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In this article we will cover 3 rules by which you can evaluate your PowerPoint presentation slides.
Every presenter knows that simplicity is a virtue that wins business presentations. But when it comes to slides, they make their message difficult to understand.
The reason is these presenters confuse clever slides with good slides.
Let’s understand the 3 questions you need to ask yourself to evaluate the effectiveness of your PowerPoint presentation slides.
Question 1: Are your images too clever?
What do you think of these slides with beautiful pictures
That is exactly the reason why such slides can kill your business presentations.
The reason why clever slides are not good…
Take a moment to consider…
When you project these slides to your customers, what kind of questions pop up in their head?
Here is our guess:
“Is that sunrise or sunset? Those rocks look like bar graph. Wow!”
“How are those rocks balancing so well? How are they connected to our software? Is he subtly hinting at modular development of software by using that image?”
“Hey! This reminds me of my trip to Mauritius. I really loved that vacation. I haven’t called Sandy for a long time. Let me note that in my diary.”
As you can see, none of these questions will help your audience make a meaningful decision about your presentation.
Rule 1: Don’t allow your core message to be hijacked by any ‘decorative’ element in your slide.
Let us move to the next question…
Question 2: Are your graphs too complicated?
Presenters assume that complicated graphs show their expertise. So they put in graphs and charts that are as complex as this…
If your audience can’t understand your graph in less than 5 seconds, you need to simplify it. Otherwise you run the risk of losing your audience for the rest of your presentation.
Rule 2: Simplify. When your audience strain to understand your information, they avoid making a decision.
Let us move to the last question…
Question 3: Are you saying it all in one go?
When you try to say everything, you convey nothing. Here is a slide that dumps information on the audience…
Realize that your audience will never tell you that they cannot follow your slides.
They just switch off their minds. They won’t come back, even if you present some really simple slides following the complex ones.
Why kill your critical business presentations with such information dump?
Rule 3: Convey 1 thought per slide.
There is a foolproof way to evaluate if your slides are simple and effective.
Apply the Last Person Test
Check if your slides pass the Last Person Test
The last person in your audience is the one with the least knowledge or experience.
Picture that last person in your mind and ask yourself this question for every slide in your presentation:
Will this person be able to understand and repeat the core message of my slide easily?
If the answer is NO , then it is time to rework your slides.
Remember, your only purpose in making a business presentation is to influence your audience to make a decision. Let nothing come in the way of achieving that objective.
This is the best way to evaluate PowerPoint presentation slides once your create them.