If you want to draw attention to something on the slide, you generally go to the screen and use your hands. This is fine if you are in a small conference room. If you are smart, you might carry a laser pointer (which now-a-days comes inbuilt in wireless presenters). You can also move your mouse and take the cursor to any part of the screen. But did you know there was a free inbuilt laser pointer in PowerPoint?
If you want to highlight anything on your screen (in Slide Show mode), you can press Control (CTRL) and then left click on the mouse and move it. Instead of the normal cursor arrow you will see a laser pointer symbol. The laser pointer dot of a wireless presenter is small but this pointer is bigger, hence easier to see.
In this post I share a three page simple check-list on how to apply the learnings of the book 'The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs' by Carmine Gallo. Download this check-list and refer to it before making your next presentation. Try to apply as many points as possible and see the results for yourself. You can download it from slideshare (if you have an account) or Google Docs (using your gmail id). If you have any difficulty downloading, drop me an email and I'll email the PDF.
How to present like Steve Jobs
Yesterday night I was working on a presentation. It was a slide modification work. I had a set of slides and I was modifying its structure, content and design. There were just six slides in the presentation. It was basically a brief investor pitch. The slide headers of the presentation were as under:
About our Customer
Customer Fact Sheet
About Us
Product Portfolio: Current
Product Portfolio: Proposed
Financials
Headers like these are common and we mostly 'make a statement' on top and share the 'information' below. This is not very effective. It's something we all do out of habit and because everyone else does it. It is better to share the summary / gist of the slide in the header itself. For example, if the content of the slide 'Customer Fact Sheet' is that my customer is India's largest car maker then why not share the same right at the top? If we use slide headers as summary of the slide, then we are making it easier for our audience to understand the presentation. They can just browse through and get a good idea of what we are saying.
Saying 'About our Customer' is just a statement which is of no use. Saying 'Our customer is India's leading car maker' is like giving an information. And this information is useful and impactful. If we start sharing a quick summary of the slide in our headers, we will help the audience understand easier and faster.
The next time you write on your slide 'About Us', stop and think. How can I describe my company in a few words? Once you have the answer, write it at the top of the slide.
