Preparing a presentation may sound really basic but what stands out in a whole lot of presentations are the ones that are effective. Making a presentation effective is not rocket science and yet not as simple as you think. There are a few simple tips that you need to keep in mind while preparing the presentation. Stated below are a few crucial checkpoints that you don’t want to overlook while creating a presentation of impact. Each point focuses on the different dimensions and describes why and how of the factors that influence the success of your presentation. Also, before digging into these tips, it is important that you have the right equipment setup to get you started. Getting yourself equipped with a reliable public address system will ensure that you’ll effectively deliver your presentation.
Cater to Audience Needs:
The very own purpose of a presentation is to be able to communicate the content to the audience in a manner that is best suited for all. While you cannot connect to each individual’s needs separately, what you can do is make sure that the content of your presentation is understood by each one in the audience. Avoid using jargon. You might end up showing off too much and beat the whole purpose of your presentation.
Focus on Key Takeaways:
No one can maintain the same audience’s attention throughout the presentation. However, making sure to highlight the key takeaways from the presentation might help you put your point across the team in an effective manner. This can be done by making bullet points to draw the audience’s focus on it and spare them the unnecessary efforts to figure out the key points in your presentation.
10-20-30 Rule:
No matter the content or the audience, the rule is all-pervasive. If you abide by the 10-20-30 rule, you’re halfway there to make the positive impact that you’re seeking. It states the ideal combination of words, slides, and font of a presentation. The 10-20-30 rule simply states that one should never include more than 10 slides in a presentation, it shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes long & the font that you’re using must not be less than 30 size. This way your audience will not get bored.
Pick the Right Theme:
There are N no. of themes available in the market. But what suits your content, is the question! Google Slides themes can help you choose the best theme for your office meeting or even for other business and creative purposes. It has easy to edit graphics, 100% editability, option to customize your slide, fonts, colors, maps, mockups, and much more. Use this at par to enhance the credibility of your presentation for your audience.
Plain Reading:
Resist the temptation to read the plain text. The content in the presentation is for the reference of the presenter and the audience is not expecting you to read it for them. This is the time where you can utilize to engage with the audience and communicate to them what you’ve not been able to include in your presentation. Because you cannot overload your presentation with unnecessary text. So make the best possible use of the time you’ve got.
Effective Speaking:
No doubt that your presentations talk volumes. But it is nothing without you being able to take your audience through it. Your words and physical gestures go a long way in defining the success of your presentation. Show your passion for the content that you’re delivering and it would show in your words and actions. The sync between your content and your delivering ability will be your secret to an effective presentation.
Avoid Transitions and Sounds Effects:
Keep your content simple and crisp. Any extra time spent on choosing the transitions and sound effects will be a waste of your efforts. It is a lose-lose situation, where you invest extra time and lose the audience’s attention as well. It will have an opposite impact as you will end up confusing and distracting your audience from the main motive of the presentation. Be wise enough to keep it as simple as possible.
Have a Backup – Plan B:
Always have a plan B as a backup. While dealing with technology, you cannot rule out the possibility of your system malfunctioning or incompatibility issues. In such cases, it is advised that you have a plan B in action. Otherwise, your all efforts will go in vain. Being well versed with the technology that you are using and being thorough with the content that you’re delivering will help you give an upper hand in this matter.
Do Your Homework:
When you prepare for a certain topic, research well before incorporating it in your presentation. There should not be any evidence of misleading facts that might ruin your presentation later on. Also, be prepared for any questions that you may encounter from the audience. It isn’t expected that you will know each and everything. But coming up with something satisfactory to answer will work in your favor.
Use of Pictures:
While using pictures in your presentation be very cautious. Using pictures of substandard quality is a big no-no. Whatever you are adding to your presentation should be capable of being understood by your audience. If that’s not the case it is completely redundant. Using no picture instead of the low-quality picture will still be good. Compliment your message with good quality images as far as possible. Use google slide themes as an example of how to equip your content with pictures in the right way.
Well, the list can still keep going as there’s no definitive answer to ace something that involves continuous improvements. Like the tips for effective presentation as stated here. But what we can do is have a fair idea of what we are dealing with and what are the standard expectations from the audience. Everything mentioned above has been gathered through the first-hand experience of the industry level experts. So work your way through it and you shall get the desired results.
