PowerPoint Slide Design Lesson #1

In a presentations, your slides are NOT your presenters notes - they should not be written to remind you what to say!

If you want to remember what to say...
* learn the story of your presentation
* jot a few reminders on small postcards, just in case you forget
* practise, practise, practise

Keep your slides for powerful images that enhance your narrative and connect with your audience.

Why Should Your Audience Listen to You?

Everytime you present to an audience, you are entering into a bargain with them - they are swapping their time to listen to what you have to say.

What is it that you have to say that they are going to value?
Do you know what the What's In It For Me (WIIFM) factor is?

Why should they listen to you? Are you going to....
* Save them money?
* Save them time?
* Reduce their stress?
* Make them richer?

I was working with a fantastic coach, with a great product and she wanted market her programme to potential clients using some free presentations. Her working title was "Time Management" but it had no WOW, no promise, no WIIFM. By the end of our session, she got crystal clear on the benefit to her audience - and decided to promise that she could save her audience an hour of time every day if they used these techniques.

That is some WIIFM factor!
Would you spend a few hours listening to a presenter who can save you an hour every day of the week?

Think about this when you are designing your presentations - why should your audience listen to you?

Inspire or Inform or Both

Today I want to let you know my thoughts on information or inspiration.

I have attended too many learning events (workshops, presentations and the like) where talented and gifted individuals informed me of many things. They shared their knowledge and experience. They gave me principles, guidelines, handouts and more handouts.

A few of these I actually remember.

What made these stand out of the many hours spent learning?
They inspired me. They touched my heart and my emotions and grabbed the whole of my attention.

Legislation is one topic that too many people highlight as a "boring" topic. You can choose facts - such as the dates of all the legislative statutes, the history of the legislation, what the law says. Or you could use a story, a case study and inspire people to truly understand.

One great session on discrimination used photographs of people set to the music of Christina Aguilera - her song Beautiful. In two minutes it had us all engaged and inspired and somewhat humbled as we considered our own beauty and those of the various images displayed. I remember that over three years later.

Did it inspire me? Without a doubt. Do I remember all the information given - not completely. But I do remember my own reaction to the video (revelling in the sheer diversity and wonder of the human race) and that I learnt how it important it was for me to treat every single person as a person - with respect, with dignity, with compassion. Probably the most important thing they could have taught me.