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How to Succeed in PowerPoint Without Really Trying

10 Tips on How to Turn a Good Presentation into a Great Presentation


The company meeting is coming up. You are waiting in anticipation and fear for that moment when your boss comes knocking on your door asking you to make a presentation. We are here to tell you that there is nothing to be afraid of. PowerPoint, as well as other presentation programs, can be surprisingly user friendly. It’s all about how you use them. 


Here are some tips to making your presentation the talk of the conference!


Slide Master

The Slide Master is where the template and layouts are built for your presentation. Within this menu you can adjust how fonts, backgrounds, tables, charts, images are displayed throughout your entire presentation. This will help with consistency as well as organization. You are free to go into the Slide Master at any point of editing but beware what you adjust. When you make an adjustment to a Master Slide, you effect every slide you’ve chosen that layout for.




Keep it to the point

Having a lot of words on the screen can lose your audience quick and take the focus out of the most important part of the presentation…YOU. Keeping your slides to bullet point statements instead of paragraphs keeps everyone engaged. Think of your slides as notecards or visual examples. This creates an organized flow and keeps you on course throughout your slides.




Backgrounds

Having a background may seem like a small detail, but it can also be that key thing to give your slides that extra flare. Adding abstract backgrounds of granite, marble, or nature landscapes (i.e.- canyons, mountains, or forests) can make your images really pop. Images not your style? Not a problem! Use a white to gray gradient or different shades of your company colors to give depth but still give you that clean look you’d strived for. Your audience doesn’t need to be blinded by the white light of your slides.



Shapes and Picture Cropping

Images don’t have to be in a box! Most programs give you the ability to change any image into any shape by using the “Crop to Shape” option. Have a photo that looks like its floating on the page? You can add abstract shapes around it with maybe some added notes about what you are addressing on your slide.




Picture Formatting

Those pictures still looking flat? Some programs can not only add 3D elements to your presentation, it can also make your images have different perspectives, added shadows and can even turn your image into a painting. 


Graphic below is made specifically in PowerPoint using PowerPoint 3D elements.



Magic and Morphing

The Morph Transition or Magic Move has the ability to recognize familiar objects, words, or characters on one slide and move them to a point of destination on your next slide. Giving that impressive animation feel without the After Effects headaches. This feature is not available in every program but can be accessed through PowerPoint or Keynote.


















Charts and Tables

Charts and tables may not be an attractive option at first, but they can be your friend and wow your audience if done correctly. Use the 3D options in your charts and graphs. Gives the audience a better sense of where the company is at. 


Tables are clutch for organization when showing your attendees, the numbers for this quarters budget summaries but may look scary. Make sure your table has enough spacing between each line to clearly show your numbers. If there is too much to show at once, separate by section and use multiple slides. You want your message to be clear.



3D Models and Icons are the New Clip Art

It’s time to throw away that old clip art that was used back in the Windows 97 days and update those slides to the 3D era! One of the newest features PowerPoint has added to its roster are 3D models. Preloaded are examples of our solar system as well as animals, emojis, avatars, and more. PowerPoint also added hundreds of new icons for your convenience.


The below graphic was made fully in PowerPoint using PowerPoint 3D elements.



Add a video

Sometimes it’s not easy to get your point across with just slides. Use video examples and testimonials to refresh your audiences’ eyes and show them your through research. Embedding a video can be tricky and your event may not have powerful internet for a link. Make sure you are prepared for the worst and have a backup of your media as well as your PowerPoint to ensure success on stage.

 

Don’t Over Animate

Animations can be a fun effect to add to your slides but too much motion can make your audience ill. Be careful not to have too many fly-through and bouncing objects. Focus on the motion from slide to slide with some added fades or fly-in for your bullets. For these effects, a little bit goes a long way.


The tips of how to make a PowerPoint successful can go on for eons but the most important thing of them all is to make sure you’re having fun and getting your message across. Hopefully these simple tools of the trade will give you that boost of confidence to make your presentation enjoyable for you and your audience. 




Your event is a reflection of your brand and company culture, so take this opportunity to design the best experience and leave a lasting impression. For questions or assistance with your next big event, feel free to reach out to our AVmedia family. AVmedia is known for its international production and creative services team, as well as its growing on-site audio visual and production services arm that is focused on changing the stigma around what people think about “in-house AV.”




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