A career in human resources will require you to demonstrate your ability to present information to an audience. PowerPoint will often be your go to program when you are expected to prepare for the next meeting, presentation, or to simply explain key points to co-workers. Human resources often manage the training of company employees, which will require you to deliver information in a structured, concise manner. Find PowerPoint Courses in London here.
Here is a list of key PowerPoint skills that you will need to thrive in the world of Human Resources: –
Design
Having a PowerPoint presentation that keeps co-workers and colleagues awake is half the battle to drive that crucial point home to the team. Having a sleek, smooth design is key in being able to grab people’s attention by highlighting key information. Make sure you keep it simple, having an overcrowded or busy design with high contrasting colours can invite the wrong kind of attention to your presentation.
Avoid using built in themes. These themes generate a much lower quality PowerPoint presentation, everyone will recognise the assets, and the message will be lost.
Ensure that you use effective, royalty-free images which are high quality. It is better to use no photo than a bad photo. The legal department will be on your tail if you commit copyright infringement, so be sure to use intellectual property that have the rights to.
Content
Try to follow the 10-20-30 presentation rule (10 minutes, 20 slides, 30 points) to keep the content of your PowerPoint presentation uncluttered. Try to present only three pieces of information per slide -it’s imperative that the listener takes away a fundamental understanding of your message. Keep it simple, keep it safe.
Keep it readable, try to use text colours which stand out against a solid background. Use block colours to ensure your audience can read your message. By avoiding certain contrasting text and background colours you can make your presentation accessible to the colour blind. You may also think about adding a text to speech function to make your presentation accessible to the visually impaired. Your choice of typography can elevate your PowerPoint presentation to the next level, if you can manage to incorporate an audience and tone appropriate font.
Story
The key to making professional and effective Human Resource PowerPoint presentations is to present a concise and compelling narrative to drive your message home. Having a solid introduction, giving a brief overview of who you are, and what you will be looking over, will help open the presentation. Next, deliver your key points, preferably utilising mixed media, which will further cement your audiences interest. Finally, end on a high note – by keeping the ending positive, this can help to reinforce a healthy work environment.
Having an interactive element to your PowerPoint presentation can be instrumental. Microsoft PowerPoint now offers an interactive polling element, which enables users to ‘vote in’, creating pie charts, bars and graphs in real time. This might be something to look in to if you are really trying to push your presentation skills to the next level.
The skills required to deliver industry standard PowerPoint presentations in HR can be learnt by utilising the design, content and narrative tips above. Try testing your PowerPoint skills by taking the Microsoft PowerPoint Skills Test, to see if you need to elevate your learning.
