Organisations and individuals use Powerpoint presentations for a number of purposes, one of the most common being sales presentations and other pitches. But one of the common denominators to the huge range of slide shows given is the comparative mediocrity of their powerpoint design. It is, sadly, all too normal to plough through a set of slides that brings little or nothing (or, in the worst cases, even less) to a talk which may itself be awful enough as it is.

One of Powerpoint’s greatest strengths is also its main weakness. If it was difficult to use then we would think about it differently. When we want software designing, an interactive website creating – even copy written, often – we find a professional to do it. But Presentation training is different. Like written copy, it is something that untrained and inexperienced people can do. Sometimes, they will do it well. Unfortunately, though, in the majority of cases the results will be less encouraging. When they are deployed in the context of a key or high-stakes sales presentation, the effect is predictably disastrous: they really do not work.

Sales pitches need to captivate their audiences. They need to convince and to wow. People need to come away from them impressed, but not just by special graphics. They need to have a clear idea of the product or service you are talking about, and of why it can do the job better than any of the alternatives. The more simply and clearly you can communicate this, the better.

This is why there are businesses out there devoted to creating effective Powerpoint slide shows – as well as the spoken presentations they should complement. And it is complement, rather than repeat or, in the worst cases, being a bolt-on extra. The Powerpoint and spoken word should work together, rather than one propping the other up. You can communicate detail on a screen that you cannot via a verbal presentation; equally, there are things that you cannot communicate well on a slide.

Really convincing Powerpoint presentations are difficult to create. powerpoint design is hard to do really well, though anyone can do it badly. If your sales presentations and preentation training is deficient in that ‘wow’ factor, that will soon show up in your bottom line. On the other hand, if you hire in the right consultants or pay for the training to enable you to do it yourself, you should immediately find you realise a return on investment for your time and money.

https://www.eyefulpresentations.co.uk/