Many of
us get bogged down in the process when it comes to creating our
presentations. RMA’s PowerPoint template takes some of the work and
stress out of preparing presentations. The template is designed to
provide a uniform RMA look for all presentations and to strengthen our
brand recognition. The RMA PowerPoint template is the base upon which
you build all of your presentations.
What’s Your Intention?
Analyze your intention to keep yourself focused. Do you want to
inform, sell to, or motivate your audience? Organize your presentation
to reflect your objectives and the audience's expectations.
Do Not Use Clip Art
Clip art detracts from our branding effort. If your presentation will
benefit from art, ask the Marketing designers to create the art for
you.
The 80/20 Rule
In selling situations, you want to acquire as much information as
possible—that means you should take more time listening than talking. In
a meeting scheduled to last one hour, your formal presentation should
only take up 20% (about 12 minutes) of the hour and the remaining 80%
should be spent engaged in a discussion of the client's wants and needs
and how you might fulfill them.
Know Your Audience and Venue
Who is your audience?
You should know how many people will be there and how
familiar they are with your topic. A presentation for 25 people will use
a different approach than a presentation for 300 people.
Gear your presentation to the knowledge level of your audience. Ask the
event organizer if the audience is at the beginner, intermediate, or
advance level of your topic. If the organizer can’t help you, ask the
audience about their knowledge and interest level in your topic. This
will improve your rapport with the audience. The more you know about
your audience, the better your presentation.
What is the layout of the room?
If possible, visit the location to see how the room
will be laid out; you can request special equipment and equipment
placement at this time. If you can’t visit the site, call to find out
about the logistics of the room and to request special equipment and
equipment placement.
Knowing the layout of the room will help you answer the following questions:
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Will I need a microphone or can I just project my voice?
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What kind of visual aids will work?
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Are there any physical aspects of the room that would affect my presentation?
Be Concise
Keep the slides short, simple, and readable. Follow the 666 Rule:
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No more than six (6) words per bullet.
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No more than six (6) bullets per image.
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No more than six (6) word slides in a row.
If you have more than six words per bullet, it’s too
long for a presentation format. If you have more than six bullets on a
slide, your audience will have difficulty reading the slide. If you have
six word slides in a row, you've probably been talking for at least 10
minutes—you need a visual or you risk losing the audience's attention.
Remember—cluttered slides are distracting.