Making Presentations with Multimedia

When should you use multimedia?

• At sales presentations

• When presenting large amounts of information, or complex issues.

• Whenever you have a persuasion job on your hands

What multimedia will do for you is:

• Make things simpler

• Make your message understood

• Provide a presentation structure

The choice available for most managers is Powerpoint.

Sometimes there is a video available. And occasionally a more sophisticated multimedia cd. For now we’ll assume that you have PowerPoint.

The key message to grasp here is that audiences are no longer especially impressed by Powerpoint.

Death By Powerpoint is like death by flipchart. Powerpoint has become an excuse to inflict endless rows of bullet points while you drone on with very little audience interaction.

So the moral when using Powerpoint is:

• Make your points concise

• If in doubt use less slides not more.

• Don’t use gimmicky text moves. They look gimmicky. Straight cuts or left->right wipes are fine.

• Plan to have discussion spots in the course of the presentation where you can verify that your message is sinking in.

• Be happy to stop and work from written notes if the audience look bored.

• Test out your Powerpoint on a friend or colleague first.

If the occasion warrants it, don’t be frightened of using a projector and screen.

Please consider that presentations and briefings where you deliver a fixed message to a silent audience are outside the scope of this course - which is more concerned with successful meetings where interaction and ideas can develop.

Exercise 35:

Be sure that your Powerpoint is good. Test it out first on a friend. Don’t assume.

Double check your message is simple and concise. People have an aversion to complex organograms. They’ll just think you’re being a smarty pants.

Powerpoint should be used to impart a structure and flow to your presentation.

Only use Powerpoint for part of the meeting. Use a flip chart too. Variety works.

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