10 Tips for Business Presentations

When creating a presentation with any topic, the first thing most important is to know and really understand the topic that you will to convey to the audience. Likewise, when you make business presentations, the most important thing is to know your material. If you do not know everything about what you sell, it is not impossible that the audience will buy. Keeping your audience focused and interested. Creating an effective business presentations takes practice, but with a few tips up your sleeves, you’re ready to take on the challenge. Give your best business presentations to the audience.

  1. Use Key Phrases About Your Topic
    Seasoned presenters use key phrases and include only essential information. Choose only the top three or four points about your topic and make them consistently throughout the delivery. Try not to use more than three bullets per slide. The surrounding space will make it easier to read.
  2. Slide Layout is Important
    Make your slides easy to follow. Put the title at the top of the slide where your audience expects to find it. Phrases should read left to right and top to bottom. Keep important information near the top of the slide.
  3. Limit Punctuation and Avoid All Capital Letters
    Punctuation can needlessly clutter the slide and the use of all caps makes statements more difficult to read and is like SHOUTING at your audience.
  4. Avoid Fancy Fonts
    Choose a font that is simple and easy to read such as Arial, Times New Roman or Verdana. Use, at most, two different fonts – perhaps one for headings and another for content. Keep all fonts large enough (at least 24 pt and preferably 30 pt) so that people at the back of the room will be able to easily read what is on the screen.
  5. Use Contrasting Colors For Text and Background
    Dark text on a light background is best, but avoid white backgrounds. Dark backgrounds are effective to show off company colors or if you just want to dazzle the crowd. In that case, be sure to make text a light color for easy reading. Patterned or textured backgrounds can reduce readability of text. Keep your color scheme consistent throughout your presentation.
  6. Use Slide Designs Effectively
    When using a design theme (PowerPoint 2007) or design template (earlier versions of PowerPoint), choose one that is appropriate for the audience. A clean, straightforward layout is best if you are presenting to business clientele.
  7. Limit the Number Of Slides
    Keeping the number of slides to a minimum, ensures that the presentation will not become too long and drawn out. On average, one slide per minute is about right.
  8. Use Photos, Charts and Graphs
    Combining photos, charts and graphs and even embedding digitized videos with text, will add variety and keep your audience interested in the presentation. Avoid having text only slides.
  9. Avoid Excessive Use of Slide Transitions and Animations
    Remember, the slide show is intended to be a visual aid, not the focus of the presentation. Keep animations consistent in the presentation by using animation schemes and apply the same transition throughout the presentation. Do not get too splashy apply the slide show.
  10. Make Sure Your Presentation Can Run On Any Computer
    Save your presentation file in a format readable by any version of PowerPoint. Or if you have PowerPoint Viewer, it will be easier for you.

There are other info and tips to make your presentation higher level and more professional.

This info and tips sourced: http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm