I haven’t done a presentation in a big little while (maybe 6 months) so I thought I’d browse around the net a little it this afternoon trying to gain some pointers on how to create a great presentation. I stumbled across a post on EffectiveMeetings.com that really caught my eye. Most information I was finding online had to do with the actual presentation itself, whereas I was not looking for how to present it, but more of what makes up a great presentation.

Here are a couple of helpful reminders from the website:

A good business message starts from a high-level, big-picture view and flows down to an appropriate level of detail. A good message isn’t preoccupied with itself, but rather focuses on the value it brings to the audience.

Good content will seamlessly steer your audience through your entire message, keeping the topics clean and well defined and making the relationship among various topics clear. Graphical sign-posts along the way let the audience know where they are and where they’re headed.

At its conclusion, a good presentation summarizes the key themes in a way that makes the audience feel like they just got off the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. They learned some stuff, had an enjoyable ride with a few surprises along the way – and knew exactly where they were when the ride was over.

While I don’t completely agree with this next one, there is something to it that sparks thought. Dancing Jesus, floating flowers and background music really have no place in a presentation - but strategically placed imagery or a simple effect may trigger a client to remember it for the longer term.

Think of ways to replace bulleted lists with something more visual – for example, an animated flowchart (with supporting images) that walks the audience through a series of steps and is triggered by mouse clicks.

Mr. Endicott expresses some good points in his article. None of which are an end to themselves, they are items which will spark creative thought and put your mind into a place where it can think good thoughts.

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