Example of a great powerpoint presentation

Just thought I'd do a quick blog about a presentation I watched that I thought was really good - The Problem With Money in Politics - Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law.

This powerpoint presentation is what powerpoint presentations should be, interesting!

It must have taken many hours to put the presentation together, but the time spent was worth it. The slides continually complement the speaker at every turn and really become the focus of the talk, with the speaker acting more as a narrator.

Too often with powerpoints a visual is put on the screen and left there while the speaker talks for one, two, five or even ten minutes. The result? The audience starts asking themselves 'Why am I even looking at this screen?' or worse they start asking themselves 'When are they going to change the slide?' instead of actually listening to the speaker.

Often times presenters would be better served not even using a powerpoint presentation. Just standing up and speaking directly to the crowd can be more persuasive than using slides that put people to sleep. or distract from the message.

That said, the time it takes to create a powerful powerpoint presentation is unfortunately a lot. If PR folks can get their executives to let them set aside the time to create some powerful powerpoint presentations, the return in terms of audience mind-share is worth is.

My list of items that make for a great powerpoint presentation:

• Thematic visuals
• Use imagery that extends on the ideas your are discussing. A picture is worth a thousand words... so choose pictures that get your audience thinking about the things you want them thinking about!
• Use visuals to connect a multitude of ideas that you don't necessarily have time to explain to the audience.
  
• Less is More
• The less text the better! Your slides should basically be the take away message, not the lead-up or exposition relating to the ideas you are talking about.
  
• Less is more
• The less colours you use, the better. Try to use no more than three colours in your presentation. When you get beyond three the presentation loses its sense of cohesiveness.
• Same goes for fonts. Stick to two fonts if you can.
  
• Use Contrast
• Use contrast... a blue word surrounded by black words for instance... to punctuate important take-aways
  
• Go easy on the transition effects
• While transition effects might seem cool when you are putting the presentation together, they are often a distraction during a presentation. Remember, your presentation is all about ideas and transitions have nothing to do with the information that is being presented. In fact, they can often distract from the ideas as the audience starts thinking 'Hmm, I've never seen a transition like that, I wonder where they got that from?'
  
•  Consult your graphic designer
• Get your graphic designer to give you their view on your presentation. Remember, these folks make a living at making things visually appealing. Their feedback can help you polish your presentation even further.
  
• Make it Yours
• Perhaps the most important thing is to make a presentation that YOU really like. Don't worry so much about what the audience wants to see. They are there to hear you talk and if your presentation matches your personality it will resonate more with your audience.
  
  Not only that, but your powerpoint will keep you excited and motivated as you deliver your talk. Have you ever heard someone talk and you get the impression that even they are bored? A well done powerpoint can keep you up and excited about each of your talking segments.
  
• Break the rules when needed
• Just because the above are good rules to follow doesn't mean you can't break them now and then. If adding a slide that introduces a fourth color or third font is required once in a blue moon, so be it.
  
• Style + Message
• Remember, powerpoints are all about style + message. If it has no style, you might as well just give your presentation without a powerpoint. If it's all style and no message, then don't expect anyone to take away anything from your presentation.
  
• Take the time
• A single slide might take you a half hour (or more). It might take you 12 hours over many days to create a good powerpoint presentation. Remember though that it's worth it.
  
  Anything that takes you five minutes to do also takes everyone else in the world five minutes to do! So when something takes you 30 minutes to do, remind yourself that 99 per cent of the people out there aren't willing to put that effort in and as such your final product will be something folks haven't seen before!