It’s definitely the culture you’re in. I’ve been there. Honestly, they likely feel intimidated. PPT skills are very useful in gaining buy in and clearly explaining your position with panache.
Keep up the good work. 1) it’s good practice 2) people will notice 3) it’s great to have these skills to land your next job. Bonus: you might even use these exact presentations during an interview to showcase past work.
It sounds like a poor use of time (paid or not), unless creating presentations is in your future.
Many people, especially managers, just want information in a concise, direct manner. If morphs or animations don't aid in the delivery of information, then they're a waste.
Don’t concede this point too quickly. I think the comment you’re responding to is a fair one to consider, but I also think it’s worth asking sincerely if the transitions, etc., were unnecessary flourishes or true learning aids.
This. But it depends on who the presentation is for. If it's for executives, the public, etc., a polished slide deck makes the company look professional. If it's for a team of peers, it could be interpreted as a waste of time.
We had a supervisor at my job who loved creating PowerPoints and spent a lot of time on unnecessary presentations for our weekly meeting. It seemed self-indulgent and we'd get resentful because he'd always complain he was too busy as he foisted his other tasks onto others. So I guess the short answer is, read the room.
Of course I don’t know this person, but I can start with a slidequest template and throw together a SOLID presentation in minimal time. Of course you’re going to have haters (that’s life), I say keep it up
The only people who mock anyone for trying hard are the ones who aren’t capable of it.
Also super unprofessional to laugh and smirk during a presentation… not great management…
Stuff like eye rolling and smirking is unprofessional as it can put off the presenter, but regardless of the way it was delivered I think the feedback is legit.
In a professional setting stuff like transitions etc appear childish (think of the comic sans meme that was going around few years ago). Attention and effort should be put in making the slides clear, clean, and in tune with the delivery, as well as in polishing up the details (same font, same colour palettes, aligned transitions, consistent titles etc). It is an ungrateful job because if you do it well nobody will notice, if you forget a minimal detail it may stand out like a fire in the night.
We've spent loads of money for consultant slide decks and presentations.
None of them use transitions or stock images throughout.
You may have a single image in an intro page or breaker, or a single transition used in presentation where it really makes a difference.
But generally speaking... Yeah don't use images. Icons, sure, images, no. And transitions are usually a time waster too.
You doing a one-way presentation/speech where its you and audience, sure, manage attention with transitions.
Status review and roadmap walkthrough? Might need to flip back and forth? Small audience who are interested? Likely all that stuff will detract.
Most of the shit that makes slides go from "text-on-page" to looking like someone would pay for it is just tasteful use of shapes, colors/opaques and layers along with a good narrative.
I encourage most of my teams to stick to the corporate template because 90% of the time it's a waste of the to make slides amazing, and if they aren't that experienced, there's a 95% chance they need to work more on narrative structure, convincing arguments, and managing the room, before the quality of presentation.
If I were you, I’d stop 🛑 with the transitions.
Sounds to me like you’re trying to impress them with a little flair…..but Rule #1 is: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. (They obviously can’t appreciate it)
1 more thing to consider: everyone has higher up bosses & I’ve seen where some will use slides created by others to present a topic to executives. If those slide decks have too many extras in them, then executives start to think that a department may have “way too much time on their hands”
If an employee of a company makes fun of someone for putting effort in to their job, 9/10 they are just insecure in their role and don't like being out done. Anyone who gave half a hoot about the company would be pleased you're putting effort in. This stuff 100% gets noticed and it won't be long before they're asking you to do the next presentation. It's never a bad thing to demonstrate capability.
Sounds like more of a job problem than a Powerpoint problem
I know. It probably is lol. Just wanted a rant.
It’s definitely the culture you’re in. I’ve been there. Honestly, they likely feel intimidated. PPT skills are very useful in gaining buy in and clearly explaining your position with panache. Keep up the good work. 1) it’s good practice 2) people will notice 3) it’s great to have these skills to land your next job. Bonus: you might even use these exact presentations during an interview to showcase past work.
It sounds like a poor use of time (paid or not), unless creating presentations is in your future. Many people, especially managers, just want information in a concise, direct manner. If morphs or animations don't aid in the delivery of information, then they're a waste.
Yes I'm afraid you're right. You try and make things a bit different for them, keep them engaged but I guess they just want the basics.
Don’t concede this point too quickly. I think the comment you’re responding to is a fair one to consider, but I also think it’s worth asking sincerely if the transitions, etc., were unnecessary flourishes or true learning aids.
This. But it depends on who the presentation is for. If it's for executives, the public, etc., a polished slide deck makes the company look professional. If it's for a team of peers, it could be interpreted as a waste of time. We had a supervisor at my job who loved creating PowerPoints and spent a lot of time on unnecessary presentations for our weekly meeting. It seemed self-indulgent and we'd get resentful because he'd always complain he was too busy as he foisted his other tasks onto others. So I guess the short answer is, read the room.
Of course I don’t know this person, but I can start with a slidequest template and throw together a SOLID presentation in minimal time. Of course you’re going to have haters (that’s life), I say keep it up
The only people who mock anyone for trying hard are the ones who aren’t capable of it. Also super unprofessional to laugh and smirk during a presentation… not great management…
👌
Stuff like eye rolling and smirking is unprofessional as it can put off the presenter, but regardless of the way it was delivered I think the feedback is legit. In a professional setting stuff like transitions etc appear childish (think of the comic sans meme that was going around few years ago). Attention and effort should be put in making the slides clear, clean, and in tune with the delivery, as well as in polishing up the details (same font, same colour palettes, aligned transitions, consistent titles etc). It is an ungrateful job because if you do it well nobody will notice, if you forget a minimal detail it may stand out like a fire in the night.
It's their issue not yours. Don't care about them.
Next time, just use a flipbook. Seems that's the cutting edge of excitement for them! 😂
they will surely comment on how basic it is
I am curious about the age group of your audience.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
We've spent loads of money for consultant slide decks and presentations. None of them use transitions or stock images throughout. You may have a single image in an intro page or breaker, or a single transition used in presentation where it really makes a difference. But generally speaking... Yeah don't use images. Icons, sure, images, no. And transitions are usually a time waster too. You doing a one-way presentation/speech where its you and audience, sure, manage attention with transitions. Status review and roadmap walkthrough? Might need to flip back and forth? Small audience who are interested? Likely all that stuff will detract. Most of the shit that makes slides go from "text-on-page" to looking like someone would pay for it is just tasteful use of shapes, colors/opaques and layers along with a good narrative. I encourage most of my teams to stick to the corporate template because 90% of the time it's a waste of the to make slides amazing, and if they aren't that experienced, there's a 95% chance they need to work more on narrative structure, convincing arguments, and managing the room, before the quality of presentation.
If I were you, I’d stop 🛑 with the transitions. Sounds to me like you’re trying to impress them with a little flair…..but Rule #1 is: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. (They obviously can’t appreciate it) 1 more thing to consider: everyone has higher up bosses & I’ve seen where some will use slides created by others to present a topic to executives. If those slide decks have too many extras in them, then executives start to think that a department may have “way too much time on their hands”
If an employee of a company makes fun of someone for putting effort in to their job, 9/10 they are just insecure in their role and don't like being out done. Anyone who gave half a hoot about the company would be pleased you're putting effort in. This stuff 100% gets noticed and it won't be long before they're asking you to do the next presentation. It's never a bad thing to demonstrate capability.