There are a plethora of reasons one should reject the templates that come standard with Microsoft PowerPoint. The first is that they are ugly. However, this may no longer be a valid reason; apparently the templates that come with PowerPoint 2007 are actually quite attractive. Nonetheless, one should still reject them. Why? Well, because they are standard templates. Which brings me to the subject of this post…
You shouldn’t use a standard PowerPoint template because it makes your audience feel unimportant.
People want a lot of things. They want to be loved. They want to be liked. They want a raise. Some of these things are universal, while some of them aren’t. One thing that all people want more than anything else, though, is to feel important.
With that said, think about the message you send to your audience when your slides look like this:
The message, as I’m sure you have already guessed, is this: YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT. You are not important enough for me to choose a background that actually relates to the topic at hand. You are not important enough for me to take a few moments to devise a color scheme that is better than barely-readable. You are not important enough for me move beyond the confines of PowerPoint and put a modicum of effort into the presentation I’ve prepared.
In business, in law, and in every competitive field you want every advantage you can get over the competition, even those that create just the slightest edge. A PowerPoint presentation created with a standard template certainly doesn’t do that. It creates a disadvantage, one that becomes stunningly clear when, for example, opposing counsel presents a slideshow with custom backgrounds, carefully-considered colors, and attractive and readable fonts.
Tell the jury they are important. Tell your boss he or she is important. Tell anyone and everyone that may be watching your presentation that you believe they are important. They’ll love the feeling, and you’ll love the results.
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1 » Blog Archive » Showcase Of New Blogs Number 95 Or So // Jun 19, 2007 at 1:12 am
[...] Burke presents Why You Shouldn’t Use a Standard Template, Reason #1 posted at Fliptron Presentations, saying, “This is a quick post on my new PowerPoint-centered [...]
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