Does Your Presentation Pass the Test? How to Make Presentations More Impactful

Where have all the powerful presentations gone?  

I have just spent two months watching presentations that are sorely lacking impact. As an audience observer of the presentation process, I decided to dissect the presentations from a professional presentation discipline – a professional skill set that I have taught and coached for many years. Here are two key observations.

1. The Power of PowerPoint

We have equated presentations with a PowerPoint deck. 

1. The PowerPoint presentation is NOT the presentation – it is merely a visual tool used as part of the presentation. 
   
   
2. The PowerPoint presentation MUST follow presentation standards. As an audience member – that’s not negotiable.
   
   
   • There ARE best practices associated with great PowerPoint presentations. They are focused on how and why the audience perceives and retains information. (The most egregious mistake is the poor bullet that has now become a multi-line sentence – or worse, a blob-like paragraph, which is impossible to read and highly improbable that it will create the intended impact.)
     
     
   • Where did the format and presentation roadmap go? The format and roadmap allow the audience to proactively accompany the presenter on the presentation journey. For the audience’s sake, let’s give them a reason and a rationale to listen. A member of your audience should never think, “Where is this going, or why am I here listening to this?”
     
     
   • One PowerPoint deck is NOT fit for all purposes. A PowerPoint deck, often used for company distribution or in an internal meeting, is likely not in a format that creates the high impact required when used as a presentation tool.
     
     

Over the years, the mechanical presentation tools have changed for the better. We have thankfully evolved from the overhead projector and transparencies of yesteryear. Now, we can create spectacular PowerPoint presentations With current and evolving tools.. Today, however, we commit everything to the “DECK.”  Because the deck is ubiquitous and used for everything, we have forgotten, or perhaps never learned, how to modify decks for the high-impact presentation format. There is a difference!

2. Yes, presenter multi-layered skills are required for the presentor to make a great presentation.

Just because you are a presenter, doesn’t mean you know how to present. There are many skills involved in the process.   If you are not actively thinking about each of these skills, you are very likely not doing them. These skills range from:

• Presentation prep
• Creating great presentation visuals
• Using your physical skills
• Integrating your physical, verbal, and graphics to reinforce one message
• Delivering to your audience
• Managing your space and logistics
• Handling Q & A
• Practice, practice, and practice some more! 
  
  

Your ability to deliver a high-impact message is considered a key professional skill that will either accelerate your professional growth or cause your career to plateau.


In our blog series on presentation skills, we focus on the elements of great presentations and provide a framework to follow that allows you to control your message so it creates the intended impact at the highest possible level. Just click here to read all our presentation skills blogs.