(Publicado en el blog de Ramon Costa, Director Académico del postgrado, www.ramoncosta.net)
In the number of PM Network September 2011 (www.pmi.com), there is a very interesting and useful article “Improve your powerpoint skills” addressed to Project Managers, with a collection of recommendations.
I proposo you to access to it and read it complete details, but I want to list some of them:
- Don’t rush it. Like a project, presentation should begin with a plan
- Don’t overuse jargon. Too many project management terms will only befuddle most audiences
- The fewer slides, the better. Project managers should keep presentations brief – particularly when presenting to internal stakeholders such as executives
- Use storytelling techniques. When presenting to external stakeholders, including the public, project managers often are trying to build relationships
- Focus on the essentials. Limit each slide to no more than two takeaways
- Pay attention to alignment. “Turn on the gridlines in PowerPoint”
- Take the readability test. Print out your deck and place those sheets of paper on the floor
- Make adjustments – even mid – presentations
And be sure to avoid:
- Use of fonts hard to read
- Poor color combinations
- Too much text per slide
- Tacky clip art
