Download these Powerpoint Shapes and icons to create attention-grabbing slides that’ll get your message across and convince. Here’s a quick taste before we get started:

This freebie includes:

• Editable 2D and 3D PowerPoint shapes
• Icons (check out this post for more icon resources)

How can I use these PowerPoint shapes and icons to get my message across?

Let’s dig right in the topic which is to understand how you can apply these Powerpoint shapes and icons to your presentations. Here are the essential outcomes you want to reach when using these shapes:

1. Optimize your content organization
2. Optimize your slide design

These two aspects of presentations are the most important pieces of the equation, and unfortunately, often the most overlooked. When it comes to catching people’s attention while building slide decks, there is no substitute for great design.

Not so sure? Let’s imagine two scenarios.

Prospect A lands on your 1990’s deck and roughly bumps into something like that (you and I both know it could have been MUCH worse):

OR

Prospect B sees a presentation that features clear content AND good design. For instance:

Which prospect is more likely to trust you when it comes to do business with your company? Who’s gonna get more chances to see his message resonate across his audience?

Exactly, prospect B.

So… what’s the difference between the first slide and the second one? Hint: two crucial components of great presentations I mentioned earlier. You’re right, content and design.

Slide 1 presents X company key services. There are literally thousands of businesses out there obsessed with listing ALL their services. They’re like “ohhh my God did we forget anything? We really have to mention all our services, otherwise, we could miss a business opportunity. Right?”

Wrong. According to Columbia professor Sheena Iyengar, customers given too many choices are less likely to buy. She conducted experiments that showed that people are more likely to purchase gourmet jams or chocolates when offered a limited array of 6 choices rather than a more extensive array of 24 or 30 choices. Clearly, the excess of choice is demotivating.

For instance:

Needless to say this slide is a complete mess. These guys are designers but don’t know how to design a compelling slide to get their value across? Mmmm… not a good sign.

What about this one?

Here’s a quick summary of what’s wrong with these two real-life examples:

• Content: there’s no core message, specific benefits or examples and way too much offerings
• Design: bad use of slide real estate (too much text, not enough blank space)

So, let’s pretend you’re a prospect and that you run into these slide decks. What’s gonna happen?

Well, let me tell you what’s most likely to happen. You’re going to read approximately 1/4 of the slide content before starting to feel confused about what’s offered. If you ever happen to finish reading your 25%, you’ll start thinking “mmmm… I don’t really understand how these things work and how they could benefit to my company“. BAM! And as there are plenty of options, you feel even more confused. Chances are you’ll find other companies clearly communicating the value and the benefits of their services.

If we get back on the two problems we found out earlier (content and design), here’s what these sales guys should have done instead:

• Create a core message that summarizes their slide content
• Focus on 3-4 key offerings. Remember, choice is demotivating.
• Optimize their slide design with a limited number of colors, less text and more blank space.

Here’s how I did it for the first slide:

So, what is changing?

• A clear core message and value proposition: “We help you get more sales and stand out from the competition”.
• 3 key offerings backed up with concrete benefits: web design (make you more money), SEO (explode your traffic), social media marketing, etc.
• Optimized slide design: 3 colors (black, orange, blue), blank space (bottom-left and up-right)

Here are additional examples of how you can apply these PowerPoint shapes to your slide decks:

Note: Based on Airbnb’s first pitch deck “market size” slide.

Click here to download these PowerPoint shapes. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

The post Beautiful Powerpoint Shapes to Get Your Message Across appeared first on PPTPOP – Actionable Persuasion Advice.