Enjoy this free e-guide to powering up your INFOGRAPHICS!

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But is that because PowerPoint is widely considered a successful mode of communication? Anyone who has suffered through their share of bad presentations knows the answer. Very often, audience hopes of an interesting presentation are dashed quickly as soon as the lights are dimmed. So if you’re someone who wants to break the mold, doesn’t want to present their ideas using slides filled with bullets and text just because everyone else does, how would you present your ideas?

Ask yourself to consider how you might do things differently:

Bring back the visuals in visual aids

Ask yourself if you could get through a presentation without reading or asking your audience to read. How would that change your presentation? It definitely forces the presenter to be very clear about their purpose and key messages. By putting the burden of communication on the presenter, and excluding text, it forces a shift in the way presenters communicate their ideas. Are there photographs, drawings, or renderings you could use to show your ideas and help your audiences understand them?

Think outside the box

If you do decide to rely on visuals rather than text, think of those ‘visuals’ in the widest possible sense. There might be a simple prop you could use to demonstrate how your ideas work. There might be a video that helps you set the stage for your ideas. Then again, you might try simply interacting with your audience to lead them through how to consider your idea. Think about what your messages are and what your goal is for this audience. What are you trying to get them to understand or be persuaded of?  Removing text from your presentation might force you to find more creative avenues of communication. Remember, everyone loves a good story.

Keep it moving

When presenters use PowerPoint, the materials tend to drive the performance. Presenters often want to address each bullet on each slide, regardless of what their audience may be interested in, or the time allotted, because it’s there.  Without those bullets, with or without visuals, presenters become far more aware of having to reaching their audience successfully. That may mean presenters are motivated to stop for questions along the way, or find new ways of interacting with the audience as they present. A lively engaged audience is far more likely to forget about the time and absorb what’s being communicated.

However you present, remember the materials are secondary to you, the presenter. Don’t be afraid to try some different ways of communicating those ideas and to never take a back seat in your own presentations!

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Before you toss the tool, ask yourself whether you’ve been using it effectively. Are your slides packed with text? Is the point of each slide difficult to follow? Are the slides chiefly there to help you communicate your points? Are you using your slides both as presentation tools and as handouts for the audience to read and refer to later?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may not be using PowerPoint very effectively.  Remember, if your audience can see and hear you, you need to be communicating differently than if you sent your information in an email, or mailed out printed material. Oral communication demands something different from both the presenter and the presentation.

To make sure you’re making the most out of your PowerPoint, remember the purpose of the tool is as a “visual” aid. Keep these tips in mind:

•  Seek to be understood the first time.  Think about the “so what” of your presentation and keep those key ideas front and center. Don’t get bogged down by detail.
•  Keep it visual.  Limit text wherever possible and substitute graphs, charts, photos, videos and anything else that keeps the “visual” in “visual medium”. Your audience did not come to read or be read to.
•  Know and respect your audience.  If you have built a PowerPoint designed chiefly to keep you on track as the presenter, then you’ve got your priorities wrong. The success of your presentation depends on understanding and connecting to your audience. Try working harder to build a presentation that meets your audience’s needs rather than just your own.
•  It’s the movie, not the book. Think about what you remember from the last presentation you attended. Is it words on a slide? Probably not. It’s more likely about whether the presenter was engaged, whether there were clear points, well made, whether you were persuaded  your time had been well spent. If you were in your audience, what would you want to see?

There’s no need to ditch the PowerPoint if you want to be an effective communicator. Simply learn to use the tool to your best advantage. And of course, whether you seek coaching to hone these skills or not, take your preparation seriously. Every presentation is an opportunity at enhancing or solidifying your professional reputation.

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