by Leigh Goessl

Created on: June 23, 2009   Last Updated: October 19, 2009

A PowerPoint slide show is a great presentation enhancer.While the main point of a presentation typically is the speech itself, a set of slides is a nice supplement to your words and add visual enhancements to your talk. The latter is a great aid to help you illustrate concepts to capture and hold an audience's attention.

While PowerPoint is a terrific accompaniment, it is not meant to drive your oration. If you want to make the most out of a PowerPoint presentation you need to concentrate on three basic things: a well designed slide show, intimate knowledge of the subject matter you'll be discussing and a strong connection with your audience.

If you can master these three items, you can really make the most of a PowerPoint presentation. Here's why these three components can make your presentation a winning one:

*Slide Show Design

Your visual presentation that coincides with your talk needs to be visually appealing. If the aesthetics aren't attractive, your audience is not going to give your presentation any serious attention and your words will blend together as they quickly lose interest.

The latter occurs because a poorly designed PowerPoint presentation is a distraction to an audience and the group may be less inclined to pay attention if they are not engaged. Consequently, slides that are designed with attractive color, relevant graphics, good contrast and clear readability is going to entice people to sit up, watch and, more importantly, listen.

*Know Your Topic

Your PowerPoint presentation should add value to your speech, its intent is not supposed to replace the words you'd planned to speak. If you are not well versed in your topic, this will be blatantly obvious to your audience no matter how great your PowerPoint presentation is put together.

On the other hand, when you possess a strong handle on the subject matter, your audience will take you much more seriously. Through your words and slides you have the power to demonstrate you know your topic intimately. This is important for any presentation, but especially the PowerPoint because sometimes people tend to lull themselves into a false sense of security thinking they can fall back and rely more on the presentation and less on what they're saying.

While the PowerPoint notes are helpful as cues, these notations cannot effectively replace a well put together and informing presentation. Remember the PowerPoint slides should give the highlights and bullet points of what you're talking about, not deliver the speech itself.

*Connect with your Audience

It's important for a speaker to be able to successfully connect with the audience. If this doesn't occur, the message of the speech will go unheard and not be delivered as intended.

The number one rule is to use emotion to connect with your audience. Your words should be said in such a way where you can reach out and touch the people listening. The tone and animation contained in your voice are essential to emotionally connect with your listeners.

Emotion should also be balanced with logic. Words have to be spoken in such a way that people understand the message you're delivering. Your slides should serve as a supplement to convey the basics and the most important points of this message. Slides can also be a great tool for helping you connect with your audience.

PowerPoint slides are a great way to serve as the icing on the cake of a good presentation. If you can get these three basic concepts down, you are then able to make the most of a solid, strong and good PowerPoint presentation.

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