Protip: Presentation Titles

Although I have been giving presentations for years, I am constantly improving my own presentation skills. Similar to stand-up comedy, presentations tend to get better the more times you rehearse the material. Getting constructive feedback is critical. Sponsor feedback is essential for presenting a good final consulting deck.

My boss (and mentor) Ed Murphy had a great tip for me about the titles of presentations. It might be common sense, but I thought it was good advice and worth sharing. Ed thought that the title of the slide should really tell the story on the slide, since the deck has to tell a story. For example, if you have a slide titled “Sales Results”, then it might be better to title it “Sales declined dramatically in Q4″, or whatever the real story is.

If you’re going to take the story metaphor further, then the plot should also include a reflection point to make it a complete story. You can sequence a bunch of facts together, but there needs to be a “so what does this all mean?” moment in the deck.