Small business workers often rely heavily on presentations for conveying information, convincing investors, selling a product or service, and other crucial tasks. Many of these presentations are pieced together at the last minute as simple talking points for a meeting.
While it's tempting to take the easy route when you throw together a presentation, putting just a little more effort into creating and delivering a strong presentation can save you time and money in the long run. You may end up having to give only one compelling presentation to get results instead of repeating your points in following sessions. Your customers may be convinced in one visit instead of three.
Following are some key points for creating and delivering more compelling presentations. Although some of these tips seem obvious, many of these guidelines get lost in the rush to throw together a presentation at the last minute. If you keep these simple pointers in mind, you'll find your presentations more effective in getting the results you want.
Content tips
Know your audience
One presentation does not fit all. Tailoring your presentation for your specific audience will help ensure success. Research your target audience to determine what they need to know to take immediate action. If you are presenting to the CFO, for example, make sure you provide strong financial data to back up your case. If your audience is the head of the sales department, clearly convey how your product will increase revenue.
Identify your goal
What do you want your audience to do after they have seen your presentation? Contact your sales office? Shift their work emphasis? Understand the company's financial outlook and how it relates to individual employees? If you start with your end goal in mind, it will be much easier to focus only on essential information.
Start with an outline
Don't jump into slide development too quickly. Instead, think through your presentation and decide how it should flow. Determine what key points you want to make and in which order they should be delivered for maximum effect. Begin developing the slides only after you are happy with the presentation flow.
Use a strong opener
First impressions are very important. Start your presentation with a strong opening statement, a compelling story or an unknown and important data point or fact. If you hook your audience on the first slide, you are much more likely to keep their attention and respect throughout the presentation.
Avoid known information
While it is occasionally helpful to include background information in your presentation, steer clear of spending too much time going over what your audience already knows. Background information or nonessential data should only be included if necessary to give context.
Use data to persuade
Well-chosen facts and figures can help support your point. This information is often best presented as a graphic--a bar graph or pie chart, for example.
Design tips
Design to fit your audience
A unique background design can help set your presentation apart. Make sure your pattern fits your intended audience and presentation tone. A presentation for a children's charity might benefit from a background of bright-colored balloons--but the same design would be out of place for an investment firm. Create a few elegant and eye-catching designs that incorporate your group or company logo--these can be used at the last minute for any presentation.
Keep a presentation library
Develop a presentation library that includes presentation templates and company photos, graphics, illustrations, and any other materials that might be useful for presentation creation. Keep the library on a central server so that everyone can access this information quickly.
Add graphic appeal
In addition to charts and graphs, photographs and other graphics can give a presentation sparkle. A digital camera makes it easy to add candid shots--a photo of the engineering group for a new software presentation, or photos of a proposed new office space, for instance. Make sure your photos are not extremely detailed, since they will be hard to see from the back of the room.
Avoid clutter
While graphic elements can help add life to your presentation, avoid overcrowding your slides with illustrations, graphs, and photos. Stick with one or two easy-to-see graphics per slide. It is also best to keep to a few colors per slide--too many colors distract from your content and make the slide too busy.
Design for your delivery method
Most presentations end up on a projection screen in front of an audience. Consider this final delivery when choosing fonts and colors for your presentation. Font sizes that look fine on your computer screen may be too small to read from far away. Stick with large, easy-to-read fonts and avoid crowding each slide with text. Pay attention to font and graphic colors as well--light colors on a white background will be difficult to see unless your projection room is very dark. Stick to high-contrast color combinations.
If possible, try your presentation in different situations--see how it looks in a darkened room, in a room where you can't shutter the windows, etc. If you're not sure what your presentation space will be like, adjust your design to take all possibilities into account.
Delivery tips
Set yourself up for success
The best way to get your audience on your side is to respect them and their time. A few pointers:
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Be prepared and ready to go a few minutes before your actual presentation time
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Be organized - bring your own equipment, if appropriate, and have everything ready to go
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Dress appropriately to your audience, whether it requires a suit or a more casual
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Have neat, professional looking handouts
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Introduce yourself and your team members
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Take only your allocated time, including saving some time for Q&A
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Bring a printed set of slide transparencies in case the projector does not work
Personalize your presentation
If appropriate to your audience and subject matter, personalize your presentation. Incorporate stories, fun transitions, humor or analogies that will help warm up your audience and give your presentation a more personal feel.
Get to know names
Whenever possible, call the audience members by name. Treat them as individuals. This too will make them more comfortable with you.
Be prepared for change
Design your presentation so you can easily make last-minute changes. If possible, travel with a laptop stocked with the software you need to change your presentation. It also helps to have a few pre-designed templates and graphics you can use in case of changes.
Know your presentation space
Check out your presentation room well before the presentation itself. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with the lighting and seating arrangements. See how dark you can make the room--pull down the shades, close the door, and turn the lights off. Set up your projector and computer early so you can adjust the projection or deal with technical problems before your audience arrives. This is especially important if you're using a microphone--test it early, preferably with someone sitting in the back to give you feedback on your volume.
Practice
Your audience did not come to watch you read your slides. You need to be familiar with your content so you can focus on eye contact with your audience--rather than eye contact with your slides.
Transitions
Take the time to practice your transitions from slide to slide. In some cases, you'll want to jump straight into the next round of information, but often transitions can give you the chance to warm up and add a personal story.
Pace yourself
Learn to deliver your presentation at a pace that is slow enough to understand, but fast enough to convey all your points and leave some time for a question & answer session. If possible, rehearse your presentation far enough in advance so you can cut content to fit your allotted time.
Quality handouts
If your budget allows, print color handouts of your slides on high-quality paper instead of handing out photocopied slides. Better-quality handouts can be especially effective in persuading potential customers or investors to contact you afterwards. Clip a business card to each handout as well.
Tools of the trade
In addition to your desktop or laptop and a good presentation program like Microsoft PowerPoint, these tools can help you create compelling presentations:
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