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PowerPoint Slides: A good technique

Sophisticated presenters introduce the next PowerPoint slide before they leave the current one.  They do this to orient the audience to what is coming next.

For instance, they might say at the end of their budget slide, “So our marketing budget is 10% greater than last year, and the main reason for this is the new competition in the market.”  And then CLICK! They go to the “competition” slide.

But many of us have trouble remembering what PowerPoint slide is coming next.  We are, after all, busy people.  We often throw our slides together at the last minute.  We often don’t have much time to rehearse.  We may know the content, but we may not be able to remember the flow.

So what can we do?

One trick is to create a build on the next slide, so that when we get there, only the headline is showing.  Done this way, the sequence would look like this:

At the end of the budget slide, you’d say,  “So our budget is 10% greater than last year.”

Then CLICK! You jump to the next slide and glance at the headline, which states plainly, “There is new competition in the market,” which you recognize right away and then say, “And the main reason for the increase is the new competition in the market.”  And once you do, you CLICK! again, and the supporting data pops up on the screen.

In this way, you and your audience simultaneously discover the reason for the increase in marketing spend.  You do it together, which is a good thing.

Of course, it’s best to know what PowerPoint slide is coming next.  It allows you to create a tiny bit of drama with each new slide.  But if you don’t have time to rehearse, try the Headline as Build technique.

It can help you tell your story better.