Sample slide: visually interesting, with large readable text, and no clutter. *Image source: iStockphoto.com
Quick Tips
- Never read your slides to the audience
- Use photos, not bullet lists
- Limit text to one phrase, sentence or quote per slide
- Share large amounts of data on handouts
- Use white text on a dark background
- Eliminate distracting logos, headers and footers
- Opt for large fonts
- Inject variety with video, cartoons, breakouts
- Involve the audience with questions & tasks
- Slow down and pause for effect
Ban the bullets!
Your average boardroom presentation is usually dominated by mind-numbing bullet points, complex graphs and absurdly tiny text. Not surprisingly, PowerPoint is loathed by many the world over.
But it remains a powerful and effective tool, when used the right way.
The easiest improvement you can make is to ban bullet point lists. People want to hear from you. They haven't come to read your slides.
Get visual
Replace those horrible lists with engaging images, preferably photos. Use each image to inspire the next passage of discussion. Where do you find decent images? Head to online stock agencies like iStockphoto.com to download affordable photos, graphics and video.
If you must use text, keep it to a minimum. Use large fonts like Arial 40. Try to avoid more than one sentence, phrase or quote on each slide. If you have graphic elements, identify them with a single word, not long phrases or sentences.
Focus on one idea per slide. If you have three graphs, they will look best on three individual slides.
Presenter View
Nervous presenters should resist the temptation to use slides as electronic cue cards. Keep your notes hidden from the audience. You can do this with one of PowerPoint's best kept secrets - Presenter View.
The Presenter View programme allows you to refer to notes on your laptop while they remain hidden from view on the main display. Other useful features include a timer, and the ability to see or skip upcoming slides.
SmartArt
For PowerPoint beginners, PowerPoint 2010 has a useful tool called SmartArt. This simple but powerful tool allows you to turn dull bullet lists into colourful graphics.
As you can see in the example below, you simply type in your list, choose a graphic layout, and PowerPoint does the rest. It's basic, and a little dull. But it is still better than a list.
Eliminate clutter
The late Steve Jobs appreciated the power of simplicity. His slides (below) were typically elegant and striking. The impact comes from using white text on a dark background, large photos, simple charts, no bullets and few words.
Don't distract your audience with unnecessary headers, footers and company logos. Only show what we need to know.
Fig1: Large photo, minimal text, white on dark background
Fig 2: Simple, easy to read chart with large text.
Fig 3: Simple graphic in contrasting colours. One slide - one message.
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