Presenting... by Lyndon Nicholson

Presenting...

By Lyndon Nicholson

About Lyndon Nicholson

Lyndon Nicholson is one of the UK’s leading experts on presentation design and public speaking. For two decades he has worked with some of the world’s most influential companies, helping them to present new ideas and communicate more effectively.

After developing two other successful presentation design agencies in London and Manchester, Lyndon setup F5 Presentations, based on an idea of changing the way people think about presentations and public speaking.

Now he wants to share all that wealth of knowledge and experience with you.

Introduction Thank you for downloading my book.

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that this has been in development for more than 20 years, slowly gathering pages in my mind as my career advanced and focussed.

As someone who presents and designs presentations every day, I’ve always sought out books that blended both advice about publicly speaking with effective slideshow design. Often those two things were separated, but as I’ve discovered, the vast majority of people who need to stand up and present information are usually doing both by themselves. This book is for them.

As well as detailing my experience of actually giving presentations, and how I’ve arrived at the style and motivations I use each time, I also offer help, advice, and hacks for creating presentation slideshow decks that will truly impress your audience.

Over the years I have given presentations for many different reasons and in many varied situations. From high-pressured sales pitches, to entertaining talks to friends and colleagues , I’ve done them all, and gained a huge amount of experience along the way. One

thing I learnt from all of those different presentations is that the only thing that really matters is the story the presenter is telling. Tell an engaging story, and your audience will listen. And yes, that also applies when updating the sales team about their weekly figures.

I’ve worked very closely with some highly influential companies to help them tell their stories, but the process is no different. Be it Facebook or a one-manband accountancy firm, the importance is all about the message you want to get out there into the world, and a presentation is the most effective way of doing that.

So‌ if you are the marketing director of a Fortune 500 company, or a university lecturer presenting to students, you will find this book useful. The simple fact is that by improving the way you present your ideas, both by what you say and the slides that appear behind you, your message will be more impactful and you will be more successful.

How I got here...

After spending the first 12 years of my professional career selling everything from refrigerators to high-speed data connections, I entered the agency world in 1999. From then I immediately gravitated toward the delivery of sales presentations as my favourite marketing discipline.

Spending four years heading up a successful account team within an integrated agency, I, alongside a colleague, struck out to start my own agency and formed the Article 10 group of companies. Over seven years the group grew, changed shape, opened new divisions and won a reputation for delivering great work across the marketing mix.

At the point that I exited the business via a Management Buyout in late 2011, the group employed 50 people across two locations and enjoyed multi-million pound revenues.

2012 and 13 were spent in a number of roles, including CEO of a pharmaceutical business, consultant to several startups, and principal of a content marketing agency. It is there that I finely honed my understanding of search marketing and how to dominate Google rankings, even in the face of bigger, more established competitors.

In early 2014 I was asked to apply that knowledge to help grow a fledgling Manchester-based design business, Buffalo 7. This consultancy role quickly became a fulltime job and, having put other interests aside, I joined the

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agency as employee number three, soon becoming CEO. There I took charge of all sales and marketing activities, and in under five years in the role I was instrumental in growing the agency to 43 people, expanding into a London branch, and delivering millions of pounds of billings.

Then, in 2018, I decided to try something different...

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F5 Presentations (and what it means) At the time of writing, I have built and developed two very successful presentation design agencies. Being CEO of two different companies, at two very different times in the recent past, has given me a unique perspective. Although those big names like Red Bull, the BBC, and Epson all ended up having great slideshow decks designed for them, I could sense an underlying frustration in the clients.

The traditional design agency works like a production line.

First you deal with a sales team, then you’re passed to a development team, before continuing on to designers and project managers. Over the years I picked up on a degree of confusion from the client, as they were literally passed from pillar to post. Often they didn’t know where they were in the process and who their contact at the agency was.

Also, typical presentations design agencies tend to be just that; they design presentations. That’s fine if you want a looping slideshow to email to customers or display in a shop window, but the vast majority of people seeking the expertise of presentation designers are also looking for help in actually presenting. Designers can’t do that.

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I realised that there was a gap in the market; one that could be filled with a presentation agency that worked differently.

F5 Presentations was born, intended to smash the production line technique of traditional design companies, and place a greater degree of focus on the client and the client’s goals.

With F5, the presenter is the focus, not the slide deck. We offer help and advice with presenting, public speaking, and improving slideshows to be as effective as they can possibly be. Working with just one consultant, each client is offered a bespoke and personal service that can’t be found elsewhere.

F5 Presentations is also about giving something back.

I really wanted to make my own expertise, and the expertise of all the team, available to everyone.

To that end we’ve created not only this book, but also a smaller, quicker-to-read Guide to Presentations; both of which are available for free and designed to help all kinds of people become better presenters.

You can find out more about us, and the work we do, at www.f5.agency

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Being a great presenter “If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation, your audience never will” -Harvey Diamond It’s easy, right? Just stand up there and picture all your audience naked. There, done. Book over.

Unfortunately that’s the worst bit of advice that I have ever received, and only served to make me feel a bit sick when presenting to a board of very old men.

No, becoming a great presenter takes more than tricking your mind into it, and not everyone will find it easy.

Although I’m about to offer lots of advice about improving your public speaking techniques, let’s start with some easy to digest traits that all other great presenters demonstrate.

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Confidence.

Confidence is the knowledge that you definitely aren’t going to fail. That’s an easy thing to write, but a very hard thing to actually believe. In truth, even the most experienced of presenter will feel nerves and apprehension when standing up to speak, but that experience will have taught them how to fake it: how to appear totally confident and relaxed. Afterall, confidence is infectious, and if you appear confident, your audience feel that, too.

Passion.

No great presenter ever wondered on stage and meekly introduced their ideas without showing passion. The thing you’re presenting should be the best thing ever, at least from your point of view, and that energy and enthusiasm needs to radiate to the whole crowd.

Grab attention.

All great presenters, and all great presentations, start strong. Audiences need to know from the very start that the presentation they are about to see will be a game-changer, and convey a message or story that will alter how they think about something.

Authenticity.

True stories are always more interesting, and so authentic presenters are always more engaging. The greats all seem to project themselves when presenting, not a character.

‘Be yourself’ might seem as pointless as ‘picture them naked’, but audiences will pick up on the confidence of a speaker who isn’t afraid to hide their true self.

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Connection.

Effective presenters engage with the people watching them. They always keep in mind that, although they have a lot to say and a lot to demonstrate, they are doing so for the benefit of their audience.

Eye-contact, asking questions, and responding to questions are all part of a good presentation.

Those points are fine, and definitely ones to keep in mind whenever you present, but everyone can experience fear before speaking publicly; fear that could undo a great talk, lecture or sales pitch.

Stage fright is just as real for presenters as it is for theatre actors, especially if the presentation you’re about to give is hugely important to your career or business.

I’ve found that the best way to conquer stage fright is to analyse exactly what it is you are afraid of. For most people that will be the fear of failing, either by some technical mishap like forgetting your speech or your slideshow crashing, or because your presentation was somehow weak and ineffective.

You probably aren’t afraid of failing because a tornado destroys the building you’re in, or because an escaped alligator eats your laptop.

That is because you have no control over those, admittedly random, things. But you do have control over your fear of failing because of a lack or preparation.

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Think about it‌ If you fear forgetting your speech - make sure you learn it backwards If you fear your presentation is weak - ask for help and advice, either from a colleague or a presentation agency You have control over these things, and all it takes is the time and energy to tackle them, resulting in a reduction of stage fright.

You should start by...

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Rehearsing Do it over and over again. And then do it a few more times.

Know your speech and the running order of the presentation so you don’t need your notes and so you always know what’s coming next. Eliminate the ‘erm…’ from your performance.

As well as your words, know your slides. If you use PowerPoint (and I certainly do - more on that later), make sure that your screen is showing the slides and info that matches with what you are saying. Learn the sequence so that you can speak and click through them without looking at the screen. Now there’s a slick presenter.

The presentation should be second nature as you enter the room, and no matter what happens, such as a heckling audience member (or indeed an alligator), you won’t lose your place or flow. Removing that doubt is the best and most effective way to combat stage fright.

Another way is to rehearse your laptop. Eh? Sounds weird, but technology is a very important aspect of modern presentations, from mobile projectors, touch screens, tablets, phones, and the trusty old laptop running PowerPoint. Whatever you use to show off your ideas, be the master of it all.

Just as you’ll learn to know the order of your slides, so you should learn your tech inside and out.

Technical issues can be the bane of even the most

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seasoned of presenter, and from my experience they happen at the worst possible time.

Therefore get to know your laptop as you would a dear friend. Know what to do if it all goes wrong, refuses to start up, crashes and explodes (well,maybe not that extreme). We’ve all had weird things happen to us, even with brand-new, high-powered computers, so get some knowledge about ho to deal with common errors.

The same applies to your projector or screen. Know the set-up process intimately, what wire goes where, and how long your extension cord is. Ask yourself, what is that strange little button on the projector and what happens if it accidentally gets pressed?

Explore all these quirks of the tech well before your presentation and your confidence will be boosted.

A further boost will come from knowing as much as possible about the environment in which you’ll be presenting. If you’re making a pitch to your boss or some colleagues in your office, that won’t be an issue, but a field sales agent who travels out to their potential clients is essentially going into unknown territory. That can be nerve-wracking.

Information is key here - ask (in a very polite and respectful manner) what methods of presentation delivery they have, like a large screen or projector, and how they prefer to be pitched to.

If you’re going to be using someone else’s technology, ask what it is and look up how to work it on the internet. The more you do this, the more you’ll

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know, and your natural confidence will grow.

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And… relax The pressure is on, the presentation day is fast approaching, and a lot depends on how you come across. GULP. Stop and remember this: your audience isn’t putting pressure on you, you are. That is why you need to… and I’m sorry I’m about to say this… relax.

That’s awful advice, isn’t it?

Who has ever actually managed to relax when someone tells them to relax? It can’t be done, and actually stresses me out more, as I get angry that someone is telling me what I already know I need to do. That is why it is a piece of advice you need to give to yourself, but a long time before you step up on stage.

Truth is, the most relaxed and confident of people are also the healthiest and best rested. Keeping your cool in a high-pressure environment is a lot easier when your body isn’t choked with caffeine and you’re existing on two hours sleep each night.

Just like an athlete preparing to win a race, you need to prepare your body for the sports-like physical task of presenting.

Eat healthily, exercise often, and try something like yoga or meditation can all help clear your mind and reduce stress.

Stress is a killer, and presentations can be stressful. Do it for yourself.

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An easy way to start down a healthier, less stressed road, is to…

Limit your caffeine intake Drink less alcohol Lower the amount of sugar you take in Get a good night’s sleep each night I’m not advocating you become a pious, wellrested monk - just to recognise the link between a healthy body and a healthy mind.

And hey, if you improve your health and well-being you’ll be better at everything else in life, too.

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Sell that confidence Okay, so you know what you’re saying, you know what details are featured on slide 17, and you’re in peak physical condition (well, you’ve only had one espresso today, and you made it into bed before midnight last night): it’s time to sell your new-found confidence to your audience.

I’m not suggesting you run into the room, pumping your fists like Tony Robbins, and whooping at the top of your lungs, especially not for a one-to-one presentation with a new client. God no.

Instead, try…

Greeting people as they enter and engage with them.

If you’re presenting to strangers, talk to them to get an idea of what they want and need; it might flavour your following presentation.

If the audience is mostly colleagues, chat informally with them as normal to put them at ease.

One key point there is talking to your potential clients or customers before you start the presentation. One thing we’re big on at F5 Presentations is creating PowerPoint slideshows that are interactive and allow the user to leap from one section to another, without having to awkwardly flick through dozens of slides.

Getting a feel for what your audience want means you can tailor the presentation to them, jumping to the section that

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is most relevant right away. Whenever that has happened in a presentation to me, I’ve been hugely impressed.

What has also impressed me is the way that confidence is communicated physically. Personally, I’m more likely to trust someone who seems happy and sure of what they are saying. That will mostly come from a genuine sense of passion and enthusiasm for the subject, but the way in which you do something as simple as stand makes a huge difference.

When someone tells me that they’ve rehearsed their presentation “in their head”, I point out that that is definitely a waste of precious preparation time. An effective presentation can’t exist in your head, not when so much of what we communicate is done with our bodies. Just thinking through your performance is not good enough.

Stand up, as you will be doing on the day, and get your body involved. Use your arms, be animated, and be honest. By rehearsing on your feet you’ll discover what parts of the presentation need some physicality and movement to better express your ideas.

Keep your head held high and use eye contact: it goes a long way to communicating confidence, which is why I’m a big advocate of knowing your speech off by heart.

It will avoid all those awkward glances down to your notes, severing the connection with you audience.

Also, don’t be tempted to turn from them to look at your slides too often. You should know what slide is up on screen without looking, if you’ve prepared enough. Your audience are there to listen to you, not consider what

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kind of hair product you use on the back of your head.

Taking your time If your presentation is exactly ten minutes, you might expect to up there speaking for exactly ten minutes, right? In fact, watching a person speak endlessly for ten whole minutes would be painful for your audience and leave them with the impression that they’ve just been presented to by a robot.

Some of the best speeches and presentations I’ve ever heard used pauses just as effectively as the images on screen and words spoken.

Humans don’t regurgitate information at each other like fog horns blasting in the night. The ideas we present are reflective in our personalities and fueled by our emotions.

Your laptop, fueled by 1s and 0s and powered by electricity, is not the one making the presentation; you are.

We can’t hide the fact that we are emotional, sensitive, and flawed creatures. Everyone is, and that is therefore automatic common ground on which you can build rapport. Capture your audience’s imagination by showing that you are just like them, and that you are there to show them something you feel very strongly about. They can relate to that, and you’ll gain their trust as a result.

A presenter is not an actor, because presenters need to tell the truth. I’m sure the theatre crowd will gang up

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on me here, but acting is a form of lying; the emotions on display are false. Presenting effectively requires the real person to communicate their real feelings.

So if your idea greatly excites you, show it. If a story about how you arrived to where you are today is sad, show that, too. There’s power in the personal.

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Play it for laughs?

One public speaker who I admire, former US president Barack Obama, would often begin a speech with a joke. It was a great power move, demonstrating that even in the most important of situations, with the eyes of the world on him, he felt confident enough to drop some humour.

Now, I can’t encourage you to always start with a joke, nor can I recommend you include them at all - especially if your presentation is to your investors who want to know where all their money has gone. But, in an appropriate situation, humour in presentations makes the presenter seem confident, relaxed, and inventive… if your jokes are any good.

If you have an existing presentation and think you’d like to add some jokes, scan over the actual script on paper and think where they could be inserted. How has your audience reacted to the material in the past?

Was there a moment when you felt you lost them for a while? Could humour help to enliven that part?

In deciding that, consider your audience. Will they get your jokes about A4 cream paper stock, or will you come across as that desperate guy who wants everyone to like him?

Ideally you’ll have worked all this out before getting up to present, but consider the audience’s age, and what kind of industry they work in. It matters when scripting material that relies on like-minded people sharing a joke.

Also are there any cultural barriers that might derail your efforts to be funny? Presenting to people from a different

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country or culture to yours might make humour hard to translate and, worst case scenario, it might be considered offensive.

Worth the risk?

Think long and hard about that. Like any other element of your presentation, getting the opinions of others prior to making it is essential for humour. Ask friends and colleagues if they think your attempt at humour is both funny and appropriate. Finding out from colleagues if your audience is typically accepting of that kind of presentation can also be useful. The more you know...

If you are going for it, takes these few points into consideration‌ Less is more.

One or two reliable, effective jokes will see your audience enjoy themselves, not ten solid minutes of clangers, distracting from the real meat of your presentation.

Humour is the cherry on top.

Think of your presentation as a cake and the humour you wish to add as a cherry on top. Your audience are here for the cake, not the pretty cherry that adds just a smidge of interest.

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Don’t expect the laugh.

You might think you’re funny, and your presentation has scored a few laughs in the past, but all audiences are different. Don’t pause and expectantly wait for the laughs to come when you drop your killer line. It might not, and you’ll look foolish.

Plan an escape route.

Don’t write your presentation around the jokes, because if you find that the audience aren’t liking them, you need to ditch them. Think of the humour as optional extras you can add if all is going well, but ditch it if it isn’t.

Thinking about adding jokes to your presentation is actually no laughing matter. Consider it long and hard, but when it goes well it can warm your audience to you, add an entertaining element to the talk, and make you more memorable.

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Err… Whether you use some humour in your presentation or not, there is one thing that you will definitely want to leave out. However, this is something that you won’t plan to be in your presentation or slideshow deck, and you might not realise it’s even there until you’re up on stage. The thing? Erm… well… so… err...

Filler words and erm, sounds are the natural product of nerves and adrenaline - two things you definitely will be feeling as you present. When all the attention is on us, we naturally want to fill silences, even between perfectly well delivered sentences and statements. You might realise that bombarding your audience with a constant stream of words and slides will overwhelm them, so don’t be afraid to let the silence out.

This ties into the point I made about taking your time, but letting the silence resonate during a presentation can have a massive impact on those listening to you.

Think about it: the audience are there to listen to what you have to say. That word, ‘say’, has probably dominated your thinking about the presentation up until this point, with you writing a script and thinking about your slide content.

Instead, begin to consider the ‘you’ part of that statement.

You are not a robot programmed to spurt information when told to, and I can assume (and hope) that the majority of your life is spent in silence, thinking, doing etc.

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Silence is a natural part of human interaction, and one you, as the presenter and focus of the moment, can completely control.

Pausing after an important statement signifies that statement’s importance, forcing the audience to think more about what was just said. Omitting filler words during that time can be very powerful, as it demonstrates that you are comfortable with the silence and will begin speaking again when ready.

Granted, this is easier said than done, as filler words tend to pop in involuntarily during times of high stress.

Taking the advice about relaxing and improving your health will help with that, but be prepared to let a few slip out - hey, you’re not a robot, remember.

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Going out with a bang Another thing you can learn from the presenting greats is how they end their speeches. Sales people will know all about the call-to-action, but even if you’re not trying to sell anything to your audience, the close of your presentation should will them on to do something.

The end of your presentation is your final opportunity to leave a lasting impression of those present, so you really need to decide on what it is you want from them. A sale?

A job? Change the way they think about something?

If you’re having difficulty with that question, the next section of this book will help with that when we tackle structuring your presentation. However, the final slides, or the closing statement, really needs to drop a bomb. Is there some piece of information about you, your company, or your product that you can leave until last, to increase its significance?

I’ve always enjoyed ‘call-backs’ at the close of a presentation; something that directs the audience's attention back to a previous slide or section. If the presentation is about design and the speaker has previously shown an example of bad design work, the final revelation could be that he or she was the person who actually created it long ago, revealing how much they have changed, grown, and improved.

Consider also that your final slide might the one that remains on screen the longest. Often last slides stay up there, viable to all, while the presenter not only closes

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up their presentation, but also while they thank the audience, and even until the deck changes, possibly for the next speaker if you are one of many presenting.

What image or info do you want to leave them with? The chances are that whatever is shown last will be remembered longest, so take your time to pick the right content.

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Dress to impress, not distress Finally in this section I want to mention something you’ll never get from a typical PowerPoint design agency… advice about clothing.

Of course we’d all benefit from a world where people judged us only on what we do and say, not how we appear, but the thing about humans is that we take everything in about our environment and the people around us and form almost immediate opinions.

Although each individual is attracted to different things and types of people, there are many ways in which our likes are all the same. As you want your audience to like you, trust you, and believe what you’re saying and feeling is genuine, there are things you can do to improve the way they react to you at first glance.

I’ve never heard of a potential client demanding that those who pitch to them dress a certain way - if they did, it might actually make it easier. Instead, you need to consider several things when picking your outfit for your big moment.

Branding If you are giving a presentation on behalf of the company for which you work, your dress should reflect the values of that organisation. If you work for a start-up company that builds apps for kids and wear nothing but sweatpants and hoodies all day, you might look and feel strange in a formal suit. By all means dress up, but try to stay in your comfort zone.

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Environment Making a presentation to a group of university students will definitely create a different atmosphere to a talk delivered at a retirement home. Think about where you’ll be presenting and consider if your attire is appropriate. You don’t have to go against the advice given in the previous point, but you could smarten slightly up, or even dress slightly down.

Comfort As I said previously, presenting is a physical activity. You need to be able to move around and express yourself, so your outfit should be as comfortable as you want it to be. If you’ve decided to present in smart business wear, and you never normally wear that kind of thing, take that into consideration long before your presentation.

You don’t want to be thrown off your flow because your tie is too tight and you’re slowing panicking.

God-awful colours and patterns I once sat through a 30 minute presentation about something I was really interested in, but by the end of it all I could remember was how distracting the speaker’s shirt was. You never want to wear something that blends you into the background, but remember you need the focus to be on you, not the garish item of clothing your auntie brought you back from Hawaii.

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Structuring that killer presentation “My best advice is to not start in PowerPoint.

Presentation tools force you to think through information linearly, and you really need to start by thinking of the whole instead of the individual lines.”

-Nancy Duarte

So… what is your presentation about?

Chances are, you already have a clear brief, be it from your boss, teacher, or potential employer, or you’re a business owner who wants to increase the exposure of your company or pitch to possible investors. You already know what you’re doing and have a clear topic in mind. Good for you.

However, there is still much to learn from the route that those of you who don’t yet have a presentations topic need to take; people who have been given a totally open brief but are still expected to come up with something interesting and engaging.

Here at F5 Presentations, I’m constantly being asked

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by people what it is they should make their slideshow about, and how to come up with ideas that will result in something creative and impressive. The advice that I give to them could also be applied to the people with a full and frank presentation brief...

Follow your interests and then tell a story.

You might think that this one-liner is fine for school kids creating a talk for a class project about Pokemon, but it will also help hardened business-types who have to present the quarterly figures to the board of directors.

Presenting something about which you are passionate will come across positively, drawing the audience in and getting them to empathise with you. Your passion for the subject will show and, if genuine, will spread to them.

Which is fine if you really love Pokemon (don’t we all?), but how are you supposed to get passionate about the quarterly figures? It might not seem easy, especially if the figures aren’t great, but you need to try and inject as much of you into the subject as possible. What you say needs to come from a personal place, a subjective point of view.

Ask yourself: what have I got to say about this topic?

Then, once upon a time, tell a story. There is incredible power in storytelling and one of the only things that crosses cultures, religions and time is our species’ desire to both hear and tell a good story. They entertain us, act like escapism, teach us, and help

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us remember important events and people.

A good presentation does the same. Watch any talk given by a famous speaker and you can dissect the performance into sections that will resemble those of a classic narrative, mainly: The introduction and establishment of a main character The problem the character must overcome The journey Conflict The conclusion Not all presentations and talks will follow this kind of structure, but when they do you can bet it will draw the audience in and keep them engaged. They’ll subconsciously recognise the flow of the presentation, feel comforted by it, and want to see what happens at the end‌ like you do with any good story.

Just like how a great story is better when told by the person to whom the incident really happened, so your audience will better enjoy a story from you, about you.

If you are talking about your new software that identifies different kinds of dinosaurs or something, you need to tell them about the struggles you faced getting to where you are now, and what you (the hero) learnt along the way. Did

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you almost fail? Did you manage to slay your demon (or that tricky bit of code) at the last minute? If so, tell them.

And, just as with any good tale, there needs to be some form of reason for everything having happened. What changed? What transformed? Did you emerge from your trials a different person? How did the ordeal improve you, and how will the audience benefit from your adventure? “The single most important skill you must have to lead is the ability to tell your own story.�

-Bo Eason

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Plan for success Barring weird French films you pretended to ‘get’ when you were a student, everything you watch and listen to has a structure, be it a film, TV show, song and even a website. Your presentation is no different, so now that you know what story you’re interested in telling, you need to create a structure on paper. As yourself: Who am I presenting to?

What do I want from them?

What do I want them to take from the presentation?

Here you need to do your research, as knowing your intended audience as best you can will increase your presentation’s effectiveness. Find out who it is you will be performing in front of, and what the core values of their organisation are. That’s important.

You need to set in stone what the whole point of your presentation is. Know your desired outcome well, then plan the form and structure of your to point directly at that. Is it a sale you want, or possibly even to impress your boss?

With that goal in mind, you should then be able to start to build the content of the slideshow and your script, kicking out things that don’t help you arrive at your goal.

When you do, keep these points in mind:

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Are you clear about who you are and why you’re here?

Are you telling a story that will transform your audience’s thoughts about something?

Do you have a ‘Killer Slide’, or a piece of information that is most important?

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What is, and what could be In her book Resonate, Nancy Duarte describes a technique of structuring presentations and talks that weaves the facts and figures that you need to communicate along with a story that will keep your audience engaged.

She proposes setting out your presentation structure with peaks and troughs: the troughs are when you are detailing how things currently are, while the peaks demonstrate how things could be. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as you repeatedly point out something that could be improved, and then show how you, your company, product or service, could improve it.

This structure not only works from the point of view of showing how you can solve current, and therefore the audience’s, problems, but also on a emotional level as they are carried along by the story, compelled to see how it ends.

It also allows you to plan for a big finish, as you can begin your presentation in a trough, explaining how something currently is and why it needs to be improved, but end on a high with the greatest of peaks; your Mount Everest of solutions.

Doing so will energise the audience into taking action, as you’ve shown them that there is something better for them.

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Content is King The content of your slides is a lot more than just words and images that appear behind you. When planning the actual meat of your slideshow you need to keep in mind that whatever gets projected up there should not be a distraction from you, the presenter. Use your slide content as a visual reinforcer to what you’re saying.

Think of it as the scaffolding onto which you build your presentation, and use it to help your audience recall the most important parts of your presentation. Put dozens of words on each slide and they’ll remember nothing but a confusing mess. Hammer home points you make with engaging images, stats and simple sentences, and you’ll get in their heads.

But, in order to do that, you need to know what kind of heads you’re trying to get into. Here your audience research will come in handy, as you’ll be able to tailor the language used in the slide content to them.

Consider age, industry, and any additional personal details you might know about them. Consider also your brand (if you have one) and how you want to be perceived. If you’re selling electric scooters for kids you might want a livelier tone.

Regardless of the audience, slide content needs to be clear and simple. If you’re audience can’t take in everything a new slide presents in just a few seconds, it isn’t a very efficient slide.

Basically, don’t waffle.

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Quotes can be used as effective slide content, especially from a famous person, be that person speaking about your subject or not. Relating your point to what someone influential once said will lend it credibility, and as Marlene Dietrich said…

“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognised wiser than oneself.”

Simple facts and numbers are always better than complicated graphs and charts. Showing your audience that they’ll be better off going with your company with a large and impactful percentage figure is far better than a graph showing slight changes.

In arranging your content into your slideshow plan, think back to the structure of a story that we discussed earlier. To simplify, think about the classic three act film structure.

Act 1. The start. Get the audience on side by introducing both a character (you) and a storyline that they can relate to. For example, there’s a problem that you’ve been blighted by and decided to overcome - one that they’ve possibly had experience of, too. Begin the journey.

Act 2. The middle. Here your character faces yet more conflict and setbacks while trying to overcome the problem. Here you can reveal yet more details but keep all content as simple as possible, as the story you’ll be telling if the most important part. Often middle sections end with apparent failure to keep the audience’s interest into...

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Act 3. Conclusion. Detail your character’s triumph over the problem, and how that will improve the lives of your audience. This section contains the call to action, as well as the message that will linger in their minds the longest. Choose your content wisely, grasshopper.

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Rule of Three Speaking of things that come in trees, neuroscientists know that humans have difficulty retaining multiple pieces of data in the short-term. Drop too much onto your audience and their brains will literally shut down.

You should therefore try to organise your presentation into threes wherever you can. The Rule of Three helps to make information easier to digest and retain, especially if your audience are sitting through several presentations and talks in one long go.

Steve Jobs, the late, great boss of Apple, used this technique to fascinating effect when he first introduced the iPhone in 2007. By distilling the phone’s functions into three (an iPod, a phone, and an internet device) he could then base the whole keynote speech around those topics, segmenting it into three.

Therefore, for maximum effect, consider how your presentation can be organised into thirds and how the data you include on your slides can also be represented that way.

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Images “It is better to present information in words, pictures and video.”

-Dr. Richard Maye, University of California, Santa Barbara.

That quote, from a professor of educational psychology and an expert in multimedia learning, is worth remembering.

Mayer conducted experiments which found that people who were exposed to multi-sensory learning environments, where pictures and videos were used alongside traditional aural techniques, were always better at recalling information given - even years later.

Essentially, he discovered that when our brains are allowed to build two mental representations of something, based on what we heard and also what we saw, the information sticks in there longer and is clearer to recall.

Therefore, the images you include in your content are hugely important. The vast majority of people, especially those in the business world who are used to seeing presentations, can now spot crap images and graphics a mile off. You might be able to pick a nice font (more on that very important subject later, kids), but you can’t just use any old photos you’ve pinched off Google.

The right pictures will grab your audience’s attention and focus, set the right backdrop for what you’re saying, and stay with them - far longer than the words your speak.

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If you’re no photographer, fret not. Usually larger companies have image libraries of products, staff, and their offices which will most probably be of a high standard.

If you’re presenting on behalf of your employer, ask your marketing team to see what they’ve got. If it’s nothing (or if they’re rubbish), or if you’re presenting for yourself and don’t have a budget to splash on iStock images, you could use a site like Unsplash.

Unsplash is great for high quality, high-res images of fairly generic and usable things. Dropping one into the background of a slide, or as the basis of your theme in PowerPoint, will add a professional feel.

As ever with this kind of thing, if you’re not confident with the creative, design side, ask a colleague or get in touch with an expert.

When you find a bunch of images you like, but realise they all quite different and feature contrasting colours, use a filter. Filters will give even the most different of photos a similar appearance, blending them all nicely together into your chosen theme, increasing consistency in the deck.

You can use software like Adobe’s Photoshop to do this really well, but if you don’t have that you could try downloading a free smartphone photo editing app to your phone and editing them all there.

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Kinds of images There are different types of images to consider when choosing what to place where in your slideshow, and those differences should influence both your hunt for pictures and your decision about where to finally put them.

Abstract. PowerPoint comes pre-loaded with a tonne of abstract images, and although I recommend you never use anything standard such as those, other abstract forms can work well. Used as texture-rich backgrounds, abstract images can lend a sense of continuity, especially to minimal decks.

Thematic. These are the images that tie in nicely with your chosen theme. If you’ve gone for a retro styling to your slideshow, with 1950s fonts and layouts, then images depicting people in 1950s dress would go well.

Humourous. As stated above when I discussed injecting some jokes into your script, using funny images can be a risk. Still, the right image at the right time could lend some much needed energy or tension relief in your audience (just always run such decision by friends and colleagues, first).

Real life. Image of real people really doing things are very powerful. Unlike those awkward stock images, with actors smiling and shaking hands, real life pictures depict a reality that your audience will recognise; unstaged, genuine, and true.

Illustrative. These images are used to display

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concepts and only really work in conjunction with text describing something. For example, a peaceful image of a neat and tidy Japanese garden in the autumn doesn’t relay anything specific, until the title ‘Finding your calm’ appears over the top.

Evocative. Trying to change they way they emotionally feel about something? An evocative image lends weight to info and speech about something, such as a shot of an ill child during a presentation about hygiene.

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Video content Video can be added to your slide deck as easily as you can add images. A quick upload of a file is all it takes. But video has a very different impact on an audience than still images do, and you have to consider if your slideshow needs video at all.

Would a video convey your message and help you arrive at your presentation’s goal? As with too much text, a video could distract your audience's focus away from you as you present, as our brains are naturally wired to watch moving objects. That’s fine if their focus should be on the video, if it is necessary to the story you are telling, but not if you need their attention on you.

I’ve found that video used as a looping, toned-down background to a slide can be quite visually impressive. It won’t demand too much attention from the audience and could lend a higher level of professionalism to your deck.

However, be cautious and apply the same principles you did when selecting those images, because poor video clips will reflect badly on you and your brand.

Business people employed by larger organisations might have professionally-produced video available to them, especially if your communications director knows the importance of content marketing in the modern world and actively makes videos for YouTube and social channels.

Ask to see what they have that carries your company’s branding and that might be appropriate for your message.

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Meanwhile, for those presenters without the might of a marketing department behind them, websites like Pexels are great as they offer free-to-use downloadable clips that make perfect looping backgrounds or establishing shots if you’re editing together a larger video.

Just be aware that adding a video file to your PowerPoint presentation will vastly increase its overall size and that could cause complications.

A bloated PowerPoint file can be a problem for older, slower-running computers. Big files will potentially cause crashes and freezing, and nobody wants that mid-way through that all-important sales pitch.

Also, it might make emailing and sharing the file with colleagues and clients troublesome. If you’re a field salesperson who gives presentations on your own laptop that you know to be powerful and capable, that shouldn’t be an issue.

But, if you find yourself having to present on someone else’s hardware that is less than high tech, you need to be conscious of file sizes to ensure a smooth presentation. I’ll talk about reducing PowerPoint file sizes later on, so calm down, Video Vinny.

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Keep it real If you plan on using video for more than a catchy background and actually need your audience to watch an absorb a message conveyed by a clip, try to keep it authentic.

As with images, people are more likely to engage with video content they perceive as ‘real’, especially when it comes to a product or service. A short simple clip of an actual customer talking honestly about their experiences will have a greater effect than a stylised, high-budget video that potentialy features actors.

Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise which is a charity that builds schools in poorer countries, famously uses a video clip he filmed on his smartphone as part of his presentation.

While working in Laos he recorded a short clip when speaking to three young girls who had no school to go to.

Those three girls became the charity’s first pupils.

When fundraising, Braun inserts the 40 second clip into his deck and reports that it is always very effective.

“There’s an authenticity to the footage because it’s not super high quality and it’s in the first person. You feel as though you are witnessing a special moment. The video is less than one minute long and it’s a powerful element for drawing out an emotional response.”

With your own smartphone in your pocket constantly,

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you too have the tools to capture something worthy of inclusion in your presentation.

Consider these types of ‘real’ videos: Interviews. Like Braun’s brief chat with the children in Laos, is there a causal ‘back and forth’ you could record with someone relevant to you presentation - be it a customer, expert, or colleague?

Testimonials. More talking heads than conversations, testimonials are a great way of showing what previous clients thought of you and your business.

Plus, editing the recording means you can show exactly what you want other people to hear.

Events. The energy and hustle bustle of an event is best portrayed with video. If you have given product demonstrations at trade shows, held a media-friendly launch party, or if you can cobble together a clip showing lots of other people agreeing with you, do so and include it.

Case Studies. This one might be tougher to keep short, but if your company or business already has video case studies up on their social media accounts, could you possibly edit one down and distill the message?

Culture videos. Everyone loves to see people acting informally, and if you need to give an example of what kind of business you are, or work for, a culture video could do it. Short clips of people in the office, laughing, and being creative would be effective at creating a connection with

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the audience, and demonstrating what it would be like to work with you.

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Getting your design on Here’s a pretty mind-blowing figure for you: approximately 35 million PowerPoint presentations are built and given each and every day on this planet.

Those presentations are taking place in classrooms, lecture halls, board rooms, theatres, and live on the internet‌ and they have all been designed to persuade their audiences into thinking or feeling something new.

Therefore millions of people, just like me and you, depend upon the visual medium of PowerPoint to convey their message in the most impactful way possible.

Careers hang on getting the presentation right.

But, yours is just one of those 35 million presentations being given on the day you stand up and begin. So are you going to stand out from the crowd - a crowd that gets bigger each year as presentations and audio/ visual talks and lectures become more popular?

Okay, here we go.

Designing a slideshow can often be the hardest part for people on the presentation journey, especially those who might consider themselves somewhat lacking in creativity.

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However, with the right tools, direction, and enthusiasm, anyone can build a killer deck to convey their content to their audience‌ and leave them wondering how you did it.

I’d never tell anyone exactly what to do when designing their slideshow, as that depends entirely on you, your message, and your product, service and brand. No deck should be the same as any other and should be a reflection of the personality standing before it delivering the presentation.

That said, there is still a lot of advice I could offer about how you can arrive at a personal, bespoke, and engaging slideshow, and it starts with the very basics.

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YOUR template Open good ol’ PowerPoint you’ll be presented with a blank white stock template. It’ll loom up at you from the screen, attempting to intimidate you with its blank white stockiness. The fiend.

You might be tempted to start with that as a base, just to get some ideas out onto the digital page and feel good that you’ve made a start. People in a hurry will also immediately start dropping content onto this, desperate to get something, anything, into the file. However, the vast majority of other presenters will also be doing that, and the result will be a lot of similar looking, boring presentations.

That’s no good for you or your presentation.

Hold on to your hats here, as I’m going to suggest that you create your own custom template onto which you’ll build your presentation.

That might sound like a complicated, time-consuming process, but a bespoke PowerPoint template will make your slides really stand out from the crowd and draw in your audience's attention. Why? Because PowerPoint is dull.

That isn’t true, not at all, but that is the widely held belief about the software, perpetuated by rubbish slideshows that we’ve all had to sit through at some stage in our lives.

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In reality, PowerPoint is now one of the most versatile and creative tools available, allowing those of you who want to create something totally original and mind-blowing to do so. The aim is to make your PowerPoint slideshow not look like a PowerPoint slideshow, and the template is the best place to start.

If you are a marketing or sales manager, you want to invest in the time it takes to create a custom template, or hire an external agency to create one for you. Giving your sales team the specially branded and formatted template (a .potx file, by the way) means the presentations they go on to make and use on clients will have a consistent style and keep your branding how you want it to appear. It’ll also the process of building a presentation faster for them, so they can spend more time concentrating on pursuing leads.

In PowerPoint find the Slide Master section and play around. You can import logos, choose relevant fonts (more on those later), and pick your colour palette, saving the lot to a single, easy to use file.

If you don’t fancy that, and you don’t want help from professional template designers, you can download some from the internet. Some will be free while others might cost a small amount. This is fine, but remember that the free templates will never be as good, polished, or as flexible as one designed by a designer who rightly charges for their work.

Oh, and if you do go down the downloading route, make sure you’re doing so from a trusted site.

Viruses are easily caught from dodgy sites othering freebies, and that is the last thing your laptop needs

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just before an important presentation or pitch.

Colour Now that you have your gorgeous new template built or downloaded, it is important to think about colour.

For business people, your organisation should already have a colour palette it uses. It should be a handy document that lists all branding guidelines, and is a mustread for presentation makers; not just for colours but also for things like the correct placement of logos, etc.

Find out what those colours are and stick to them, using the correct hex code to replicate them in PowerPoint (they look like this: #FF0000).

For the non business people reading who don’t have branding guidelines to follow, it’s time to pick your own. Some of you might already have a preference with what colours you want to use, but it’s always important to check them to see if they ‘go’.

Try the website Color Palettes. There you can get some inspiration by browsing a huge catalogue of palettes, usually four or five in each. They take the main colours from different photographs to create varied collections, supplying the hex codes for each, allowing you to recreate it.

You can use it to see what colours would compliment

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the ones you’re already using. A palette of about two or three colours will add a lot of consistency to your presentation, running across all of the slides. Once you have them chosen, stick to them and don’t be tempted to add more as you go.

Make sure the tones that you choose compliment each other well and don’t clash with each other, distracting your audience. But also be careful to ensure that they have a good degree of contrast, so they don’t all blend in together and are lost when projected or displayed on a screen.

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Colour association Colours make us feel things depending on how we have experienced and witnessed those colours being employed in varying situations. These feelings will differ from culture to culture, country to country, but in the Anglo-sphere, and the vast majority of Western civilisation, colours evoke these feelings: Black. Sophistication, strength, mystery Red. Passion, energy, love Blue. Peace, tranquility, confidence Yellow. Intellect, warmth, caution White. Simplicity, hope, purty Purple. Luxury, royalty, wisdom Green. Nature, life, freshness Orange. Innovation, ideas, creativity Grey. Maturity, authority, security Consider the feelings your colour palette will evoke in your audience, and compare that to what it is you actually want them to feel and how you want to be perceived.

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Fonts Ah, fonts. You might have at some point encountered a person who is obsessed with fonts, pointing them out at any opportunity when he or she spots them in advertising, on signs, and in websites. You’ve probably wondered how on earth they can tell the difference between Montserrat Bold and Montserrat Semi Bold.

Well, as someone who works with different fonts every day, I’m telling you that it can become a little obsessive. Fonts are massively important when conveying a message, and that is why organisations have selected fonts as part of their branding.

Fonts can offer consistency to a presentation while also communicating a message. I’m not one for deviating too much from the simple and neat, but consider how the appearance of some fonts seem to tell a story in their own right, and the classic stylings of Times New Roman says something different than the minimalist Ariel.

But, as I said, it is important to use fonts that are neat and very simple. Letters and characters that utilise attentiongrabbing forms will do just that: grab the attention away from what the slide, and you, are trying to say.

Therefore, for all sorts of presentations, I recommend employing no more than two different kinds of fonts; usually one for titles and headers of your slide, and another similar style for the body of your text.

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Experience, and a touch of personal preference, has taught me that Serif fonts make great titles and headers, while Sans Serif is good as a body font.

That’s just me, but I’ve found that combination makes it easier for the audience to take in the on-screen message, no matter where in the room they might be seated.

However, be sure to test different fonts and experiment to find the ones you like. Some fonts might suit different presentation subjects and you could play around with changing them when presenting to a different kind of audience.

Just keep in mind my strongest piece of advice when it comes to fonts: clean and simple is always better than lavish and complicated.

And, once you have your font or fonts chosen, use them as little as possible.

No more than six lines per slide.

Seriously. Lay on more than six lines of text in each slide and you risk losing your audience’s attention while they read what has just popped up.

Sentences should be short and easy to take in.

Those six or fewer lines should be as short and as simple to take in as possible; as short as the three bold points in this list.

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Structure them simply.

The sentence structure for each should also be simple and quick to take in. Your audience research will help you find the right tone for this.

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Transitions One of the classic cliches of PowerPoint, and one that adds to the notion that the programme is a bit naff, are transitions. The way a slide changes to the next can say a lot about your design choice - just as much as the colours and fonts you choose.

PowerPoint gives you plenty of options, and most are pointless at best, and horrendous at worst. I was once sitting through a fairly sensible and serious sales pitch, given by a no-nonsense presenter, when one of his slides transitioned to the next by folding up into a paper aeroplane and flying off the screen.

I’ll be honest, I was so thrown by the strange choice that I’ve completely forgotten what the pitch was about.

Therefore keep it simple and pick one, very easy and minimal transition. Using a different one with each slide will, again, distract your audience from you and your content. Use them like any other design choice, tying them into the theme, branding, and tone of the rest of the presentation. An upbeat, fun slideshow with lots of bright colours, intended for a similar kind of audience, would definitely benefit from some motion in the slide transition.

You could deliver your presentation without any transitions at all, by the way, but I can’t recommend that you do. A sudden change in imagery on screen can be quite jarring, and if you’re going for a relaxed, confident feel to your presentation you might want to consider something that introduces each slide gently.

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Some powerful transitions to experiment with, are...

Wipe. A fairly standard transition in which the slide, appropriately, wipes one way or the other.

Fade. This trusted classic is the go-to for many seasoned presenters, and it’s easy to see why. A clean simple fade transition between slides is usually all you need.

Reveal. This one combines a gentle fade with a slight amount of motion, gliding from one slide while the next slowly blends into view.

Push. This transition looks as if the next slide is elbowing its way onto screen, pushing the previous to one side. If you keep the background consistent, it is possible to make it seem like the presentation is ‘moving’ in a certain direction with Push.

Morph. I’ll come back to Morph, a new and innovative type of transition, when discussing the advantages of upgrading to PowerPoint 2016. I think you’ll like it, though.

Whatever transition you eventually go for, never (ever) select ‘Random’. With that selected, PowerPoint will very handily select a style for you at random, meaning you’ll be completely thrown off guard by your own presentation, when your very important content transitions by seeming to float away on a breeze. Oh dear.

Don’t worry too much about transitions. Find one that works and that is appropriate, then move onto more important things.

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Reducing your presentation file size Bragging that yours is bigger than anyone else's isn’t anything to be proud of when it comes to PowerPoint.

Truth is, a large, media-packed file can run sluggishly, even on the the most powerful and up-to-date of computers - something not everyone will have.

As I mentioned when discussing adding video content to your slideshow, big files can be troublesome, both to use and communicate. If your client would like a copy of your deck after your pitch, and you’re unable to simply email it to them as it’s so large, it can cause some hassle.

It isn’t just video that can make a PowerPoint file unmanageable. All those high-res images you downloaded might amount to several megabytes in size each, being unnecessarily large for their purpose.

You’ll want to bear that in mind when inserting your media, and keeping images to no more than 1920 x 1080 pixels, and no more than 500kb in size, will help. Where possible use .jpeg files as these are usually the smallest. Do so and loading and transitional problems should be kept at bay.

Fortunately powerPoint comes with a very handy feature already built in that allows you to compress your images that are already there.

Just select them and click on the Picture Format tab, moving to Compress Pictures. You can then select the

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level of compression you need and I suggest you go for ‘Web (150ppi)’ as this will save you a lot of space but will ensure it still looks good on your screen.

Video can be compressed in a similar way, and is definitely worth exploring due to video files tending to be larger.

In File tab, click Info, and then in the Media Size and Performance section, tap Compress Media. PowerPoint then finds all video content in your file and offers you the choice to compress them to Presentation Quality, Internet Quality or Low Quality. Go for Internet Quality as, again, it still looks clear on a screen.

I’m a big fan of my presentation design being clean and efficient, and that extends to the finished file, too. The leaner and trimmer it is, the faster and more reliably it will run.

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Ideas to inspire Again, I’d never tell you how to actually design your slideshow - that must come from you and the story you’re telling. However, I’m very keen to inspire you with a few ideas; ideas that could help you hit the ground running when it comes to finding that perfect design.

These ideas are all quite disconnected from each other, and represent things I’ve seen (and created) over the years that have really caught the attention of an audience.

Minimalism.

It might seem like creating a minimal slideshow would take less work - as there are fewer things in each slide. However, minimalism done right is an art form and one that can be very powerful. Calming and clean, the trick is to know when enough is enough.

Vertical slides.

I know, right? Think about it - a lot more of the online content we consume these days is shown in portrait mode, such as the increasingly popular Instagram Stories. Consider creating your whole deck with a vertical alignment, and physically alter the angle of your screen. The result could be impressive for the audience, but be cautious if you don’t have control over your presentation tech.

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Black and white (and a tiny bit of colour)

Imagine if your entire deck was done in black and white with all images (and videos) edited to be greyscale.

Then imagine that single, small element of each slide, such as a logo or a keyword, was bright green. A small and attention grabbing contrast such as that would immediately draw the audience’s attention, allowing you to dictate to where their eyes naturally gravitate.

Pop culture styles

Your entire slideshow could have an overriding theme that isn’t necessarily tied to your product, service, or message.

I’ve seen really interesting slide decks that had a neon ‘80s theme that weren’t anything to do with the ‘80s - but people still recognised, and enjoyed, the aesthetics.

Using shapes

Your colours and fonts may lend consistency to your slideshow, but maybe consider using the same shape on each slide to contain text, crop images, and hold colour. Just as with colours, the different shapes convey varying messages, and a deck which contains lots of circles will be perceived differently to one filled with squares. Again, think about your message and brand.

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Make PowerPoint work for you You probably have PowerPoint sitting on your computer right now - millions of us do. It might be the world’s most used presentation design software because it is also the world’s most owned presentation design software, tagging on with Word and Excel in the Microsoft’s Office suite, but in my opinion it is also the best.

Like any piece of software, PowerPoint takes a degree of time to get comfortable with, filled as it is with many hidden and helpful functions that won’t be all that obvious at first. I’ve been using PowerPoint for more than 20 years now as I find it capable and infinitely customisable.

It’s an everything tool.

There are, however, several things that you can immediately do with PowerPoint to help you get the best out of it, and also increase the speed of your workload while building a presentation.

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Update that sucker First of all, I’d advise that you update to the latest version of the software (at time of writing), which is PowerPoint 2016. If you’re reading this in the far distant future, then make sure you’re running whatever updated version of the programme is available to you.

The basic framework and user interface of PowerPoint hasn’t changed all that much in over a decade, but the 2016 version offers new features that you really need to take advantage of. My favourites are: Zoom.

This allows you to remove the linear flow of your slideshow and ‘zoom’ to a different section immediately.

This means that, should a member of your audience ask a question about something you’ve covered later in the presentation, you can move forward without having to show all the slides in between.

Zoom is great for those of us who are interested in creating an interactive presentation; one that can be wielded flexibly, changing to the needs of, and questions asked by, your audience.

Morph.

I mentioned this in the Design section, and with good cause. Essentially Morph is an animation tool that allows objects to transition between slides, morphing their shape.

Objects will appear to grow, shrink, and move while your

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slide changes, resulting in an impressive transition.

I’ve seen this used to great effect, and it’s one we like to employ here at F5 Presentations. Often audiences don’t realise that they’ve just seen a slide transition, and instead believe it to be a very cleverly constructed animation. Morph is definitely one for those looking to create a truly unique slideshow.

Tell Me. In the toolbar, ‘Tell me what you want to do’ allows you to start typing a question and PowerPoint 2016 will automatically make suggestions to help. Want to add animation but not sure where to find those commands?

Start typing ‘I want to add animation…’ and PowerPoint will open the right menu for you. Very handy.

Group collaboration.

If you are part of a team all working on the same presentation, you can now all edit and make changes together, just like an online Google document.

Comments can be left by other users, changes made, and ideas shared. Teamwork makes the dream work.

PowerPoint Designer.

This is a very handy new feature, especially for those people who don’t have any design ideas. By uploading an image, The PowerPoint Designer will suggest colours that compliment it, allowing you to build a consistent-looking theme around it.

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Smart Lookup.

You’re probably used to having to leave PowerPoint and visit your web browser to research definitions and check facts. Thanks to this new feature all you have to do is right click on the word and tap Smart Lookup. A pane will open on the right displaying info from the likes of Bing and Wikipedia.

3D animation.

This feature improves upon PowerPoint’s ‘3D’ text capabilities, taking the next step of fully rendered, moving objects. You can create or download 3D assets into your presentation and have them move around.

History.

PowerPoint 2016 allows you to look back to see what changes have been made to your presentation, and even restore earlier versions via OneDrive. Click File, then History, to see what you’ve been up to.

All of these new features will help you to create a presentation that stands out and impresses your audience, and the new features are accessible just by ensuring you have the latest version of PowerPoint.

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Saving time Building a killer slideshow deck in PowerPoint is no mean feat - especially when you’re up against a time limit. If you’re new to the software, getting a feel for the many menus and options can be daunting but essential to building confidence.

Being able to do things quickly is a great way to help with that. Over the years I’ve identified a few shortcuts that have helped me and the design team here to speed things up. Hopefully they’ll serve as help and comfort to you.

Duplicate.

If you need another slide that is similar to the one you’ve just created, select it in the left column and tap CTRL+D. This also works for individual objects in slides.

Animation Painter.

If you need to animate lots of objects in the same way, apply the animation to one object then select it. Go to the Animations tab, then Advanced Animation group, and click Animation Painter. This lets you select all the objects you want to apply that same animation.

Find and replace text.

You might already use the feature in Word to edit documents, but you can also use it in PowerPoint. If

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names, figures, and data have changes, you can quickly find them all and replace with updated entries.

Smart guides.

Consistency is key, so if your slides feature lots of images, charts, and text you’ll want to ensure they are all aligned correctly.

Smart guides appear as lines, allowing you line everything up neatly. In the View tab click Show and in Guide Settings check ‘Display smart guides when shapes are aligned.’

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In conclusion The secret to giving a great presentation is less about what’s in your script or on your screen, and more about what’s going on inside your mind.

Everyone has a story to tell, and usually they have ideas about how they can bring it to life. If you’re passionate about your subject and, crucially, are relishing the chance to inform other people about it, the presentation will essentially create itself.

It isn’t necessary to make the biggest noise to get through to the people you want to listen to you; you just have to find a way for them to understand your passion and how it could change their lives for the better.

But to do that, you need to start.

Get cracking, and best of luck.

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Getting help Hopefully this book will help you in creating new and and impactful presentations for you and your business, increasing engagement and boosting revenue. However, it’s important to remember that no matter how much time and energy you invest in your presentation slideshows and your sales team’s ability to present, there are experts out there who do nothing but that… and they’re ready to help you.

Here at F5 Agency we live and breathe presentations.

No one knows PowerPoint like we do and we smash expectations of what a presentation can be. Some the world’s biggest companies have put their faith in our consultants and designers over the past two decades, trusting them with their brands and messages.

No matter the size of your project or business, we put all that knowledge and experience at your fingertips.

We don’t just get to know you, we get to know your audience. We fully invest in your presentation, understanding the who, what, why and where, then completely smashing the how.

Your story is our passion.

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