What You Need to Know About … PowerPoint Presentations
If you have ever been victim to a bad PowerPoint, you know the signs: text-heavy slides, an unfocused message, a distracting design and dull or complicated content. Whether you are presenting to conference attendees, colleagues or clients, you will want to keep your audience engaged. Preparation is key to making a good impression.
Make an Outline
Above all, it is crucial to create an outline. Without proper planning, the PowerPoint presentation will likely be disorganized. Before you compile slides, put your thoughts on paper and determine the order of the presentation. Keep in mind that a script is different from the wording on the PowerPoint slides—the script is the speech you give to elaborate on your PowerPoint presentation and will include more details, examples and, possibly, anecdotes, whereas the slides serve as prompters.
Avoid Wordiness
PowerPoint slides should be written in short bullet points rather than complete sentences or in paragraph form. Large blocks of text are difficult to read, which can make your audience lose attention. It is best to focus on one point per slide rather than try to cover several at once—this way, the audience can better retain the information.
Know Your Audience
Advisers should tailor their presentations to specific audiences. Plan sponsors, for example, have at least basic investment knowledge, whereas participants may not. Jim Sampson, managing principal at Cornerstone Retirement Advisors in Warwick, Rhode Island, says he likes to keep the language simple in his presentations with both plan sponsors and participants. “When we [start] talking about investments, people tend to gloss right over that because they don’t understand it.”
Sampson likens advisers using “fancy” investment terms to a doctor using complicated medical jargon. Although sponsors understand investment terms, Sampson says, he still prefers using “employee” and “company” instead of the terms “participant” and “plan sponsor,” as well as using “cost” instead of “fee.”
Invesco Consulting offers a research-based program about how to communicate more effectively with plan sponsors, including a set of exercise cards that show “words to use” and “words to lose.”
Do Not Distract With Design
A résumé and a PowerPoint design follow the same rule: Don’t be cute. A background with large images or other designs is not going to impress people; it will only divert attention from your message. Likewise, a bright background will make the type difficult to read. The background should be a light, soft color, and the text should contrast nicely with it—avoid combinations like a red background and orange type. Once you choose an appropriate background color, remain consistent throughout the slides. If the background keeps changing, it could distract the audience.
In addition, the type should be big enough for the back of the audience to read (18 points or more, depending on the size of the group), and it should be a standard font such as Times New Roman. Anything in cursive or any other fancy font will be difficult to read.
Edit
Of course, as with any professional document, your PowerPoint presentation should be edited closely. Slides should be checked for correct sequence, spelling and grammar. In addition, the script should be memorized or practiced before the presentation.
Helpful Hints
If you use multiple monitors—e.g., a laptop screen and a projector—Microsoft Office 2010 offers a helpful tool called Presenter View, which provides additional control of the presentation. Presenter View in PowerPoint will allow you to run the slides on the projector while looking at your accompanying notes or script on your laptop. The tool also enables the presenter to darken or lighten the screen during the program so no content is displayed at a break or the end, during the question and answer session. If you are using PowerPoint 2010, this option can be accessed by clicking on the “Slide Show” tab and selecting the “Use Presenter View” option.