Presentation Design Services
PowerPoint and its ilk don’t have to be the soul stealing time suck for which they excel.
From initial concepts to final rehearsal, creating a compelling presentation is an exercise in details. But the place to start is at the beginning and I can help.
Consider these five primary aspects of presentation development:
Content Development
Regardless of the scope and ambition of your presentation, generally it may be said that in the process of delivering a message, you are telling a story to your audience. And knowing the audience will inform your content as you craft the message.
Any presentation that is intended to be delivered by an individual to convince an audience, not only needs to have the facts, data, look and feel right, it has to be rehearsed and delivered to perfection. From the audience standpoint, the presenter is often the key to the authenticity of the content.
Content development can be relatively straight forward, or it can be a complex mix of goals, ideas, team input, technical data, statistics, executive approvals, schedules and budgets. Ideally it comes together as a blend of what you have to say and how you should say it. I like the ‘Tell ‘Em’ rule:
Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell them.
Tell ‘em.
then, Tell ‘em what you told ‘em.
Storyboarding
As the story takes shape, and decisions are made, a hierarchy and flow will develop. It may seem obvious how to structure the presentation, but storyboarding with rough thumbnails of the main ideas will help visualize the structure. Throughout the process there may be approvals and buy-ins as the content develops. Media requirements and assignments for content such as photos, video, animation and audio will begin to be identified. The presenter’s script needs to be considered here, too. Unless you plan on just reading bullet points to your audience, now is the time to begin to integrate what you plan on saying with what you’ll be showing. (See ‘Death by PowerPoint‘)
Templates and Formatting
It’s easy enough to make a presentation look good with all the themes, templates, stock art that’s available, but PowerPoint is just a container for the message. Bullet points and clip art aren’t a substitute for relevant content and knowledge of the material. The format and layout should illuminate ideas, not bury them. Slide transitions, animations and other built in effects, can get in the way. Bullets are deadly when they are talking points confused as conversation. And slide-by-slide hierarchies can create an illusion of relevance and relationships. The story takes shape as the presenter’s script is developed and the slide flow is roughed in. The template evolves, integrating appropriate color, graphics and type styles.
Media Development
It may be that your presentation only needs a template and some text bullets to get the message across, but if your plan includes the use of data graphics, photos, video, animation and audio, the production timeline will dictate the scope of development of those assets. As the need for media emerges, production resources and budgets will need to be established. But throwing people and money at the problem only works if the elements actually support and enhance your message, so the creative team needs to carefully integrate the media. Stock media might work for some of your needs, but to be genuinely useful, A/V content needs to be specific to the presentation and be of consistent production value, so while you might be able to capture a customer testimonial with a phone video, consider if it will look as professional as your other media.
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Rehearsal
After all the planning is done, the slides advance, the media all play on cue and everything’s spelled right, then comes the real work. Rehearsing the presentation can happen in front of a mirror or next to your laptop as you work through the slides, but at some point you should try to simulate the actual show environment. Standing on a stage with a large projection screen behind you, and your team in front giving feedback, is essential in gaining confidence in the material. At this point you will see how well the content works in clarifying your points and captivating your audience. As an experienced designer and executive producer, from content wrangler to coach, I’ve been through all of these steps many times, and am available to assist your project in whatever way you require. [Back to top]
