Do you realize you are under using a tool you likely already have for your business? Have you ever used Microsoft PowerPoint? Most of us have used it in the past or at the very least seen a presentation using PowerPoint. This article will cover 10 insider Microsoft PowerPoint tips for presentations that will leave you delighted and help you save time.
Use a Theme
Microsoft has some themes you can use for your presentations. Themes are basically predesigned templates with some design elements already incorporated. You can change the themes to match your needs and branding.
Branding is important in business, and it is with presentations too. Make sure your brand is represented in your template of choice.
Start with a question
When you read, do you answer the questions you see in your head? Go ahead, admit you just answered that. This is one of my favorite PowerPoint tips for presentations since we all do it.
Pro Tip: Starting with a question is more than just useful for presentations. Use this in your social media posts too.
Short and Sweet – Less is more
Keep your slides within your PowerPoint short and sweet. No one wants to read paragraph after paragraph of information. This is similar to including your blog articles in newsletters; give them a tiny bit of what you will talk about and then lead them to that content.
Plus, if your audience is stuck reading and reading and reading, they won’t pay attention to you if you are speaking. If you aren’t speaking, they will lose interest, and suddenly you are really up a creek with engagement.
Keep your presentation slides to one topic per slide. Anything more than that, and people lose interest and won’t follow along.
Use Different Slide Types
Another one of my great PowerPoint tips for presentations is to use different slide types. Mix things up a little. Microsoft’s themes have several different elements, including but not limited to; Title slides, comparison, Picture with Caption, Section Headers, etc.
Save time by duplicating slides
To be most efficient, use the option to duplicate slides to quickly add things and create a seamless flow throughout your slides. If you right-click on the slide, you will get many different options, and a duplicate slide is one of them. While you are in there, check out some of the other options too.
Add Transitions and Animations
Don’t you love movement? Adding transitions and animations makes your content stick out. Plus, it’s fun to add in little unexpected items to engage your audience. Pull them back in by adding a little animated graph or workflow when appropriate.
Microsoft makes it really easy to use transitions and automation as they are their own tabs within PowerPoint. Other similar software companies such as Google Slides will typically have animation and transition options available too.
Use Color
Now I’m not expecting you to be crazy with color. Sometimes I get a little carried away, but you will want to add color where appropriate. Color elements could be your graphics, pictures, or even the theme.
Add in some personality
A fast and easy way to engage people is to add in some personality. This is one of my favorite PowerPoint tips for presentations as people forget to be themselves. It would be best if you were represented in your slides.
If you love cartoons or meme’s, then add in a cartoon or a meme. A lot of my presentations will have quotes because I love a good inspirational quote.
End with a call to action
I’ve said this before, and I will likely have to repeat it. Your audience wants you to tell them what to do next. End your presentation with a call to action.
Essentially tell them what to do next. Do you want them to follow you on social media? Subscribe to your newsletter? Click a link? Purchase something? Go ahead… tell them what to do.
Repurpose slides into Printables
I use Microsoft PowerPoint to create printables at least once a month. Every single one of my content calendars is assembled in PowerPoint and then exported as a PDF for you to download.
Pro tip: Did you know that you can resize your slides? You don’t need to keep them in the same default size that Microsoft has them in. If you want those slides to be a square shape, you can do that. To change it in PowerPoint, click on Slide Size and the option to Customize. These options are found on the Design tab.
PowerPoint Tips for Presentations Conclusion
Alright, let’s wrap up this series of PowerPoint tips for presentations. PowerPoint is a tool many have available and are not using. Try it out and then let me know what you think.
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