How to Create a Slide-Free Presentation

The traditional idea of a presentation typically includes 3 core elements. If a friend asks you to accompany her to a presentation, you’d expect to see a stage, a presenter, and a screen with slides projected onto it. Our conception of what constitutes a “presentation” is rapidly evolving. With virtual reality technology becoming more and more accessible to businesses, brands, and even the general public, the methods we can use to visualize our content are expanding. Google’s Daydream View VR Headset is available for just under $70. Creating an effective presentation – one with the ability to hold an audience’s attention for longer than 8 seconds – requires more than static visuals. Now, viewers need to be visually stimulated with dynamic imagery and animation. On top of that, listeners want to hear a story. They salivate over the personal ties a speaker has to his or her topic.

Although the advances in digital media and information consumption have transformed, the basics of human communication remain unchanged. Did your boss, co-worker, or friend persuade you to ditch the archaic slide format programs like PowerPoint and Keynote offer? To create a slide-free presentation, keep it simple. Develop a relatable theme supported by an engaging script delivered in a relevant format.

How to Create a Slide-Free Presentation Image

Think about Theme

Presentation messages are best served as suggestions, rather than commands. And you must select the appropriate theme to fuel your ideas. Through a theme, presenters foster an emotional connection with audience members. Without a theme to ground your content within, you run the risk of losing sight of your listeners’ needs.

EXAMPLES OF THEMES

Security

Escape

Growth

Bravery

Liberation

For more theme ideas, visit Practical Creative Writing.

To create a theme for your presentation, ask yourself the following questions.

  1. What trend or problem in your industry unsettles you? What trend(s) excite you?

Make a list of the factors that concern or intrigue you and construct a story around your proposed solution.

  1. What types of moral quandaries exist within your field?

Evaluating both sides of an issue will add complexity and depth to your speech.

  1. What terrifies you about the future of your discipline? What excites you about the future of your discipline?

Start your speech with a forward-looking question. Discuss the steps your audience needs to take today in order to experience or resist a likely future outcome.

These questions will guide you as you identify a course for your content.

Craft the Copy

Once you’ve settled on the theme of your message, begin the process of narrowing down the content you’ll share. First and foremost, you should define the 3 most important statements or facts you would like your audience to leave remembering. In many instances, the 3 main points a presenter highlights becomes the speech segments in which all other content is distributed. Other times, each vital piece of information is conveyed within 3 wholly different sections. No matter what direction you choose, your speech should have 3 clearly defined buckets. And within each bucket, you will provide details and evidence through the lens of your presentation theme.

Ponder Your Presence

Like the garnish on top of a salad, the setting of your slide-free presentation should be carefully considered. Your stage presence consists of various components, including your body language, the background and stage, the ambient and produced sound, and ancillary objects like props and physical visual aids. A slide-free presentation can make expert use of audio in the form of music or other types of noise to depict an environment suitable to your message. What imagery – not slides – could you set as a backdrop while you speak? A presentation software like Focusky could provide a dash of movement – giving your message layers and added meaning.

Despite the advancement of presentation technology, themes, copy, and presence still matter in your speeches. Each aspect is more important than ever, even. Integrating your storylines across word, design, and physical space will dictate the probability of your message sticking in your audience member’s minds.

Related Posts:

Step-By-Step Presentation Template for Educators

Innovative Presentation Ideas That Don’t Require Slides

3 Presentation Skills for Holding Power as a Presenter

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