What is the most important factors to consider when designing a powerpoint presentation?

What already works, and what doesn’t?

If you want to create a presentation that’s really going to connect there’s no point in jumping straight in – at least, not without taking an honest and frank look at what has worked well in the past, and what hasn’t. Think about what has really made your customers engage with you – and what hasn’t. However poor you think your presentation is you are the subject matter expert so there will be content that has resonated and it’s important to understand this and flag it for the new version.

How well do you know your audience?

Next, it’s important to consider who you’re going to be talking to. What industry are they in, and what are their job roles? It’s important you’re aware of all of their current issues, challenges and pain points, and how you’re going to address/solve these. You need to understand their motivations and what their customers are doing and how you can help them help their customers.

Also, be aware that there may have been a shift since your last presentation, so it’s important to know what’s happening here and now.

Where are you in the buyers’ process?

It’s vital you understand your customers’ buying process and what stage you are at. For instance, there may not be any point talking about certain elements, maybe cost, if the buyer only engages on cost at a much later stage – understanding what you need to do to get to the next stage is critical as your presentation needs to focus on that.

The key messages you need to pinpoint

It’s more important than ever for your presentation to be customer-centric. So, carefully consider the key things you need to say, and how these relate to your customers – from THEIR perspective. It may sound harsh, but your customers don’t care about your business; they care about their own problems, challenges and pain points and what you will do to mitigate these and create opportunities for them.

Carefully outline the benefits from your customers’ point of view, and how you can make their life easier. In contrast, talking about your many years of experience, or all the awards you’ve won, should really fade into the background.

Creating a content storyboard

A storyboard can be a very useful tool when creating an effective interactive presentation. Many people make the mistake of thinking about design at this point; don’t. Instead, for each of the key points in your above-mentioned narrative, make a slide in PowerPoint and list this information out.

Create a black and white version of the presentation. Something which focuses on the content and having the right message on each slide – as well as how to make each point stand out.