Here at business plan ppt.net we know what you are going through. I can picture it now, you get up ready to give your presentation and you can see the audience sliding down in their chairs. Are they getting comfortable or ready to go to sleep? It’s likely a bit of both and to overcome this you have to deliver a knockout presentation. Literally a powerpoint presentation that will make them sit back up right and want to know more about your business plan.

To help you we’ve put together some of our favourite secrets for giving that presentation.

Research.

You need to really know your subject. What is the size of the market, how strong are your competitors, what do customers really want. The trick here is to really do some deep research to find the unusual or contradictory piece of information that will prompt a discussion. Ways to do this are to go beyond the normal Google search and to go out and engage with customers, look up any new research in your market, trawl the business press and interview industry figureheads.

Less is more.

Do not put to much information on a single slide. Overloading a slide with information will overload your audience. An overloaded audience does not engage. As human beings we have evolved to cope with only certain amounts of information at any one time, I guess thousands of years ago you needed to know enough information to make those fight or flight calls. This still holds true today and presenting a lot of information on a slide whilst you are talking to the audience will simply be too much. You’ll be amazed at the effect of really whittling down what you put on your slides.

Presentation.

Remember that different people understand and comprehend information in different ways. Some folks like to listen to you delivering the presentation and don’t focus on the slides, others like to read the presentation and others are more visually focused, e.g. pictures and diagrams. To increase your chances of communicating with the whole audience make sure to pay attention to the balance of the three aspects.

Practice your delivery.

a knockout presentation is captivating. It makes you forget about the speaker or even why you are in the room and absorbs you into the presentation. Practice will help you remove any unnecessary distractions, e.g. make sure you know your lines / facts, get your timing right so that you are natural with the slides, check your body language and remove any awkward silences. Great presenters work the stage naturally making everyone in the audience feel like you are talking to them individually.

Avoid Comedy.

Whilst you want to make them sit up in there seat, and humour may seem a nice way to lighten the atmosphere, remember that this is a serious presentation. Comedy can polarise an audience so just don’t aim to be humorous. However it can be ok to throw in some natural lines just don’t overdo it.

Props.

If possible the use of props can really make your presentation stand out, this can be anything a timer to demonstrate how quickly something is happening or just using what you have in unique manner. In one presentation I gave about mobility I literally picked up my laptop to show the audience that the demonstration I was giving could take place anywhere.

It’s not about you.

You are trying to sell your business plan to the audience. The audience is not interested in how hard you have worked to produce the plan. The audience is only interested in how you plan helps them with their problem or pain. Make the presentation about the audience, talk them through the problem they face and how your plan will help them resolve this.

Tell a story.

As human beings we all love stories. Stories enable us to understand an idea and put it into context. Use a story to present your business plan but remeber to stay focussed on the needs of the audience. This should not be your story, although it can be about you as long as the audience can identify with this.

Drive the presentation and don’t let yourself be driven by the slides.

We’ve all been there, flicking to the next slide and reading it for a split second to remind us of what we are about to say next. This can work if a split second glance enables you to talk at length about the slide as you are clearly aware of the detail behind the slide, however it does not work if you take a few seconds to read the slide and then have very little to say about it.

Pace your delivery.

I recently watched a knock out presentation which kept me engaged throughout and I asked the speaker afterword what was their trick. I was surprised by the simplicity of it but just had to share this in this list as it was so effective. Change the pace of your presentation. The speaker had a slide which was on screen for many minutes whilst he told a story and went into some detail. Then he changed gear a bit with slides being up for a minute or two with less discussion per slide then he changed the gear up again with some charts from a survey. These slides had really neat visual information but were only on screen for 30 seconds or so but were shown in a series.

Like music he was using a change of pace in the same presentation to draw people in, then he hit us with some well presented facts and then slowed the presentation back down to its conclusion. The effect was highly engaging and is not a technique I’ve seen widely used.

PowerPoint is only a tool.

We use this tool to help us communicate our business plans with our audience.

We’ve obviously talked about the business plan but here at Business Plan PPT we’re also interested in helping you deliver great PowerPoint presentations.  As outlined in What is a Business Plan the oral presentation of your business plan will commonly be supported by a slide show.

The secrets of delivering a great business presentation is to try to move your audience with you, to evoke emotion in them and most importantly to remember that PowerPoint is just a tool.

PowerPoint is a visual tool.

As such it is important to not try to put too much into your slides, small fonts and lots of text lose impact, no one tries to read a newspaper through a shop window from across the street.

Big Fonts – there is a need for simplicity, to present something visually it needs to be distilled down to its simplest and most impactful, think about road signs here, big fonts and as few words as possible.

Pictures – We all know the well-worn expression, “ a picture is worth a thousand words” and this is doubly true in great presentations.  This can be difficult when delivering business oriented presentations but is an opportunity to be really creative.  Compelling photos and under no circumstances should you use clip art.

Suspense – for the presentation to be memorable you need to build to something unexpected.  Delivering a presentation is like telling a story.  You need to bring the audience on a journey with you and being controversial or challenging the norms or beliefs of the audience will also grab their attention.  Obviously though if you are seeking investment there is a line between challenging an investor and offending an investor which I would recommend you do not cross.

Time – try to avoid having to many slides, the audience’s attention is precious and your opportunity to make an impression is short.  Limit the number of slides you have and try to keep your presentation to no more than 20 minutes.

Ok so we’re starting to get a feel for this now.  Powerpoint is visual, so simple presentation with big fonts, great quality photo’s / charts and the need for some compelling narrative.  Avoid going for transitions between slides and animated graphics.  Professional presentations are clean and don’t distract from your message, you want the audience to listen to you, not be distracted by animations behind you.

Top tips to remember to deliver your great presentation

1. Big, Clear, Relevant images
2. Write speakers notes and practice, when you deliver the presentation you don’t want to be reading from cards, you might want some key points written down but you want to be making eye contact with your audience.
3. time yourself – time is key so be sure to time your practice sessions so you just know how much time you have when you give the presentation for real.
4. Focussed slide deck – if your slide is not relevant or does not have impact, then lose it.
5. PowerPoint is only a tool – you are the core of the presentation so you need to know you facts and figures for the audiences questions at the end.
6. Prepare your presentation for your audience – find out who you are presenting to and try to tailor your message for maximum impact
7. Give your audience a copy your slides – this helps the audience get a feel for where your presentation is going to take them and also gives them something physical to review after your presentation.