10 Steps to creating PowerPoint Presentations that Rock the House
Introduction We all use them, we all know the importance of them, and we even dread them PowerPoint presentations. The interesting thing is, we all know how important PowerPoint presentations are, whether they are internal or external. The biggest business decisions are based around PowerPoint presentations. Whether it s a new pitch to your sales team, new changes in company structure or a sales pitch to a client, these presentations are the foundations on which decisions are based. Yet, we all dread any meeting that includes them? Not only that, we don t focus enough attention into ensuring that our PowerPoint presentations are as impactful as they should be? This guide provides 10 steps to creating a PowerPoint presentation that literally rocks the house. Use this guide and your next PowerPoint Presentation will be impactful, thought-provoking and influential. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 2
Step 1: Know your audience Before you even get started on any content, slides or ideas, ask yourself, do you really know your audience? While you may know what you want to put into your slide, you need to consider who you are talking to beforehand. Your audience dictates what ideas you present, how you present to them and what problems you may need to solve. Keep the following in mind when creating a profile on your audience. Who are they? Why are they here? What problem do they have that needs to be solved? What action do you want them to take? How might they resist this action? Knowing your audience will ensure that you are getting the right message towards the right people.?? 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 3
Step 2: Facts alone fall short While you may think that facts make up the most influential part of your presentation, you may be wrong. Presenting facts shows your audience what s going on... but it doesn t particularly show how it affects them, directly. You need to have an emotional connection with your audience. The way in which you lay your facts out on the table, should have some form of emotional connection to your audience. They need to understand how it impacts them, and why they should care. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 4
Step 3: Burst the ego While you may think that you need to come across to your audience as the hero, you really don t. While you may think that you need to come across to your audience as the hero, you really don t. If you try to be the hero who knows everything, the guy who s come to save the day... chances are your audience will just think that you re overly egotistic and full of hot air. What you do need to keep in mind, is that the real hero is your audience. They re the ones who are going to save the day, with your solution. You just need to guide them as to how. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 5
Step 4: Forget the slides Yes, I know we re talking about PowerPoint presentations, and yes PowerPoint is made up of slides. But, PowerPoint is a TOOL for presentations; it s not the actual presentation. That might come as quite a shock. Regardless, while the amount of slides you use in your presentation does hold some importance, it s not the be all and end all of your pitch. You need to make sure you know what idea you want to get across to your audience. The best way to pan out your ideas is to sketch them out. Take a piece of paper and begin sketching your ideas in rough. Put them onto paper as they come into your mind, in no particular order. Once you have all of your ideas on paper, begin to fine tune them. Reorganise them to put them in some sort of order of relevance and importance until you can begin to see the story. Yes, your presentation needs to play out a story of ideas. A story that s going to create an emotional connection with your audience, and eventually lead X them to a point where you can guide them in the direction that you want. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 6
Step 5: Displaying Data When it comes to displaying data, facts and statistics, PowerPoint presentations can become tricky. These sections of presentations can leave your audience asleep in their seats. Remember what we discussed in Step 2? Facts alone fall short! You ll need to put a lot of thought into how you display data in your PowerPoint presentation. You cannot simply splash data into graphs and pie charts your audience is already yawning. You need to ensure that you pick the right tool to display the data. You need to highlight the important facts so that they stand out to your audience and please get to the point, as quickly as possible. Keep your data display simple and make sure that you know your facts and display on true facts your audience might look these up at a later stage. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 7
Step 6: Visual Design When it comes to displaying data, facts and statistics, PowerPoint presentations can become tricky. A PowerPoint presentation itself is 90% visual, 10% content. The reason for this is, your audience doesn t want to sit and read slides you may as well give them a printed document in that case. Your presentation is a tool to assist you in getting your ideas across to your audience, the content in that presentation is a visual reinforcement of the message you are conveying. When it comes to the design of your presentation, you need to think like a designer. Don t just put any odd image on your slide because it looks nice. Everything in your presentation must serve a purpose, have intention. Your imagery and design needs to support the message and ideas you are trying to get across to your audience and work well together. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 8
Step 7: Content Slides Okay, now that we ve gone through some of the important factors that lead up to the content that your slides should contain, we can run over content. As mentioned in Step 6, your slides should not contain too much content. The rule of thumb is no more than 75 words per slide, but that s already too much. The reason that you have content in your slide is to serve as a visual reinforcement for your audience of the message you are conveying to your audience. Keep it short, simple and impactful. Think bullet points, keywords and important figures. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 9
Step 8: Interaction This part comes once you have completed your presentation and you re ready to present to your audience. The most important thing you need to remember here is that, your audience is human. You need to be able to connect with your audience on a human level and engage them, through your message, communication and visual presentation. You need to interact with your audience where you request, and then use feedback from them to guide your presentation in answering their questions and navigating through your story, to the ultimate direction you want your audience to follow. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 10
Step 9: Presentation length Yes, we all know that you have a lot to say, a lot of facts to get across and in-depth story can be told in 5 minutes. But, you also need to keep in mind that there is only a certain amount of time that you are going to be able to successfully connect with your audience. People get bored quickly, even if you are engaging in an intense conversation with your audience, they will eventually get bored if you go on for too long. The general rule of thumb for PowerPoint presentation duration is 20 minutes. Try keep in mind when creating your presentation that you should be able to tell your story close within this period. The benefits of this timeframe are that your audience won t get bored during this time, which means that you will have effectively engaged them for your entire presentation increasing the chances of impact and persuasion. You will also have ample time after your presentation for questions and active discussion. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 11
Step 10: Closing Make sure that your presentation has provided a message that your audience will always remember, and make sure that you provide the right amount of focus on your closing. This is the last chance you have to get your audience to reach a consensus, or the last impression on a customer before closing a deal. Make sure that you know what action you want your audience to take. Your entire presentation will have been leading up to this point. Once you have delivered your story, you need to direct your audience in the right direction. This is where your call to action comes in make sure that it is decisive and leverages on the story you have just told. It must be relevant and provide your audience with the next step that they need to take. 2014 HolyCow Design CC. All rights Reserved. 12
About HolyCow Established in 2003, HolyCow is an integrated agency combining traditional creative with online services. We have one aim: to help our clients grow their business. We do this by delivering the right message, through the right channels, to the right people at the right time. And then measuring those results. Technology has changed the way customers interact with brands and make buying decisions. To get your company in front of buyers who are ready and eager to engage, you need a new breed of marketing agency. One that is more agile, bold and tech savvy than ever before. And one that produces results that impact the bottom line. Contact HolyCow +27 11 447 2318 info@holycow.co.za www.holycow.co.za 59 12th Avenue, Parktown North 2193 Johannesburg, South Africa
Table of contents Contents: Introduction... Page 02 Step 01: Know your audience... Page 03 Step 02: Facts alone fall short... Page 04 Step 03: Burst the ego... Page 05 Step 04: Forget the slides... Page 06 Step 05: Displaying Data... Page 07 Step 06: Visual Design... Page 08 Step 07: Content Slides... Page 09 Step 08: Interaction... Page 10 Step 09: Presentation Length... Page 11 Step 10: Closing... Page 12 About Holycow... Page 13