Online Accredited Degrees

I’ve always had a bit of a love and hate relationship with PowerPoint presentations. Although their potential is undoubted, target audiences tend to see them as cumbersome and outmoded. I have just read a book by Cliff Atkinson, author of ‘Beyond Bullet Points’, who believes PowerPoint to be the software tool associated more with boredom than brilliance. It remains, nonetheless, an intrinsic part of modern education and learning. Thus, if you wish to avoid inflicting death by PowerPoint, let’s look at what you can do to keep your presentations slick, informative and alive!

Consider each presentation as a series of small details, just as if it was a Website

Shape the structure of your PowerPoint presentation like a website. Everyone pays enormous attention to detail concerning the branding of their website - your presentation should be the same. Aesthetic concerns are of the utmost of importance, and your presentation should appear flawless and carefully designed. Use a theme going throughout and avoid the use of bright contrasting colours, as they will distract your audience from what you’re trying to convey.

Avoid the use of ClipArt!

Utilise high grade graphics from stylish stock image sites to add a vibrant quality to your slides. There are several sites where you can buy photos for as little as $1 - a sound investment! A few of my personal favourites are Stockxpert, Shutterstock and iStockPhoto, however there are quite a few others out there, so if you’re interested, do a search on Google for “Royalty Free Stock Photography”.

Less is More

Don’t fill up your slides with non relevant text - make them simple and straightforward. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. With PowerPoint, your main goal is to convey knowledge through words, images and flow charts. The presentation is a visual guide of what you’re dicussing - not something in place of the presenter. Even if it’s a simple line or quote, less is often more.

Use 3D

Give your diagrams added interest by making them 3D, and they will visually hold the viewers attention far more than flat, uninteresting diagrams. This works amazingly well with pyramids, as it will make these objects practically leap off the page, instead of being static and lifeless.

And Finally… Don’t Over Animate

Going animation happy and overdoing the movement on your template is a definite no no. Having items whizzing in and out from all over the place, moving sideways and bouncing up and down - will only confuse people. If you really want to use animation in your presentations, stay with simple and elegant fading in and out. Leave the flying about to your favourite cartoon characters!

Follow these simple steps and your presentation should be a pleasure to watch, rather than an uncomfortable coffee break, and if you decide that all of this sounds like too much hassle - hire a virtual assistant to do it for you!

Michelle Dale is Chief Executive of Virtual Miss Friday, an adept and highly-proficient Virtual Assistant Service which works closely with enterprising people who really want to succeed in their chosen field. If you’d like to learn more about online business building success strategies that are tailored to your needs, check out the Campaign for FREE Virtual Assistance right away!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!