, do the unexpected. Surprise your audience. Challenge the beliefs. Tell stories to keep them engaged. Create a little mystery in your stories, and watch as people pay close attention to see how the mystery gets resolved.
• Don't read it - The constant drone of someone reading their presentation will have their entire gathering nodding and bobbing. Talks like this are torture for an audience to sit through. Learn your messages, practice beforehand, and you’ll deliver a talk that people want to hear. Make eye contact with your audience. Vary your speech and voice patters. You want to sound normal and natural.

Make It Fun

Using these PowerPoint presentation tips should help you deliver a fun and engaging talk. Keep your audience paying attention to what you are saying by being as natural as you can be. They surely don't want to sit through another boring PowerPoint presentation. Be engaging and your audience will be engaged!

photo credit: Kris Krug via photopin cc