POWER POINTERS

1. POWER POINTERS 10 TIPS FOR CREATING A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

2. PRESENTATION STRATEGY • Good for creating impact when presenting lackluster information • Deliver sales presentation, public relations plans, year-end reviews • When presenting to a large audience • Allows users the process of getting their thoughts down visually and refine those thoughts • “People are trying to include everything but the kitchen sink in one presentation. If used like this… will obscure your message;obstruct communication.”

3. Focus on content Keep slides simple Know your audience Keep graphics consistence Know your options Watch your movement Keep it short Provide handouts Use templates Prepare for everything 10 simple steps

4. Focus on content • spend time collecting and refining content • not on building slides • keep focused on content • bells and whistles will not make it fly • information must stand on its own • presentation drives home the points • only include information that supports… main message

5. Keep slides simple • show your key points, not your worldview • a title and no more than three bullet points (usually) • don’t write whole sentences • distill thoughts to key phrases • convert statistics, costs, percentages, numerical trends to charts and graphs • by being brief, audience will focus while you fill in the gaps with narrative

6. Know your audience • should be tailored to the audience • sales prospective treated differently than CEO • watch phrasing (tone) • is it professional or colloquial • use templates for quick minor adjustments

7. Keep graphics consistent • fewer words • a single descriptive graphic • consistent font style • no more than two (2) per page • stay with graphic style • use same colors, fonts, graphic scheme • don’t confuse, blur message

8. Know your options • single, plain template with bullets a common mistake • not using slide transitions another • alternate slides • dissolves add variety

9. Watch your movement • sounds, animation, videos can hurt presentation • too many bells and whistles comes across as trying to impress the boss and not enough time doing the job • animating with no clear purpose will distract or annoy the audience

10. Keep it short • having too many slides a common mistake • 20 minutes = about 15 slides • rehearse before presentation • time presentation

11. Provide handouts • good business • audience can revisit presentation

12. Use templates • can build from scratch • use templates, customize to your needs • saves time of combining artwork, colors, text • background-style template can lend credibility to presentation

13. Prepare for everything • start at least one week prior to presentation • maintain priorities if presentation done in hurry • make sure all of your technical ‘ducks’ are in a row

14. Wrap-up • Q&A period - • handouts – wait until the end of the presentation

15. Disaster recovery • Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong will • miss a slide – don’t go back, work it in verbally • presentation time is reduced, don’t speed up – stick to the basic elements of the show • stay in control of the audience

16. Resources • Power Pointer by Dan Costa Mobile Computing and Communications, November 2002