Effective remedies to boring and dull presentations

Introduction

Making stellar presentations is an art form, and here at Prezlab, we know a thing or two about what makes a good presentation. This blog will focus on how to create great presentations to ensure you’re always putting your best foot forward in every presentation you give.

Structure, Structure, Structure

Figure out the core message or messages. This means deciding what direction the message is heading in and what the starting point and endpoint are. Ask yourself what it is that you want to achieve. It’s always best to get the message set before you start the presentation. We recommend doing a draft on paper first, then bringing it into the digital.

Aside from relying on the fact that “it’s true because I say it’s true,” you have to be able to support your claims with specific evidence or logic. Each part of an argument should be supported by a body of evidence.

Keep your slides to 10 or fewer. Keeping slides to a small number ensures the audience will understand and remember what you are saying.

Less text in your presentation makes it more engaging. Think of ways to make it more visual. For example, if you’re talking about how your product can save people money, show the image of a stack of money in the background. If you give people too much textual information, they’ll be more focused on reading and won’t pay attention to your message. Seth Godin writes that you should have no more than six words on each slide – that’s not a lot of copy, so choose your words carefully and rewrite until you’ve got it just right.

Pro tip: Think of your ideas as ‘bites.’ Studies show that people are more likely to retain information that’s been broken down into small chunks, such as in a short video.

Focus on design relentlessly. It can make or break your presentation. 

A great design for a presentation can make or break it. If you don’t have the budget for a designer, tools such as Visme or Canva can help you make great slides, and Pexels offers stunning images for free. Alternatively, you can have a chat with us at Prezlab.

Colors are a double-edged sword. If you use too many colors, it will be off-putting. Choose the colors that are most relevant to your brand identity. Use a consistent palette so that your site has a consistent look and feel.

Be consistent with your font. Overall consistency enhances your professional appearance. Don’t switch between caps and lower case, Times New Roman and Comic Sans, or 8 and 30-point text size. Stick with one font and one size throughout.

Format to perfection. Your slides are a huge part of your presentation. Make sure they look professional and are easy to read. Visuals are a great way to present information, but they need to look good. A wonky line on a slide or a badly pixelated graphic will put some people off, as it will look like you haven’t tried very hard.

Have Another Pair of Eyes Look It Over

Just as a well-worn pair of shoes can become shiny and new after a few rounds of cleaning, a good presentation can actually get better with each round of editing and polishing.

Start by writing down your ideas in a nonlinear fashion. Use a tool like Milanote that allows you to rearrange your ideas and see connections that you might not have seen otherwise.

Another person can often see things you might miss. Get a trusted friend or colleague to review your work. If you don’t know anyone who can help, you may want to try an online writing assistant like ProWritingAid or Grammarly.

And last but not least, if you don’t have the time or the bandwidth to do presentation design on your own, you can always give us a holler and we will gladly put together a stellar presentation.