What The Long Tail Has To Do With Effective PowerPoint Design

Recently I was sitting at a conference with the keynote speaker as he prepared for his afternoon keynote. He admitted to me that his PowerPoint skills were “basic at best,” as if that meant it was impossible for him to create an effective, enjoyable presentation. I told him, “If you can import a picture, you can create an effective PowerPoint.” He smiled and went back to making his last minute edits, but it left me thinking about the general (mis)perception of what it takes to design effective PowerPoint presentations.  You don’t need to know as many PowerPoint techniques as you’d think to improve your presentation tenfold.

If a PowerPoint beginner sat over my shoulder as I edited a PowerPoint presentation, they’d probably be overwhelmed with the numerous and speedy edits, clicks, and adjustments I make as I add set the palette, add images, text, alter colors and more. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, because those skills and $5 can buy me a cup of coffee these days. However, while I know far more about PowerPoint than the common man does (or should), that’s because I’ve been working with it on a daily basis for years. Few people work with PowerPoint as often as I do, so I’m in the minority, and I know that. That’s why I write this blog – to show people that it doesn’t take an expert to create an effective presentation. Of course, there are numerous benefits to hiring a PowerPoint presentation designer, including graphic design skills, storytelling abilities, and of course, the time so few people have to design an effective presentation from start to finish. But I’ve never claimed that the only way to have an effective presentation of your own is to hire a presentation designer to design it for you.

While there are hundreds of different PowerPoint techniques to learn, there are only a handful you need to know if you want to start creating visually appealing presentations. After that, there is a diminishing rate of return. It’s called the long-tail. I created the slide below to give you a visual representation. If you want to learn more about the long tail, check out this article by Chris Anderson (who eventually turned the topic into a book). A similar concept you may be familiar with is the 80/20 rule (technically the Pareto principle), where “roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.” In this case, 80% of your presentation design is based on 20% of PowerPoint techniques.

Since vision trumps all other senses, the rate of return on importing a picture is high. As you move along the long-tail, you’ll see that mastering colors, fonts, graphs and tables are useful but won’t give you as much of a return on your efforts as importing a picture. If you look at the presentation I created that took third place in the World’s Best Presentation Contest, numerous slides were created simply by adding an image and some type.

Don’t get me wrong (please!), all these skills are useful, and this isn’t an exact science. I’m not here to argue whether smart art or editing slide master provide more ROI. I want to let you know that I’ve designed enough presentations to know that you dont have to be a PowerPoint ninja to design an effective presentation. Learning the basics will go a long way. As I told that keynote speaker, have faith!! We all contain the skills necessary to be an effective presenter.

Are you a presenter who thinks there’s too much to know about PowerPoint to even try creating a more effective presentation? Are you a designer who tried to instill faith in other presenters? Let me hear your stories in the comments.