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Should business PowerPoint slide design be like Billboard Ads? Learn 5 reasons why this popular advice is WRONG.
1.Billboards don’t need a presenter. Your business presentations need you
Your business presentation is not a standalone slide deck uploaded on a slide sharing site. Your audience needs you to explain your ideas and concepts to help them make a business decision.
If you make self-explanatory slides that resemble a billboard, you lose your importance as a presenter. Your audience switches off after glancing through your slide for a few seconds. You miss your opportunity to involve and influence your audience.
Action point:
Your PowerPoint slide design should support you. Leave the beautiful, philosophical, quotation filled slides for posting on slide sharing sites. Avoid the top slide design mistakes.
2. Billboards are not interactive. Your business presentations should be
If you make your slides like Billboard Ads, your lengthy explanations of static slides bore your audience. See the example below:
This style leaves no room for engaging the audience. You can’t build your argument in stages.
Consider this alternative:
A good business presentation reveals information in stages using animation. This helps your audience to stay with you throughout your presentation.
Action point:
Use custom animation to build your argument in incremental steps. This helps your audience understand your message with clarity.
3.Billboard slide design can grab audience attention. But can they retain the attention?
Billboards can make your audience see your message. But is it enough?
For your audience to make business decisions in your favor, it is not enough that they see your slides. They should be able to process the information you present on your slides.
You may need to use far more powerful tools like visual diagrams to present your ideas with clarity.
Action point:
Use visual diagrams to support your explanation rather than using just pictures to draw audience attention. Help your business audience to be informed, not just entertained.
4. Billboard slides can trigger emotions. But can they persuade with logic?
Billboards are very effective in triggering emotions. But, they are not designed to persuade people with logic. See the example here:
The powerful image used in the billboard is effective in evoking emotions.
But, your audience can’t be persuaded with emotions alone. They need clear logic to back their decisions.
Action point:
Use visual presentations with diagrams to illustrate and explain your points instead of solely relying on pictures to get you business.
5. Unlike Billboards your business slides are part of an overall story
Most Billboards don’t build on previous messages. A business slide needs to fit in with the overall story. As a business presenter, you need to give far more focus to your message than to the ‘beauty’ component of your slides.
Action point:
Focus on your message and flow while building your business slides. Leave billboard creation to design agencies.
Conclusion about PowerPoint Slide Design:
The presentation method that works for explaining culture and philosophy may not always work for business presentations. Read popular literature on presentations, but think before you apply the principles in your business presentations.
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