How Do You Create a Winning Presentation Deck?

Really intelligent people are completely capable of creating dysfunctional presentation decks. But you can do better by following the Six Golden Rules for Great Presentation Decks.

1. Give your content room to breathe: Allocate about 25% of the total scheduled time to open discussion/client questions, and about 2 minutes per page for the remaining 75%. So A 90-minute presentation splits into 23 minutes for questions/discussions, and the other 67 minutes allows for 34-pages. This will keep you and your team from feeling frenetic and create more engagement, achieving 25-40% conversion rates. (Ingage Co.)
   

2. NEVER begin with Creds: Focus on the Client. Start with a show-stopping insight or projected outcome that you will deliver. Get them to lean in from the very beginning, wanting to learn more. Set the hook, and let the audience be attracted to learn more.
   

3. Use visuals to create impact: Don’t let your script show on your pages. A single image, in context with the point of your story, will intrigue them and be MORE memorable! It has been proven that an image that supports your point reduces your audience's cognitive load and increases persuasiveness by 43%. (UM/3M study, 1986).
   

4. Tease with tension, and pay off with solutions: Most Competitors will show the same information in the same way – literally following the brief. Instead, capture the drama and the journey of how you took the insights and guided yourself through to the solution. Have some AHA! Moments. Have some dark and frustrated moments. Let them feel like they are participating in the process and celebrating the solution.
   

5. Remove the noise from the data to make a clear point:. We spend all the time finding meaningful data and NO time presenting it. Data needs to be presented in a way that focuses on the relevant point and avoids distraction. Use only ONE color to highlight the critical finding, and keep the rest black or greyscale. Make the headline about the finding, NOT about naming the data. Simplify the background, legends, and titles to a bare minimum.
   

6. Deliver a compelling and motivating Closing – NOT a summary: I once had an executive lead in a pitch do a final pitch with a Cliff Notes overview of the meeting’s contents. Boring. Have a single page for the Closing, which lets the Pitch Executive rally the room around the possibilities of the solutions presented, and demonstrate passion for business. Advise them on what to look for in a partner, and play the agency creds against that list. It is the last moment to connect with them in an intimate and powerful way.
   

The Six Golden Rules of Presentation Decks is a great tool to use as you create your next deck, and perfect for training your teams.

I do impactful presentation coaching for all levels of an organization, focusing on Charisma, Storytelling/Scripting, Deck Development/Design and Presentation Delivery.