powerpoint presentation examples

powerpoint presentation examples

The Power of Persuasive PowerPoint Presentations

1. Introduction

To the second question, our answer is a resounding no. The success of a PowerPoint presentation does not hinge upon following a specific formula or mastering a few simple tips. None of the commonly heard tips (e.g., “never use less than 18 point font,” “never speak to the slide”) is unused flawed and all are too simplistic. The conventional wisdom does not suffice. It is time for a different approach.

We believe that the answer to the first question is yes. Most books may say much the same thing, but, judging from the presentation flaws that we see regularly, their message has not gotten through. Yes, a number of individuals and organizations are dissatisfied with the way that they present, seeking ways to make more polished and professional presentations. They want guidance and, with the surging popularity of PowerPoint, they want advice that is specifically tailored to building PowerPoint presentations. Given PowerPoint’s potential as a method for mass communication, we suspect that many are looking for ways to go beyond the public speaking advice typically found in general purpose presentation books. Watching someone advance slide after slide reading text and point form is no more enjoyable than listening to a paper. Yet, guidance for exploiting PowerPoint’s potential as a visual and persuasive medium is scarce. Our conversations with past and potential presentation clients repeatedly confirm these suspicions.

Is there a need for yet another book on presentations? Do we really need another formula for making a PowerPoint presentation? There are already millions of books and articles on presenting. Certainly some of these offer useful suggestions. But, does success really lie in mastering a formula or tips for using software?

2. Creating Engaging Visuals

Utilize graphic software to sketch out potential slides in order to map out your storyline. Generally, it’s ideal to not jump directly into PowerPoint. If you do, you constrain your thinking into a pre-established template. With the abundance of graphics and diagramming software, it’s easy to make sketches, move them around, get feedback, and finalize a design. Seeking input from others is advantageous to refining your design. Spend time thinking about colors. Various colors have different psychological effects and can be utilized to increase or decrease attention for specific areas. Utilize the same color scheme throughout the presentation. Then it’s easy to apply, and if you are color blind or printing in black and white, it will still be understandable. Do not use an excessive amount of color as this can distract from the points being made. A foreground of yellow on a blue background is very hard to read and can cause eye strain. Generally, stick to two or three colors. You can use Microsoft applications to test the visual impact of using different color text for the same text data on PowerPoint, said Microsoft’s David Byron at the GPU. Criminal case walkthrough part 1. When using pictures, ensure they have a high resolution and that they fit the page. It looks unprofessional to have logos and pictures cut off by borders. String charts and graphs are generally more effective than table data. This is because they are faster to interpret and more concrete; the brain can process pictures around 60,000 times faster than text. The key is to clean remove all the clutter and be selective. Too often, graph data is presented with frivolous 3D designs and far too much color. The data and the relative proportion it is trying to display can get lost and create a false impression. Bars are the best choice for comparing data; pie charts are good for displaying data at a fixed point in time. However, due to the complexity of data interpretation, they can often lead to misinterpretation. Take your time and test each design with different people to ensure that it can have no other interpretation. Also, save your graph design. If data changes, it’s easier to change the Excel data and resave the picture than to redesign the entire graph.

3. Crafting Compelling Messages

– Present a problem that your solution solves: People are motivated to take action if they are presented with a problem. Show your audience that the status quo is not as desirable as they think. Then show them how things could be better. – Use concrete words and examples: Abstract language doesn’t create pictures in people’s minds. We want to be sure the audience is “seeing” what we’re saying. This increases the chances they’ll properly understand our meaning. – Appeal to universal human desires: There are certain things that everyone wants. Security, enjoyment, success, a sense of purpose are just a few examples. If your message shows people that taking the action proposed will help them get one of these things, they will be more inclined to act. – Offer credibility: People need to know you’re not full of it. They need to know that what you’re suggesting is based on sound evidence and reasoning. You can increase your own credibility by properly citing your sources and using findings from reputable studies. – Be passionate: Listless, disinterested messages don’t persuade. You need to show the audience that what you’re saying is something you genuinely believe. If your enthusiasm is authentic, people will be more inclined to trust you.

Successfully persuading an audience to take a desired action is a difficult task. It is not enough to simply exchange information. We must also effectively communicate the meaning of that information. With PowerPoint, this demands crafting messages that synthesize content and enthuse the audience. Here are some specific tips for creating messages that successfully persuade:

4. Delivering a Dynamic Presentation

In simple words, timing of the speech or conference is necessary. It might be a selection among a ready viewers and a world that only partly will pay inattention. You should try and put together your talk as near as feasible to the real occasion so that you can synchronize slides to the spoken phrase. It is reasonably smooth to edit the textual content of a speech using the outline view. Here you can easily import from word or other outline software by simply cutting and pasting. Be aware that dissimilar slide titles will cause new slide creation so it may be better to write down an attribute and save it at the slide master. You ought to use notes view to generate some notes about every slide with the intention to assist you to remember what you meant to say. During the presentation you can see both the text and the notes on the same time when you have PowerPoint 2000. Consider bringing a printout of all of the slides with each note – it’s easier but and not using a laptop but if the presentation is mainly crucial you may find you need to reprint slides because you’ll edit several of them just before the event. This year Microsoft have introduced a PowerPoint accessory to be able to also allow you to print all your slides with the notes formatted as in a presenter. Next you ought to aim to overcome stage fright by using strangers as rehearsal audiences. Volunteer groups like Rotary, night schools, church groups, etc. are often looking for speakers and your local professional or technical organization may also allow you to test your presentation during a lunch hour. A weekday real-time practice is essential due to the fact that timing can vary significantly when you actually do the verbal presentation. During the preparation, you may find out that some slides don’t make sense. Alternatively, the timing of a slide may also cause the slide to point out while not all of your spoken word about it has finished, and it may be necessary to add a delay to specific slides. Periodically emphasize words like “before,” “after,” and practice changing slides at these points to simulate synchronization.

5. Conclusion

The successful use of PowerPoint is significant if it enhances, and does not detract, from one’s presentation. This guide explored the complexities of PowerPoint, offering a number of two-type summaries to the PowerPoint process and presenting a range of strategies for overcoming the paradoxes of Microsoft PowerPoint. It is suggested that a user who is initially designing a presentation should consider the four modes of two-type theory and implement slides that are used for either display or as a handout. This will assist in eliminating the speaker’s discomfort with reading off slides, which is often caused by the speaker and audience getting different things out of the same slide. The strategies for overcoming “Get the Picture Paralysis” will help users to avoid overloading an audience with a jumble of information, and the “Corridor Principle” explains how segmentation can enhance the retention of information by audiences. Finally, the article on “The Prodigal Meaning” highlights the importance of understanding that a handout is not a replica of a presentation, and it encourages skilled presenters to make use of two different versions, as this has the potential to provide a story the repatriate will never forget! Overall, the understanding of these theories and strategies has the potential to change the way PowerPoint is used by people who are conscious of both their presentation and their audience. The additional skill in learning theories and creating presentations is a good investment for anyone who finds themselves frequently explaining new information to others. By being diligent with theory knowledge and applying the outlined strategies, PowerPoint users will indeed become more persuasive.