Presentations can be a powerful way to convey your message and motivate the audience to adopt your ideas. PowerPoint is a commonly used tool to help deliver these presentations. You can unlock unimaginable value from your communications, when done well.
Most presenters load their PowerPoint slides with bullet points and text. This makes it hard for the audience to digest and retain the information.
SCORE interviewed Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points and a professional communications consultant, to get a few tips on effective presentations. Atkinson pioneered the concept of making PowerPoint presentations less like a book, and more like a movie.
He advocates using less text and more images, and the results are extremely effective.
Here are a few of the things we learned from our interview with Atkinson.
Start by thinking of the three most important things you want the audience to remember. This will serve as the anchor of your message. People are bombarded by information, so keep your message simple, clear and stay focused from beginning to end.
Know your message first, before you select and insert images into your presentation.
Once you know what your message is, selecting the appropriate images will be much easier.
Your images are important; they need to relate to the message you are communicating at that moment in time.
The combination of your voice and the right images will make the audience feel like they are listening to a story, and people remember stories. Remember, use less text and more images.
Atkinsonβs tips are effective for public presentations and internal corporate communications as well.
Attorneys have had great success using these techniques to persuade juries. Nonprofits can use these tips to raise more money and find better volunteers.
The bottom line is this: Effective presentations streamline the decision-making process and save everyone a lot of time.
For information on how you can get more value from your communications, visit cliffatkinson.com.
