Whether you’re a PowerPoint Pro or a Keynote Convert, copywriting for presentations is a job that takes considerable planning. Presentations live and die by their content – you can have the greatest speakers and presenters in the world leading the conversation, but if they have to work with an unruly mess of a presentation deck, then you are doing both your presenters and the audience a disservice. Want to find out what makes a talk engaging? Read on…
Nancy Duarte, a specialist on presentations (TED Talks in particular), shares the secrets behind what makes an excellent presentation so captivating – through the power of “what is” and “what could be”.
Fixing the flow
It could be tempting to jump into your main points right away, but unless everyone in the audience is already privy to the context of your speech, it’s better to set up the background and foundations first. Imagine if the mayor announced a ban on motorcycles in a major citiy without providing any reasoning – it’d cause an uproar!
Just like in storytelling, every presentation needs to be structured in a way that leads audiences along your train of thought. To do so, presentation expert Nancy Duarte recommends Aristotle’s classic three act story structure, which follows the tried-and-true flow of beginning, middle and end.
1. The beginning
Start with an anecdote that illustrates your core idea in a way that is relatable to audiences. This allows the presenter to build a connection with the audience, making them more receptive to the idea you’ll be pitching later (i.e. “I was driving to the office this morning and a motorcyclist cut me off. I had to swerve to avoid him and almost smashed into two cars in the next lane. Can I get a show of hands…who else has been cut off by a biker?”)
With the anecdote acting as a baseline for “what is”, introduce your idea as “what could be”. “The gap between the two will throw the audience a bit off balance, and that’s a good thing – it jars them out of complacency,” explains Duarte.
Using the hypothetical example of the motorcycle ban:
What is: motorcyclists are a menace because they don’t look where they are going and are prone to causing accidents. Motorcycle accidents cost taxpayers millions in hospital and repair fees (backing up your claims with facts and hard numbers is a good way to convince the audience about the scale and severity of the problem).
What could be: what if we could end all that? What if we could save lives, eliminate anxiety on our roads, and put millions of taxpayer dollars towards education and community projects instead? My fellow citizens, I believe there is a better way…
2. The middle
“Now that people in your audience realise their world is off-kilter, keep playing up the contrast between what is and what could be.” This is where you expand on your proposed solutions and show how they could improve life for your audience.
Continuing with the motorcycling ban example:
What is: motorcyclists are more likely to be severely injured in traffic collisions compared to drivers in cars
What could be: a bill that bans motorcycles increases all motorists’ life expectancy in the city
What is: approximately 10 percent of urban hospital beds are occupied by traffic accident victims caused by negligent driving
What could be: banning motorcycles would reduce this number to 5 percent – freeing up beds and medical staff for other patients in need
“As you move back and forth between what is and what could be, the audience will find the latter more and more alluring,” explains Duarte.
3. The end
The ending needs to a have a powerful message that inspires people to act – it should not be a “burdensome list of to-dos”. Aside from a motivating call to action, Duarte also recommends the inclusion of the “new bliss” (a scenario illustrating how the audiences’ world will improve after adopting your ideas)
Call to action: ban motorcycles today!
New bliss: with motorcycles outlawed in the city, people won’t have to worry about reckless bikers causing traffic accidents. More importantly, taxpayer money spent on emergency services and accident repairs can be reallocated to better purposes – like repaving roads and fixing pot holes.
“By defining future rewards, you show people that getting on board will be worth their effort. It’ll meet their needs, not just yours.”
Laying down the content
Now that you have a structure to your presentation, it’s time to put your points on slides. Remember, each slide is meant to summarise whatever point the presenter is talking about, so it’s important that each slide is succinct.
· Keep bullets in point form – reserve full sentences for important quotes or testimonials only
· One major point per slide to prevent overwhelming audiences with material – try to limit yourself to 3-5 supporting details
· Include facts, statistics and/or references as necessary. If these are used to support your points, use a smaller font so that it does not detract from the main point. Alternatively, if these are the crux of a point, it’s important to explain why audiences should care about these facts or figures
· Know your audience: avoid using industry jargon unless you are presenting to industry insiders. For a mixed audience, always use simpler language (or explain any industry terms) to avoid alienating listeners
Using fictional “facts”, here’s an example of what a bad slide looks like. Note the inconsistent font choices and formats, poor choice of background colour, overlap between text and visuals and general overabundance of text… Who’d want to sit through a presentation like this?
A few words on aesthetics
The look of your presentation matters as well! While we aren’t experts on visual design, it’s always a good idea to ensure your slides are legible. If audiences have to exert themselves to pick out important details, then all your earlier efforts will have been wasted. For consistency and readability:
· Ensure that font sizes and colours are consistent throughout the presentation. Don’t go overboard using bold, underlined or italicised text either – use them sparingly to emphasise certain keywords or points
· Visuals and graphics should support the presentation – not distract from it. Avoid templates that are too colourful and cluttering your slides with images – one good, meaningful photo per slide is perfect. Also, avoid superimposing text on pictures to keep the content legible
· Be sure that your pictures are of a high enough resolution to look good when projected on a large screen
A good presentation not only grips audiences’ attention, but also invites them to consider how your proposed solutions could improve their lives – thereby providing motivation for change (although it definitely pays to be a charming presenter as well). If you need help clarifying your messages and structuring a good presentation, then don’t hesitate to give Wordsmith a call!