No matter what you may have heard, PowerPoint (or Apple Keynote, if that is your choice) can be an exceptionally effective tool for creating a superstar speech.
To build a powerful visual presentation I try to work towards these goals…
I look for the core of your message, your big idea, your mission. Often my clients are not sure of what that core is. They may know all the endless details but they haven’t found or defined the center, the nugget of truth. That’s what I want. Sometimes that nugget is an emotional revelation. Sometimes it is a blinding flash of the obvious. Sometimes it is a profound, distilled insight that only their expertise could uncover. Whatever that is – that’s what I look for.
Then I translate that big idea, that core message, into slides. The slides have to illuminate the message; help explain the message; maybe even provide the emotional component of the message. The visuals have to do all that and still let the speaker be the storyteller – the star of their show. The slides cannot steal the presenter’s energy. They must complement his or her speech, deliver the presenter’s message and certainly not be boring.
And finally, and perhaps most important, the slides have to engage the audience and maybe even inspire them.
That is not your typical bullet-point riddled presentation. If done right, this can make for a pretty darn good PowerPoint show.
