Last week I published a blog post about doing a Four H speech Evaluation. This is a specific speech evaluation technique that works well for sales, marketing, or persuasive presentations.
These Four H’s Include:
- Head: Make Me Think
- Heart: Make Me Feel
- Hands: Ask Me to Take Action
- Humor: Bring a Smile to Your Audience
If you can combine all four elements you’ll have a more effective speech. This got me to thinking, what if I applied this to a PowerPoint Presentation Evaluation? What would it look like? Here is my take…
Head: Make Me Think
1. Cliché or Original: Have you come back from lunch only to sit in an out of the box PowerPoint from Covey or other training company, which you have seen or experienced multiple times. The material, while good, has been presented ad-naseum over and over. It’s like seeing a movie the second time. The key to engaging your audience is to come up with new ideas and present the material in original ways.
2. Bullet Points or Ideas? Bullet points kill, Ideas instill. There is nothing worse that viewing slide after slide of text on the screen. The best way to grab you audiences’ attention is to present one point per slide and use graphics, visuals, or photographs with limited text to make your point.
3. Engaging Title and Subheads: Mystery and intrigue draw us in. Using good title and copywriting techniques will allow you to create compelling copy to go along with powerful graphics. The result will be less people nodding off in your audience.
Heart: Make Me Feel
1. Conflict and Contrast: People hate conflict in their lives but love it in a presentation. Use stories to draw us in to the conflict. Show us the problem and offer a solution. Show us what is and what can be.
2. Pictures Add Emotion: Show us the problem… and the solution. Vivid photographs or visuals can add intense emotion.
3. Emotional Words and Phrases: Descriptive nouns invoking the five senses and powerful metaphors will make your offer much more compelling.
Hands: Ask Me to Take Action
1. Close the Deal: A Presentation without a call to action is a waste of your audiences’ time. Ask yourself WHY you are doing the presentation in the first place.
2. Give Them Something Tangible: Leave your audience with something of substance such as handouts, business cards, a website, phrase or idea.
3. Make a Difference in their Lives: Make a difference that your audience will remember. Leave them with an idea, phrase, or tagline.
Humor: Bring a smile to your audience
1. A Humorous Story: Humor lightens up an over serious presentation. Humor helps your audience overcome conflict or tragedy in a presentation
2. Engage with Humor: Humor engages and draws attention. Humor can wake your audience up and have them pay attention.
3. Leave your Audience on an Up-note: Leave your audience uplifted with a smile on their faces.
Overall:
Do your next PowerPoint Presentation Evaluation with the Four H Method. It will help you better relate to your audience, close the sale, and leave your audience with a smile on their faces.
Evaluation Form: Free Download
Question: Have you used any of these techniques in a PowerPoint presentation before?
