Don’t make presentations fancy. Instead, make them like Costco warehouses in the following ways:
- No frills. Show you spared every expense to deliver maximum value.
- Organized well spaced aisles. Make it easy to get to the goods.
- Free samples. Let people experience what you want them to buy.
This makes for better internal presentations, helping companies and teams:
- Inform. Make sure everyone has the same facts
- Inductively reason (specific to general) about solutions and strategies
- Identify and align on the best solution or strategy
When my team will make a decision after a presentation, I want Costco!
Example here.
For presentations focused on persuasion, designed to Intrigue, Inspire, or Induce desire… fancy may have a place, but even then, simple is often better. Think about presentations from Steve Jobs and Apple – simple slides with memorable statements. Why?
Great communicators often want their audience’s eyes on them, especially on their face, to make an emotional connection. Then the presenter can direct their audience’s gaze to the subject of the presentation, and together they can share an experience… grief, sadness… joy, delight… awe, or wonder.
Fancy presentations distract and detract from these emotional connections, therefore avoid them.