Do you have to prepare presentations, internally or externally perhaps? The chances are that you will be using Microsoft PowerPoint to design it. Technology is neither good nor bad, but how it is used can be and that's the case with PowerPoint. In my opinion, since PowerPoint became a leading Microsoft Office product over a decade ago, the standard of presentation skills in business has deteriorated drastically. In many cases people preparing presentations often fall into the trap of using PowerPoint to provide their script. The result? Too many slides with too much detail; what we call in the trade ‘Death by PowerPoint'.

PowerPoint doesn't communicate you do! In this edition of Flourish, I am going to cover some useful tips for creating an outstanding presentation without depending on PowerPoint. And if you want to learn more, why not book on our one-day Presentation Skills workshop on the 24^th September? Come and find out how to deliver an excellent presentation using your own communication skills, and not your skills in custom-animating slides! Read on for more details or contact me on annette.handford@hja-consulting.com.

Best wishes,

Annette

Be Clear about the Purpose of your Presentation

This is where most presentations fail. Without a clear message, your speech can ramble and lose its way. Whether selling a business idea internally or externally, you need to consider your presentation from an audience point of view:

• Why is the audience here?
• What do they want from you?
• How do you want them to react?

Try defining the message in a single sentence to provide your presentation with direction so that the audience can see where they are going and what they are going to get out of it. This will form the basis of your introduction – something to grab their attention; to get people to sit up and think 'I want to listen to this'.

What Material do You Include?

There's an old adage that I always find useful when designing a presentation: ‘tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you have told them'. So it is good to start with planning the key points of your presentation. I recommend no more than three or four main points.

The audience can read articles and books, so there is no point in a speaker repeating what they have read. What the audience is likely to be looking for is your experience and illustrations.

To plan your material, consider all the points that you could make on the subject (in a mini ‘brainstorming' session perhaps). Then list the content that you simply must include i.e. your key points, followed by material to illustrate these points and then dismiss the rest as padding. I find our Presentation Planner to be a really useful document to use as a framework for designing a presentation. If you would like a copy, please click here to download it from the Resources page of my website.

Once you have your introduction and the main body, it's time to end your presentation and preferably not with a whimper – “er, that's it then” but more with a bang! You need to prepare an uplifting conclusion e.g. a call to action or the way forward.

Building a Sound Structure

Now we're back to those visual aids. One of my recommendations is that you keep the PowerPoint out of the way until your presentation is written and then add slides only if you need them or if they will help. Remember – visual aids need to be visual! So here are some key points to consider when preparing slides to support your presentation material:

• Use bullet points but keep them to a maximum of five per slide
• Don't import spreadsheets or documents – people won't be able to read them (documents are designed to be read whereas PowerPoint is designed to be seen)
• A picture paints a thousand words – try it;
• The sight test – your font size should not be less than 20 points
• Don't over animate – with PowerPoint less is always more (I have known people to marvel at the graphics and take no notice of the content).

What Can You do Next

In this edition, we have covered the key elements of creating an outstanding presentation. Watch out for future editions in which I will move on to explain how to deliver an excellent presentation. If you can't wait that long, why not book on to our Presentation Skills workshop on the 24^th September 2008 at the Sudbury House Hotel in Faringdon, Oxfordshire? The fee is £180 + VAT for one person; £300 + VAT for two and includes all refreshments, lunch and a handout pack.

Please email me for a workshop outline and/or to reserve your place (only 3 places left at time of going to print). Email annette.handford@hja-consulting.com. Remember, you will learn how to deliver an effective presentation by falling back on the best visual aid that there is: yourself!