A gentleman once asked me to provide a quote on redoing a PowerPoint presentation. He provided a link to the presentation, which included a voiceover narration. I had to explain to him that he'd be unhappy with the results if I just did the cosmetic fixes he'd asked for. Sure, the presentation … [Read more...] about Good presentations start with good scripts
Why you should never send your PowerPoint decks to people who ask for them
How many times have people asked you to send them your deck, either after or (worse) instead of your presentation? On the surface it seems like an OK idea. It requires minimal effort and we don't want to appear rude by saying no. And it's a common enough request, so why not, right? Don't do it. The … [Read more...] about Why you should never send your PowerPoint decks to people who ask for them
March Slide Makeover of the Month
This month's slide comes from Design Dispatch subscriber Bob Carpenter of BidRx. His company wants to become the eBay or the Priceline of the pharmaceutical business. By logging on to BidRx, people will be able to get competitive pricing on their prescription medicine and save a bundle in the … [Read more...] about March Slide Makeover of the Month
Six reasons you should pay for PowerPoint design
I make a lot of prospecting calls to tell people about my presentation design services and to ask for their business, so I hear many variations on “We don't want any,” such as, “We already have a template,” “We do all of our PowerPoint in house,” and “My admin takes care of that.” Maybe you are … [Read more...] about Six reasons you should pay for PowerPoint design
How much does it cost to redesign a PowerPoint deck?
People always ask me "How much is will it cost to redesign my presentation?" Every design job is different so the costs vary from project to project. I'm not trying to hide a trade secret here, it's just the way it is. Only after I've had a conversation with a potential client and reviewed his deck … [Read more...] about How much does it cost to redesign a PowerPoint deck?
February Slide Makeover of the Month
With February comes Valentine's Day so I thought I'd draw inspiration from William Shakespeare to address a common problem in slide layout: How do you format a quotation? Before Snore. Apart from the pleasant background color and graphics, this quotation is about as florid as a wet dishrag. This … [Read more...] about February Slide Makeover of the Month
How do you show bad news in PowerPoint?
Sometimes it's necessary to tell your audience something that's not so great. Most presenters really don't want to be the Bad Guy, but it's important that their audiences have all the facts about what's going on, whether it's an underperforming fund, a bad quarter, negative ratings, or flagging … [Read more...] about How do you show bad news in PowerPoint?
January Slide Makeover of the Month
This month's slide was adapted from a real presentation I worked on in December. So as not to reveal proprietary information, the data have been changed but the slide layout is essentially the same. Before This slide took me a little while to figure out. I can tell that the four data points are … [Read more...] about January Slide Makeover of the Month