When preparing for your PowerPoint presentation to do you feel like Steve Jobs?

“People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.” -Steve Jobs From Walter Isaacson’s book Steve Jobs

But then the unthinkable happens…

!!!

What happened to your inspiring presentation? Possible diagnosis… • Audience was tired • Audience was too

immature to understand your awesomeness

• Audience was simultaneously hypnotized

• Audience drank the Kool-Aid…

In reality…

None of the above.

You just really suck at PowerPoint!

This isn’t the end though…

You can still save your presentation with these three tips.

The Good:

Tell A Story

1

Nancy Duarte, a well known writer and presentation guru, found that “the most effective presenters use the same techniques as great story tellers.”

“By reminding people of the status quo and then revealing the path to a better way, they set up a conflict that needs to be resolved. That tension helps them persuade the audience to adopt a new mindset or behave differently — to move from what is to what could be. And by following Aristotle’s three-part story structure (beginning, middle, end), they create a message that’s easy to digest, remember, and retell.” –Nancy Duarte

Life as we

know it

What life

could be

Grab their attention by showing you know where they’re at in life, or the situation.

Then knock them out of their complacency by introducing your vision or point of what could be

2. Develop the Middle

Now that you have their attention keep developing the contrast between what is and what could be.

The Bad:

TMI:

Too Much Information

2

YOU’RE NOT GIVING A DOCUMENT.

YOU’RE GIVING A PRESENTATION

If your audience is reading what you’re saying, then what’s the point of you being there?

A good trick is to keep it to

one

main point per slide.

AAABBBCCCDDDEEEFFFGGGHHHIIIJJJKKKLLLMMMNNNOOOPPPQQQRRRSSSTTTUUUVVVWWWXXXYYYZZZ111222333444555666777888999<<<>>>???:::”””{{{}}}+++|||///;;;’’’[[[]]]\\\===

The Ugly:

Visual Vomit

3

Whitespace is a good thing

Pay ATTENTION

to your spacing and alignment.

Always keep things neat and tidy.

Having a consistent use of color, images, and alignment gives a cohesive look to your presentation. It also helps to separate your presentation into recognizable sections.

One more thing Always stick to a

color theme.

Now just to reiterate

The Good: Tell a Story

The Bad: Too Much Information

The Ugly: Visual Vomit

Incorporate these tips and you avoid death by PowerPoint!

Now create a PowerPoint presentation that doesn’t suck.

Go knock it outta the park!

Thanks for reading this presentation

Website references: • Pictures from:

• Creativecommons.com • Istockphotos.com • Flickr.com

• Info from: • Nancy Duarte

• “Structure your presentation like a story”, HBR blog, 2012

• Jesse Desjardins • “Steal this Presentation”,

slideshare.net, 2010