If you want your presentation to stand out from the endless parade of mundane, mind-numbing, bullet-pointed drivel you have to be bold. There is a tidal wave of noise out there to rise above if you want your message to have traction. Know your subject and be willing to put your ideas out there.
Be bold.
We are hard wired to notice and be drawn to contrast — things that are different. Sameness and order can suggest peace and serenity but contrast is energy and exciting and our brains were long ago built to pay attention to things that were out of the ordinary. They may have represented opportunity (for food?) or danger (an attack?).
A basic technique I have often used in building slide decks is to first create a logical and ordered structure to the design. This allows my audience to understand the organization and flow of the visual presentation. Then I would add elements or designs that specifically broke this order — that startled and surprised. This creates interest and energy. This is contrast.
We often drone on and on or build slide after slide with the same format or template. Instead, try first building in that needed order and structure — then break the mold with something out of the ordinary to add the spark or contrast that every presentation needs.
This slide and animation shows contrasting type size and color and a contrast between type and background.
Watch the animation here.
We see this technique almost every time we go to the movies — a series of ads from local merchants that are flashed on the screen every few seconds or so while we are getting into our seats. Using a modified concept of this can be a great way to warm up and inform your audience before you even begin a presentation.
Create a self-running loop of simple but informative slides interspersed with a few feel-good, slice-of-life images and you have the perfect walk-in experience for your audience. By the time you begin your presentation they will already have absorbed some of your essential background information. Additional interspersed photographic images can help build a visual or emotional connection for what is to come. Depending on the situation, you can apply some tasteful branding to some or all of the slides, utilize consistent layouts or even mix it up a little.
A few words of advice:
Example: This is a sample of a slide set created to warm-up the audience before an MBA info session at a state university. Note: I have sped up the transitions from the original 15 seconds to five seconds for the sake of the video.
Displaying a chart in business or technical presentations is often a battle between showing a table filled with the overwhelming raw data that was collected for a project or showing only the filtered data that is important for the attention of the audience. Here is a simple technique in PowerPoint I often use to accomplish both and thus sharpen the audience’s focus without “dumbing-down.” This table contains data downloaded from usgovernmentspending.com.
Slide 1 –> Slide 4 
The goal is to first show the raw table (Slide 1) to establish the range of data and its source. Then to transition to the exact same table with only the data that is critical to our presentation — in this case the line listing the Defense Spending (Slide 4).
Slide 2
Slide 2 shows the first step: Inserting white boxes (with a black border for clarity) covering the data we want to hide.
Slide 3
Slide 3 show the results of selecting 30% transparency in the format > shape fill > more fill colors PowerPoint menu. I usually play around with this value to give the best effect. Be aware the white is an effective choice here but other colors may work better with different backgrounds and situations. This is all best determined by experimenting. I have also removed the black border for both boxes.
Slide 4
Finally, in Slide 4 I have drawn a red border around the important line in the chart I want to discuss.
Slide 2 and Slide 3 are then removed. When presenting I display Slide 1 to establish the entire data set and then fade to Slide 4 to drill down to the numbers that I want to address.
This technique assures that the audience sees the whole data (not a “dumbed-down” version); then the bulk of the data is grayed out so that it does not distract; finally the critical information is highlighted to keep their attention.
Most visual presentations are 70% visuals (data and text) and 30% presenter. This is the default. It is what is expected. So it is safe. Or is it just boring?
I coach speakers to reverse the trend of relying on text- and numbers-heavy slides for 70% to 80% of their presentation. Strip the bulk from your slides so that you, the presenter, can deliver the critical points orally. You are the expert. Right? Hopefully, your wisdom and insight on the subject is why you are in front of the room. They want to hear your take on it.
Let the slides support, reinforce and illustrate the things that only you, the superstar, can deliver.
You should be the 70%.