You’ve agreed to present at the next company town hall. It’s a fairly large group and you’re prepared to give an uplifting speech for 30 minutes.
A couple thoughts come immediately to mind. How will you keep everyone’s interest for 30 minutes and deliver visibly interesting content? That’s where presentation software comes in handy.
Create an effective slide deck — six tips
Good presenters recognize their audience and deliver relevant content. Presentation software is one way to enhance that presentation and ensure it complements what they say.
- What you put on your presentation slides should complement your presentation not be your presentation! You want to keep the audience’s attention on you and the messages you deliver.
- Less is more. A good slide makes use of white space to enhance readability. Try to keep your bullets to no more than four — too many words will clutter your slide. And, remember, these are bullets and not full sentences.
- Illustrations or graphics should be easy to understand. It’s never good if your audience disengages to figure them out. Images/photos should relate to your topic.
- Stay professional. If you plan to use a cartoon to add humour, make sure it’s meaningful and enhances your presentation. Something coming out of left field will only confuse your audience.
- Be consistent throughout. Pick your font and the sizes you’ll use for your headings and body copy and stick to them throughout. It’s the best way to deliver a clean presentation that flows smoothly.
- Use animation sparingly, if at all. This can be a neat feature of some software programs, but it’s also very distracting if overused.
Using slides with your presentation can be very effective. But, don’t rely on your slides to get you through or they will quickly become a hinderance rather than an aid. Know your content, practice it well and deliver a strong presentation with vocal variety, facial expression and effective hand gestures. You got this!
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