As much as we would like to get away from PowerPoint, it is still the number 1 presentation method used by most speakers and facilitators. However, now more than ever, you need to review the slides to make certain the message is right for your audience. You can no longer take for granted that presenter is the subject matter expert on effective PowerPoint presentations. You are. But you have so little time — how will you manage?
Take the next 5 minutes to read this blog for effective methods in evaluating PowerPoint. To save even more time, forward the entire post to your speakers and ask them to follow this advice. Here are the 6 most helpful tips:
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Use Large and Legible Fonts.
Ideally, when you run through the presenter's talk, go to the farthest corner of the room and see if you can see the message. According to Guy Kawasaki, Advisor at Motorola Mobility, the smallest font type used should be 30 point. However, if you think that is too large or too small, take the oldest person in the room and divide by 2. That is your font point.
In addition, use legible fonts like Arial, Times New Roman or Rockwell. Clean and crisp is the name of the game.
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Keep it Short.
Kawasaki recommends that the presentation be no longer than 20 minutes and many other presentation methods are shorter. Take for example, TED (18 minutes), PechaKucha (6 minutes and 20 seconds) and Ignite (5 minutes).
The point is a brief presentation keeps the speaker on point, focused and gives attendees plenty of time for questions.
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Follow the Rule of 10.
Kawasaki uses only 10 slides for any presentation. It doesn't matter what the topic is, this is the format he uses. Each slide contains a single image with one sentence or phrase.
In addition, his first slide identifies the problem, second slide the solution, and so on up to slide 10 which is the call to action.
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Show Them.
Attendees are visual learners. According to Price consulting firm, attendees will retain your speaker's message the following way:
55% visually (through photos or videos)
38% by what the speaker says and
7% by the text on the slide.
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Tell a Story.
Whether you or your speaker are conducting a product launching event, training seminar or sales meeting, you are trying to sell your attendees on an idea or concept. However, you need to connect to them both intellectually and emotionally. How do you do that? By telling them a story — that has a beginning, middle and end.
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Know the Attendees.
Make certain the speaker tailors their message to the attendees. If you rent iPads for your meeting, encourage the presenter to keep the line of communication open with Twitter. A speaker that can adapt to to the pulse of the audience is one that you want to have…not one who is delivering the same talk for the 200th time.
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