Strategies for Creating, Engaging and Interactive Presentations
PowerPoint presentations are not usually known for being engaging or interactive. That’s often because most people treat their slides as if they are notes to read off and not a tool to help empower their message.
Your presentation slides are there to help bring to life the story you are telling. They are there to provide visuals and empower your speech.
So how do you go about avoiding a presentation “snoozefest” and instead ensure you have an engaging and interactive presentation? By making sure that you use your slides to help YOU tell your story, instead of using them as note cards to read off of.
01
Start with writing your speech outline, not with putting together slides
Your PowerPoint presentation is there to compliment your message, and the story you are telling. Before you can even put together slides, you need to identify the goal of your speech, and the key takeaways you want your audience to remember.
YOU and your speech are the focus of this presentation, not the slides – use your PowerPoint to compliment your story.
02
Use more images and less text
Keep in mind that your slides are there to add to your speech, not distract from it. Using too much text in your slides can be distracting and confusing to your audience. Instead, use a relevant picture with minimal text, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
This slide is not unusual, but is not a visual aid, it is more like an “eye chart”.
Aim for something simpler, easy to remember and concise.
03
Use high-quality images
Keep in mind your audience when designing your presentation, their background and aesthetics sense. You will want to avoid the default clip art and cheesy graphics on your slides.
04
Use A Consistent Presentation Design
The job of your presentation is to help convey information as efficiently and clearly as possible. By keeping the theme and design consistent, you’re allowing the information and pictures to stand out.
However by varying the design from slide to slide, you will be causing confusion and distracting from the focus, which is you and the information to be conveyed on the slide.
05
One Topic Per Slide
Each slide should try and represent one topic or talking point. The goal is to keep the attention focused on your speech, and by using one slide per talking point, you make it easy for you to prepare, as well as easy for your audience to follow along with your speech.
06
Avoid information overwhelm by using the “Rule of Three”
Sometimes when creating our presentation, we can often get in our heads and try to over explain. A simple way to avoid this is to follow the “Rule of Three,” a concept coined by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
The idea is to stick to only 3 main ideas that will help deliver your point. Each of the ideas can be further broken into 3 parts to explain further. The best modern example of this “Rule of Three” can be derived from the great Apple presentations given by Steve Jobs – they were always structured around the “Rule of Three.”
07
Display one sentence at a time
If you are planning to include text in your slides, try to avoid bullet lists, and use one slide per sentence. Be short and concise. This best practice focuses on the idea that simple messages are easy to retain in memory. Also, each slide can follow your storytelling path, introducing the audience in each concept while you speak, instead of listing everything beforehand.
08
Only add content that supports your main points
You might have a great chart, picture or even phrase you want to add, but when creating every slide, it’s crucial to ask yourself the following question.
“Does this slide help support my main point?”
If the answer is no, then remove it. Remember, less is more.