Presentation Zen
For the purpose of completism, here’s what I consider an excellent thinker on presentation slide construction.
The above hour is well worth a view for any level of presenter.
On his blog he offers a list of his main tips when crafting your projector pitch.
- Keep it simple
- Limit bullets & text
- Limit transitions & builds (animation)
- Use high-quality graphics
- Have a visual theme, but avoid using Powerpoint templates
- Use appropriate charts
- Use colour well
- Choose your fonts well
- Use video or audio
- Spend time in the slide sorter
There’s plenty of links there to more from the self-styled Presentation Zen, but this list is a great starting point for a newbie sales presenter. It also acts a timely checker for those longer in the tooth against their current standard slide set.
As a footnote, in my experience the most common feature of his foundations that I introduce to salespeople is demonstrated by the text and graphics of point 2. A singular photo of a cracking image works wonders. Use just a word or two on it if you have to.
As for the prez at the top, rather than repeat his wisdom, I would like to highlight two neat tricks for starters.
The ‘complete the sentence’ idea is a winner. He asked the audience to answer “simplicity means _____”, creating a conversation, before revealing the Charles Mingus answer (…the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means).
The ‘analogue planning’ ethos is also central to presentation success. Doing this will ensure you truly know your story and make everything fall into place way better than if not followed.