In a moment, you’ll begin making changes to your presentation materials, but first, let’s take a closer look at what those changes might mean to you. Understanding your full potential as a dynamic presenter will help you make better decisions moving forward.

Realize that visually interactive presentation probably will completely transform how you approach viewers. These people now are active participants in a dynamic conversation for the eyes that you direct. Think of them as partners and relish their participation and interest, because engaged, active audience members are much more receptive to messages. Here’s a small sample of what you will be able to do with, and for, them.

Let’s say my task is to train you how to best use pictures in PowerPoint. In that case, I might show this slide and highlight the fact that of the various image formats PowerPoint accepts, two are superior: jpeg and png images. And, that might be ALL I want to say about the subject at the moment and I click another link to move on.

But you say, “Hey, wait a minute! Can you go back to that slide you just showed? I’ve never heard of png format. What is that and when would I use it?” “Ah,” I say, “excellent question. Does anybody know the answer?” Notice I’m taking the opportunity to quickly quiz my learners and gauge their levels of expertise—very useful information to me. Normally, no one knows the answer. So, I say, “OK. I’m gonna cover this topic in more detail later, but here’s a preview.”

“Look closely at the picture of the model on this slide. Now, look at her original picture before I graphically erased the background.” At that point I click the picture itself, which I know contains an active hyperlink to a small external slide show that opens and sequentially displays how I changed the original picture. Then, I close that external show to reveal the former slide and say, “The picture here is saved as a png image. NOW what do you think is important about png format?”

If someone doesn’t immediately blurt out the correct answer I can click this subtle button down here in the corner and say, “Here’s what the picture would look like if saved in Jpeg format.” Then I click the button again to remove the Jpeg image. Learners see that png format preserves an image’s transparency so that the slide’s background shows through the picture’s background, creating a classy, professional look.

That little spurt of interactivity cost me maybe a minute or two of time, yet powerfully, simply, and visually answered the question asked, at the perfect time. Imagine the potential effects on learning, and, for that matter, the additional possibilities for closing sales, correcting misunderstandings, and calling people to action. A world of untapped interactive richness awaits you.

“OK,” you may be thinking, “this interactivity stuff looks interesting but it also sounds a little scary. I’m used to PowerPoint feeding me my slides automatically, one at a time. If I end up having hundreds and hundreds of options in an interactive collection like you describe, won’t I get lost or not be able to find the right slides while moving around?”

Actually, even with interactive presentation, PowerPoint can still spoon feed slides if you like. I’ll end this presentation so you can see the show in slide sorter view. Notice that it’s really just a special kind of long, linear show. I can scroll through all 300 slides in forward motion just like normal if I want—or, because of the hyperlinks, jump anywhere at any time. That’s the beauty of it. I, and you, have total control.

And, in terms of getting lost or finding slides, most people are shocked to discover that visually interactive delivery is much easier than their old style. The navigation controls and organizational strategies act like road maps that help you stay oriented and think ahead about upcoming topics. I’ll tell you right now, if you are terrified of public speaking in general, start presenting this way as soon as possible. You’ll find the experience of being in front of people to be much calmer and more enjoyable as a result.

Don’t believe me? Ok. Here’s a demonstration of how easy it is to find a random slide on the spot. Travel with me to a local grocery store. After walking through the front door, we are confronted with thousands upon thousands of products. Surely we’ll get lost, right, while looking for the one product we want, a green apple?

Probably not. You already know how effortlessly we’ll find our goal, due to the store’s organization and visual layout. By convention, we know the apple is in produce, meaning we can ignore thousands of meat, dairy, cosmetic and other products. Once in produce, we ignore the vegetables and head straight for fruit displays. At that point, finding our green apple is simple.

Now, imagine this grocery store as your collection of slides. Finding that one slide to spontaneously answer a question will be just as easy, usually one to three clicks away from whichever slide you happen to be on at the moment.

And guess what. You have this kind of interactive power at your fingertips right now, nestled inside the PowerPoint you already use. It’s been there for more than ten years, just waiting for you to apply the software’s full potential. So, let’s get started changing your slides. The remaining video clips show you how.