CREATING GREAT PRESENTATIONS
“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.”
Lilly Walters
The year is just flying by, it’s April already! I hope it got off to a great start for you and as we head into the next quarter, you’re on a roll and business is doing great!
This month we are going to talk about presentations. Every business has them, some do them well and others can be a bit haphazard. When it comes to conveying your ideas effectively, the value of a great presentation cannot be overstated! When you design it right, a great presentation will present your business in the best possible light, engage your audience, and ensures they receive your message clearly.
Do it wrong, and not only have you possibly wasted your time, you may also lose business.
You don’t have to be a professional to create a simple presentation that works. Read on to learn the tricks of creating great presentations.
Warmly, Alysha
Owner, Wow Studios
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Exciting News – Out and About; Business Networking
Let’s Talk Branding – Creating Great Presentations
Past Stories – More blogs about branding
Client Spotlight – Meet Chris & Ingrid from Offgrid Travelling
Feel Inspired – SlidesGo – Free Powerpoint Templates
EXCITING NEWS
The Greater Narellan Business Chamber, Lucy Bloom with Alysha and fellow chamber members.
OUT AND ABOUT – BUSINESS NETWORKING
This month has been a whirlwind of networking events, from speed networking and inspirational speakers to theatre sports and everything in between. Alysha has been out and about meeting fellow entrepreneurs and business owners, rubbing shoulders with Lucy Bloom, and just generally being inspired!
If you have not gotten onto the networking bandwagon yet, we encourage you to get out there and give it a go. It can seem a little daunting at first but trust us when we say it’s worth it! Not only will you get a chance to put yourself and your business out there, but you will also learn and grow and possible even make some new business friendships!
Thanks to the following organisations for putting on such fabulous events this month!
The Greater Narellan Business Chamber – Meets 2nd Wednesday or each month. This event is always a winner. They host a variety of excellent and informative guest speakers along with a three-course meal and fantastic opportunities to network with likeminded local business owners.
IWC Women in Business – Talk Series – Held quarterly by the Inner West Council, this event was fantastic. This one is all about women supporting women in business and this month they held a speed networking event. So much fun and well worth a visit to meet these fabulous and inspiring women.
Marketing & Me Meet Up – Casual and welcoming, this monthly meeting was a wonderful way to spend a morning building connections with motivated, smart and engaging business owners who don’t take life too seriously. Get along and check it out!
LET’S TALK BRANDING
CREATING GREAT PRESENTATIONS
Lately, I have been doing a lot of presentation revamps for my clients and that got me to wondering just how many of you out there need a little help when it comes to putting together professional business presentations…
A well-prepared presentation can make all the difference when it comes to successfully conveying your message to your audience. A well put together, clear, and concise presentation will keep them engaged and interested in what you have to say!
So, how do you go about doing that I hear you say… read on to learn more.
Presentation images throughout this article, curtosy of SafeWatch. Presentation designed by Wow Studios.
Keep it simple and short!
Keep your presentation to as few pages as possible. No one wants to sit through endless slides! Also, your presentation isn’t a place for you to put all your talking points in sentence form. It should be clean and simple. Keep it brief and add just a few short key dot points and visuals for impact. Less is more! And if you’re worried about remembering what you need to say, have a notes page at the front to refer to. If you give your audience too much to read on screen they will tune out and not listen to what you have to say.
Add images and visual impact!
Presentations with images and graphics are more appealing and keep your audience much more engaged. Instead of including a bunch of text heavy statistics, try using an infographic. It will get your point across much more effectively and gives you a visual to talk to during your presentation. “Hear a piece of information, and three days later you’ll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65%.” John Medina, Biologist.
Be consistent with fonts & colours!
Often we put presentations together in a hurry, copying from various reports and information sources and pasting them in without noticing that everything is a bit of a mess. Probably one of the most important tips to creating a presentation that looks good is to be consistent with your text and colours. Make sure you are using the same font and font size throughout the document and keep everything lined up from slide to slide. For many people, when the text on the slides jumps around it can be hard to stay focussed. Slot all your content in and then give it a once over to clean it up. The end result will be a much cleaner and more professional looking presentation. And stick to your brand colours! Too many colours turns your presentation into an eyesore rather than a cohesive, polished design.
Create memorable moments!
Your audience is never going to remember every slide and every piece of information you present but they will remember key moments. Take the time to make the slides with the most important information memorable! Use an attention-grabbing statement or quote, add an image, make complicated information into an infographic, and use colour to make it pop!
Be Structured!
Organise your thoughts before you start creating your presentation. It should have an introduction, followed by the main points, then any supporting information and finally a conclusion. It also needs to flow logically. No one wants to get lost in a maze of jumbled ideas. You can even add title slides between sections to make it easier for your audience to follow along.
Don’t make it too busy!
A great presentation will have space to breath. Try to keep your slides to one idea at a time. It’s better to get your point across over two pages then to cram it all onto one super busy page. White space is your friend! If it looks busy, it is. Find ways to reduce it or spread the content out.
Contact us today for an obligation free chat! Call 02 9000 2240 or email info@wowstudios.com.au.
WANT TO LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR PAST STORIES
Your logo is way more than just a pretty visual, it should reflect the heart and soul of your business. It needs to represent the essence of your brand and showcase your businesses brand personality.
Done right, illustrations are memorable, unique, and packed full of personality. A great illustration can draw the attention of the viewer, tell a story, or share an idea at a glance.
To make something both eye-catching and effective at delivering your message there are a few basic techniques that will help.
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
This month I sat down with Chris & Ingrid. Adventures not just at heart but everyday. They are proof that you can do what you love and never work a day in your life!
Tell us a little about your business?
Our business is all about travelling, offgrid living and exploring the most beautiful places in Australia. We hope to inspire people to live a little bit of a different lifestyle to the common everyday 9 – 5 work life.
What makes your business different?
We set it up with the intention that one day we will be traveling full time and then potentially leading guided tours for people who would like to explore this beautiful country but don’t really want to do it on their own.
What brought you to Wow?
We needed a logo and brand which would represent us and tell a bit of a story about what we do and Wow helped us to achieve exactly what we were looking for.
What was the collaboration process like?
It was really easy. Wow worked very closely with us, were patient and made some great design suggestions. Service was very professional and the design process was fast.
Any last words?
If you need a logo for your business, Wow is definitely the right place to go! They won’t leave you disappointed!
FEEL INSPIRED
SlidesGo
Sometimes it can be hard to think of fresh ways to present your information. SlidesGo has free templates you can use to create themed presentations (remember you need to stay on brand so be careful about colours and styles) or you can simple scroll through the designs to get ideas for your own PowerPoint slides.
CREATE THE UNEXPECTED, DELIVER HAPPINESS!
WOW STUDIOS – WE BRING YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS TO LIFE
Nice work Ally, great marketing
Thanks so much for your kind words Dawn. We appreciate you taking the time to comment and hope you are getting lots of great tips from the blog and monthly newsletters.