2 Ways to Make Your PPT More Exciting

I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Catching up on what some people are blogging about regarding presentations in general and PowerPoint in particular. While I find there are some great blogs that will give you sound advice on presentation preparation, storytelling, visuals and delivery; there are equally as many that are missing the point.

I have recently read a couple of blogs stating that adding elaborate transitions and animation will draw your audience in and keep their attention. I have a difficult time with this approach. The best slide transitions and animation are those that you don’t notice. Or if you do notice them, there is a clear purpose for that and that is to make the message clearer. Let me explain futrther.

If you decide to choose slide transitions, may a strongly suggest that you limit your choice to one or two. I would not choose a transition that flies off in any direction (that may be a bit distracting) however that is a personal preference. The purpose of a slide transition is to create a feeling to the flow of the message.

For example, if you were going to show a famous quotation on one of your slides because is supports your message, then I would use a medium fade in to and out of the slide. A slower fade gives the feeling of a slight pause, an opportunity for the audience to breathe where they can read the quote themselves and reflect briefly on the meaning and how it relates to the presentation. Then a slow fade out brings them back to you.

Now if you were going to show a graph with a large amount of data, animation effects can draw your audience’s attention to the right information that you want them to focus on. First I would suggest building your graph so your audience can understand the information in context.

I would animate the “x” and “y” axis with labels as follows: The “x” axis would wipe from left to right. The “y” axis would wipe from bottom to top. When this is done, the audience now has a reference point where the information being displayed will be a function of “Sales vs Time” as an example. They will also see clearly the time frame which could be yearly, quarterly monthly or what you decide it should be. Also, they will see the parameters of the sales data whether it is in the hundreds, thousands, millions or more.

Next I suggest animating the historical data in one colour and the data that is key or the data that you want your audience to focus on such as last quarter’s sales, animate that in a bolder color. Now your audience understands the information and how it fits into your message because you walked them through it via animation effects. No interpretation required by the audience. Make it easy.

With slide transitions and animation effects, they too should be carefully thought out and should support your message and support the feeling that you want to convey. Don’t just utilize them because you think they are neat. They will not draw your audience in and keep their attention. Only your passion and enthusiasm will do that. The special effects are only there to support your message, clarify the meaning and set the mood.

Hang in there, this is going to be a journey.

M.J.

Tags: Animation effects, PowerPoint, presentations, slide transitions.