Let’s face it – the creation process of PowerPoint presentations rarely is fun. Putting slide after slide together, bullet point after bullet point, trying to keep everything in check can be a dreadful experience. But the worst part is when you look at the final product after you’ve put your precious time and effort in the process, and find out that the results are far from what you expected and needed. And then the endless editing begins…
There are so many things to take into consideration when you create a PowerPoint presentation – the template, the colors, the number of slides, the text, the number of objects per slide, the content, the list goes on and on. All of this also needs to be synchronized with the message you need to convey and the time-frame that you have for the presentation. And in the end, you have to make sure that all of it works great put together!
PowerPoint mistakes are easy to make. From relying too much on the text through overstuffing your slides with information to including too many slides – there are so many things that you should be aware of.
And yes, PowerPoint can be boring and confusing, yet it is one of the most powerful tools for making an outstanding investor pitch. So, how can you make sure that your next investor pitch isn’t sentenced to death just because your slides failed to impress?
Finding your presentation Zen is essential and it starts with discovering your personal presentation style and matching it to the tone of your brand. Steve Jobs was famous with his sleek and simple straight to the point presentation slides as Apple is famous with its sleek and simple product designs. He was the master of presentation, minimizing all distractions to keep the attention of the audience to what truly matters – the products.
Bill Gates is quite the opposite when it comes to presentations – he often has felt in the trap of making presentations that consist of elements that fall into the “death-by-PowerPoint” category.
“Death-by-PowerPoint” is more common than you think and more destructive than you can imagine. David JP Phillips, who has devoted a big part of his professional life to mastering the art of presentation, takes the issue very seriously and has dedicated a whole TED Talk on the problem.
During his talk, he focuses on how important it is to avoid or at least to try to avoid “death-by-PowerPoint” and gives us five design principles that will help us cognitively and psychologically optimize the slides of any PowerPoint presentation. He focuses on each and every one of these principles extensively, giving some great guidelines to follow. Listen, learn and implement it in your next presentation.
If you are pretty confident with your pitching skills and would like to pitch your business in front of some of the most prominent investors in Turkey and MENA region, submit your application for The Pitcher 2018 here!
