February 2001

In this month's free e-news from Wilder Presentations, I'd like to discuss two ideas for presenters and one for designers. As always, there's a monthly challenge at the end.

FOR PRESENTERS:
CREATE AND USE VISUALS
We're now on the fourth step of Giving Successful Presentations: "Creating and Using Visuals." In November 2000 you read hints for presenting with a laptop. In January you learned the six questions to ask when analyzing your presentation's slides. This month we'll discuss five questions to ask to create a slide with impact.

Question 1: Do you need every word on the slide, or can some be cut out?

Question 2: Is the font size of the text at least 24? If you must, use 20 once in a while, but no smaller.

Question 3: Does the slide's title clearly tell the audience the importance of the slide?

Question 4: Are the phrases parallel? Parallel structure means that each phrase starts with a verb, a noun, or a number. It's easier for the audience to read and comprehend phrases that are set up the same way. It also makes it easier for the presenter to maintain a smooth presentation style.

Question 5: Do I use builds effectively? A build helps tell the story of the presentation. Use simple animations such as wipe right for text, zooms and box in and out for photos.

FOR PRESENTERS:
SPEAK TO THE SLIDE
When there are too many words on a slide, presenters frequently say they need them all as an explanation for those who didn't attend the presentation. Many people say they don't speak to every point on the slide, they just have them there for the audience.

That doesn't work. When a slide appears on the screen, the audience starts to read it. At the same time, you, the presenter, start to talk. Now there's competition! The audience is reading the words and you are talking about something else.

Show your slide, then talk about what's on it. Certainly talk about more than what's on the slide. Talk in order of your points on the slide, but don't just read the words that are there.

If you want your audience to have more details for future reference, put them in the notes pages.

FOR DESIGNERS:
CREATE A COLOR SCHEME
To set your presentation's color look in PowerPoint, go to Format>Slide Color Scheme>Custom. The last four colors on the list are the default colors for charts. If you create presentations for others who will modify your slides, tell them to use only the colors that are predefined here.

Where do you find the default colors when working on a slide? To change a font color, go to Format>Font and click on the color arrow. The color boxes below the word Automatic are the default colors for this presentation. For shapes, go to Format AutoShape>Colors and Lines>Color. The boxes under the word Automatic are the default colors.

When everyone uses the default colors, the presentation will have a unified look and feel throughout.

NEW BACKGROUND PLAN
Starting next month in March Jennifer Rotondo of Creative Minds will post a background on her site for all of you. This will be easier for you to use.

MONTHLY CHALLENGE:
PRESENTERS
Eliminate some of the words from your slides. Discover how much better you can talk with fewer words on the screen.

DESIGNERS
Set up a color scheme for your company's presentation slides.
SLIDES THAT WIN: BLATANT ADVERTISING
Slides That Win: Your Roadmap to Success is almost ready for release. With this CD-ROM tutorial, you'll never again wonder how to make your point! Create professional-looking slides, save hours doing it, copy and use our designs, and give confident presentations. You'll also see some PowerPlugs examples and get free backgrounds and articles. Slides That Win includes over 300 before-and-after PowerPoint slide examples for you to compare and use.

Presentation Points, written by Claudyne Wilder, usually comes out the first business week of each month. For more information, call 617-524-7172, e-mail claudyne@quik.com, or visit my Web site, www.wilderpresentations.com.

Presentation Points may be forwarded via e-mail, printed for circulation, and quoted FREE OF CHARGE. No permission is required, but please mention where you got this information. It's also perfectly acceptable to me to post Presentation Points on your company intranet.

Copyright 2001, Claudyne Wilder. All rights reserved.