Use and structure of pitch decks

19. February 202427. February 2024 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

All about the use and structure of pitch decks

Reading time 8 minutes

In the world of founders and investors, the pitch deck is standard equipment. A good pitch deck comprises between 10 and 15 slides. Now you might think: “10 slides – that’s quick to put together”. But this is deceptive, because when presentation time is short, it is all the more important to get to the heart of your message and concentrate on the essentials. This in turn is a challenge and much more difficult than simply writing down everything that comes to mind. Michelangelo is said to have once replied to a question about the art of sculpting that you simply have to knock out everything that doesn’t look like a lion. Omitting is an art that is not easy to learn. You need some experience and a clear idea of the goal you want to achieve. This also applies to pitch decks. This blog article is about the use and creation of pitch decks. We give you specific tips on how to set them up and explain what is important in a pitch deck.

What is a pitch deck?
Who needs a pitch deck?
What is important for a pitch deck?
How is a pitch deck structured?
How do you work systematically with pitch decks?

What is a pitch deck?

The term pitch deck stands for a short, very condensed presentation designed to convince decision-makers of an idea, product, project, etc. in a relatively short space of time.

Start-ups in particular use pitch decks in the first stages of making contact with investors. Founders are in fierce competition for investors. The pitch deck is a way to stand out from the competition. It should generate enthusiasm and demonstrate innovative strength.

A pitch deck is therefore above all an emotional instrument with which to win over people as supporters and mentors. Successful pitch decks manage to provide just the right amount of information and at the same time convey a strong vision. A good dramaturgical structure, a surprising arc of suspense and a convincing story are more important in this phase of the business relationship than detailed analyses and business plans.

The pitch deck is the digital document that supports a presentation. However, pitch decks are often also sent to decision-makers. In this case, the slides must also work without a presentation.

Who needs a pitch deck?

A pitch deck is mandatory for start-ups and founders. It belongs in the toolbox just like other formats, e.g. the elevator pitch, the executive summery or the business plan.

The elevator pitch, a purely oral presentation format lasting a maximum of 2 minutes, is the first teaser, so to speak. The aim here is to attract the attention of investors.
The pitch deck presentation focuses on the enthusiasm for the idea. However, it should also show that the idea has a solid basis.
The business plan provides a detailed list of the financial requirements, the planned expenditure and the calculation of the break-even point. The most important key business figures from the business plan are summarized in the executive summary.

The pitch deck is therefore in good company with other presentation materials and fulfills its own role in this context. It serves to arouse, deepen and maintain the interest of investors. The aim is to reach the next round, where investors take the time to find out more about a business idea and the business options.
But the pitch deck also has its uses outside the start-up scene. In business, there are many presentation situations with similar conditions. Pitch decks are always an advantage when you are in competition or have a narrow time window and when you need to find supporters for your ideas, e.g. for

Presenting ideas to decision-makers
Presentations as part of innovation management
Internal project competitions
Kick-offs for new projects
Keynote speeches

In fact, working on a pitch deck can help in many other situations. Because once you have succeeded in presenting the core of a plan, project or idea on a limited number of slides, you are usually “ready to speak” and well prepared for talks and discussion rounds.

What is important in a pitch deck?

1. Convey clear messages

As mentioned at the beginning, time is short in pitch presentations. If you have to get to the heart of your idea in the shortest possible time, clear and concise formulations are important.

Write in bullet points or short sentences.
Use positive language. For example, write about challenges instead of hurdles.
Use active instead of passive sentences.
Choose easy-to-understand terms instead of technical jargon.
Describe your product or business idea not in terms of technical functions, but in terms of the effect it achieves.
For example, try to use a comparison to express the relevance of your idea rather than a “We are X for Y” description.
Work out clearly what sets you apart from the competition: we are faster than x, better than y and more innovative than z.

2. Motivate people

The primary goal of a pitch deck is to get people excited about a business idea and motivate them to take action that will help you realize it. You want to win over your audience as investors, mentors, budget managers, employees, etc. To achieve this, the pitch deck needs a convincing flow, the literal red thread of the argumentation. A logical and comprehensible structure of the information makes it easy for the audience to follow you. Storytelling is a proven method of captivating your audience emotionally. Tell your personal story of how you came up with the idea, describe an observation you have made or start with a vivid problem that you want to solve.
Read our blog article Storytelling in presentations to find out how you can use storytelling not only in pitch decks, but in presentations in general.

3. Build trust

If you want to find partners or supporters, you need to build trust. You can do this with a professional presentation and a confident appearance.

Make sure your presentation is error-free. Have all slides proofread by someone who is not familiar with the topic and can also point out any inconsistencies.
Choose an appealing design for your slides. If you are presenting a new business idea, you have probably already thought about a logo and a corporate design. The pitch deck is already a first test to visually implement your brand identity. Choose uniform fonts, colors that match your brand claim, a consistent slide structure with firmly aligned elements and the same spacing and positions. Read more about how to format presentations here: Formatting presentations made easy
The following applies to the pitch presentation itself: Do not read out slide texts, but deliver your presentation freely. This proves that you have internalized your idea and thought it through very well. You will appear more convincing overall.
Prepare yourself for follow-up questions and discussions. Have arguments to hand with which you can immediately counter any doubts that may arise. You should also know your most important key figures and KPIs inside out to signal that your ideas have really been thought through.
Practice your presentation in front of an audience in advance. Ask friends or colleagues to give you constructive feedback.

How is a pitch deck structured?

Although there are different ways to convey your idea, certain information is mandatory. As a rule, pitch decks follow a more or less fixed schedule that has proven itself in the past. It is worth taking a look at pitch decks from today’s successful companies. You will notice that these pitch decks are very different and yet have a similar structure.

An example of a pitch deck:

Title slide

This slide is used to welcome your audience. It should bear your logo as the sender. As this slide may already be visible before your presentation begins, an attention-grabbing headline can be used to increase the suspense. Further tips for the title slide can be found in our blog article What belongs on the PowerPoint title slide?

The problem

On this slide, you describe a critical starting point: a situation that you want to improve or a problem for which you have a solution. It is important to emphasize the urgency and relevance. Figures can be helpful here, e.g. the number of people affected or the amount of time the problem costs.

The solution

This slide is about your business idea, i.e. the very specific solution to the problem described above. It is important that you do not get lost in details at this point, but describe the effect that you will achieve with your solution. Explain what your customers will get out of your product.

The product presentation

Now go into more detail about your product/service. For example, with informative pictures or a demo. Is there perhaps already a prototype? Explain the most important functions and benefits. If available, include feedback from test users or testimonials to underline the quality.

The market

Now make a well-founded assessment of how big the market is for your product. Who are the potential customers and how many are there? What other competitors are there and how does your solution differ from others? On this slide, you should highlight the opportunities and challenges in your market environment.

The business model

On this slide, explain how you intend to earn money with your product. Give an overview of the revenue streams, the cost structure and your payment model.

Finances

Now present the key financial figures such as sales forecasts and break-even analysis. Present the investment requirements and the use of capital transparently. Perhaps you can already report initial successes. Does your idea already have followers on social media or have test users already registered?

Team presentation

Introduce yourself, your founding team and important key people. Highlight your experience and expertise and convincingly convey that you and your team believe in the idea. This is about building trust and being convincing as a person or team.

The final slide

The last slide is memorable, so use it for a strong conclusion. Summarize your most important points. Show your roadmap with the next steps. Refer to the problem described at the beginning and end with the vision of a simpler/better world. And don’t forget the call-to-action – the request to the audience to support your idea. You can read more tips for the closing slide here: Achieving full impact with the PowerPoint closing slide

How do you work systematically with pitch decks?

Anyone who is in the start-up phase of a company knows that it is not easy to find investors and supporters. A pitch deck is usually not enough. The slides should be adapted depending on the audience and the presentation situation. The order of the slides can change, as can the level of detail or the tone. If you have already created a pitch deck, this is a good basis. You can work with the existing slides in a modular way. It can be helpful to build up your own slide construction kit or slide library. You can manage all slides and presentations in one place, keep an overview and create new pitch decks from individual slides click by click. This saves a lot of time when preparing for appointments.

You can read more about this in our blog article Slide libraries for efficient work with PowerPoint

If you want to take a professional approach to pitch decks and slide management, we recommend using a PowerPoint add-in such as QuickSlide. In addition to slide and template management, QuickSlide offers a wide range of functions for creating brand-compliant presentations and editing slides efficiently.
Get in touch with us. We will be happy to advise you.

Formatting presentations

2. February 20246. February 2024 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

Formatting presentations

Your way to uniformly designed slides

Reading time 7 minutes

Presentations are used to convey information effectively and convince the audience. A decisive factor for the success of a presentation is clarity. This also includes a clear visual appearance and therefore the correct and consistent formatting of the slides. After all, jumping headlines, changing font sizes and inconsistent colors distract from your content. Read this blog article to find out why a consistent design of your slides is so important and what you should bear in mind when formatting presentations.

Why is a consistent slide design crucial?

Tips for consistent formatting of slides and presentations

Work consistently right from the start

Use of font

Dealing with colors

A consistent slide structure

Images, graphics and design elements

The final check

Why is a consistent slide design crucial?

Formatting presentations can be tedious. The effort involved is often underestimated and there is often not enough time for final adjustments, especially before important presentations. Even in a business environment, you often come across presentations that lack visual polish, that look messy, thrown together and therefore unprofessional.

Now you might think that content is more important than form and that, in case of doubt, it is better to invest your resources in preparing the content. This is a fallacy. Because content and form are closely linked:

A consistent and professional design signals competence and credibility. The importance of the content is emphasized. An inconsistent presentation, on the other hand, gives the impression that the presenter is not well prepared and that the content has not been well researched.
Clear and appealing slides promote comprehensibility and help the audience to concentrate on the content. An inconsistent design is distracting. The audience has to reorient themselves on each slide and become inattentive.
A good slide design creates a clear visual hierarchy. Important information can be highlighted, while less relevant details fade into the background. With inconsistent presentations, this organizing principle is lost and the audience is quickly overwhelmed when classifying the content.

Tips for consistent formatting

Formatting presentations and working consistently right from the start

Consistent formatting is by no means the last step in a presentation. On the contrary. Deciding which layout to use and which design principles to apply should be at the very beginning of the work process. Good PowerPoint masters are usually available in companies – important tools for everyone who creates presentations. If you are working in a team, you should agree on important design issues at the first kick-off meeting:

Which PowerPoint master are you working in?
In large corporations, there are often different masters for individual divisions. For customer presentations, the customer’s corporate design often also plays a role.

Which design elements do you want to use and how do you deal with them?
Agree on the use of fonts and colors if this is not regulated by the PowerPoint master. For example, determine a signal color that you will use to highlight important information. What rules also apply to images and icons? Do you use an image database? Do you have a central image idea?

What standards apply to the slide structure?
Define a maximum amount of text, decide on the use of continuous text, bullet points or action titles.
How is the agenda structured?
Will there be chapter slides? How do you deal with page numbers?

When collaborating on presentations, it is not only important to have a common understanding of the content of the presentation, the visual appearance should also be defined from the outset. This will save you time-consuming adjustments and revisions shortly before the presentation date.

You can also read our other blog articles on these topics:

Smooth collaboration in PowerPoint

What makes a good PowerPoint master?

Select font and font size

The font is an important design element in presentations. Make sure that you choose easy-to-read fonts that match the presentation topic. Sans serif fonts create a smooth, clear typeface with a modern character. Serif fonts look classically elegant and are well suited to formal presentations. Do not combine more than two different fonts. The fonts should be well differentiated, but also blend together to create a harmonious overall look. For example, you can use fonts with different weights from the same font family. Assign tasks to the fonts: Headline font, body text font. Stick strictly to this principle and do not mix them.

The presentation situation plays a role in the choice of font size. For presentations in front of a large audience, legibility must also be guaranteed for the audience in the last row. For online presentations, you can choose smaller font sizes and the font color should also be uniform. Pay attention to legibility here. A good contrast between the font and the background is important. Be careful with fonts that appear on images. Make sure that the font stands out well.

Important: Don’t reinvent the world. Use the fonts defined in your company’s corporate design and use your company’s PowerPoint master.

Use colors wisely

Colors are defined by your company’s corporate design. As a rule, a harmonious color palette is available with primary and secondary colors, which should also be used in this hierarchy.

Make sure that you stay within the defined “color world”. To make information easier to understand, it can also be helpful to use signal colors. In tables and diagrams, for example, these can be traffic light colors or colors that are suitable for country identifiers. Please use such colors with caution and only where they are useful for understanding. Under no circumstances should these colors replace or overlay the brand colors. It is important that you observe the general interpretation of colors, e.g. red is an “alarm color” and stands for negative results. In the case of competitive information, the logo colors of the companies are often used to make it easier to compare information.

A consistent slide structure: uniform, but not monotonous

A presentation in which every slide looks different is chaotic. A presentation in which every slide looks the same is boring. It is important to find a healthy degree of consistency and variety. The structure of slides is not only subject to design aspects, but above all to content. Depending on the type of information, different slide types are required.

Examples of slide types are

Structural slides such as title slides, chapter overviews, concluding slides
Argumentative slides, e.g. pros & cons, checklists, conclusion slides
Diagram slides, e.g. column and bar charts, pie charts, waterfall charts, etc.
Slides with infographics for quickly grasping facts and figures
Process slides with processes, timelines and cycles
Slides for organizational charts and structures
Slides with maps

And many other presentation formats. You can read more about this in our blog article PowerPoint templates you need

This results in different slide layouts depending on the content. The dramaturgy of a presentation results from the alternation of visually and content-wise differently structured slides.

However, some basic principles in the structure should be uniform, including

Alignment of elements to a defined grid: same spacing, same position of headings, text boxes, images, etc.
Consistent use of bullet points
Uniform positioning and consistent use of page numbers
Uniform header and/or footer with the most important information (e.g. title of the presentation, date and company logo)
Definition of free spaces and a maximum text length to avoid overloading the slides

Your own "language" for images, graphics and design elements

Use high-quality images and graphics that meaningfully complement or visually support the content. Pay attention to a consistent style. A “visual language” is usually defined in a company’s corporate design. Many companies have their own image databases. The image material that is made available corresponds to the brand claim. If you are looking for suitable images yourself, you should make sure you use a consistent style. Do you use symbolic images or “snapshots”, do you use illustrations or lifestyle images? Whatever you decide, try to stick to this style and not mix different imagery. This very quickly leads to a random and inconsistent visual appearance.

Image databases often offer image series with different motifs in one visual language. But be careful with all images from image database that you want to use for your presentation. Pay attention to the image rights and licenses. Of course, this also applies to images from other sources that have not been officially released for use.

You can read more on this topic here: Image rights in presentations can be a pitfall

Allow time for the final check

Even if you follow our first tip and work in the right master right from the start, you should allow time for the final check of your presentation. This is because errors can easily creep in during editing. Be sure to check your presentation in presentation mode, as you will quickly notice any slipped headlines and elements. You will also need time for proofreading. Our tip: have someone look over the presentation who has not worked on it. This is because the proverbial operational blindness makes it difficult for you to detect errors and inaccuracies.

If you use a PowerPoint add-in such as QuickSlide in your company, you have a clear advantage. QuickSlide checks your presentation for the correct use of corporate design and corporate wording. Deviations are displayed and can be corrected with a single click.

Formatting presentations - a conclusion

The correct formatting of presentations is crucial in order to convey content effectively and convince the audience. Consistent design helps to exude professionalism, promote comprehensibility and capture the audience’s attention.

We would be happy to explain how you can use QuickSlide to help your employees create consistent and brand-compliant presentations. Get in touch with us.

PowerPoint presentation kits

8. January 202411. January 2024 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

PowerPoint presentation kits

The ideal solution for creating modular presentations

Reading time 7 minutes

Competition is increasing, attention spans are decreasing. If you want to assert yourself in the business world, you need a professional and convincing appearance. This also applies to presentations. But it is precisely in this area that it is difficult to enforce company-wide standards. The creation of presentations lies in many hands. Not all employees are PowerPoint professionals, not everyone has internalized your company’s corporate design and creative skills cannot be taken for granted.

A good PowerPoint master is important. However, it alone will not be enough to ensure the consistent quality of presentations in terms of content, structure and visuals. More and more companies are looking for solutions to optimize the presentation creation process and achieve better presentation results at the same time.

Presentation construction kits are one way of providing your employees with targeted support when working with PowerPoint. They take the strain out of creating presentations by providing as much ready-made material and slides as possible. In this blog article, you can find out more about presentation kits, how they can be used, what you need to consider when setting them up and how you can take the idea of a presentation kit a step further.

What is a presentation kit?

How does the content get into the presentation kit?

For whom is the use of a presentation kit worthwhile?

What savings potential does a presentation kit offer?

A typical use case: the sales kit

Consistently thinking ahead with a PowerPoint add-in

What is a presentation kit?

A presentation kit contains ready-made content that employees in a company need to create presentations. This content can be ready-made presentations and slides, but also individual elements such as logos, text boxes, icons, images and so on. They are also referred to as slide libraries or asset libraries. The material is up-to-date, content-checked and brand-compliant so that employees can use it immediately. The modular principle makes it possible to use recurring assets and make individual adjustments at the same time. Whether the assets are stored on your own server, in SharePoint or in another cloud solution is of secondary importance. What is important is that the content is centrally available, well organized and reliably maintained. To ensure this, special tools can be used that make content management in PowerPoint easier and usually offer additional benefits. One such tool is QuickSlide.

How does the content get into the presentation kit?

Presentation material is available in every company. However, it does not always meet the quality criteria that you should apply when planning the structure of a presentation kit. Take the opportunity to review and revise the existing material. As a first step, you should collect the relevant presentations from the various departments. In most cases, you will notice that some of the documents are duplicated, that important materials are missing and that the visual impression is very different. Involve stakeholders from different areas of the company in the revision process. And define the content structure of the presentation kit together. Because only material that can be found will be used later. It is therefore important to create a folder structure that meets the needs of the users.

An ideal time to set up a presentation tool is when you change your corporate design. If you change the visual appearance of your company, the existing material has to be adapted anyway and the relaunch of the presentation material works centrally and company-wide via a presentation kit.

As you can see, it takes some effort if you want to rebuild presentation construction kits. However, you can also leave this work to professionals. Strategy Compass, for example, offers all services relating to content creation and structuring.We coordinate with your stakeholders, we revise your material or develop it from scratch based on your corporate design and, optionally, with QuickSlide we also offer you the right platform to manage your assets company-wide.

For whom is it worth?

PowerPoint is an important tool in companies. But everyone knows that PowerPoint takes up a lot of time and nerves. Formatting presentations and slides in particular can tie up resources that are not available elsewhere or for other activities. A presentation kit can make many things easier for employees:

Content is available centrally and does not have to be searched for a long time
The correction effort is significantly reduced
The creation of new slides and presentations is largely eliminated
Pre-designed material is brand-compliant, employees do not need to worry about adhering to the design specifications

In addition to reducing the workload for employees, there are also qualitative aspects in favor of using presentation kits. Companies for whom PowerPoint presentations are particularly important in contact with clients can significantly improve their brand impact if they offer pre-designed material. Outdated stands, which are often still in circulation in companies, are a thing of the past and the argumentative structure of presentations can also be controlled using a PowerPoint kits. You can also read our blog article on how storyboards help with presentation creation.

If you are not sure whether the use of presentation kits is worthwhile for you, use our checklist. If you answer at least 5 questions with “yes”, it is.

Does this statement apply to your company?

PowerPoint presentations play an important role in our business
The PowerPoint skills of our employees are very heterogeneous
At least 40 employees regularly create presentations
A uniform brand image is important to us
A corporate design relaunch is imminent
There are many recurring presentation occasions such as reporting, project updates, quarterly reports
We create presentations in our clients’ corporate design
Many of our presentations are data-heavy
Presentations are often created jointly by several people
Many of our presentations need to be are updated frequently, e.g. company data, new products, training information
Important processes are controlled via presentations, e.g. sales processes, training processes, decision-making processes

What savings potential does a modular presentation system offer?

You have ticked “yes” at least 5 times on the checklist above and would now like to know more precisely how high the savings potential is if you introduce a presentation kit. Of course, such a value depends on many criteria, including the number of users, the intensity of use and, of course, what additional functions your presentation tool offers.

Our savings calculation for the PowerPoint add-in QuickSlide will give you an initial indication. The heart of QuickSlide is the Asset Library, which can be used to conveniently set up presentation kits. However, QuickSlide also offers many other efficiency tools such as editing and check functions, which have also been taken into account in the calculation. It is worth taking a look at the savings effect. With 1,000 users, we have calculated a savings value of over 1 million euros per year. We would be happy to calculate the value for your company and your number of users. Please get in touch with us.

A typical use case: the sales kit

Presentation kits are particularly advantageous when entire company processes can be mapped using PowerPoint presentations. This is the case in sales or distribution processes. The structure of the presentation kit can be based directly on the sales process. Material and assets are then organized in a very practice-oriented way according to sales stages. Company information, product information, offer modules and much more can be put together on a modular basis. Individual customer presentations are created click by click on the basis of the pre-designed material. This makes it easier to prepare appointments and saves time that your sales team can better use for other activities. With the help of a PowerPoint add-in such as QuickSlide, older presentations can even be automatically updated. If new information is available, users receive a notification and can update the presentation with just one click.

Taking presentation kits to the next level with a PowerPoint add-in

A presentation kit is the compilation of all assets and materials from which employees then build presentations. However, there are many other requirements relating to the use of PowerPoint in companies that are not covered by a presentation kit.

Using our PowerPoint add-in QuickSlide as an example, we would like to show you some of the other functions that a professional tool can offer you:

Content management:

Location and device-independent access to the asset library
Rights management and shared folders
Updating outdated slides in presentations
Integration of DAMs and media/image databases

Brand management:

Automatic use of the correct masters
Corporate design integrated into all functions
Deviations from the corporate design are checked and corrected

Increased productivity:

Automatic creation of agendas and Gantt charts
Simple formatting and conversion from 4:3 to 16:9
Data-driven presentations are fully automated

When selecting a PowerPoint add-in, also pay attention to the services that are provided around the software. These services are crucial if you want to take working with PowerPoint in your company to a new level in the long term.

Support in equipping the asset library (development of PowerPoint masters and slide templates, storyboards, etc.)
Advice on content structure, content workshop with stakeholders if necessary
Support with internal communication, from introduction to ongoing operation
User training at the start of the project
Continuous training of new employees and special training for different user groups
Structured governance process with definition of KPIs and continuous evaluation

In this blog article, we have given you an initial overview of the use of presentation kits and shown you the benefits that arise for companies. If you need support in setting up and organizing presentation kits or are interested in our QuickSlide business tool, please feel free to contact us.

PowerPoint Title slide

25. December 20235. October 2023 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

What belongs on the PowerPoint title slide?

Tips for getting your presentation off to the perfect start.

Reading time 6 minutes

Today we’re talking about a slide that, from our point of view, is all too often neglected: the title slide or cover page of PowerPoint presentations. This particular slide deserves to be taken seriously because it is usually visible for quite a long time – before the presentation begins, when the audience gathers, or as the cover page of print-outs. In both cases, it shapes the expectations of your target audience. Read about what to consider when building and designing the first slide and how to capture your audience’s attention from the first minute of your presentation.

The importance and impact of the PowerPoint title slide

Who is the PowerPoint title slide for?

What information belongs on the PowerPoint title slide?

The importance and impact of the PowerPoint title slide

Imagine the following situation: You are attending a presentation on the topic of sustainability. You neither know the speaker nor exactly what to expect. You take your seat and still have a few minutes until the presentation begins.

The following title appears on the screen:

Now imagine the same situation again.

But now the following title slide appears on the screen:

This example illustrates well how the title slide of a presentation can influence the expectations of the audience:

In the first case, one expects a frontal lecture with a lot of scientific findings, data and diagrams, aimed at an expert audience. The role of the viewer/listener is passive.
The second title promises a generally understandable presentation of the contents and a joint elaboration of solutions. The audience is in an active role.

So although the presentation has not even started yet, the presentation participants already have a picture in their minds of what to expect. And they adjust to it. If you convey the wrong image at this point, it will be difficult to get your audience on the new track. Perhaps your audience has already tuned out because they’ve lost interest in the topic or because they think the presentation was intended for a different audience. In any case, avoid such frustration. Make sure that the title slide already fits your presentation and does not create false expectations.

Who is the PowerPoint title slide for?

The PowerPoint title slide usually has a double task. It helps the person who creates the presentation to file his presentations. That’s why we very often find information on PowerPoint titles that is not meant for the audience at all, for example, the location of the presentation. The audience knows where they are, but for the presenter this information is important in order to better relate the presentation.

The second task is, in our opinion, the much more important one. The title page gives the audience orientation and answers some important questions:

What exactly is the topic of the presentation?
What is the relevance of the topic?
Who is presenting?
What kind of presentation can I expect?

Answers to these questions are already sought by the audience on the first slide of a presentation. It gives you confidence to know that the presentation is suitable for you and addresses your needs. And that the time they invest is time well spent.

When building the title slide, take your audience’s perspective and provide exactly the information they need to feel comfortable.

What information belongs on the PowerPoint title slide?

The title slide sets the tone of your presentation. If you overwhelm your target group with the title, this will probably continue throughout your entire presentation. Therefore, make sure that the title contains only as much information as necessary. Not all formal information is necessary in every case. The following list is therefore only a guide. As the presenter, you know best which information is really relevant for your audience.

The type of presentation:

It can be helpful to let the audience know what type of presentation it is. Is it a lecture, seminar, webinar, workshop, or keynote speech? Is there a setting that needs to be mentioned: a meeting, a conference, a trade show, etc.? Often it is not necessary to mention the type of presentation because the audience has registered and knows what it is about. But if, for example, at a professional conference there are many presentations in succession and the nature of your presentation is different from the others, this is an important clue.

The subject of your presentation:

The title or topic of your presentation should be more than a description of your presentation content. Also, refrain from using generic titles such as “Product Presentation” or “Company Presentation.” A well-written title should be short and memorable. And it should express the relevance of the topic to the audience. You can work with direct address, formulate questions or even use provocative theses. Keep your audience in mind: what interests them most, how can you arouse their curiosity, and what language and stylistic devices are appropriate and fit your presentation.

The name of the presenter/sender of the presentation:

Naturally, the audience wants to know who is speaking to them and in what capacity or on what behalf they are giving the presentation. If the presenter is not known to the audience, this information belongs on the title as well as the company logo of the organization on whose behalf the presenter is presenting. If there are several presenters, the sender logo is usually sufficient. If several companies have joined forces, it should be considered whether the introduction of all participants should be part of the introduction and the title page kept neutral.

The date/location:

It is common to write the date of the presentation on the title. And often you can also find the indication of the place. Both info are not very relevant for the moment of the presentation and for the audience. For your documentation, however, the date and location can be important. Likewise for the case that the slides are sent afterwards. So think carefully about whether you really need this information on the title. Of course, if you include date and location, this information must be up-to-date in any case. Anything else will look sloppy.

Brand elements:

Invest in the design of your title page and make sure that it is already brand-compliant here, in line with your company’s corporate design. This will convey professionalism right from the start. Important brand elements are logo, fonts, colors and typical graphic elements such as icons or shapes that distinguish your brand presence. Pay attention to an appealing overall image and refrain from superfluous effects. “Less is more” also applies to the title slide of your presentation, as it does to so many things.

Images:

If you want to rely on visual elements in your presentation, images on the cover page can make a strong statement. However, when choosing images, make sure that they are in line with your company’s branding and that they fit the theme of your presentation and the nature of your talk. You should avoid images that serve only as eye-catchers.

An effective method of using images in presentations is visual metaphors. These are images or representations from an area that is symbolically related to your topic. In another blog article, we will give you valuable tips on how to use visual metaphors to achieve your goals.

What comes after the title slide?

A good title slide is the beginning of a successful presentation, but it is no substitute for getting into the topic in terms of content. By formulating your presentation topic, you have already made a decision. You now need to continue the language and tone of the title slide. We have summarized for you how to structure the introduction, the main part and the concluding part of your presentation in a target-oriented way in these two blog articles.

Creating successful presentations: The right structure

Structure of presentations in 3 parts

We would also like to recommend our information on the PowerPoint conclusion slide. Like the title slide, the conclusion slide is vitally important to your presentation – and yet it’s all too often neglected. Read how to use an effective PowerPoint conclusion slide to support your presentation goal.

Strategy Compass Zusammenarbeit in Präsentationen

Smooth Collaboration in PowerPoint

6. December 20236. December 2023 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

Smooth Collaboration in PowerPoint

5 Rules for Collaborative Presentation Creation

Reading time 5 minutes

The most important presentations in companies are not created by individuals. Usually, an entire team works on them. And as always, when many people collaborate on a project, reliable agreements are essential.

PowerPoint provides you with the ability to work on a presentation document with multiple people. Here’s how it works:

When you have a presentation open, you’ll find the “Share” function in the ribbon.
You enter the email addresses of those with whom you want to collaborate on this document.
In the dropdown, you can define the permissions.
Click “Send” to send invitation links to your colleagues, giving them access to your file.

Technically, collaborating on a presentation document in PowerPoint is not a problem. However, in practice, there are some challenges to overcome. Presentations are like business cards and should meet the high standards of your company in terms of content, craftsmanship, structure, and visual appeal. Follow our 5 rules, and you’ll avoid duplicate work, friction losses, and confusion in corrections, ensuring that the finished presentation is cohesive in both content and visuals.

Rule 1: Plan the presentation flow together

Rule 2: Distribute tasks sensibly

Rule 3: Work with good masters and templates

Rule 4: Draw on existing material

Rule 5: Keep an eye on timing

Rule 1

Plan the presentation flow together

When creating a presentation as a team, collaboration from the start is essential. Even colleagues contributing content for individual chapters should be familiar with the goal, target audience, and structural framework of the presentation. Otherwise, what is often observed happens: slides and content from different areas and departments do not fit together. Structure, text quantity, and tone are different, contents duplicate, resulting in a patchwork of pieces but not a convincing presentation with a logical argumentative structure. When working as a team, everyone can bring their expertise, follow a common thread, and increase the team spirit and responsibility for the joint presentation. An ideal method for the kick-off of collaboration on a presentation is storyboarding. Here, you first define the rough outline of your presentation together. In this initial stage, it’s not about finished slides but about an argumentative framework. A good and well-thought-out storyboard is the conceptual basis for collaboration. It serves to:

Collect and prioritize all relevant topics and aspects.
Define the structure and flow of the presentation.
Check the argumentation for consistency.
Test the presentation’s dramaturgy.
Distribute tasks within the team.

Rule2

Distribute tasks sensibly

Clarify responsibilities within the team from the beginning. Typically, experts from the respective departments are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of information. An allocation by slides or chapters is possible here. For the structural design, however, an overarching view is needed, someone who ensures the presentation’s common thread. Assign another role for the presentation’s tone. Ideally, entrust someone who knows the target audience well. They should review the texts for clarity and consistency, equalize text lengths, and consider the language of the target audience. A design representative ensures adherence to corporate design and the attractive design of the presentation.

If you have a PowerPoint add-in like QuickSlide in use, you can have your presentation automatically checked. QuickSlide, for example, has a Corporate Design Check and a Corporate Wording Check – two very helpful features when merging slides from different presentations. Our tip: Rehearse your presentation with a test audience. Ideally, involve colleagues who were not involved in creating the presentation and who can provide honest and constructive feedback. Announce the test date in advance and plan a correction stage after the trial run.

Rule 3

Work with good masters and templates

An essential basis for working in PowerPoint is the PowerPoint master, a .potx file stored in the “Slide Master” function in PowerPoint, reflecting your company’s design specifications. The PowerPoint master’s task is to standardize the visual appearance of presentations. A good PowerPoint master is indispensable for companies. It ensures that PowerPoint users with different application skills and design understanding can create brand-compliant presentations. When multiple people are working on a presentation or contributing slides for a presentation, it’s crucial that everyone works with the same PowerPoint master. Read about what makes a good PowerPoint master here.

Templates and layouts are a great help in creating presentations. These are sample slides for different representations, such as text slides, process flows, agenda slides, quote slides, and much more. The templates are designed in your company’s corporate design and can be individually filled by users. Read about which templates are useful here.

In the QuickSlide content package, there are approximately 150 templates in your corporate design. They are centrally provided through the Asset Library. Your employees no longer need to worry about slide design and can focus entirely on the content.

Rule 4

Draw on existing material

Every business presentation is different. The topics and target audiences vary, yet there is information that remains constant, such as your company facts or product presentations. So, you don’t always have to start from scratch with presentations; you can reuse existing slides and presentations. Especially when creating presentations as a team, this significantly facilitates work when slides and entire chapters can be reused.

However, there is a catch. First, you need to find the slides and presentations you need in your company and then ensure that all information is up to date. A common method is to overwrite the last held presentation. However, if this is done repeatedly, errors inevitably creep in, and the corporate design suffers with each new version.

Companies that professionally solve these problems use slide libraries like QuickSlide‘s Asset Library. Slides, presentations, and templates are centrally provided and also centrally updated. Employees can use all materials modularly and create new presentations from existing slides. It is ensured that everything is up to date and aligns with the company’s corporate design.

Rule 5

Keep an eye on timing

For large presentations with many participants, active project management is crucial for success. Ideally, find a project manager who has only this task and is not involved in building the presentation. They keep an eye on timing, know who takes on which tasks, and coordinate the interaction of all involved parties. They are also responsible for preventing what many have experienced: the presentation being completely rearranged two days before the presentation date.

A schedule and clear communication of milestones and deadlines are essential. Agree on timing with the entire team at the kick-off. Consider test runs and correction phases and do not underestimate the tasks after completing the presentation: technical tests, proofreading, translations, handouts. Clarify at the beginning of the project what is needed so that you don’t experience any surprises at the last minute.

When you follow our 5 rules for collaboration on presentations, you have created the right foundation for a good presentation result. Tools like QuickSlide help you make collaborative presentation creation even more efficient and straightforward.

If you want to learn more about QuickSlide, feel free to contact us. We look forward to your message.

The introduction of your presentation is crucial to its success

29. November 202330. November 2023 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

The introduction to your presentation is crucial for success

7 creative ideas for your presentation introduction

Reading time 4 minutes

Get your next presentation off to a flying start and make an exclamation mark right at the beginning. We’ll show you 7 creative ways to inspire your audience. This will ensure that everybody follows you from the very first slide. Because once your audience’s attention is lost, it’s difficult to regain it. This makes it all the more important to captivate, surprise, convince or entertain right from the start. Just as it suits your presentation, your target group and your topic. Let our ideas and suggestions inspire you and try out which presentation introduction works best for you.

Introduction with facts
The personal story
The question to the group
The inspiring quote
The topical reference
The multimedia element
Metaphors

1. Introduction with facts

Use well-researched facts for your presentation introduction and present them as visually appealing infographics. Even facts that your audience may already know can be brought back to mind. Use comprehensible and concrete formulations. Instead of “the proportion of newly registered electric cars is 32%”, write “every third newly registered car is an electric car”. Don’t forget to cite the sources of your facts.

By starting with facts, you are setting the tone for clear messages, verified information and credibility right from the start. This is an advantage for a technically or commercially interested audience.

2. The personal story

Start your presentation with a personal story that has a direct or indirect connection to your presentation topic or that is suitable as an analogy. Tell us what personal connection you have to the topic of your presentation or what your motivation is. Please note: stories with breaks and setbacks are more exciting than smooth success stories. Stay authentic, tell your story succinctly, but don’t exaggerate. This will win the sympathy of your audience.

A personal story is a good icebreaker if the audience doesn’t know you. An emotional introduction can also help with conflict-laden topics. Such an introduction is rather inappropriate for a tightly timed and decision-oriented audience.

3. The question to the group

Ask the audience a question. Simple questions that can be answered with a show of hands are suitable. Alternatively, you can use digital survey tools. Make sure that your question or survey is related to your topic. If you are giving a presentation on mobility, you can ask, for example, “Which of you traveled by public transport today?” Also respond directly to the answers you receive and use them to lead on to your topic.

Use a question and answer session to involve your audience in your presentation. This method is suitable for discussion-intensive topics, but also to skip the usual restless phase at the beginning of a presentation.

4. The inspiring quote

It is the classic presentation opener: a quote. Motivational sayings, words of wisdom and visions are usually formulated in general terms, making it easy to establish a connection to your presentation topic. Steve Jobs is certainly one of the most frequently quoted personalities in business presentations. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be a quote from a famous person to open your presentation. A customer quote that formulates a need or a common problem will draw your audience into the topic very quickly and concretely.

Quotes are well suited as an introduction if you want to underline the relevance of your presentation topic or place it in a larger context of meaning, e.g. innovation, future, responsibility.

5. The topical reference

Link your topic to current events. A news report, a current survey or a headline can provide the perfect introduction. You can usually even find daily news on hot topics and trending topics.

A tip: if you regularly present on a certain topic, use tools such as Google Alerts to be automatically informed about news that you can spontaneously incorporate into your presentation.

The introduction with a topical reference is suitable for discursive topics and topics with social relevance. It emphasizes your expert knowledge and the importance of your presentation.

6. The multimedia element

You can liven up the start of your presentation with a film clip, a video or a small slide show. You are sure to get the attention of your audience. Anything is possible, from entertaining elements to mood videos that get people excited about big topics. However, make sure that a multimedia element at the beginning is only an “appetizer”. Prefer short formats.

Multimedia introductions are suitable for topics with a motivating character. Such an introduction raises the audience’s expectations. The presentation that follows should also be lively and visually appealing.

7. Metaphors

The metaphor method is a stylistic device that is suitable for the start of a presentation and beyond. Metaphors help to convey your messages and make your statements memorable. Metaphors can be used visually and in terms of content/text. Use simple symbols that match your main messages. If a metaphor runs through the entire presentation, a strong image will be anchored in the minds of your audience. Metaphors can come from a wide variety of areas. Metaphors from the fields of sport, nature/weather or travel are popular in business presentations.

Presentations on complex topics in particular benefit from metaphors, as they break down facts into simple symbols. You can read more about the use of visual metaphors here: Using Visual Metaphors to Enhance Your Storytelling in Presentations

Interview with Achim Sztuka about the further development of QuickSlide

24. August 202312. September 2023 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

The new QuickSlide as a cloud solution

We talk to Achim Sztuka, CEO of Strategy Compass, about the background and advantages of the development of the new QuickSlide.

Reading time 5 minutes

Hi Achim, we’d like to talk to you today about the new QuickSlide. But first, how do you feel after such an intense development phase?

Achim (laughs): Thanks for asking. Yes, there’s quite a bit of work behind us and that was really challenging for everyone. But it was also fun, because we’ve built a solution that positions us very strongly for the future. We didn’t just enhance QuickSlide a bit further, we basically reinvented it. But the development phase is not over. On the contrary: The platform is ready, and new features are being added constantly.

Why was this leap in development necessary?

Achim: Of course, we’ve always been evolving QuickSlide further. However, a number of important things have changed in the technological environment in recent years: Microsoft has been promoting its web technology for Office add-ins for years, but for a long time did not provide the necessary API functionality to implement sophisticated solutions such as QuickSlide. However, a lot has happened on the API side in the last year. At the same time, there has been a clear shift on the part of our customers toward greater openness or even the explicit desire to move to a cloud solution. The advantages are obvious: installation and maintenance of the software become much easier, the increasing number of Mac users can be served, the solution also works with PowerPoint in the browser. For us, this was the tipping point we had been waiting for to switch QuickSlide to web technology.

So please describe what makes the QuickSlide cloud solution different?

Achim: I’ll start with the user perspective. The core is a web-based Template and Asset Library that can be used in PowerPoint regardless of location and device. This means that it can also be used by Apple users, a target group for which we previously had not been able to offer a solution. The Asset Library has several major advantages over the traditional QuickSlide. Users can find everything they need to create presentations in one place. They can conveniently insert or upload slides, images or icons while editing their presentation. The Search works across all asset types. With this, we’re responding to the desire of many users to also be able to find the right images and icons more easily.
Our customers can structure their Asset Library flexibly according to their needs – by asset type, by topic, by department, by project. This is an option that no other tool offers. We invested a lot of time in UX and usability testing during the development phase to achieve the best possible experience for users. It’s really rewarding that the feedback we’ve been getting so far has been so overwhelmingly positive.

So there’s a new product experience for users. What are the advantages for those who manage content in the company?

Achim: First of all, better usability is of course good for the entire company. If QuickSlide is used more and better, the overall quality of presentations and the efficiency of working with PowerPoint will increase. But we’ve also specifically simplified the content management processes. For example, while creating user groups in QuickSlide used to be a bit cumbersome, there’s now a simple web app that allows you to set up Shared Folders for your user groups with just a few clicks. You can easily assign the appropriate permissions for users to these Shared Folders via Azure Active Directory. Teams can thus set up their own private content areas without any intervention from IT. Sales, for instance, can manage its sales presentations autonomously.
Another important aspect is that we’ve improved how simultaneous uploads and changes done by multiple people are managed. You can now have as many content managers as you want, and all changes to the central content are immediately visible to all relevant users.

You talked about the new solution being easier to install and maintain. How exactly is that to be understood?

Achim: With the cloud version of QuickSlide, we’ve created a product that enables significantly shorter innovation intervals. All features related to the Template and Asset Library are continuously developed, and these updates are automatically available to our customers without having to install a new version on users’ computers. This relieves the burden on IT departments and at the same time brings product innovations to the user much faster.
By the way: This is also an important aspect for existing customers. The new Asset Library doesn’t yet have the full range of functionality of the classic QuickSlide. Nonetheless, it makes sense for many customers to switch to the new version already, because they will automatically receive all the updates over the coming months. And of course, we’re making the switch to the new version as resource-friendly as possible for our customers, including the migration of all existing content to Azure.

Talking about Azure, what do customers need to know about it?

Achim: Most of our customers already use Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform for various other applications, a lot has happened due to the widespread adoption of Microsoft 365. Thus, Azure has become the ideal place to host data for QuickSlide as well. We’ve now taken this step and built the new QuickSlide as a typical SaaS application–Both the web-based part of the add-in and the data are managed by us in a secure Azure environment. This means our customers don’t have to worry at all about how data is stored and backed up during operation; it simply happens in the background.
Speaking of data security, a decisive factor in the development of the new QuickSlide has been to offer a solution that meets the high security requirements of our large customers in sensitive industries. For example, as part of the new EU regulations on cybersecurity and the GDPR, the requirements have become much more extensive. Companies have to ensure security across their entire supply chain. Thanks to Azure’s high security standards, data hosting in Western Europe, data encryption and the complete separation of our backend from the public Internet, we have achieved a level of security that has already convinced our customers’ IT security teams as part of various certification processes. It also really helped that we had direct access to Microsoft’s architects during implementation, with whom we implemented best practices.

What about customers who don’t want to move to a cloud solution?

Achim: This is an important topic, thanks for bringing it up. QuickSlide as a pure VSTO solution is of course still available and developed further. Our customers don’t need to worry, we’re not imposing the cloud on anyone who doesn’t want it or can’t use it. However, we expect Microsoft to make the move to the cloud necessary sooner or later. You can see this already playing out when you look at the New Outlook: Contrary to earlier statements, the New Outlook no longer supports installed add-ins. In this respect, it’s not entirely far-fetched to assume that such a step will also take place in the other Office applications over the next years. We see this development positively, because it will simplify many things. For users, for companies, for IT–and ultimately also for ourselves. We’ve now taken a decisive step and are consistently thinking QuickSlide further.

Thank you, Achim, for this enlightening conversation. We’re thrilled about the transformative journey QuickSlide is on, and we can’t wait to see how it continues to revolutionize the way we work. Wishing you, your team, and all QuickSlide users continued innovation and success!

The 4 biggest time munchers in PowerPoint

27. July 202327. July 2023 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

The 4 biggest time munchers in PowerPoint

Which tasks cost time and nerves in PowerPoint and what can you do about it?

Reading time 6 minutes

Are you working on a presentation right now? Are you sure that all your slides are up to date? Are you missing a slide that you’ve seen before in a colleague’s presentation but can’t find again? Have you formatted your slides yet? And what about the brand conformity of your presentation?

You probably ask yourself all these questions regularly when you work with PowerPoint. The fact is: the formal aspects of your presentation are time-consuming. And sometimes cost valuable resources that you actually wanted to put into the structure, argumentation and dramaturgy of your presentation. As a result, you may spend hours “tweaking” your presentation, but still not be satisfied with the presentation outcome.

We will track down the 4 biggest time wasters and give you valuable tips on how you can easily delegate some of the time-consuming work: for example, to a PowerPoint add-in that can do these jobs perfectly for you.

Time muncher no. 1: Looking for slides

Time muncher no. 2: Formatting slides

Time muncher no. 3: Finding the right presentation format

Time muncher no. 4: Adhering to the corporate design

Time muncher no. 1

Searching for slides

You’re not the first person in your company to create a presentation, and you’re probably not the first person on a particular topic. A majority of the slides that exist in a company are used recurrently. What this means for you is that you don’t have to start from scratch. You can at least take parts from other presentations. But where do you find these presentations? Now the big search begins.

Maybe you can find the most important presentations on the server or you ask your colleagues. Unfortunately, you then always do not know one hundred percent what exactly the last status is and whether all information, such as company data, is still valid. In many companies the following workflow has crept in: Employees overwrite a presentation that already exists and only change the slides that need to be updated or adjusted. One can well imagine that a lot of duplicate work is produced here and the error devil is often involved. Especially since inaccuracies creep in with presentations that are overwritten again and again, also at the expense of the uniform corporate design.

A professional remedy is an Asset Library for PowerPoint. This is a central platform for the distribution and maintenance of all assets that are required in a company for the creation of presentations: Presentations, slides, templates, logos, icons, images, etc. Everyone has access to this Asset Library. The tedious search for slides and presentations is therefore a thing of the past. Another important advantage, is the centralized update possibility, which an Asset Library offers. Changes only have to be made in one place and are immediately available to everyone. Some Asset Libraries, such as QuickSlide’s Asset Library, immediately alert users to the availability of new stands when they open an older presentation, which can then be updated with one click. This gives users peace of mind.

Also read our blog post with examples of how slide libraries are used in companies.

Time muncher no. 2

Formatting slides

It’s work that drives some to despair when working with PowerPoint: Adjusting, checking and unifying fonts, font sizes, spacing, colors and positions. Only die-hard PowerPoint fans find this really easy, because every change results in new challenges such as unsightly wrapping, cut-off texts, space problems and much more. And with PowerPoint, unfortunately, any inaccuracy is immediately noticeable, such as when headings jump when you crossfade slides because the stands aren’t consistent. A good idea is to work consistently with your company’s master slides, which are usually stored in PowerPoint. Then you’ll have the basics right. However, master slides are limited and there are not user-friendly templates for all use cases. Users have to build the majority of the required slides themselves. In the process, formatting errors tend to creep in.

An intelligent solution is offered by PowerPoint add-ins such as QuickSlide, where formatting is predefined. These tools ensure that the fonts, font sizes and colors of the corporate design are used. They also make it possible to provide a large number of templates for almost any use case. These are pre-designed slides that can be filled individually. Users no longer need to worry about formatting when creating presentations. The PowerPoint add-in QuickSlide also offers a number of check functions such as the Consistency Check, which identifies inconsistent slides and “straightens” them with just one click, and the Corporate Design Check, which displays and corrects deviations from your company’s design specifications.

Time muncher no. 3

Finding the right form of presentation

You probably know this situation: You know exactly what information you want to put on a slide, but you have a hard time finding a presentation that the audience can quickly grasp and understand. This is probably why we see so many text slides or slides with bullet points in presentations. A well-made presentation works where possible with graphical representations, with pictures or visual elements. There are two questions for the person who prepares the presentation: how to find a suitable form of presentation and how to implement it in PowerPoint, even if you are not a PowerPoint expert and do not have basic graphic training.

PowerPoint add-ins offer the possibility to provide a large number of templates for specific presentations and presentation formats. Users can fill them directly with your content. You don’t need to worry about the design and formatting. A large selection of templates also invites users to get inspired. This gives users new ideas for visually implementing content. The quality of presentations increases.

The PowerPoint add-in QuickSlide goes beyond mere software. We support our customers in building a comprehensive template pool. We develop a template set for our customers that often includes more than 200 templates in the corporate design. Users can find these templates in QuickSlide’s Asset Library. Well structured and equipped with a comprehensive search function.

In our blog article on the types of templates companies need, you will get an overview of the most important display formats in presentations.

Time muncher no. 4

Adhering to the corporate design

PowerPoint is one of the most important tools in business communication. Companies rightly attach great importance to showing off their brand in PowerPoint. But not everyone who creates presentations knows the design rules and can apply them. So it happens again and again that presentations leave the house that do not meet the corporate design of the company.

There are solutions to this problem, too, such as the PowerPoint add-in QuickSlide, in which your company’s corporate design is preset. Users thus automatically work with the correct fonts, font sizes, colors, etc. The large selection of brand-compliant templates also helps them adhere to the corporate design. QuickSlide can be used to integrate the company’s own image databases, so that searching for brand-compliant and royalty-free images is also a thing of the past and users no longer have to go to the trouble of searching for your images on the internet. This also ensures consistent imagery in presentations.

If you want to counteract the biggest time wasters in PowerPoint in your company, you will find important tips for selecting a suitable PowerPoint add-in here.

Contact us if you want to learn more about QuickSlide. We will be happy to present our solution to you in an online demo.

10 characteristics of a professional presentation

16. June 202323. October 2023 Marion Sztuka Uncategorized

10 characteristics of a professional presentation

If you follow these points, your successful presentation will be assured

Reading time 8 minutes

Presentations are created for a wide variety of occasions. For the godfather’s milestone birthday as well as for the quarterly presentation in the executive board of a DAX company. What distinguishes occasional presentations from professional presentations in a business context and what should you pay attention to if you want to be perceived as a professional presenter. This blog article is about the most important 10 characteristics of professionally created presentations.

The golden thread
Corporate design
Relevance
Visualization
Clear messages
Involvement
Flexibility
Timing
Good conclusion
Practice, practice, practice

1. The golden thread

A really good presentation has a common thread. The messages and arguments build on each other coherently, the audience can easily follow the presentation, and the core message is clear and comprehensible for everyone.

In order to find the golden thread for your presentation, you should deal with these questions in advance:

Who is the target audience for my presentation? How relevant is the topic for my audience and how do I have to present it to make the relevance clear?
What is the goal of my presentation, what do I want to achieve with the audience? What benefit do I want the audience to derive from my presentation?
What is my core message? What is important and what is rather unimportant to convey this core message.

Now you can start building your presentation. Read more about the golden thread and the classic structure in introduction, main part, conclusion part in our blog articles.

The golden thread – How a well-structured presentation helps you hold your audience.

The three parts of a presentation: introduction, main part, conclusion

2. Corporate design

Professional presentations are important points of contact with customers, partners and stakeholders. They influence the brand impact of the sender. Inconsistent slides within a presentation with changing fonts and jumping spacing are inappropriate in business. But you should also avoid a uniform but incongruous design. For example, if you work for a technology company known for its minimalist design, crowded slides are a no-go.

Companies usually work with a PowerPoint master in which design defaults such as fonts, colors and spacing are preset. However, this does not mean that everyone takes these defaults to heart.

That’s why large and medium-sized companies that value a professional presentation appearance use PowerPoint add-ins such as QuickSlide, which provide brand-compliant templates for all common slide types and offer additional functions such as corporate design checks. With tools like these, everyone in the company is able to create professional presentations in corporate design.

Also read our blog article on the specifics of implementing your corporate design in PowerPoint. In another article, we will show you how a corporate design change in PowerPoint can be done easily with the help of QuickSlide.

3. Relevance

The success of a presentation depends to a large extent on whether it succeeds in highlighting the relevance of the topic for the target group. If you don’t take into account the needs and requirements of your audience, you shouldn’t be surprised if your presentation is met with little interest and you don’t achieve your presentation goals. Rule number 1 is therefore to occupy oneself intensively with its target group: Who is in the audience? What are the requirements and challenges of the target group? What information is of interest to the audience and how should it be presented? Put yourself in the position of your target group, choose the right language and tone, create points of connection to your audience’s life and work, and develop a storyline that the audience will enjoy following.

It can be useful to structure and prepare a presentation on the same topic in different ways, depending on who is in the audience. To avoid having to start from scratch with this work, sales teams, for example, work with presentation kits. These contain slides and slide templates for different topics and different target groups, which can be combined to create a coherent overall presentation. This makes it easier to create presentations that are tailored to the target group. On our website you can read how sales teams benefit from presentation kits.

4. Visualization

You want your messages to reach your audience? Then use visual elements in addition to the spoken word and texts. They can underpin content, simplify complex issues, highlight important information. Visual elements often have a faster effect than formulated thoughts. They can therefore also contribute to the better comprehensibility of your content. There are different types of visualization: images, icons, maps, and data visualization with graphs and charts. Make absolutely sure that the elements you use match your company’s corporate design and create a consistent visual language. Many companies have their own image databases for this purpose. Of course, your company’s color and font specifications also apply to graphics and diagrams in PowerPoint. QuickSlide allows companies to provide templates for different graphic and visual presentation formats and to link media image databases directly. This makes it easy for users to create visually appealing presentations and immediately ensures that all presentations are in line with the brand identity.

Our pro tip for presentation creation: use visual metaphors to reinforce your messages. Check out our blog article on visual metaphors for valuable information on this.

5. Clear messages

In any case, it is important that you clearly express the messages you are conveying with your presentation. This includes the right amount of depth of information. Too little information makes your presentation appear superficial and less competent. Too much information, on the other hand, has a confusing effect and distracts from your objectives. The danger is great that your audience will drop out and your messages will be lost.

Exactly how much detail and information is right depends on your topic and your audience’s level of knowledge. If you can’t assess this in advance, we recommend moving information that you feel is downstream to slides in the appendix or hiding slides that you can select when needed. This way, you are well prepared for any queries. This method is also suitable if you are presenting data-based information. Focus on the most important key figures and put the associated tables in the appendix. This way, you can respond quickly when asked about the data base.
To learn how to present data in an appealing and quickly graspable way, read our blog article on data visualization in presentations.

To structure your presentation, please follow this rule of thumb: one thought per slide. The receptivity of your audience is limited. Do not demand that your audience reads and listens at the same time. Because that won’t work. Avoid overcrowded slides and instead focus attention on your presentation.

6. Involvement

When it comes to PowerPoint presentations, one first thinks of frontal lectures, where the audience is asked to ask questions at the end of the presentation at the most. This form of presentation is passive from the audience’s point of view. If the presentation topic and the presentation situation allow it, we advise you to involve your audience. This can be done by addressing them directly, using feedback slides, asking questions or using interactive elements such as surveys or workshop methods. The advantage is that you can get hints about the needs of your target group already during the presentation and adapt your presentation. You signal to your audience genuine interest in their requirements and also keep their attention high throughout the presentation. Prepare slides that you can fill in or add to together with the audience. There are many ways to engage the audience in your presentation without risking losing the thread of your presentation.

7. Flexibility

It’s good to have a clear schedule for a presentation in mind. However, new information, questions from the audience, or a current event may interfere with your plan. Then it is important to be able to react. Prepare for such situations. Put slides that you can show if needed in the appendix. Also, make sure you have other presentations or documents to refer back to where the issues coming up have already been dealt with. Don’t stonewall, but don’t let yourself completely lose your cool either. Sometimes it can be enough to refer back to the end of the presentation and pick up the issue there. Or you can change the order of your presentation, bring topics forward or skip slides. One way to prepare for such situations are feedback slides after each chapter. On these slides, you note topics and aspects that are important to the audience. At the end of the presentation, you can build on this and start a discussion.

8. Timing

Respect the time of your audience. It does not go down well with the audience if a presentation upsets their entire daily schedule or breaks are omitted. So stick to the agreed time and don’t overrun. This also means that you should build in buffers, e.g. for questions from the audience or the subsequent discussion. For example, if you have 30 minutes, you should allow about 20 minutes for content and 10 minutes for questions and discussion. For a rough guide, you should calculate two minutes per slide of pure presentation time. However, this value can vary greatly – even from slide to slide. It is best to do a test run and measure the time. Then you will know whether you need to cut back.

9. Good conclusion

Think carefully about how your presentation ends. The last slide can be crucial. Time and again, we see a presentation conclusion that doesn’t go beyond “Thank you for your attention.” This is a missed opportunity, because the closing slide is the segue to everything that comes after the presentation: a new business relationship, an important decision, the continuation of a project. Take the opportunity to initiate the next steps at the end of your presentation. Put your money where your mouth is by recording approvals on the last slide, agreeing on deadlines or defining to-dos and responsibilities. This will create commitment and ensure your presentation makes an impact.

Read more tips in our blog article on the final slide of presentations.

10. Practice

A deadline is approaching, the presentation is still not ready and in the end there is no time left to practice. Unfortunately, this happens again and again. But it is so important to rehearse a presentation in advance. Preferably in front of a test audience that can give you helpful feedback. For example, ask your colleagues if they are willing to do this. Even experienced presenters benefit from an “outside view.” It is important that you schedule the time you need for the test and for any adjustments from the outset. A test run is not only there to optimize the presentation, it also gives you confidence and thus ensures a convincing performance in front of an audience.

For more interesting information on creating presentations, check out these blog articles:

4 Steps to Successful Presentation Creation

Storytelling in presentations

How storyboards help in presentation creation