Whenever we’re asked to do a PowerPoint presentation, we can always feel the entire class doing a silent “ugh”. After all, we’re used to power points being long, boring, and a textbook in presentation form. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can easily turn that lifeless, uninteresting presentation into something intriguing and fun. Here are 7 ways to do so:
1) Make sure to be Prepared
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Remember that you always have to plan out what you’re going to say. You can’t just read out your whole presentation, that’d be boring. Also, you’ll end up with a messy presentation. A PowerPoint is meant to illustrate and expand what you say to your audience. It’s meant to visualize those thoughts, while you’re the one doing the explaining. So write down some note cards. Prepare a script. Anything to get you ready and make sure you aren’t just reading straight out of the presentation
2) One thing at a time
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Please, don’t put too many topics or subtopics in one slide. At any moment, what you’re talking about should be the only thing in that slide. Just think of it this way: whenever you break things down, do it in your slides as well.
3) Do not use paragraphs
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Don’t do this EVER. A PowerPoint isn’t a textbook. Again, it’s meant to illustrate your discussion. Keep it concise and straight to the point. Otherwise, the whole class will die of boredom.
4) Design it well
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Aesthetics play a huge role as well. You can’t just use boring formal fonts or be all over the place with the decorative fonts. Find a balance. Keep the decorative text to titles and headlines. Use nice and easy to read fonts for the body. Put dark text on light backgrounds. Never align center. And most of all, never clutter all of you points up.
5) Use images only when necessary
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Too little images and it’ll get boring. Too many and it’ll distract the audience. Instead, keep it at a middle ground. Use images only when they add important information, make a point come across clearer, or give insight. Also, just do not use clipart or word art. Everyone’s sick of it. It’s been overused and boring, and it isn’t 2003 anymore.
6) Have a hook
Like every good story, good discussions and presentations have a hook. Begin it with a question. Something intriguing. Something that’ll spark their interest. The best kind of hooks are either ones that make them curious, or ones that appeal to their emotion. If it’s appropriate to the situation, you can even scare them. You can even promise to show them something awesome.
7) Break the rules
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Finally, know that rules are sometimes meant to be broken. If you find that it is absolutely necessary to break one of these rules, then do it. Sometimes, they just don’t apply to the situation, and you’re better off without it. If there really isn’t any other way to keep the presentation interesting and interactive, then go ahead.
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