Creating effective presentations that hit the mark is a little like putting together a puzzle. The majority of professionals in the business world rely on presentations at some point during negotiations. Yet, the results are sometimes inconsistent. Some presentations clearly demonstrate the intended idea, while others leave people confused or, worse, disinterested.

How DO you make this tool work for you? One simple answer to creating effective presentations: planning.

Creating effective presentations means planning, planning and more planning. This often requires meticulous research. For business presentations, the plan should include answers to the following:

• What point you want to make?
• What benefits you are offering?
• What makes you unique from your competitors?
• What deal you are offering?
• Why are YOU the only choice?

Good planning helps ensure that enough of your presentation sticks in the mind of your audience to support what you’re proposing at the end of your presentation. Hence, your slides should be used as props, not as running commentary. Crowded data-filled slides often result in confused minds. They pull the audience’s attention away from you and what you’re saying.

Slides should have a maximum of four lines of text or one image that represents one main idea. Always use the slide as a prop while YOU present your message.

When creating effective presentations, one important ingredient is your own conviction. If you are not sold on the idea you’re talking about, the presentation is going to fall flat on its face. The enthusiasm of someone who believes in what he or she is saying is infectious and essential when selling an idea.

Keep slides and your communication simple and clear. Whenever possible, eliminate lists and data tables. Instead, put the gist or result on the slide. The key to creating effective presentations is clarity in your communication. If you have a lot of data to share, put the details in a handout and distribute it before or after your presentation.

While we are on the subject of planning in creating effective presentations, let’s not forget about the hardware. Many presentations fall flat because the logistics around hardware was not given enough attention. Always check that Internet connectivity, computer battery, your projector, outlets and anything else you need are available and in working order. If possible, run through your presentation once to make sure there are no hidden glitches.

Follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way to creating effective presentations.

Looking to stand out in the crowd? Yet still need to ‘fit in’ to the corporate culture, norms and standards for business presenting? Don’t fret. You’re not alone.

Millions of people grapple with this tough dilemma. You want to be different, cutting-edge and radical. But you don’t want to alienate your boss, clients or prospects.

Hey, what’s the right thing to do?

In many popular books by leading experts in public speaking, you’ll find similar advice. It’s all about standing out and shining. You’ll find commands such as: Be unique. Get radical. Push the envelope. Go for shock and awe. Break the rules.

While this sounds good on paper, in the back of your mind, you’re thinking about ‘real world’ issues:

“What would my boss say?”

“That would never fly in my firm.”

“In your dreams, buddy.”

Let’s face the facts. Daring presentations are essential and important.  But there are organizational expectations and realities to face up to — if you want to keep your job.

In planning your next presentation, look at your options in 3-buckets: the good, the bad…and the ugly.

The Good

Action: You take a radical approach to presenting.

Instead of a hum-drum PowerPoint pitch, you turn on the juice with whiteboard presenting. By getting your audience involved in a lively discussion, you expose a hot issue that your clients are going crazy about — one that your firm is able to solve.

Result: Good!

Your boss commends you for taking the risks. Plus he is thrilled because you’ve brought in the rewards. Now, he wants you to find a training company that teaches visual storytelling so all the members of your team can be as proficient at the whiteboard as you are.

Benefit: Good!

You get an A+. Your boss loves your work. Your team admires you as their natural leader. Oh, yes. Don’t forget that hefty bonus check.

The Bad

Action: You take a radical approach to presenting.

You ditch the boring corporate-approved slide deck in favor for a whiteboard approach to storytelling.

Figuring that sketching with a marker in front of a group isn’t as hard as it looks…you jump in without coaching, practice or training.

What happens? Your busy clients are intrigued by your whiteboard scrawl. But they are looking bewildered. They aren’t sure why you bothered. Hint: if people can’t read your writing or understand your visual diagrams, your whiteboard presentations are going to bomb.

Result: Bad!

Your boss is pissed off! After yelling at you in front of the team, you are treated to the silent treatment. Not sure how to proceed, you toy with several options:

1. Get training in whiteboard interaction

2. Never use a whiteboard again

3. Start sending out your resume

Benefit: Instead of jumping first and getting help later, you now know the importance of targeted coaching and training! One bad experience is enough to light a fire underneath you. No more waiting. You’re actively seeking out coaching, training and online classes. No more procrastination. You’re focused on building your skills and getting help right now.

The Ugly

Action: You take a conservative approach to presenting.

Instead risking embarrassment and humiliation at the whiteboard, you grip on to your clicker and run with the same slide deck you used last time.

Feeling confident in your client presentation, you don’t check in with other team members. Moving along in the corporate-approved deck, you have a sense of warm certainty in your tummy that everything is going your way. No rocking the boat like some of your other teammates.

Result: Ugly!

Your boss flips out! You get the riot act. Some wild yelling and head slapping, accompanied with: “I can’t believe you showed that generic deck to these clients! We were counting on that deal. What were you thinking?!”

Feeling betrayed and disillusioned, you ask for help from a close teammate. He tells you that the newest trend in presenting is visual storytelling. He shows you how to draw icons and create a simple visual diagram at a whiteboard. In just minutes, you’ve got an easy story to tell that is fun, inspiring and anything but hum-drum.

Benefit: While you start sending out your resume for a new job, you now have a new awareness of presentation trends. You’re a lot less likely to rely on the same-old-same-old the next time you’re in front of busy clients.

In fact, you’ll be much more prepared to blow your audience away with whiteboard sketches and visual storytelling. Just the thing that important clients and prospects can relate to.

Now, let’s get personal. What’s your plan for your next high-stakes presentation? Take a close, hard look. Aim for interaction and visual storytelling. Remember this: Your boss and clients will love it. Imagine the rewards and benefits: you’ll get an A+ and land a big bonus.

It’s the summer and your mailbox lately has at least one or two wedding invitations in it a week – if not more. You are flattered that you seemingly are so popular and that your friends, colleagues, even acquaintances are not only thinking of you as they make their wedding list, but actually inviting you. Apparently they think highly enough of you that they want your presence as they celebrate their big day.

While you are delighted to lend your presence at the great occasion, you aren’t so delighted when you think of the cost of all those “presents” that you will have to give to all the newlyweds, and this is in addition to the engagement or shower gifts that you already gave to the future bride. You actually are looking forward to joining in the wedding festivities – but wedding gifts are an extra expense that you really can’t afford these days. It is times like this that you wish that you were a hermit living in a log cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no phone or internet. But you are not and somehow, you have to deal with the fact that a present goes hand in hand with your presence at the wedding ceremony and reception.

But who says a gift has to be something you need to buy, something that needs to be wrapped in paper and tied with a pretty bow – or ripped out of a checkbook? The truth is if you have a particular talent or have the ability to provide a professional service that people pay for, you can offer these instead of going shopping and parting with money that you could use for other important purposes, like paying a bill.

If you are a lawyer, perhaps you can review a legal document, or give a complimentary root canal if you are a dentist (or a free teeth whitening of the young couple’s teeth if they are both cavity free). Perhaps you play the violin beautifully, or have a lovely singing voice. You can offer to perform during the ceremony or reception. That “gift” would surely be more meaningful to the wedding party than another blender or coffeemaker.

If you feel that you have nothing to offer in terms of talent or professional services, think again. There is so much you can do to make life more pleasant for them. Your gift to them can involve spending your time rather than your money – which may even be more valuable to them. To that end you can write a “contract” in which you commit yourself to clean their house top to bottom after a holiday party they host. Or you promise to watch their dog during their week-long vacation. Mowing their lawn an entire month, or shoveling their driveway after three major blizzards is another “gift” you can offer. Looking to the maybe not so distant future, you can promise to babysit for 10 nights – over a period of time of course, not in a row. So don’t be afraid to look in your mailbox. Enjoy the weddings and don’t take out your wallet.