Make an impression, command attention. Tips for incorporating storytelling into the process of slide deck design.

Slide decks are not meant to push products or services.
Slide decks are supposed to elevate the experience of presentations.
Sure, what you sell is what your audience expects you to tell when you're up there presenting, but impressing people plays first fiddle. Otherwise, why would you bother using slides if your message could be delivered just as effectively without ones?
You're in a good place to find needed tips to design story-like slides. By following this guide through to the end, you'll learn how to make your presentations pop.
How to Design Story-Driven Slide Decks
Given my frequent discussions on the use of storytelling in business, it's only natural that I'll share my experience on how to design story-like slide presentations.
Slides are meant to complement our speech and boost its emotional impact, aiming for a profound presentation experience. Yet, 9 out of 10 presentations miss the mark because their slides look more like brochures than visual aids.
Below, I share my experiences on what to avoid when designing slide presentations, tips for making them engaging, and what to be mindful of during presentations.
Also check this article if you're a fan of storytelling in sales.
Script, Script, Script!
Primo, first, and foremost: don't design your slides before writing the script — the speech or pitch you plan to deliver.
Think up a single takeaway for the audience. Tweak the pacing. Make sure the message is fun and free of redundancies.
A common sin during presentations is reading from and explaining the content on the slides. If our spoken message doesn't add any value beyond what's visible on-screen, then what's the point in speaking at all? This mistake is a surefire way to invite boredom into any meeting.
There's another practical reason for writing the script first. Let's say you have a vision for the presentation, but you don't necessarily have the time or desire to design the slides yourself. In such a situation, you can delegate the task to someone else. The written script will then become an indispensable guide for the slide deck creator.
Later in this guide, I've included a sample storytelling structure that works magic in presentations.
Things That Make Presentations Interesting
As I mentioned before, if your message is interesting, the audience will remain engaged till the end credits.
You know the saying, "It's not what you have to say, but how you deliver it that matters"?
Watch this guy in the video beneath. Even though he seemingly has nothing to talk about, he still manages to keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the very end.
Here are a few measures you can take to make sure your presentation and slide decks are fun.
1) Logical action sequence
Slides should transition smoothly, each one being interconnected, revealing information in a logical sequence. I have explained in-depth what a logical action sequence is here.
2) Duration
Keep presentations under 10 minutes. Finnish scientists proved that our attention drops to nil past the 10-minute threshold.
3) Pacing
The presentation should be neither rushed nor verbose. However, it's difficult to offer a one-size-fits-all solution for this because each story is unique. Ask someone good at critical thinking for their opinion about your story pacing.
4) Focus on the customer
Rather than making the presentation about yourself, discuss how you're solving customers' problems. Try to convey how you're making an impact in the world without mentioning your product features, staff numbers, office locations, or whatnot. If you can smash a presentation without mentioning the information above, it means you've done a splendid job of conveying the key message..
Things to Avoid in Presentations
Here are two very common bugs that make slide presentations dull. Steer clear of them.
Avoid beginning your presentation with a company introduction. It's predictable and reduces audience interest. Instead, address pain points relevant to listeners and propose solutions to challenge their status quo. Save your business intro for the end, once the listeners are fully engaged with your line of thought. This unconventional structure is what makes Zuora's sales deck stand out as the best one, according to Andy Raskin.
Avoid overloading slides with excessive text and graphics. Remember, this is a slide presentation, not a business brochure. A single thought-provoking graphic has more impact than three smaller ones. Try limiting each slide to no more than 20 words.
Keep in mind that slide decks are not brochures. The focus shouldn't be solely on aesthetic minutiae. Instead, try refining the flow of the deck.
A Generally Good Story Structure for Slide Presentations
POPP — It's a rather unknown business storytelling structure but an effective one. I believe Steve Rawling is credited for its development.
POPP methodically structures your pitch like a compelling narrative, emphasizing both the challenges and promises to maximize the dramatic impact.
The story structure's initials stand for:
(P) Problem: what needs fixing right now (negative)
(O) Opportunity: what's available to us now (positive)
(P) Practical steps: if we do this, it won't be easy (negative)
(P) Promise: but if we get it right, it will be ground-breaking (positive)
Here's a sample pitch using the POPP framework I quickly thought up in under 5 minutes:
(Problem): Whatever Inc. is bleeding money throughout Q1 and Q2. High energy consumption is the main contributor, as a result of the twofold rise in electricity costs last year.
(Opportunity): Recently, an internet of things technology provider chatted us up at the trade fair and showed us their services. They demonstrated how this technology can reveal areas where we overconsume electricity with pinpoint accuracy, and it shows great promise.
(Practical steps): However, adopting their full-package technology will cost us roughly $80,000 to $100,000, plus a $30,000 yearly service fee, and will require four to six months to fully integrate with our operational technology.
(Promise): But, they also showed us success stories of their previous clients who had faced challenges similar to ours. According to their rep's estimations, we could save somewhere around $300,000 to $400,000 in electricity bills the first year after adopting their technology. Minus the $30,000 annual recurring fee, we'll still be 270k to 370k ahead.
I like this structure because it's like going up and down with feelings, similar to how we chat.
Takeaway
Remember, in presentations, your business is not the focus. Your audience and their problems are. Don't bore them with irrelevant information about your company. Instead, speak to their pain points and offer solutions in a compelling story using effective storytelling structures like POPP. Keep it simple and concise, avoiding common mistakes like overloading slides with text and graphics. Allow your presentation to flow seamlessly.
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