We are well aware that a great presentation is delivered by a great orator. However, it is often seen that the great business orators have very little time for preparing their own presentations. They need to rely on the services of their able managers and then squeeze in some time from their busy schedule to jazz up the presentation such that it reflects their knowledge and their personal style. This exercise is frequently taken up during their frequent travels- while in aircraft or in an airport lounge area.
Let us look at those key ingredients which the high flying executives require to put together an ‘Award Winning Presentation’.
Ingredient 1- The Flow- Yes, just like any article, story,video or a movie, a presentation needs to have a great Flow. The flow needs to comprise of – a great attention seeking opening slide; few impactful content rich (but not content overloaded) core slides and one Simple and Conclusive closure slide.
To attain this, team providing inputs needs to narrow down on meaningful data which should be a mix of data, statistics, relevant visuals and yes sometimes a relevant Quote or humour can create great wonders to lighten the otherwise serious business of ‘Presenting a presentation’.
Ingredient 2- The Looks- Here the great thinking ‘beauty lies in the eyes of beholder’ may not apply. The overall appearance of presentation needs to be appealing to a global audience. The style of slides needs to be neat, clean, clear and concise in order to make a statement regarding your brand and the company you represent. The use of colours, while drawn from your brand logo’s color palette, need not be too dull or too vibrant. The idea is to strike a fine balance of colours, text, images or visuals such that it is comfortable to viewer’s eyes. Maintain the uniformity and control the use of animation effects.
Ingredient 3- Speaker to Audience Connect- Understanding both the Speaker personality and the audience before you begin researching the data can be very helpful in finally narrowing down on relevant information. From here begins the shaping of a final outcome- which can get labelled by the audience as ‘Engaging’, ‘Enriching’, ‘Informative’, ‘Entertaining’ or ‘Simple’, ‘Drab’, ‘Slow n Stretching’, ‘Confusing’. You certainly want to avoid getting labelled as the latter categories through the feedback forms, which most good conferences circulate.
Ingredient 4- Time is of Essence- How many slides? Nah! That we all know from popular advice ‘not to exceed more than 10 slides’. However, what we really need to know is how much time is allotted to us as a Speaker and then how much time should be spent on every single slide.
Ingredient 5- The Content- This remains the cornerstone of any presentation. Everything else will fail, if the content does not offer a degree of originality, relevance and expert insights. A presentation supported by real life case studies or demonstrable product videos. Brief animated skits etc can aid in creating a great ‘Flow’ and at the same time drive the point home much faster.
Ingredient 6- Avoid Overkills– Like they say ‘too much of something is bad enough’, so avoid overdoing any one ingredient. A good quality presentation is a balanced mix of all of the above.
Tasting/ Testing– Finally, Make sure you rehearse it to get a taste of actual output. Rehearse it by running & re-running the slide show either by yourself or with your colleagues, who can offer you an honest feedback. With this much preparation, you sure are set to serve an all captivating presentation! Just Go for it!
