We’re living in a fast-paced world where we constantly have to juggle several different things at a given time. This seems especially true in the world of business. During our working hours, we always have a long list of tasks to accomplish by the end of the day. Most of the time, those tasks include preparing PowerPoint presentations.
We all know how important it is to design engaging and effective PowerPoint decks. The problem is that we often don’t get enough time to do that. With a fast-approaching deadline, it’s hard to build slides that are sure to be memorable. Most of the time, we’d rather settle for easy solutions like PowerPoint templates. If you’re in a similar situation, here are some tips and tricks to create PowerPoint decks in half the time:
1. Have a battle plan
As history tells us, never go to battle without a full proof plan. In the same way, you will need to create a plan before starting work on your PowerPoint presentation. Consult your schedule and see how much time you have to prepare your presentation. Work on your free time and split your tasks accordingly. For example, if you have three days to finish a pitch deck, you can designate three hours each day to focus on your task.
2. Re-purpose the resources you have
Ask yourself if you really need to work from scratch. Most of the time, you probably have a few documents and some old presentations that cover the topic you need to present about. Be resourceful and use everything you have to make things easier for you. You can re-purpose slides you made in the past and use them as a template. Find something that you’ve had a lot more time to work on, then simply edit to match the topic you’re delivering.
3. Perfection is an aimless quest
Don’t pursue perfection until you’re done with the entire PowerPoint deck. When you have little time to accomplish a task, there’s not much room for ironing out details. It’s more important that you have a complete presentation to show, than a perfect but half-done slideshow.
4. Learn to prioritize
Accomplish your PowerPoint deck by tackling one task at a time. Prioritize your to-do list: start with creating the structure of your presentation, figuring out the content, until finally working on your design. Make sure you have a solid foundation before you build anything else.
5. Ask for feedback
You might be the presenter at the end of the day, but no project can be done alone. Mine your wealth of relevant connections, or the other departments and teams in your company for help and feedback on the deck you’re working on. Knowing what to improve on at once is a good way to cut back on the extra time.
It might be a stressful few days, but you can finish a PowerPoint deck in half the time if you learn to prioritize and plan accordingly. Organize your workload and make sure you follow a specific process.
Featured Image: mao_lini via Flickr
