Great PowerPoint Presentations
I have to admit, I fill my PowerPoint presentations with too many words and way too many bullets. I don’t know why, but I feel a need to explain and support all the points I feel are pertinent. 
While I was attending the Digital Summit in Chicago, I noticed many of the presenters had taken on a Ted-Talk approach and used full-screen photos and very few words. And, they were great. One of the slides that really impressed me was from Ann Handley of MarketingProfs. The room was large and it was difficult to see her on the stage, but her opening graphic provided a positive pop from the beginning of the presentation–even from the back of the room.
We’ve all heard various rules, but Hubspot has a good set of them:
- Less is more
- Keep text to a minimum
- Bold, compelling photos
- Incorporate multimedia
Seth Godin in his ebook, Really Bad PowerPoint, says that “slides were made to reinforce your words, not repeat them.” Needless to say, we typically use PowerPoint slides as a teleprompter. The problem is, your audience can also read the slide — and a lot faster than you can talk.
If we all can follow the Ted-Talk approach, the presenting universe would be a better place for us all.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
