There can be a yawning gap between inspiration and communication. We may see, read or experience something that spurs a new idea or unique perspective and the burning desire to share it. And if it’s a fairly complex idea to share with a broad audience many people look to presentations as the palette to breathe life into their inspiring ideas.
Trouble is many of us are better thinkers and/or speakers than we are presentation designers. And this gap can lead to a deflating experience.
Fortunately our friends at Ethos3 have stepped in to help SlideRocket users quickly turn their big ideas into inspiring presentations. The first in a series of free presentation templates from Ethos3 is embedded below. SlideRocket users can get a copy from the Templates library in the app. If you’re not yet a user, you can get a free SlideRocket account here.
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When it comes to delivering a presentation, are you the cat’s pajamas? Well 32% of us sure think we are. While 23% of us would rather melt into the carpet than give a presentation. The rest of us fall somewhere in between. We conducted a Presentation Delivery survey with over 600 respondents. Check out this presentation skills infographic for more fun facts about presenting.
5 Fun Presentation Skills Facts
- 11% of people are “Terrified” of delivering a presentation. 7% “Feel Like Superman”. So, the majority of us fall somewhere in between. Not bad!
- Just like with presentation design, we skew towards thinking we’re a bit better than average at delivering presentations.
- We’re surprising good at practicing with 64% practicing their presentation at least twice. Good on you!
- Above all else (designing nice slides, being energetic, funny or well rehearsed), your audience (38%) wants you to tell them a story, not lecture. Point taken!
- When viewing presentations online, 75% prefer your slides to have voice-over rather than having to read them.
Hopefully this infographic will help direct you to effective ways to bone-up on your presentation skills. Be sure to also check out our other recent infographics:
Is your marketing old school or new school? Have you embraced the content marketing revolution? Over 700 folks responded to our (unscientific) survey to let us know where they fall on the content marketing continuum. We then rolled all that fabulous fodder into the animated infographic presentation below.
From budgets to targeting, videos to blog posts, we tried to reach across the key content marketing topics to uncover what folks are thinking (and doing).
5 Key Findings From the Survey
#1. The majority of us do a good job of targeting our content. But still, 31% of us do not target. Hmmm, there’s certainly some low-hanging fruit here.
#2. Cost is the biggest challenge when creating content. Perhaps we’re not looking at content as the “gift that keeps on giving” that it really is?
#3. We’re splashing the cash. It was refreshing to hear that the vast majority of folks are spending at least 40% of their marketing budget on content.
#4. Guerrilla marketers prefer blogs and slide presentations. Scout’s honor we didn’t load this question. But those were selected as the “least expensive but most effective marketing content”. Of course, our respondents likely skewed to presentations.
#5. Big budgets like video and events. Not surprisingly perhaps, video and events were ranked tops for content that “costs the most and delivers the greatest benefit”.
#6 Social media rocks content distribution. Probably not surprising that social media is king for content distribution. But I was surprised that SEO and blog were lowest on the list. Kind of thought they’d be #2 and #3.
Regardless of your level of experience delivering speeches or crafting slides, a memorable presentation is within your reach. From colors to storylines, transitions to preparation, these 6 free presentation Ebooks (in presentation format of course!) will help you build and deliver outstanding presentations.
For beginners the road to better presentations is simple. And at this point you’ll probably experience the greatest degree of improvement in how your slides look. Use this Ebook to learn how to inject more pop into your story, keep it brief and introduce eye-catching imagery. (more…)
Infographics are a fantastic way to attract and engage your audience. But the challenge has always been how to actually create an infographic if you lack a design degree or a big budget. Problem solved! Use these templates to build your next infographic!
Each element in these infographic templates can be customized from the images to the colors and animations. You can then display your infographic as a slide presentation to share on your blog, via email and on social media via your presentation link. If you can use PowerPoint or Keynote then navigating your way around is a cinch!
Hyperlinked images, text, and a top navigation allow your audience to select the information they most want to learn about.
Org charts may not be the most thrilling visual you’ll ever create, but they are important! Choose an org chart template from this collection and you’ll be off and running in no time. Each template is available for free in the Templates library of the SlideRocket app. If you’re not yet a SlideRocket user you can register for free.
Org Chart – Dark Theme
Org Chart – Contrast Theme
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Surprising findings are bubbling up in our presentation survey. And there’s still time to share your views in the survey below:
Here is a quick look at the survey results to date:
Leave the jokes at home, we want to hear a story
While we’re still collecting results for the presentation survey, a few surprises are already emerging. When asked what advice they would give to presenters I expected folks to shout from the rooftops “stop with the ugly slides”. (more…)
SlideRocket is thrilled to announce that all SXSW 2013 presenters are eligible for free SlideRocket Pro Accounts!
SlideRocket will be at SXSW in full force. By that we mean we’ll have a rock’in booth right next to the SX Saloon bar! You’ll also see us at your presentation cheering you on and helping you drive attendance on Twitter via our 28,000+ followers, and our blog’s 50,000+ monthly visitors. So go ahead and get your account today via the link above.
What You’ll Get
- Full-featured SlideRocket Pro account for 1-year
- Cinematic transitions and effects
- Free presentation templates
- Ability to add videos and music
- Share slides on Twitter, Facebook and websites/blogs
- Presentation analytics
- A dedicated “SlideRocket Coach” to handle any questions
It’s easy to get started by uploading your existing PowerPoint presentation or starting fresh with one of our free templates. Either way, SlideRocket will help you stand out from the crowd at SXSW!
Remember the days when school newsletters were crumpled relics that parents unearthed from their student’s backpack at the end of the week/month/year? Those days are over! Most school newsletters are delivered to parents via email and/or posting to the school blog, so you’re essentially competing with other websites for parents’ attention. The bar has been raised!
The layout of your newsletter is vital. We’ve all seen chaotic and distracting websites or online articles which you can’t navigate away from fast enough. Your school’s visually appealing, organized, and creative newsletter layout will simultaneously invite parents to learn about what’s going on while creating a positive impression of your school. (more…)
When it comes to presentation design we’re all just a bunch of pompous cheaters who talk too much. Well, that’s a tongue-in-cheek view of the findings from our recent survey on presentation design anyway. Check out the results captured in this animated infographic:
We had a ton of fun with this project. Starting first with a questionnaire template in presentation format to reach out to folks via our blog, Twitter and Facebook. Once we had collected enough data we rolled it into an animated infographic, also in presentation format. Each step was done in SlideRocket (insert sound of own horn tooting). (more…)
