How many presentations have you sat through and though you'd loose the will to live. Slides can make or break your presentation, and using a standard out of the box powerpoint slides is a sure-fire way to lose your audience within seconds.
If your smart, powerpoint can be cool, but like me I'm sure you've seen some seriously epic fails when it comes to presentations
When your Manager asks "Email me your slides" it always makes me shudder, a miss mash of slides put together to try and resemble some sort of presentation, total disaster. To help with the Powerpoint problem, here are 11 tips to help you smash that powerpoint presentation...
Remember your Audience
Remember who your audience are and tailor your presentation to suit their needs and wants, don't use a standard off the shelf presentation - that just doesn't cut it!
Don't overuse Automation
Ok I agree Automation is cool and most presentation platforms offer this functionality, but just because its there doesn't mean you have to use it, be cool, be funky and use Automation on a few key points or an image.
The Presentation is there to assist you, not rule you
The room is here to listen to you, not read a presentation over your shoulder. Use the presentation as a tool to assist you, don't let the Powerpoint make you it's bitch.
Top Tip: Reading the Slides to your audience makes you sound like a Robot.
Give Gif a Go
Try out a GIF file or a Cinemagraph in your presentation, adding a little flare of movement can really enhance your slide.
Show your Ideas, not your Slides
How many slides? You don't need hundreds of slides, just a few simple key points to help you discuss your amazing ideas or products.
Times New Roman and Comic Sans are amateur
I'm not a fan of times new roman or comic sans, they are overused and look amateur. Use stylish and easy to read fonts, which work well together.
Light text on a dark background makeS your image pop!
Creating a slide with contrasting colours can have a very powerful effect, black and white always work well together, navy and bright yellow also pop.
Too Much Text Is Evil
Text, too much of it spoils a presentation, keep your slide to key points, you do the talking and you are on your way to a winning presentation.
Try a Little Video
Video is a very engaging medium and popping a video into your presentation is another great way to engage your audience and break up all that talking.
Images are Powerful
Images, a fantastic way of getting your point across, choose carefully though and don't fall into the pitfall of those dreaded cogs, arrows, stacked pebbles #Boring
