How to make good POWERPOINT Presentations

"Ask yourself, 'If I have only sixty seconds for presenting my points, what would I absolutely have to say to get my message across." -- Jeff Dewar
In today’s business environment, it is very essential for the people to know how to make presentations in PowerPoint, I mean to say good presentations, nobody prefers to see a presentation which spreads in 25 sheets and waywardly presented details, which makes negative impact and the audience may be getting irritated, as we are not going to tell a Film’s story and we should take necessary precautions before making a presentation, specially we have to present so many things for the audience internally and externally. Presentation is also a type of communication, where you are communicating so many information among a set of audience and if we are not presenting the things well, there will be communication problems,. It is true that we can explain lot many things with a 10 sheet presentation than a 25 page letter, however making presentation is not a simple task to perform.
Key to the presentation is PREPARATION
The key to make a presentation well is PREPARATION. If you prepare, edit and really put your efforts well, the first barrier is triumphed and you passed the test and you really can tell "your story" ably in any situation. If we are making presentations for the senior people (those who are making important decisions), we have to be ready for any sudden and unexpected questions from any of the audience and if we do not have the correct information or did not done our analysis well, we will jeopardize the very purpose of showing the presentation. Presentation preparation is about organizing our thoughts and focusing on the story we are going to tell, therefore it must be clear to the audience.
Good and effective Homework
If you prepare well and done your Homework appropriately, the preparation process will be easier than expected. It is not desirable to show a presentation, which somebody else prepared for you and you are not doing the checking and analysis correctly then it will put you in embarrassing situation. Organizing and editing will really help us to get the material down and internalize it. If we prepare a presentation well, we should be able to tell our story effectively, even if the computer breaks 5 minutes during the presentation or anyone from the audience says "just come to me straight."
Bullet Points
It is desirable to put bullet points and we explain it well to the audience, than explaining things in details to make the presentation lengthy one. But for this as well, we have to have thorough knowledge about the subject and we have to have the other details relevant to the subject. For this too, we have to have done a good homework and we gone through all the details well in advance. We can write down the calculations and analysis in the presentation itself, but should ensure this we keep for ourselves for reference. For example : If we are going to explain about the “Market Share”, then just mention the “* Market Share” – then explain it in detail from the rough printout (a sub bullet point can be included as “the market share grew this year by ….% than last year” and no more lines are required to be added in the bullet points.
Include tables and graphs
If we are incorporating monetary terms in our presentations, then we may incorporate such information in tabular forms rather than to explain in bullet points or in paragraphs, then there should be criteria to put the data in descending or ascending order, accompanying with notes (below the table) for reasons for arriving at the figures. Tables should be having all necessary columns (Sl.No., Description, Column for Figures, Remarks etc. and it is also necessary to intimate on the right corner of the table the description of figures as in thousands, lacs, crores.
Also, if graphs accompany with the table, then it is more appropriate, the BAR Graph and LINE Graphs are more appreciable in the circumstances.
The bars should be differentiating with colours and the figures are indicated on top of each bar or line in bold letters. If there is increase/decrease then it should be clearly shown with the help of the up/down arrows. If there is more than one graph, then the uniformity is to be maintained (same fonts and same scale and colours). Below the graph there should be indication of the items, for which the graphs are being made (months, years, days and items etc.) and it should be clearly mentioned you are giving the figures in thousands, lacs and crores. The figures of two/three different years can be shown in different colours, but the font size is to be maintained as same.
Now the present part as to what are the requirements for a good Powerpoint slide presentation - here are some important tips:
· Use “Arial / Times New Roman / Century Gothic” fonts. · Put bullet points and explain in details than to put all the details in one sheet. · If possible try to use 24 - 32 fonts (28 for paragraphs and 32 for headings/sub headings), but it is upto us what should be font size.
· Try to avoid writing texts in capital letters, write in small letters (for paragraphs) and title cases (for Headings).
· Avoid dark colours in graphs (for lines and bars) and for texts. · Try to justify the paragraphs with ‘justify’ in format sub menu. · For the slide titles write in maximum of 2 lines only, use 28 - 32 fonts. · Keep small paragraphs (of two three lines) and even if it is big then split it into two/three paragraphs. · If the lines and paragraphs are small, then use the line-spacing and spread it across the sheet, do not try to enlarge the font size.
· Include image/graphs/tables in the slides, it should be relevant and only wherever required. · Limit the number of items on each slide. · Try to avoid writing in active voice start “I/we achieved a growth of …%”, try to write in passive voice “A growth of …….. % could be achieved.
· Do not include the funny comments/pictures/impolite/provoking words. · Limit the lines to 5 – 6 on each slide (if possible) · Not include animations in the presentation, which is time consuming and lot much efforts are required, which do not add any value to the presentation.
· Keep backup slides for self reference (in the same presentation), however there is no need to show alongwith the presentations.
· Use Hyperlinks to go back and forth (if it is not so critical to show) · To maintain the uniformity, copy a paragraph into next sheet and start writing or use paint to keep the same fonts and styles.
· Do not make dark/colourful backgrounds and keep the background pure white. · Use relevant templates, it can be our organization’s emblems on it. · Select “Boxes” from menu below for writing texts on it. · When selecting the “Blank Presentation sheet” – select “Blank”, it is more appropriate, where we can prepare our own paragraphs.
· Do not try to copy Excel Sheets/Word files in to presentation; there will be chances of abruption, instead use tabular forms and data is filled in directly.
· Do not use sturdy words and complex sentences, use simple words and sentences. · If there are backup slides and there is no need to show this to others, then after Salutation (Thanks etc.), we can end the presentation by opting for “End Presentation”.
· Include monetary terms in tables · Do not blame other people/departments in your presentation; to avoid unnecessary conflicts/hostility in the workplace.
· Do not copy and paste the facts and figures from others’ presentations.
Limit the number of slides
Keeping the number of slides to a minimum ensures that the presentation will not become too long and drawn out. It also avoids the problem of continually changing slides during the presentation that can be a distraction to your audience. Experts say on average, one slide per minute is about right. It is necessary that we include only the relevant and required information are incorporated in the presentation. Dragging and stretching unnecessarily may deteriorate the quality of presentation and it also waste of time.
Editing and proofreading This is really just an “indeed” point. Microsoft is an American company, but it is not necessary that all PowerPoint users are American. There may be chances of spelling mistakes and it is great that we sue the spell checker to find all the misspelled words. You may observe that some words like colour, favour, honour, neighbour etc. which are not spelling errors and are not misspellings. Such words may leave as it is, as most of us know why this is shows as misspelling. Also, we have to go through all the sheets again and again and should ensure everything is in order and then final ‘fine tuning’ can be done.
Conclusion
It is also very essential that we have the correct body language while making the presentations, doubting dialogues, shivering hands and unnecessarily blinking eyes will not benefit the presenter any good, to avoid the situation, thorough preparation has to be made well in advance, to perfect in the art of presentation. Consider, making presentation is a type of Business and business is all about selling our product, topic or concept. When making a presentation, the most important thing is that the others come to know about our product or material. If we know nothing about what were are selling, it is not likely that the audience will not be buying it. Therefore ensure that our audience is focused and interested in our presentation. Making effective business presentations needs practice, but with a good preparation, we can be ready to take on any challenge of showing our presentation.