Bad Powerpoint presentations can be found in every type of business and government. There are several very simple points that are well-accepted – in theory – to improve Powerpoint design and create outstanding sales presentations. In practice, though, people don’t seem to be able to adhere to them. That has a major negative effect on the outcomes. A meeting that could have captivated and enthused an audience instead leaves them bored thanks to a convoluted, amateurish or nonsensical slideshow. A sales bid that could have resulted in a desirable contract is dead in the water. Reputations are eroded; bosses who are skilled at speaking lose their listeners.

It’s no wonder that firms are turning to professional outfits to put together their presentations, complete with Powerpoint slides: these people are skilled at creating an overarching narrative in which your Powerpoint presentation complements the spoken material – not distracts from it or undermines it. They will also train your employees to do it themselves, if you prefer.

If you are putting together your own slides, bear in mind a few basic points. Keep things simple. You’re not looking to duplicate on the screen what the audience is hearing from the front. Summarise information in short, pre-digested chunks – bullet points are good for this. Don’t be tempted by some of the flashier effects Powerpoint offers: it’s all too easy to try them, thanks to the software’s relative simplicity, but in practice they hardly add value. They just end up as a distraction.  And don’t just limit the amount of information on any particular slide: limit the number of slides too. If your presentation is so complicated that it needs a long series of slides to make it clear, something is awry anyway. You can’t expect your audience to leave with the total content of your talk in their heads. What you do want is for them to take away a  handful of clear, meaningful points. That’s far more effective than overloading them.

Effective Powerpoint design is about deciding what to show visually. Many sales presentations overlook this and do not distinguish between information that is communicated aurally and visually. Powerpoint presentations are very well suited to simple, graphical communication – even if those visuals conceal a wealth of complex detail, as in the case of graphs and charts. They are not suited to large volumes of text. Short captions and summaries are fine, but don’t believe your audience will take in much more from the screen.

Please visit http://www.eyefulpresentations.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.eyefulpresentations.co.uk/

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Powerpoint presentations are a very common way to support your verbal presentation and, when employed properly, can provide an excellent boost to your audience’s engagement with the material. Sales presentations can be dry at the best of times, but competent powerpoint design can provide extra details, attract the attention of listeners in danger of tuning out, and provide a crucial second strand of information. Consequently, this is one skill it’s worth learning – or buying in from an external firm if you don’t have the confidence to do it well in-house.

The reason Powerpoint and other visual presentations are so important is that some people simply do not respond well to the spoken word. Each of us processes a presentation in our own unique way and, for one reason or another, we may not take on board much of the information in a talk. There is a principle that some people are auditory learners – they engage well with the spoken word – whereas others are visual (and others kinaesthetic – that is, they respond to doing, rather than seeing or hearing). Of course, each of us is a mixture of these modes rather than embodying one alone. However, the truth remains that a large proportion of us may not digest well information that is delivered orally. Backing up a spoken-word presentation with a visual one caters to these people.

Therein lies one potential risk of Powerpoint, however. It is all too easy to duplicate content on the screen – in the worst cases, simply repeating the spoken presentation verbatim with a set of slides. This is both distracting to the audience and insulting to their intelligence. A better strategy is to complement, not copy. A picture speaks a thousand words, and graphs and photos can supply helpful background information that cannot concisely be given by the speaker. Moreover, information presented this way is far more accessible than written words, in that it is far richer in content.

Powerpoint design can therefore add a great deal to your sales presentations and other events. The catch is to do it properly, since bad powerpoint design will actually detract from your delivery, rather than just not contributing very much. Dedicated companies offer training in how to put together a convincing slideshow – one that will engage your audience and complement your speech. Alternatively, you can simply outsource this aspect of your presentation and get an expert to put it together for you.

Please visit http://www.eyefulpresentations.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.eyefulpresentations.co.uk/

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