How to Create Effective Power Point Presentations

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Power Point presentations have the potential to be lethal weapons in the hands of the wrong presenter. Here are some pointers for creating high-impact visual presentations without losing your audience along the way. Believe me -- your audience will thank you!

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Outline of topic you'd like to give a presentation on
All graphics you'd like to use in your presentation in electronic format
Knowledge of your target audience

How to Create Effective Power Point Presentations

Step1

Determine what is visually versus verbally essential. One of the most common mistakes that presenters make is feeling that everything they say during a presentation must be printed on a Power Point slide. Your audience can read your slides just as well as you can, so use them as talking points only.

Step2

Keep it simple! Complex graphs and charts are difficult for your audience to see. Keep handouts to a minimum and all slides in your presentation readable to make your Power Point presentation more effective.

Step3

Keep it fun! Granted, not all presentation subjects are laughing matters, but messages are delivered much more effectively with a well-timed quip or visual comic relief. There is always an opportunity to interject a bit of humor into your Power Point presentation, and your audience will thank you for it!

Step4

Have a clearly defined message in your presentation and stay on-topic. Nothing is worse than a presentation that wanders all over the place. If you need a script to accomplish this, use one.

Step5

Think pictures, not words. It’s a timeless phrase: a picture paints a thousand words. Choose images that reinforce your intended message instead of telling your audience your message through text on a slide. Words printed on slides in a presentation should be one of three things: Key Points, Labels, or Names. Nothing else!