No matter what function you are playing—student, employee at a company, marketing expert, project manager, or startup enthusiast—making presentations is a fundamental necessity. Yes, it can be terrifying to stand in front of a group and demonstrate your presenting skills, but don’t worry—we’ll help you develop an engaging presentation for your industry.
The fundamentals of producing a presentation are the three Ws. What? Who? Then why?
Who are you addressing with your presentation? Who is your target audience? What message are you attempting to get across? Last but not least, why is this presentation being made? “What” and “why” are the purposes of your presentation. Arrange these, and the base of your presentation is ready.
It takes more than just a beautiful slide to draw in the audience. Your written work is king. Create a rough script of all the points and notes to start. pause, then read the text once again, Does the sentence make sense? Is the message clearly communicated? Eliminate the less crucial points and focus on the ones that require further explanation. Consider probable audience queries when you create the content and have your responses ready in advance. It is always preferable to use short, direct sentences.
You can either create your own template or select one of the many pre-made themes offered by Microsoft Presentation, Canva, or websites like Slide CEO.
Make sure the template you choose is appropriate for the content and the target audience. Don’t overdo the colours and designs unless the presentation is for children. Simple and standard ones work nicely.
Standard fonts like Arial, Georgia, and Calibri should be used, and a font size of 20-24 is ideal.
Be careful not to add too much text; the slide should only contain the most crucial information.
Graphs, charts, and icons undoubtedly enhance the presentation, but only where necessary. Transitions ought to be clean and seamless. Avoid using too much Whirling or bouncy texts.
The presentation will look more professional if it has a slide for the Q&A session and conclusion. When you’re done with the presentation, have someone else read the text over to check for errors. You can also accomplish this by reading the material again after a brief break. Make sure your spellings, grammar and punctuation are impeccable.
Once the presentation is finished, save it with the appropriate title and make sure it is available in both ppt and pdf formats. Send yourself a copy through email, then store a second one on your USB or hard drive. Read the material carefully so that you may present your ideas and viewpoints with assurance and clarity. Pro tip- find the potential questions from the audience and prepare the answers beforehand.