These tips can take your PowerPoint presentation to a whole new level

An excellent presentation can help you get your point across effectively and establish a rapport with your audience in a matter of minutes. Broadly put, a great presentation is one that draws the attention of your audience and keeps them captivated while, at the same time, being understated enough to enable them to focus on what is being said.

Here are a few tips and tricks you can use to take your presentation to a whole new level.

Keep it consistent

Do not attempt to experiment with your artistic abilities on your presentation. You might just end up making it look messy and distracting. Using different fonts, styles and colours in many places can make your presentation appear unorganised or unprofessional. The font you use should reflect the mood you are seeking to create. If you want to be taken seriously, keep your presentation simple and straightforward.

Stay on top

Feature all the important information right at the top of the slide and never on the lower half. Your audience will scan your document top-down, and it has been shown that people are more likely to pay more attention to information in the top half than the bottom half. Hence, they are less likely to retain any content that figures at the bottom of the slide.

Less is more

This always holds true when it comes to using text in a presentation. Keep it brief and only use as much text as absolutely necessary. If a slide contains too much written content, people will shift their attention to this instead of listening to what you have to say. The text on a slide should only contain the basic points of your presentation.

Focus on the visual impact

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Using simple images or photographs to convey a concept is far more effective than trying to explain it in words. Go for high-resolution photographs which are of simple composition and bear a connection to what you are talking about.

Dodge the bullet

Don’t fall for the lure of bulleted lists when it comes to your presentation. Instead, try using strategic spacing. You’ll find it just as effective. But, if you must use bullets, use them to present numerical quantities or to convey factual statistics.

Think big

When it comes to images, use bigger pictures or switch your presentation to full screen so that even people at the back get a clear look at them. Interspersing a couple of big images in your presentation can break monotony and retain the audience’s attention.

Graph it out   

If you have a lot of numerical data or statistics to be presented, try using interesting infographics to enhance your presentation. This will not make it boring. Rather, it will break your information down so the audience can grasp this data quickly.

Don’t forget the cover

The cover page of your presentation will help set the tone for it. So, pay attention to detail here and make it count. Aim for a cover page which holds the entire presentation together. This should enable you audience to know what to expect.

Try these tips to fine-tune your presentation, and don’t be surprised if you start getting requests from colleagues to help them out with their slides! Brush up on your speaking skills and you’re ready to go.