PowerPoint Templates
PowerPoint is most often used for one of two purposes:
1) as a visual tool for a presentation, or
2) as a layout application for pitchbooks.
PRESENTATIONS
A projected presentation is not a script, but rather a prime opportunity to differentiate your practice. Humans are visual beings: a graphic representation of a concept can make it immediately comprehendible and couch it in memory for far longer than would words alone. The most effective presentations take advantage of the extent to which people absorb information visually, and where each element on a slide reinforces the presenter’s words rather than distracting with a slide full of text that the audience will read before turning their attention to the presenter.
Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite as an adjunct to PowerPoint is essential. Microsoft has expanded PowerPoint’s visual tools substantially over the years, but Adobe Creative Suite fills in the sometimes considerable gaps to deliver a refined and beautiful presentation. And, in many cases, one that is still editable in PowerPoint.
PITCHBOOKS
Pitchbooks and leave-behinds that are constantly updated make PowerPoint an important tool in giving a company control over their marketing materials. The best reasons for using PowerPoint for this purpose is that Microsoft’s ubiquity in the back office guarantees that 1) a pitchbook or leave-behind can be updated by staff, and 2) charts and tables based on external databases can be linked from Excel to PowerPoint and updated with a click. There is measurable value in having a designer refine your pitchbook — and the result can function as a style guide for staffers for future updates. A pitchbook with the visual coherence and credibility design confers tangibly strengthens your pitch.