How to prepare an effective slideshow presentation

Whether at work, school or in a conference, sometimes we need to communicate with a larger group. In all those cases, the main medium used is the ever-present slideshow presentation. And, let‘s not lie to ourselves here: the slideshow itself IS important. No matter the quality of your content, if the slideshow itself is lacking, you won‘t reach your audience. An impactful presentation is paramount: it‘s all about clarity, engagement, and delivering your message effectively. Although it is already overdone, I find it important to give you my perspective on the matter. I want to help you create professional presentations, memorably share your message, but also pinpoint what matters in a maelstrom of often contradictory tips. Even if it can only help just a little bit, I think it is still worthwhile. And don‘t worry: I won‘t waste your precious time. Without further ado, let‘s begin.

Mind your context

Even before starting the presentation, it’s essential to define your PURPOSE and AUDIENCE. Understanding what you want to achieve and who you’re speaking to will help guide the tone, content, and design of your slides. Is your purpose to inform your boss on how a project is going? Then be grounded and focus on goals, achievements and problems. Do you instead want to teach a class of children? Then, make sure your presentation is short, visual and sparks their precarious interest. Generally, presentations can be grouped into two categories of purpose: explorative or explicative. Explorative presentations invite discussion and new ideas, while explicative focus on delivering clear, factual information. Knowing your audience will dictate the tone you want to adopt. Going back to our previous examples, I suppose you won‘t treat your boss the same as a child (or maybe that is exactly what you want, your choice).

You should also keep in mind that a vocal presentation in itself is very different from a written report. You need to strike the right balance between control and the level of detail; you want to provide enough information to support your points, but not overwhelm your audience with excessive details. More often than not, you should limit what information you present. Don’t stress if you can’t cover everything: your audience will ask questions if they need more clarification. It’s often better to leave some points open-ended, as getting bogged down in details can distract from the bigger message. The risk of losing your audience’s attention or getting lost in complex explanations is far more dramatic. Keep it focused and engaging, and let the questions come naturally.

Prepare a solid structure

At this point, we can start building our slideshow presentation. The act of building in itself demands to establish a structure. As such, we have to make sure that our slideshow has SOLID foundations. Your material should be simple and purposeful. Information should follow a layout appropriate to what you want to achieve. Tables are for details when you want your audience to be able to reference what matters to them. Remember that we read data tables, so make sure your public has time to read them. Graphs are another tool you have, perfect for when you want to focus on a particular trend. Bar charts, for their part, are more suited to comparisons between two groups or situations. But graphics are not the best choice in every situation. Sometimes, simple text has more impact. Say you have data on car crashes from the last ten years. Would you rather present the complete data trends in a graph or simply the total number of crashes in the last ten years? The first case would emphasize how the number of crashes per year has changed, the latter would maximize impact. Your presentation. Your goal. Your position. Your choice.

In any case, never, I repeat: NEVER use 3D elements. In my experience, they distort what you seem to show and only lead to confusion. Instead, you should focus on leveraging visual aids to effectively guide your audience‘s attention. To convince yourself, do the following: write 100 random numbers from 0 to 9. Then, keep track of how much time you need to find every 3. All done? Then, highlight every 3 and do the same. See any difference? Position, length, colour or shape are all elements that you can manipulate to craft a clear visual hierarchy. These are all important factors to emphasize key points and lead the viewer‘s eye accordingly. This is the first step in making sure your public absorbs the main takeaways of your presentation.

Simplify. Simplify. And simplify again.

After you have the first draft of your presentation, you should go back to it and simplify it. “Again?“ you might ask. In short, you can (almost) never oversimplify. Your attendees have a limited attention spans, even more nowadays. You need to get to the point quickly and deliver your key message. In this context, you simply don‘t have time for what could be useful, but act only as a distraction. Your slides should be clean, focused and unambiguous. Too much text, information or decoration is a death sentence for whatever comes next. In the same way, I would advise limiting or outright removing introductions as they cost precious attention you have. Keep in mind that your audience will most likely forget a great part of what you present, whatever it is. They will, however, remember most from the beginning and the end of your speech. As such, feel free to use the time you have and don‘t fret about repeating key points to make sure they get across.

Relax and have fun!

You focused on your goals and your audience. Your slideshow is clear and concise. You‘ve practiced it down to the word. Next, you only need to do it. With that in mind, stress is expected. If possible you should make sure it doesn‘t interfere with your presentation. Mistakes will happen but, with the solid foundation you built, they won‘t get in your way. If you feel able to do so, make sure to exude confidence as it will boost the credibility of your message. A joke here and there is also surprisingly effective even in the most serious contexts and can reduce stress down a notch. Either way, if you don‘t feel confident, the best thing you can do is try to relax. If possible, acclimate yourself to where you will present as this will reduce your external stress. A good night's sleep is also great, even if it limits the time you have to get prepared.

In the end, I hope you will keep in mind at least some of the tips I gave you. Either way, I am sure you are up to the task and remember that I back you all the way.

See you next time,