It’s never too late to be a presentation rockstar

Creating an effective presentation is critical for modern-day business. With the vast amount of information available at our fingertips it is getting harder and harder to keep a person engaged and dialed in, especially to a boring presentation. Here at Avalaunch we understand that presentations are a necessity for business and they can be effective AND entertaining. Avalaunch Media was recently featured on Forbes for our presentation design and the value of a great presentation. It is our mission to save you from delivering yet another old school presentation, because we want you to be the office rockstar and you can’t be a rockstar if you can’t entertain. We understand, old habits are hard to break; it can be stressful to get creative with your content. We thought we would ease your pain and let you in on some insider tips for crafting the perfect message for a killer presentation.

TEN WAYS TO BECOME A PRESENTATION ROCKSTAR

1. Please, please, please don’t, fill the entire slide full of statistics, insane fonts, strange colors, stock backgrounds, cheesy stock clip art, tiny print, things that don’t matter, un-explained graphs, etc., etc., etc., etc. etc. White space is your friend (with benefits). Please use it.
2. Craft your message and then create your presentation. A presentation is a story, like an adult version of a picture book. First layout your story and then create your slides. If the story starts out confusing, you’ll loose your adult “story time” audience.
3. Don’t use your presentation as a giant e-reader. People read faster than they hear. If you fill your slides with words and then read them, your audience already has, which eliminates the need for….well, you.
4. Ban the bullet point. Bullet points are out, white space is in. If there are too many messages to convey on a slide, you need another one.
5. Use visuals. Replace words with images wherever possible. Researchers have found that ideas are much more likely to be remembered if they are presented as visuals. After three days a person will remember only 10% of what you said compared to 65% if you showed them a visual.
6. Set yourself apart. Call in the experts (preferably us of course). Good design costs money. Anyone can put together a simple power point; don’t let that anyone be you. By investing in professional images and typeface you can create a presentation that pops.
7. Remember it is all about likeability. If you don’t bring the energy you will lose your audience. Memorize your content, practice your content and deliver your content like the rockstar you are.
8. Know your audience. To give an effective presentation you need to know your audience. You don’t find senior citizens at a Killers concert; make sure your message is appropriate for the audience you are presenting to.
9. Keep it short and keep it simple. People learn best in 20 minutes increments. Anyone heard of Ted Talks? Better stated, anyone not hear of Ted Talks? Ironically, most Ted Talks are 20 minutes long, which is part of why they are so successful. If you have to give a longer presentation, try to find a way to break it into 20-minute chunks.
10. CYA with a CTA. Make sure you have a call to action at the end of your presentation. Be very specific about what you want the audience to do, especially if you are looking for investors. If someone with a cardboard sign can effectively ask for money, you better make sure that your presentation can too.

Not too bad right? When in doubt think back to a presentation that you enjoyed and write down why you enjoyed it, then give us a call. We can help you craft it so you can go out and kill it! Sources: http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/3-ways-to-make-a-good-presentation-great.html http://blog.ted.com/2014/07/15/10-tips-for-better-slide-decks/ How to give great presentations. An alternative to PowerPoint, Bullet Points, boring presentations 5 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People You Suck At PowerPoint! by @jessedee