4 Steps for Creating Presentations

If you want to create a presentation, there are four things you need to do: research your content, organize it, visualize it and present it. Here are some things you should keep in mind in order to get it right.

1) Content Planning and Research

What is the purpose of your presentation? What point are you trying to get across? What do you want the audience to walk away with? These are questions you should be thinking about before you even begin to draft ideas for your PowerPoint slides. Unfortunately, many presenters go directly to PowerPoint and start typing down data. Don’t fall into this trap! Instead, brainstorm, research and organize your ideas on paper first. It’s vital to have a good understanding of your core message so that it can be well organized and you can showcase the best texts to strengthen your point.

2) Setting the Structure

Who’s the audience? What do they want to know and how can you engage them? Thinking this through will get you on the same page as your audience, and help you stay on topic. Secondly, understanding the viewpoint of your audience will help structure your information in a way that interests and engages them and additionally, will be easy to follow. Say goodbye to eyes glazing over!

3) Designing and Visualizing

Great design is simple, and that’s exactly why it’s so complicated. If you put everything you have to say on a PowerPoint slide, the audience will just stop paying attention. Great design is recognizing the necessary information, picking out the key points and turning them into visuals. Aristotle once said, “The soul never thinks without an image.” High-quality visuals, pictures, infographics, and icons can transform your data into a message that is quickly grasped and well understood.

4) One-On-One Coaching

Of course you know that practice makes perfect so don’t forget to run through your presentation a few times. Think about using an assertive body language, speaking with your hands, making eye contact with the audience and varying your tone of voice to emphasize your message. Since you don’t see yourself when you present, it’s difficult to make the right adjustments and always a good idea to get feedback from friends, colleagues or professionals. Be encouraged – great presenters are created, not born.

PresentationLoad would love to help mold your message into the perfect presentation, or help turn messy, technical presentations into objects of beauty. These four steps show how our corporate design service can help you. We cover all the basics, help you define your goals and strategies, and can make any final touches according to your specifications.

Together we can optimize your presentation so it speaks for itself.