5 Tips to Create an Engaging PowerPoint Presentation

Sitting through a boring PowerPoint presentation is agony. Any business presentation is meant to inform, motivate and deliver some kind of call to action. Here are some things you can do to make your next PowerPoint presentation a bit more engaging.

• Use it as a tool - Don't forget PowerPoint is a tool for making visual presentations. It is not a place just to dump your data or a word processing program. As you prepare your slides, think of yourself as a presenter not a writer. A presenter mind set give your presentation a more natural flow, and make you someone the audience wants to engage with.
• Keep it simple - An unfettered look works best for your presentation. While this is clearly a generalization, using simple, but powerful messages and images is usually a good way to stir emotion. And despite what people like to think, emotion is what spurs people to act.
• Don't tell, show - This old adage is especially true when it comes to presentations. Talking on and on is a great way to lose your crowd. It is true that "a picture is worth a thousand words.” Whenever possible, use images to deliver your message. Your autience wants to "see" your talk, not read it.
• Surprise them - Does it seem like someone wrote a template and everyone follows it when give a business presentation? To stand out and really engage your meeting, do the unexpected. Surprise your audience. Challenge the beliefs. Tell stories to keep them engaged. Create a little mystery in your stories, and watch as people pay close attention to see how the mystery gets resolved.
• Don't read it - The constant drone of someone reading their presentation will have their entire gathering nodding and bobbing. Talks like this are torture for an audience to sit through. Learn your messages, practice beforehand, and you’ll deliver a talk that people want to hear. Make eye contact with your audience. Vary your speech and voice patters. You want to sound normal and natural.

Make It Fun

Using these PowerPoint presentation tips should help you deliver a fun and engaging talk. Keep your audience paying attention to what you are saying by being as natural as you can be. They surely don't want to sit through another boring PowerPoint presentation. Be engaging and your audience will be engaged!

photo credit: Kris Krug via photopin cc

Job Hunting? Here Are 4 Tips To Make A Riveting Resume PowerPoint Presentation

The job market of yesterday is gone. With so many applicants for each advertised position it’s getting harder to get your foot in the door. A paper resume isn’t going to do the trick all by itself, no matter how nicely it’s formatted or how good your qualifications are. No resume is going to get you a job. The best you can hope for is that it gets you a call from the employer. While opinions vary, some say it helps to have a visual resume in addition to a traditional one. The goal is to get your credentials seen. After all, that's the first step to your landing that dream job.

PowerPoint is a great tool for creating a visual resume. While not nearly as powerful as professional graphic design software from companies like Adobe, those tools tend to be expensive and have steep learning curves. PowerPoint, on the other hand, is accessible to just about everyone. Your presentation needs to have a professional appearance and be interesting enough to make an employer want to look into your background a little further.

Here are four PowerPoint presentation tips that can help your resume get you in the line of sight of potential employers.

1. Big graphics can be attention grabbers, but it’s important that they be well done. Amateurish attempts at graphic design will not cast you in the right light with your prospective new employer. If you use graphics, know what you’re doing, or get help form someone who does. But graphics aren't the only way to get attention with a PowerPoint resume presentation. Remember you are telling a story. The story of your work experience and skills. Tell a story that is compelling. Make sure you reinforce your strong points so that the organization will see why they need you.
2. Place your work experience front and center. It represents the payload of information you want to deliver to prospective employers.
3. Secondary content should consist of your education, skills, and other work related information that supports your work experience. Make sure that you are not sending mixed messages and that your resume forms a cohesive overview of why your skills and experience make you the best person for the position.
4. Impart some of your personality into your presentation. You have more freedom here than in a traditional resume. Get a little creative, but make sure to keep your message clear and concise. Showcase your skills and experience while giving the reader a glimpse of who you really are.

Use these PowerPoint presentation tips to help you resume stand out and get you the job you are applying for.

photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photopin cc

5 PowerPoint Presentation Tips to Wow Your Audience

When most people find out they have to sit through a PowerPoint presentation, they want to head for the nearest escape hatch. The reason for this is that so many presentations are simply too boring for words. By the time the event over, most of the attendees look like they'll need a defibrillator to recover. Use these PowerPoint presentation tips to keep from boring your participants to pieces. 

Make eye contact. If you simply read from your slides, you'll send your audience on a one way trip to la-la land. Keep your head raised, scan the room and maintain eye contact with the participants. Don't focus on any one person, staring is intimidating and can make people uncomfortable. Also, don't turn your back to the audience for more than a few seconds at a time. If you need to read from your slides, do it quickly and turn back to face your participants. 

Use visual effects. PowerPoint slides filled with endless rows of text can get bland. Use pictures and animations wherever possible. This helps liven up the slides and leaves your audience anxious to see what's next. 

Liven it up. Insert a little personality into your presentation. Use humor, anecdotes and various speaking styles to hold the interest of the room. Also, as you speak, interact with the audience by asking them questions. 

Keep text simple. Don't try to cram everything you want to say on your slides. A big block of text will overwhelm your readers and make it difficult for them to follow along. Instead, put only your key points on the slides and expand on those thoughts. Use index cards to keep track of the expanded points you want to cover. 

Practice and then practice some more. Stand in front of the mirror and practice your presentation. Experiment with body language, facial expressions and voice tones. You may feel silly, but by watching yourself, you will have an opportunity to learn your material and work out any kinks before you get in front of an audience. When you know your material, not even nervousness can throw you off your game. 

There is nothing more gratifying than seeing the inspiration on your audience's faces after you've nailed your presentation. These PowerPoint presentation tips will help you deliver an presentation that's impactful, effective and memorable. 

Share your experience. Do you have some tips that would help your fellow presenters? Please share them with us in the comments. 

6 Tips for Your Next Business Presentation

PowerPoint presentations are often criticized for being boring time wasters. They often are. But despite their shortcomings, PowerPoint presentations are still the mainstay of business meetings everywhere. The good news is that with a little work, just about anyone can become a better PowerPoint presenter.

Here are 6 tips you can use the next time you’re tapped to make a presentation:

1. BE CLEAR AND CONCISE

Remember the cardinal rule of communications - be clear and concise. You have limited time to persuade your audience so it is important for you to to communicate your key messages efficiently. Presenting excess information will only bore and confuse your audience.

2. JUST BE YOURSELF

Strive to be as natural as possible while presenting. Relax. Use humor to capture the listeners' interest. Tell stories to build personal connections, and interact with your audience to keep their attention.

3. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Consider the listener in preparing the presentation. For example, if your audience is intimately familiar with the topic at hand, don’t waste their time reviewing the fundamentals. Instead, spend more time making your key points, and engaging with the audience.

4. DESIGN SLIDES CAREFULLY

Avoid the common mistake of using PowerPoint slides as if they were pages in a text document. Slides are best used to sum up essential points and help listeners remember them. Your slides should be simple, straightforward, and easy to read. Use visuals to emphasize key points and convey ideas or emotions. But leave cheesy clipart where it belongs – in the slightly embarrassing archives of PowerPoint presentation history. Instead, use good photographs, and well-designed infographics to lend impact to your presentation.

5. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

To be convincing, you need to be confident. Practicing your presentation is essential if you want to deliver a powerful presentation. You can practice alone in a room, or in front of a mirror. Better still, get someone you know to play the part of your audience and give you feedback. Ask them to simulate the conditions of the real presentation as much as possible. For example, have them interrupt you with questions, push back on your claims, and otherwise act as a real audience might.

6. SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP

If you’ve got a critical presentation coming up and find the prospect daunting, consider getting some help.