PowerPoint presentations are essential to many businesses. They’re used to deliver information, make proposals, and train employees. The success of a new business deal can depend on it, and the competency of a new hire can suffer from it. With how important it is, every presenter should be aware of three essential parts of a PowerPoint presentation.
Message
The message is the point of the presentation. Why is it there? What is the viewer going to get from seeing it? A presentation without a well-defined message is just a pretty dumping ground for information. Everything in a presentation works together to clarify the message, but all those other things have no form without a unifying message.
Content
Your content is all the little facts and figures used to deliver your message. With the message, you’re making a claim. With the content, you’re backing it up. The content includes facts, numbers, statistics, charts and graphs. You need to separate that information, group it into the appropriate slide, and arrange it in a logical way. It sounds simple, but this can be a complicated, stressful and time-consuming task. If content is your second step, you’ll end up with well-organized information on boring slides. That’s where design comes in.
Design
The design is how you present your content and message. This incorporates things like text, size, images, and layouts. Things with different messages can have different styles. For example, a presentation on company figures might have blue tones and clear lines while family services training might include brighter colors and personable photographs. You have to create a design that fits the tone and audience of your message. You also have to figure out how best to make your content work with the design when considering the essential images and the available space. For non-designers, this can be the hardest step. There are companies out there that offer custom PowerPoint design so that the client only needs to supply the message and content.
Message, content, and design are three different points to remember, but they work together. Give each area equal attention. If you’re working with a partner or design company, make sure your ideas are in sync. If you manage that, you can get the interested and receptive audience you want.