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5 Steps to Prevent Death By PowerPoint
1. Number of slides
If you are making a Sales Presentation, I’d limit yourself to six slides. If you can’t sell yourself in six slides then you’ll never be able to sell yourself. Most sales books will tell you, that you’ve got about 5 minutes max to get a client’s attention.
After the six slides you might then want to get into individual benefits or product slides at the client’s request. Use PowerPoint Hyperlinks to get you from one part of the presentation to the next.
2. The Text
How Much Text?
The short answer is as little as possible…Generally if somebody can read the PowerPoint and understand the presentation without any further help, then it’s too much text. Many trainers talk of the use of slogans, but to define that a little more:
Should you reveal line by line or all at once… Well there’s a big debate and my view is that if you have a big surprise in the text then don’t show your hand! Otherwise I’d show all points it gives both the presenter and audience an indication of the flow of the presentation.
3. Graphics
In simple terms, if you’re going to talk about the diagram in your presentation then its an asset, if it’s just there to make your slide pretty then its a liability. An old boss of mine used to say that every presentation needs to have one killer-image that people will remember. Even if that image takes you longer than the rest of the presentation it is time well spent.
Designing Graphics
The ideal graphic is one specifically made for the presentation by a professional. Failing that consider the following options:
4. Multimedia Content
Generally speaking I try to avoid multimedia content and unless you are highly technically adept, I’d advise against using any kind of sound or videos in your presentation. Be aware of the following pitfalls:
Linked files do not transfer well from one PC to another. The best method to make presentations portable is to use the package for CD option.
5. Front Page
In many cases the front slide will be shown before your presentation and this is a great opportunity to get the audience excited about what you are going to say, make sure your frontpage has:
The name of the presentation clearly displayed
You have now designed some wonderful slide, so now all you have to do is speak about them!
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Source by James Abela
