Here is a simple slide design tip. Look at this slide: The design looks a little odd. Look closely and you notice that the title (header) is weak. The lines 'One-stop destination..' is bigger than the title text. This is a mistake. On every slide, the title should always be the biggest. Not every slide needs a title, but if it has one.. it should be the biggest. Because, that tells the audience what is more important. What should they see first. This is a design principle.      The slide above also looks weak because of the same issue. The header text should be sizeabl ..read more

If I am making a sales presentation, this is my favourite storytelling template. If I am making an investor pitch, I still prefer this many times. This template works. What is the 'customer story' template? A real customer story is the base of this template. Pick a customer who has purchased your service. Build the story (and the pitch) around that company. Here is an example. Let us assume your company makes apps for schools. App which helps the school with its ERP and Accounts. This is how you can start your presentation: Elantris International is a school in Chennai which has 3,000 student ..read more

Serif fonts are fonts which have 'serifs', the ticks on their ends. Sans serif fonts are sans (without) the ticks. Serif fonts like Garamond and Times New Roman are used in printing. Books, reports, leaflets and brochures are printed in serif fonts. Because it is easier to read serif fonts on paper. In my book, For Brand's Sake I had used Merriweather from Google. Sans serif fonts are easier to read on screens. That's why apps, websites and presentations use or should use sans serif fonts. This rule applies when there is a lot of text. When you have just a few words, the readability of bo ..read more

In the first episode of Physics Wallah on Amazon miniTV, Alakh Pandey goes to interview at an institute. He wants to teach Physics there. The interviewer asks him ten questions. Alakh looks startled. He does not answer immediately. We begin pondering, "Does he even know the answer to one of the ten questions?" Once the interviewer finishes reading his questions and assumes Alakh knows nothing, the scene gets dramatic. Alakh not only knows all the answers, he remembers each and every question. He gives correct answers, with explanation, to all the questions. The interviewer is stunned. He reco ..read more

In communication, we have an urge to tell our audience everything. If you are a management trainee and you have worked on a project for 2 months, you would want to say each and everything to your mentor in the final presentation. Even when we make presentations to our senior management, we have the urge to say a lot. We want to say, "Look we have worked hard on this and we know so much." But the problem - the senior manager does not have time for all this. Look at this print ad for example. It came in the Times of India. What is this ad trying to communicate to us? The tea has 7 refresh ..read more

There are three pillars of any presentation. Content, Slide design, and Delivery Most books and articles talk about developing the content and designing professional slides. Delivery is often the most ignored topic in almost all of them. But how we 'deliver' a presentation is very crucial. You might have a good story and slides but your delivery might fall flat. You might fail to excite and engage your audience. I came across one presentation which stands out because of its delivery. It is a short demo day investor presentation by Ralph Garvin Jr., a start-up founder. Ralph's slides are ok ..read more

The book Presentation Masala is out now! You can check out the book here. Amazon.com Amazon.in Presentation Masala is a step-by-step guide to help you prepare your message, design your slides and deliver your presentation with confidence. Ideal for anyone who makes business presentations and wants to grow in their career. In this book you will learn how to: Start a presentation Grab audience’s attention Tell a story Design great slides Use images and charts Overcome nervousness Engage your audience Do check out the book and let me know your feedback ..read more

Dear friends. My book is getting published very soon. Interested? Share your email address in the form below ..read more

If you are a start-up founder looking to pitch to investors, here is a great resource for you. Download this free e-book. It will help you develop, design and deliver a great pitch to investors. Download by clicking here ..read more

Satya Nadella delivered a keynote a the Mobile World Congress 2019. How to present a keynote like Satya Nadella? Tell your story and use slides only as visual aids. Your story is more important.Keep your slides clean and use very few words per slideUse large visuals which help you tell your storyUse 3 icons instead of 3 bullet pointsAvoid using too many colours. Notice the simplicity of the slides ..read more