10 Ways to Design Slides
that Put the 'Bull'
in 'Bullet Points'!
1. "More is more" is the name of the game with PowerPoint. Squeeze as many words as possible onto every slide. Avoid pictures at all costs. (Too puerile. This is grown-up stuff we’re doing here.).
2. Never let obvious facts slip the audience's mind even for a second, especially about which company it is you - and possibly they - work for. Brand every slide round the edges with your own name, company name, company logo, contact details, title of the presentation, and a few particularly impressive clients' logos.
3. Include plenty of graphs and spreadsheets where the print is far too small to read even if you're standing right by the slide. It'll make you look as if you've done lots of research.
4. Mix textual styles as much as you like. The more fonts the merrier. And stick in the odd sidebar with text running vertically to give the audience something more interesting to look at while you're reading out the boring old bullet points.
5. Make all your captions red or orange, especially when you're going to be presenting in a large room. Use other colours at random. (There's lots of theory out there about colour psychology; ignore it - it's just a load of old psychobabble.)
6. If you really must use graphics, go for obvious ones. No-one pays you to be imaginative. A picture of a handshake is a good old standby for most purposes - and if you must show what a good sense of humour you've got, there's always those amusing little Clip Art stick men you can download...
7. Variety of imagistic style is everything. Combine photo-realism and cartoons willy-nilly on the same slide as much as possible. A visual pot-pourri will keep everyone guessing about what your main message is, and will imprint your most striking image on their minds, whether or not it has anything to do with what you actually needed them to remember.
8. Use as much animation as possible. However boring your presentation is, loads of transitions that zoom, skate, pirouette and loop-the-loop will dazzle your audience into recognising just how much work you've had to put in to try and make your subject interesting.
9. Be sure that each transition is completely mis-timed so it's totally out of synch with whatever you're going to be saying. (Shouldn't be a problem as long as you don’t rehearse your presentation. Why on earth would you want to waste your time doing that?).
10. Once you've got your slides sorted, that's that. No need ever to revisit them - you can just roll out the same old presentation to anyone, anytime, anywhere, for the rest of your business days...
---------------------------------------------------------------- On the other hand…
if you are truly not guilty of any of the above, the chances are you're better at preparing for presentations than you think.
But then again, if you could do with a few more positive tips and techniques than these, why not seek help from a professional presentation skills coach?
Hi, Hello, Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening, and Welcome…
…to another instalment (bulletin, update) in the brilliant (terrific, wicked, outstanding) Play4Real guide on how NOT to create a good impression (impact, effect) upon other businesspeople (colleagues, clients, human beings).
Good presentations rely far less on the words you choose (select, prefer, opt for)… than the way you put them across.
So today, we've got some handy tips (hints, pointers, suggestions) about how NOT to make words work well for you. If you prepare (plan, make ready) presentations only by paying attention to words on slides, the chances are you need to read on…
And do get in touch with us if there’s anything you recognise (find familiar, worry about, don't know what to do about, want some expert help with).
You're receiving these tips either because we've met and chatted at a networking event, or at some other time you've expressed an interest in the many ways Play4Real helps people in business to rehearse... in order to give a better performance.
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