Know-How Exchange : Branding

If you are going to put your powerpoint presentation on your website, consider some of the other applications out there. Powerpoint to flash is one example (do a google search for the software). Powerpoint does a terrible job of converting files to webpages, and it uses frames (yech). My own site has an example of what I mean....I should update my own site and practice what I preach.

Darcy Moen
www.customerloyaltynetwork.com

A few PowerPoint points:

- Each slide should contain ONLY a few key words or a key phrase about each point. Do NOT put your entire presentation on the slides!

- Your speaking notes should be separate from the slides. Prepare a proper speech, just as you would without slides. Write your speech, incorporating your key points, THEN design the slides to support your remarks. The slides are there to support your speech, not replace it. Do NOT "talk to the slides", talk to your audience.

- Use dramatic slide animations only when necessary to make a dramatic point. Most people find them cheesy and annoying. Smaller effects, such as text appearing on the screen, can be okay if you don't choose the swoopy, zooming types of animations.

- Practice your speech. Practice it again. Don't stop practicing until I tell you. Every time your rehearse, you will improve your presentation ... finding areas that need to be re-written, awkward words or phrases to change, bits that you can memorize, places for emphasis, etc.

- When you rehearse, do it OUT LOUD, just as you will be doing on the day. Time yourself with a stopwatch. Do NOT try to estimate the length of your speech by just looking at it - unless you are a pro, you WILL BE WRONG. The general rule is that people speak at 135 words per minute. Do a word count (in Word, click 'File', 'Properties', 'Statistics') if you need a rough idea while writing.

- Please ignore the advice above about responding to bad questions with arrogance and satire. Sorry, KL, but jason is making a business presentation; he's not a stand-up comic delivering zingers. The more calm and professional you appear, the more foolish and immature seem those who disrupt your talk.

- As for length, the same rules apply to PowerPoint as to any other speech or presentation: NEVER, EVER more than 20 minutes unless you are unveiling the cure for cancer or briefing your troops for an invasion of Europe. Exceptions noted for truly exceptional speakers.

- Humour is a double-edged sword. Avoid it unless you really know what you're doing, as you can be inadvertently offensive and undermine your own credibility. If you really want to use humour, make it self-deprecating and use an anecdote, NOT a joke. I'm sure you feel you've got a great sense of humour (just like everyone else), but if you were that funny, you'd be doing it for a living ...

Hope the above is useful and is taken in the helpful spirit in which it is offered.

Guy Kawasaki posts a blog (https://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html) with what he calls his "10/20/30" rule:

1) No more than 10 slides
2) Presentation lasts no more than 20 minutes
3) No font smaller than 30 points

A Powerpoint presentation is for live presentations, and thus should not exceed these guidelines because, frankly, you will overload most peoples' attention span. A 50 slide presentation that puts folks to sleep by the 23rd frame is more than half wasted effort...

You may compose presentations for your website, but Powerpoint would not be the tool you'd use for this purpose.

For web-based presentations, if you're somewhat tech-savvy, a good freeware solution is Powerbullet
(https://www.softforall.com/BusinessFinance/PresentationTools/Powerbullet_Pr...). This tool enables you to create Flash based presentations of professional caliber nearly as easily as creating a word processor document.

Web-based presentations, especially if prepared by someone lacking expertise at creating them, should probably be shorter than the above Powerpoint guidelines, and take a bit more advantage of animated effects and text movement since, properly utilized, this is the de facto standard for the web.

The aim of web-based presentation is to maintain the site visitor's attention and presence while conveying information: remember, the competition is one click away, so you must capture attention and keep it before you do anything else, or again, your efforts will have been wasted.

More important than the particulars of *how* to create a presentation is knowing your audience, and your intention. Do you know who your target audience is? What is your "Most Wanted Response" -- what do you want your presentation to make the audience do? Buy? Contact you?

Once you've answered these questions of who you particular demographic is, and what response you want your message to provoke, you'll have a pretty good idea of what information your presentation needs to contain. Choosing a tool will be the difference between oils and acrylics to a painter.

Hope that helps. Good luck, and let me know if I rendered any useful advice...

Jason...

Just one more site for you - m62 is based in the North-west of England, and Chris Benham, VP Marketing for Symantec says "these guys know more about PowerPoint than anybody else on the face of the planet."
I've been to two presentations they have given entitled "Killer Presentations" and come away inspired both times! (and, no, I'm not on commission!) The presentations are available via web seminars through their website at: www.m62.net

Good luck,
Bob