You might be wondering what the title of this mysterious post really means. Well, let me ask you a question first. What is the best PowerPoint slide you have ever seen? I think my answer might surprise you.
A Slide Should Only Be Part of the Message
You may have heard the pronoun “Necessity is the mother of invention”. A presentation is a tool that helps facilitate communication. This is especially true when presenting a fairly detailed topic to many people at the same time. It should make a presenter the focal point; not make the presenter irrelevant. A presenter is not the focal point when all the information is already in the presentation.
Highlight Your Presence
When you’re giving a presentation, your job is to explain to the audience something that they would not have been able to understand easily without you. When you are in front of the audience, they don’t just expect you to read the slides; they expect you to perform the presentation. You control the flow of data and decide when and what to show and tell the audience. In the end, the slides are not the center of attention, you are.
Connect With The Audience
Make sure that they start listening to you as soon as the presentation starts. You can achieve this by skipping the long intro and starting the presentation early. Try using humor to lighten the mood, or use props if they are relevant to the presentation.
So, What Is The Best Slide Ever?
The best slide ever is a black slide. When a black slide suddenly appears in a presentation; everyone looks towards the speaker and away from the screen. A black slide gives you the undivided attention of your audience. As soon as you move on to the next slide; the audience’s attention goes back to the information on the screen.
This simple but effective technique is a powerful way to direct attention to the speaker or to the screen. And the best part is that you can invoke it by pressing the B key on the keyboard at any time during the presentation as well as making a simple black slide.
Leave a Reply