Set the tone for your PowerPoint presentation with a little music

When you think about it, the success of a PowerPoint presentation has a lot to do with what happens just before the first slide is clicked on. Picture, if you will, a group of executives filing into a room. That is valuable time that a presenter can put to good use. I recently did a presentation which had, right on the title slide, a quote from rock legend, Bob Dylan. The quote was actually a line from one of his songs “The times they are a changin'”. The subject matter of the presentation was secure investing, and I felt as though Bob Dylan’s words really spoke to the financial situation our country was in. My client liked the quote and had the brilliant idea of playing the song as people filed into the room. His audience consisted of baby boomers, who would certainly remember this song, as well as Dylan. So instead of being turned off because they were going to have to sit though yet another boring PowerPoint, they were ready to be entertained. Heck, some of them were even humming the tune themselves. So the next time you’re giving a presentation, think about how you can increase the entertainment value. People love a good show, and anything you can do to keep them listening, will only add to the success of your PowerPoint.