4 Proven Presentation Formats that will get you Results

4 minute read | 

Presentation has been defined as the communication used to inform or express an opinion to an audience about upcoming products, services, or ideas as well as a breakdown of who the entity is. However, Presentations can also be looked at as expressive art, offering a multitude of ways to demonstrate your creativity and interactivity with the audience.

We have chosen four effective presentation formats that allow you to interact with your audience differently and ultimately could help you present better.

Types of Presentation formats

• Pecha Kucha
• 10-20-30 Rule
• Lessig Method
• Takahashi Style

Pecha Kucha

The Pecha Kucha presentation is a presentation format used to keep your audience engaged. By being on a set timer and allowing the presenter to get straight to the point. This format is comprised of 2 elements; twenty slides and twenty seconds per slide, this equates to six minutes and forty seconds.

The Pecha Kucha has been around since 2003 and has been used in multiple presentations, including Shawn Kanungo’s ted talk that has been viewed on YouTube over 150 thousand times and highlights the use of the Pecha Kucha.

The Pecha Kucha is an excellent choice for quick and to the point sales, pitches and presentations in general as it portrays confidence in the presenter as the words flow into the next slide (Devanesan, 2019).

10-20-30 Rule

The 10-20-30 Rule was invented by Guy Kawasaki and has 3 elements; 10 slides, speech should only be 20 minutes, and use 30 or above font size. This presentation format is simple and has allowed people like you and me to focus on what is key in our pitch presentations by limiting the time we have to distribute a clear and convincing pitch.

This is a great format to use when pitching to investors and high-profile clients as they may require statistics, results, and forwardness (Devanesan, 2019).

Lessig Method

The Lessig Method is highly similar to the Pecha Kucha because the presenter is following suit by speaking as the slide changes according to the topic the presenter is speaking on. However, the difference is the slides have no limits as the Pecha Kucha is limited to 20 slides, and the design is minimalistic.

This presentation format is ideal for those who aim to keep the audience engaged by fast-paced slides and not experiencing a lag in presenting. A lot of presenters tend to find themselves explaining a topic and end up looking around as they wait for the next slide to show, and the Lessig Method works as a solution to stopping and waiting for the next slide (Devanesan, 2019).

Takahashi

Takahashi’s presentation style format was established in the early 2000s, and rather than using PowerPoint. He decided to use a plain presentation that had emphasized large text in bold to reinforce his message and highlight the key takeaways.

The Takahashi presentation style is similar to the Lessig method but ultimately is separated by the pacing of the slides and can also be seen as visually noisy but is still used to get the point across (Devanesan, 2019).

Final thoughts

Here at Instigo Agency, if we’re not busy developing powerful presentations for our clients, we’re busy pitching those presentations to sponsors and investors, on behalf of our clients.

We’ve therefore become accustomed to one presentation style in particular due to its ability to effectively deliver key points while maintaining constant attention from the audience.

You probably guessed it – It’s the 10 20 30 rule. What we love about it is it’s guidance on the number of slides used.

The ability to tell captivating stories in 8 -12 slides reflects the importance of maintaining an audience’s short attention span. You can’t sell an idea if your prospects lose focus and trash your proposal before they reach your take-home message.

All in all, our suggestion is to keep your proposals short, but be purposeful with the messaging on every slide and tie the slides together with an overarching storyline.