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With the onset of the 2020 global pandemic, there is an increase in remote communications and online meetings. Additionally, there is a tremendous need for you to learn to optimize PowerPoint presentations. Digital presentation is becoming more and more important whether you are brainstorming, pitching a business analysis, or hosting a meeting to discuss progress. So, how do you make the best of your presentation?
Shrinking the Size of the Presentation
When presenting remotely, a “heavy” presentation can be a hindrance to effective communication. For example, a display with pictures usually has the risk of becoming extremely large. In addition, large presentations are cumbersome to you as the presenter, with the trouble evolving around uploading the file or sharing it.
Additionally, large presentations can lead to increased downtime and poor overall presentation quality. To reduce the size of the presentation, other than compressing the file, you may decide to:
Reduce Over-Reliance on Pictures and Embedded Sounds
Images and sounds can bloat your presentation. If it is possible to use bullets to get your point across, try that instead. Try to use images and sounds only when there is no alternative method to get your message across.
Try and Avoid Using Materials Outside PowerPoint
PowerPoint, though highly effective, does not do it all. You may not be allowed to optimize or edit video, animation files, or sound.
To try and optimize the file size of such folders, you may require specially designed programs. PowerPoint add-in programs with functionalities such as:
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Shape swapping
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Re-sizing images
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Line rectifiers
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Splitting tables
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Inserting videos
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Managing fonts
Try Inserting Rather than Dragging and Pasting
When adding objects to your presentation, such as images or spreadsheets, inserting saves you some bytes compared to dragging and pasting objects to your presentation. Inserting may go a long way to keep your presentation small and tidy.
Recycle Images in Your Presentation
Reusing makes economic sense in PowerPoint as it does in life. It is possible to display an image multiple times while utilizing the file size of one picture.
Add the image to your slide master to reuse images rather than adding the picture to an individual slide. Reusing images helps reduce file size and is effective design-wise.
Avoid Having Blanks on your Presentation
When editing the presentation, you may find yourself deleting objects or removing images to try and achieve perfection. Blank spots in your presentation may be a result of this. After editing, it is good that you get rid of blank spaces and have a continuous flow throughout the presentation to optimize file size.
Avoid Embedding Fonts
Sometimes, you may decide to add a font to your presentation. Unlike images or colors, the chosen fonts are not always added to the PowerPoint file automatically. Instead, PowerPoint usually assumes that it will acquire the fonts added when you are running the slideshow. When unable to find the fonts, it substitutes the fonts for a font it can find.
You may feel uneasy about letting PowerPoint choose a font for you as you may assume that the wrong font may mess up your presentation. However, when a font is embedded, PowerPoint is instructed to add all information required to show the alphabet in the chosen font. So you get to choose but at the cost of a bloated file. So if you want to keep file size at a minimum, do not use embedded fonts.
Compress the Finished File
After preparing your presentation and editing it, you can decide to compress the file to shrink it further.
Making notes in a Notepad
When sharing your screen or presenting, having notes on a physical notepad is an advantage. For example, the presentation may have only bulleted main points. Your notepad helps you keep your thoughts in order and maintain objectivity when presenting while keeping your slide neat.
Read your Room and Avoid Putting people on the Spot
While it may be difficult to read the room when presenting remotely, having people turn on their cameras is an excellent place to start. Monitor facial expressions to follow non-verbal cues to remain in sync with your audience.
When asking questions, always give people some background information to try to bring them up to date. Background information goes a long way in ensuring that people remain on topic and objectivity is maintained.
Watch the Time
Extremely long presentations can be tedious. To ensure that your audience grasps all that you have to say, always stick to the allocated time or finish early to grant people a break to internalize your message. In addition, you can make sure to keep time by going through your presentation beforehand to fine-tune your message.
PowerPoint presentations are increasingly becoming the mode of operation for the modern world. Well-prepared, organized, and well-presented information will keep you and your team up to date and ensure that your meetings are brief and fun.