Of all the presentations I see, there are some very basic problems that keep cropping up. I have created a workflow to help the people I train and coach fix their existing PowerPoint and/or build new, more effective presentations. I call it “how to fix your PowerPoint” (catchy title).
Two of the most common problems have almost nothing to do with PowerPoint. They are 1) Too much information. This is typical of the expert who will try to cram 30 years of experience into a 15 minute speech. It can’t be done. And 2) Unorganized content. Many of us will jump from one idea to the next without a consistent flow. We often organize our content based on how we understand it not on how it makes sense to our audience.
So the first step to fixing your PowerPoint is to fix your basic presentation. The first step to doing that is to distill your message to a single, BIG idea. What single thought do you want your audience to get? What do you want them to remember if you see them on the street in a week or two? Can you distill that idea down to a short, lean sentence that will be easy for them to remember? 15 words? 12 words? Or less? A bonus: if you can create a memorable “sound-bite” quality phrase you can repeat it for emphasis at multiple spots in your presentation.
That is your BIG idea and it becomes the yardstick that you measure everything in your speech against.
Does everything in your presentation move your audience to this big idea? Does all your content relate to it? Do your slides and your arguments support it?
Define and distill your message. Evaluate everything you are presenting and then make sure it is delivering your BIG idea.
Next week — Step 2: Get rid of most of your words. (Don’t worry, I’ll show you how.)
