9 Tips for Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations

I’m preparing for a presentation I’m doing about 7 weeks from now. While other speakers I know will repeat the same stale presentation over and over, my speeches always seem to perform great when I prepare, personalize, practice and perfect them long before the event.

My goal is never to dictate what’s on the screen, it’s to design remarkable slides that work in tandem with the speech. This increases both cognition and memory. Since almost half of people would rather go to see the dentist than sit through a presentation, I always aim to throw some humor in as well!

According to a new Prezi survey, 70% of employed Americans who give presentations say presentation skills are critical to their success at work

Clémence Lepers helps businesses build crisp, ass-kicking pitches that persuade and close more sales. She’s put together this infographic of 9 Tips for an Effective Presentation:

1. Know Your Audience – Who are they? Why are they there? Why do they care? What do they need and want?
2. Define Your Goals – Ensure they’re SMART = specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-driven.
3. Craft a Compelling Message – Keep it simple, concrete, credible, and beneficial.
4. Create an Outline – Start with an introduction on why people care, explain the benefits, support your message with facts, keep one sub-message per slide, and end with a specific call-to-action.
5. Arrange Slide Elements – Use font sizes, shapes, contrast and color to create an impression.
6. Build a Theme – Pick colors and fonts that represent you, your company, and your stance. We try to brand our presentations like our site so there’s recognition.
7. Use Visual Elements – 40% of people will respond better to visuals and 65% retain the information better with visuals.
8. Hook Your Audience Quickly – 5 Minutes is the average attention span and your audience won’t remember half of what you mentioned. One mistake I used to make early on was talking about my credentials… now I leave that up to the MC and ensure my slides provide the impact and authority they need.
9. Measure Effectiveness – I pay attention immediately after my speeches to how many people wish to talk to me. The more business cards, the better my performance! Since people are mobile, I also encourage them to text me to subscribe to my newsletter (text MARKETING to 71813).

Ultimately, the business generated immediately from the audience or from the network they refer you to will show how successful you are. Getting invited back to speak is always a plus, too!