Creative Ideas To Help You Crush Your PowerPoint Presentations
When preparing for a presentation, plan to add some flavor to the experience for the audience. Don’t deliver a typical, bland, Death By PowerPoint presentation. Spicing up your presentation is easier than you might expect. You don’t need to do anything too wild or crazy to separate yourself from the pack of other presenters.
The three ideas below are relatively easy to implement, yet they can have a powerful and positive impact on your presentation and the audience. To crush your presentation, try these ideas to give your presentation a creative twist.
1. Make Magic With Motion.
In school, I always sat in the front row, raised my hand to answer questions, enjoyed excelling at assignments, and genuinely enjoyed all of my classes. However, like my peers I still enjoyed those rare days when a substitute teacher would pass the time by letting us watch a movie. Instead of listening to a lecture by our teacher, we could kick back, relax, and turn off our minds while we were taken on a journey with movie magic.
Do you remember the joy of watching a video in class? If you can relate to that experience, keep that pleasurable memory in mind as you are creating your next presentation – especially if you are going to be speaking for any considerable length of time.
If you can find a video clip that will legitimately enhance your presentation as well as add value for the audience, use the video clip in your presentation. Even the most attentive and enthusiastic attendees will welcome the opportunity to let their minds take a break for a period of time.
If you can’t use a video clip in your presentation, you should still aim to entertain your audience in some small way. For example, consider using cinemagraphs or gifs on your slides to shake things up a bit during your presentation. Your audience will appreciate the change of pace and the unexpected experience of slides that move.
If you can’t add motion or a movie clip to your slides, consider adding some unexpected movement to your activity on stage. Instead of limiting your movement to the steps you take across the stage as you talk, or the movement of your hands as you explain your points, enhance the experience for the audience by including a performance or using a prop in an exciting way during your presentation. For example, if you are are yoga instructor who will be talking about yoga techniques, demonstrate some of the techniques while on stage instead of simply showing images of the techniques with photos on your slides.
To inspire you to create a magical moment for the audience by bringing props on stage, watch Bill Gates bring mosquitos on stage at TED:
2. Pass The Power.
Shifting the attention to the attendees is another way to engage and excite your audience. Instead of making your presentation all about you and your ideas, make at least a portion of your presentation about the audience.
You can pass the spotlight to the audience by creating an interactive moment during your presentation. For example, you can ask a question and then take a poll through a show of hands, or you can let volunteers share their personal responses to your question.
If you are presenting to a small group of people, you can let the attendees introduce themselves and explain why they are there listening to your presentation. When you let attendees introduce themselves, you gain insight into the audience, and as a result you can potentially tweak your presentation comments to be a perfect fit for the needs of audience members. In addition, this small, interactive exercise will help the attendees enjoy your presentation more. Harvard neuroscientists have found that talking about ourselves gives us the same signals of pleasure in the brain as food or money, according to Fast Company.
3. Lighten Up.
When adding creative twists to your presentation, don’t get too serious in your approach. Remember to add some lighthearted or humorous moments to your presentation if possible. Not only will the humor help the audience relax and appreciate your presentation, but it will also help you persuade the audience more easily as well.
Take for example the results of a negotiation study featured in Fortune.com: For half the participants, when setting a final price for a piece of art, the seller smiled and added, “I will throw in my pet frog.” The benefits of the quip were clear: Buyers who heard the joke made greater price concessions than those who didn’t.
In addition, demonstrating your humor is a fun way to demonstrate your leadership skills. According to a study by the Bell Leadership Institute, the two most desirable traits in leaders are a strong work ethic and a good sense of humor.
Lastly, humor will likely make your presentation more memorable and easier to process and comprehend. According to Fortune.com, researchers concluded that viewers of Colbert Report knew more about campaign finance and super PACS than cable news viewers – perhaps because comedy gets people to pay attention to unpleasant but valuable information.
Conclusion
What creative twists do you like to add to your presentations? Share your ideas with us on Twitter by tweeting us at @Ethos3.
Additional Resources:
Your Presentation Needs Twitterable Moments. Here’s Why.
Why You Will Love Cinemagraphs for Presentations
Why You Need To Hire A Professional Presentation Designer
