Business communicators are often called upon to generate
multiple and diverse communications products under recurring deadline
pressures. Everything from leadership
speeches, organizational announcements to media messaging are created and vetted
leveraging a target-audience focus. Sometimes there is a need to break from
routine and innovate how we create effective communications products for the
various publics we serve.
For example, everyone wants to create awesome PowerPoint
Presentations that have the usual three-pronged approach: text, image and slide
transition., then repeat. This has been a traditional way of communication
copious amounts of information across vast audiences. It can also become a bit
of a message overload when too much text is added to the slides and then gets
in the way of actually conveying an effective message. Try
some of the tips below to boldly take your business communications where no
communicator has gone before.
Business Communicator Toolkit:
- Let go of the words and use precise text in your presentations
o This includes limiting the text so people
understand the message
- Use the right visuals
o
Check your images to ensure they directly
correlate with the text and do not contradict the topic you are discussing
- Infographics are your data’s best friend
o Some free, secure, online infographic tools may help
communicate data rich, complex messages into readily digestible information that
is user-friendly
- Change your tech
o
Try free, online presentation tools that are
web-based, secure, mobile and provide fluid transitions from one topic to the next. An
example of this is a tool like Prezi.
- Reduce your presentation slides by half
o
Do you really need 50 slides to promote a new
program, opportunity or etc. to your audience? Chances are they can gain the information
they need in maybe 10 slides or less. Your goal is to give them a presentation they need and not use your presentation as a backup speech transcript.
