That’s how humans are. No matter who they are, or what situation they’re in. They need certainty, orientation and information. They wonder, what am I getting myself into here? How long will it take? What’s it about? Who’s the person standing there, why are they allowed to tell me something, and why should I trust them? Is this going to be something I should even spend time on? In the back of their mind or deep in their gut, their subconscious is worrying about practical things: What happens if they need to go to the bathroom? Will there be something to drink? Will I make it on time for the next meeting? People need to be reassured and engaged. Consciously or subconsciously. And only then can they give you their full attention.

There are many ways to create a well-structured presentation. The most tried-and-tested method sounds simple, but works extremely well.
First, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I want to achieve with my presentation, what’s my aim?
• Who’s my audience? When would they consider a presentation to have been really worthwhile?
• What’s my core message?

Then structure your presentation into the three typical sections:

The potential business partner did his best but ignored some fundamental rules for successful company presentations. Or maybe he just wasn’t aware of them. The rule here is about taking your audience’s perspective – putting yourself in your listener’s situation, as in the example above. The only thing that really interests your potential client is what your firm can do for his. This information can’t be found in excessive self-presentation and purple-prosed hymns of praise for your company.

How can you make your company presentation more “helpful?” By observing four simple rules:

Spelling mistakes and inconsistencies in style: For perfect slides use PowerPoint’s spell-checker and find-and-replace functions to help you.

• Too many spaces: Use find and replace to help you find double spaces and replace them with single ones.
• Font size too small: Check beforehand if your chosen font size is readable from the back of the room where you’ll be giving your presentation. Slides that work well on your computer screen might not be clear for those sitting at the back when you present.
• Lack of contrast: Use clearly distinguishable colors, e.g., in bar charts or to highlight important points. With some beamers – old models in particular – subtle differences in color can disappear, making it difficult to distinguish similar tones from one another.
• Font chaos: Don’t use too many different font styles and sizes on the same slide, and never use fonts that aren’t part of your corporate design. Avoid overuse of bold, italic and underlined type which looks unprofessional. More than two or three font styles in the main part of the slide are usually too many.
• Too many bullet points: Three to four bullet points are a good number to aim for. Most people can easily process this amount. If you have more items, organize them under headings.
• Lack of alignment: Make sure elements such as titles and text boxes are properly placed and aligned on each slide. Otherwise, your audience is made to look around the screen to find content that’s new or relevant, plus the slides look messy.
• Lack of symmetry: Symmetry gives slides a harmonious appearance. If, for example, you have two boxes side by side on a slide, showing similar content, make sure they’re exactly the same size.
• Animation as a gimmick: Animation in PowerPoint is no longer the eye-catching element it once was. Less is more – only use animation if it supports your message.
• Incorrect headers and footers: Presentations often end up with inconsistent headers and footers, e.g., when slides are pulled together from different presentations. After creating your presentation, remove all old headers and footers and reinsert the correct ones. This way, everything will be consistent.

By the way: If you use PowerPoint add-ins like QuickSlide you’ll avoid making many of the above mistakes.

This sort of slide title is called an “action title.” Sounds like a stage direction in a Hollywood blockbuster, but there’s an intelligent thought behind the name. With an action title, you’re sending out your message right at the top of the slide. It provides a concise summary of the slide’s main statement in one sentence. If you want to, you can still add a subheading that describes the slide’s exact content. For example:
Action title: Our sales rose 7% last year.
Subheading: Sales trend in million USD

Now read all your slides’ action titles one after the other. There’s your storyline – your presentation’s “golden thread.” (Compare this with using the slide subject or even the chapter heading as the title, and then flip through the presentation. Your audience would just give you blank looks!)