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The 5 Best Slideshow Template Resources I Trust for My Presentations

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Power up your pdfs: these 9 apps turn them into fillable forms, the 7 best obsidian plugins for mobile, quick links.

• SlidesCarnival
• SlidesMania

Key Takeaways

• Canva offers user-friendly templates, drag-and-drop functionality, and real-time collaboration.
• SlidesCarnival has free templates, no need to sign in, and unlimited downloads.
• Visme provides interactive elements and multiple download formats in one central location.

With so many slideshow templates available, finding the best of the best can be a challenge. I usually rely on Slidesgo, but I’ve found some great alternatives after plenty of exploration. I’ve trusted these resources to create many presentations that elevate my slides to the next level.

Canva is an online design tool that I use to create content . This includes presentations, social media graphics, and more. Canva offers different plans, including Canva Free, Canva Pro, Canva Teams, and Canva Enterprise. There are more options tailored for K-12 and higher education.

Key Features of Canva’s Presentation Templates

These four key features have simplified the slideshow template process for me.

• Canva’s drag-and-drop feature simplifies the template customization process. This feature makes it easy to add and arrange elements (e.g. text and images) and streamline the creation process more efficiently.
• The real-time collaboration feature has been invaluable for group projects. This allowed me to easily share templates as editable files or finished designs. You can use this too, to make the collaboration and content process much smoother.
• The Resize and Magic Switch feature has been a great help. This feature helped me resize my creation for different social media platforms. This feature is available on Canva Pro, Canva Teams, Canva for Education, and Canva for Nonprofits.
• The Canva Design School resource page has been helpful in the creation process. It offers guidance on the tools and features available. It also allowed me to maximize the tool’s potential during editing. This helped to create polished and impactful designs.

SlideEgg is another top template resource that I trust for my presentation needs. It offers a vast collection of customizable templates to boost productivity and creativity. SlideEgg offers a free version. More pricing plans include the Unlimited Quarter, Unlimited Year, Annual Pass, and Lifetime.

Key Features on SlideEgg

These four key features on SlideEgg explain why this is a great template resource.

• SlideEgg offers regular updates. I love how it consistently keeps up with the latest trends and interests.
• I also love how SlideEgg’s high-quality graphics make presentations look professional and polished. This attention to detail significantly enhances the impact and appeal of each presentation.
• The Redesign Your Slides option takes four simple steps to quickly revamp presentations. With the help of SlideEgg experts, you can elevate your slides in a short time frame. If you prefer, you can also use the live chat in the bottom right corner for fast and reliable help.
• I found the SlideEgg site very easy to navigate for the free and paid versions. Each template comes with detailed descriptions of its theme and features. This helps to select a template based on its format options and the platform it is compatible with.

3 SlidesCarnival

SlidesCarnival is a great tool for crafting projects. Most templates are compatible with PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Canva. SlidesCarnival aims to elevate presentations for business meetings, marketing efforts, and creative projects.

Key Features of SlidesCarnival

Here are the three top features of SlidesCarnival while creating projects:

• SlidesCarnival is straightforward to use, with no paid plans or subscriptions. Just remember to keep the end credit slide for SlidesCarnival in your presentation.
• I was able to explore the site and download templates without creating a new account. This made it incredibly convenient to access the template I needed.
• I downloaded as many templates as I needed. There is no limit on the number of downloads for SlidesCarnival. This is particularly useful for the times you need to create several presentations.

Visme’s robust template collection is designed to help create visually engaging presentations. It quickly became a go-to resource for me. This option is great for built-in multimedia content, as well as seamless integration of images, videos, and charts.

Key Features of Visme

• Visme’s interactive features are worth exploring. You can try clickable pop-ups, embedded polls, and more. These elements boost engagement by adding interactive content that captures your audience's interest.
• With Visme, I could download my projects in various formats . For example, HTML5 was useful for downloading presentations with embedded audio and animations.
• Implementing interactive features was simple. Especially since I could create any infographics, surveys, and social media graphics, all in one central location.

5 SlidesMania

SlidesMania offers a wide selection of slideshow templates for PowerPoint and Google Slides. With their slides, you can add flair to your professional or personal presentations.

Key Features of SlidesMania

• All the templates are completely free on this site and I didn't have to create an account or register, which makes it an accessible resource.
• SlidesMania offers a variety of stylish templates. Their creative templates will help give your presentations a fresh and creative look.
• SlidesMania offers a Tips and Tricks for Google Slides feature. This was especially helpful when I was working with Google Slides . There are many guides, including how to add image placeholders or lock content to prevent accidental changes.

Each of these five slideshow template resources can add value to your presentations. I usually rely on Slidesgo . But these alternatives offer distinct features that are worth exploring to take your projects to new heights.

• Productivity
• Office Templates

Slide Quest : The 15 Puzzle Game

Time: 00:00

Slide Quest

Time: Moves:

!!! SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED !!!

> LEADERBOARD <

Choose your Theme:

Choose your Picture:

Want a Challenge?

• MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE

HOW TO PLAY

>> START <<

Welcome to the exciting world of SlideQuest! Whether you prefer a modern, classic, or minimalist theme, this sliding puzzle game offers a variety of challenges to test your skills. Let's dive into the gameplay mechanics and available challenges:

• Modern: Immerse yourself in a sleek and contemporary design, featuring vibrant colors and eye-catching visuals.
• Classic: Enjoy a nostalgic experience with a timeless aesthetic, reminiscent of traditional puzzle games.
• Minimalist: Embrace simplicity and elegance through a clean and minimalist theme that focuses on the essence of the gameplay.

2. Challenges:

You can select one or more challenges to customize your SlideQuest experience.

• Subzero Challenge: Brace yourself for the Subzero Challenge, where random tiles freeze for a few seconds. Be cautious while moving frozen tiles, as it incurs a penalty of 10 seconds in time and 2 additional moves.
• Level-2 Challenge: Take your puzzle-solving skills to the next level in the Level-2 Challenge. Experience a new set of pictures and face the increased difficulty of a minimum board size of 5x5.
• Mission: Impossible Challenge: Prepare for the ultimate challenge with the Mission: Impossible mode. This daring challenge doesn't guarantee solvability. However, if you believe the puzzle to be unsolvable, you can submit it as such with the click of a button.

3. Controls:

• Arrow keys or WASD keys: Use the arrow keys or WASD keys to move the blank tile in the corresponding direction (up, down, left, or right).
• Mouse: Click on a tile adjacent to the blank tile to move it. If the clicked tile is not directly adjacent to the blank tile, all the tiles in the same row or column between them will move together.
• Swipe: On touch-enabled devices, you can also swipe your finger in the desired direction to move the tiles in the row or column of the swipe gesture.

4. Own Image: Want to personalize your SlideQuest experience? You can use your own image as the puzzle background. Just make sure the image is uploaded in a square format with a size of 560px by 560px.

5. Leaderboard: After successfully completing a puzzle, you'll have the opportunity to showcase your achievements on the leaderboard. Check out the top 3 scores and strive to claim a spot among the best puzzle solvers!

Now that you're familiar with the game's features and challenges, it's time to embark on a thrilling journey of sliding puzzle mastery. Get ready to challenge your mind, test your agility, and discover the joy of conquering SlideQuest!

Free PowerPoint Templates

Download free PowerPoint templates and presentation backgrounds with pre-designed slide themes. Make awesome business PowerPoint presentations combining nice diagrams and graphics. Impress your audience! You can download PowerPoint templates and themes compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint but also compatible with Keynote, Google Slides or Microsoft Office for Macs.

Free PowerPoint Templates - Editor Choices

Free Brain PowerPoint Template

A free presentation template with brain diagram for topic such as Decision-Making or Problem solving.

Free Line Chart PowerPoint Template

Free Line Chart template for PowerPoint and Google Slides.

Free Decision-Making PowerPoint Template

Free Decision-making PowerPoint template diagram for presentations.

More Free PowerPoint Templates

Free Before & After PowerPoint Template

Download a Before and After slide template for PowerPoint presentations, to compare a past situation with a future situation.

Free Customer Profitability Analysis PowerPoint Template

Download free CPA template with a matrix containing Reatain, Transform, Monitor and Replace components.

Free MVP PowerPoint Template

Free slide template for Minimum Viable Product presentations, with 100% editable placeholders.

BCG Matrix Template for PowerPoint

Free BCG Matrix template for PowerPoint is a PowerPoint presentation template that you can download to make awesome presentations based on the popular Boston Consulting Group growth model.

Venn Diagram Social Value for PowerPoint

Free Venn Diagram slides for PowerPoint with transparency style, useful to represent possible logical relations between a finite collection of different sets.

Free Creative Diagram for PowerPoint

Free Creative Diagram for PowerPoint with 4 components and a core element

Simple Process PowerPoint Template

Simple Process PowerPoint Template is a four steps workflow design that you can use to present a process or workflow idea in PowerPoint.

One Slide Resume Template for PowerPoint

Free 1-page Resume Infographic template for PowerPoint with 100% editable placeholders.

Iceberg Model of Meaning for PowerPoint

Free Iceberg Infographic design for PowerPoint presentations has an awesome iceberg illustration created with shapes.

Best Free PowerPoint templates

Improve your productivity using pre-designed templates for PowerPoint that you can easily edit and customize for your own project. Instead of reinventing the wheel in PowerPoint or Google Slides, you can save time preparing your slide decks.

Your audience will love your presentation

Create presentations in PowerPoint and Google Slides that delight your audience. Use our PowerPoint templates to support your speech and deliver your message successfully.

Free Slides Templates

Free Blue Ocean Slide Templates

A free slide template for presentations on Blue Ocean strategy.

Free 30 60 90 Day Plan Slide Templates

Free 30 60 90 templates for PowerPoint for planning.

Free Gantt Template

Gantt chart PowerPoint design with editable slide templates.

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🚀 What are the best free PowerPoint templates?

The best PowerPoint templates are those that help you to save time and allows you to prepare a presentation with a reasonably high level of quality, giving you the flexibility to adapt the placeholders and designs to your own presentation content and structure.

Where do I find Microsoft PowerPoint templates?

You can find presentation templates for PowerPoint online on many different resources. Some free templates are free, while other resources might charge you to download premium PowerPoint templates. The decision whether purchasing a premium PPT template or downloading a creative presentation design, depends on many different factors (for example, your current budget, the level of quality that you want to achieve and the kind of support).

How to download free PowerPoint templates?

To download the free templates, you can browse our catalog of free slides and designs and hit the download button. Some other sites might offer different download mechanisms, for example, you might be prompted to create an account, or in the case of premium PowerPoint templates, payment will be required upfront.

Are the presentation templates compatible with Google Slides?

Yes, the presentation templates are fully compatible with major presentation tools, including Google Slides.

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Reviews 4.7.

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Don’t trust their marketing ads

Don’t trust their marketing ads. Those are perhaps the best among the bunch. The rest are all very basic and unusable. Access was also problematic because their website is just solely focused on converting sales. Can’t even access properly despite buying the full access. Overall very disappointed with this product. Don’t waste your money.

Date of experience : February 02, 2024

Reply from Slidequest

Hello Consumer1, We greatly value your feedback and wanted to take a moment to address the concerns you've raised regarding your experience with our templates. We sincerely apologize that the product did not meet your expectations, and we are committed to rectifying this situation promptly. As for accessing the templates, Our support specialist has sent you a response on how to download them. Also the direct drop-box folder was shared to your email. Please check the inbox, spam, and junk mail sections of your email and let us know if you still have not seen it. if you have any additional specific details about your experience that you'd like to share, or if there are any particular features or functionalities that you feel need improvement, please don't hesitate to let us know by sending us an email. Your input will be invaluable as we work towards making the necessary improvements. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and we genuinely appreciate your patience and understanding on this matter. Sarah Customer Success Manager

I have doubted a while if pre-made…

I have doubted a while if pre-made templates would really made a difference in the time consuming-art of creating insightful, interesting and educational powerpoints. From a business perspective they need to be compliant with the corporate branding. I have found out that these templates, PPTX, XLSX are too easy to adapt to the branding you need. It really does saves you an enormous amount of time on a weekly bases! This saved time you should use replying on all the positive feedback your co-workers are giving you.

Date of experience : November 18, 2023

Great Customer Service

Sarah was extremely fast and helpful in helping me get my 5-license account setup. She was polite, efficient, and a pleasure to work with. I'm looking forward to putting together some fab presentations with Slide Quest's templates - thanks Sarah!

Date of experience : November 21, 2023

Friendly & responsive!

Really quick to respond to queries and helped by forwarding replacement invoice within a few hours. Friendly and personal engagement. Great!

Date of experience : June 12, 2024

I wish I hadn't waited so long to make this purchase!

I had been looking at Slidequest (& other companies that offer similar services) for several months and finally bit the bullet when one of my deadlines was coming down to the wire. I have not looked back since then. Downloading the templates are simple and having the project already started saved me 50% of my time completing executive presentations. I purchased this for the powerpoint templates, but ironically have used the excel templates just as much!

Date of experience : March 20, 2024

Nice slide decks

Nice slide decks - very useful Sarah - I sent an email to you when I bought the deck on Sunday last week as I mistakenly bought the large user package which I don't need as it's just me using them. Please could I request a reply and refund for the extra that aren't required - many thanks

Date of experience : April 07, 2024

I love everything about this

I love everything about this! Makes building presentations so much easier. Everyone has been very impressed with my presentations as of late. I had an issue with logging in and accessing after a few months being setup with an account and Sarah was VERY quick at answering my question when I inquired for help. I highly highly recommend this. You will have access to enough templates to last you a lifetime!

Date of experience : August 16, 2023

Not worth the money

Not worth the money. Product is just basic and I didn't find it helpful to navigate.

Date of experience : July 20, 2024

Highly recommend Slidequest for any time poor employee or Solopreneur!

I have to say that I have been really surprised by Slidequest. I was lucky enough to have a Facebook Ad surfaced as otherwise I'm not sure I'd have found them. I am in the process of setting up my consultancy and really don't have time to create my own slide templates. Slidequest made it so easy to create my account and access the slides. I was amazed at the number of slides and the different types of templates/content. The follow up I've received has been really good too, keeping me updated on what's coming next. I highly recommend Slidequest to any Solo-preneur who is time poor but wants slides that look great.

Date of experience : November 23, 2023

Makes creating presentations easy

Makes creating presentations easy. Most of the time I just have to insert the template and just write the content. The vast offerings really come in handy, makes me more efficient at creating content for my workshops and they are appealing too. Kudos to the team at Slidequest.

Date of experience : November 27, 2023

I was amazed with the quality and…

I was amazed with the quality and variety of templates slidequest has. The templates have taken my presentations on a different level. Couldn't sleep on the first night after receiving the templates as I was so thrilled.

Date of experience : March 15, 2024

Prompt response

Prompt response I was pleasantly surprised to receive such prompt, professional response to my request to update my email on file due to a recent change in my work location. I was able to complete my changes in under an hour!

Spoilt for choice!

Not enough hours in the year to go through all these templates! Incredible selection for all types of organisations and presentations. This will help anyone, especially if you're not overly creative, it takes all the hard work out of planning fancy diagrams and presentations.

Date of experience : April 30, 2023

Great Service

I ordered through instagram. Apparently it defaulted to an email that I rarely check so I didn't think I received my login info. I emailed support and they were fantastic. Very helpful and quick response times. I also needed to change my email address to a more frequently used one and they took care of that. I have browsed the templates and they look good, but so far my experience and review is mainly for the service. I worked with Sarah btw

Date of experience : February 05, 2024

Spoilt for Choice

Brilliant variation of slides with useful logos and graphics to enhance your presentations loads of templates and ideas. Also has an issue with the initial account set up and was pleased to receive. Prompt response and resolution to my issue, with great admin support.

Date of experience : March 03, 2024

Fantastic visuals

Fantastic visuals, massive choice, great value. Outstanding deal, I just love my slides. Many thanks. Dr David Hodges (Veterinarian).

Date of experience : February 26, 2024

Delivers on promise

Overall, good graphics and nice colours. It would be great if they'd come in square and vertical formats to be imported into Canva to create posts for LinkedIn. I also miss a PDF overview of all graphics (with maybe 8 of them per page), so I can print that and have it for a reference on my desk and walk through it while writing my content and presentations.

Date of experience : May 09, 2023

Customer Service, serving the customer!

Thank you for a fast, competent, and satisfying solution to my request. It is great to know that there are companies that take customer service seriously. You are one of them. Thank you very much.

Date of experience : February 06, 2024

Easy to use and SO MANY TEMPLATES

Wow. I really don't know how they can provide SO MANY templates at the low cost they do, but I'm not going to be mad about it. The amount of templates they offer is almost overwhelming but they have categorized them in easy to find ways. When you find the one you want to use, simply download it, unzip it and open the file. For PPT, you can drag and drop a single slide right into your company's predesigned PowerPoint format. The slide templates copy over very well, the sizing is perfect. Simply edit the placeholder text i the template and maybe the colors and you are looking GOOD!

Date of experience : March 28, 2023

What they prormote on their Webpage is…

What they prormote on their Webpage is not what you get. First after taking the upgrade you get 50 Templates for Excel and a few fpr PP, all dissapointing by the way. After questioning about the rest and the Infographics they send me a few Graphics for Keynote. Safe the 80 $ it is not worth it.

Date of experience : December 25, 2023

Hello Nal Barkendiek, We greatly value your feedback and wanted to take a moment to address the concerns you've raised regarding your experience with our templates. We sincerely apologize that the product did not meet your expectations, and we are committed to rectifying this situation promptly. As for our templates, What you see in our website is also what you will get. All templates are unique. Each infographic slide counts as 1 unique slide and these are converted into several formats which will comprise the 6500+ infographics. We also have sent you the Excel templates in a zip file for your convenience. Let us know if you have not received them. if you have any additional specific details about your experience that you'd like to share, or if there are any particular features or functionalities that you feel need improvement, please don't hesitate to let us know by sending us an email. Your input will be invaluable as we work towards making the necessary improvements. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and we genuinely appreciate your patience and understanding on this matter. Sarah Customer Success Manager

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How to use Gemini AI to create presentations in Google Slides

The only thing people enjoy less than sitting through a slideshow presentation is making a slideshow presentation. But with the integration of Gemini AI into Google Slides , that process is about to get a whole lot easier.

How to integrate Gemini into Google Slides

Getting started with gemini, what gemini can do in slides, what you can do with gemini in slides.

In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to seamlessly incorporate Gemini AI into your workflow. Whether you’re looking to enhance your design elements, streamline content generation, or simply save yourself some time, Gemini AI offers a suite of features that can transform the way you build your presentations.

As with the integrations for Docs and Sheets, Gemini AI is not available for use with Slides at the free tier. You’ll need a $20/month subscription to the  Google One AI Premium Plan to gain access; otherwise, a work or school account through a Gemini for Google Workspace add-on will work.

Simply click on the “Try  Gemini Advanced !” radio button in the top-right corner of the Gemini home screen and follow the prompts.

To begin, open a new or existing Slides presentation, then click the Ask Gemini button in the top-right corner of the screen (to the right of the share button). This will expand the Gemini AI sidebar running down the right side length of the screen. On the sidebar, you’ll be able to either enter your idea directly into the prompt window or take inspiration from the AI-generated image slideshow at the bottom of the screen.

Primarily, Gemini AI can create images, generate new slides, summarize a presentation, and write and rewrite content. It can also reference Drive files or Gmail as you write, as well as search the internet for current information and statistics to answer questions that arise while you write. Basically, it works as a writing and research aide, same as it does for Docs.

Gemini takes the grunt work out of the slide creation process and accelerates my workflow to a startling degree. While I’ve watched countless slideshows as a journalist (on earnings calls, product demos, keynote events, and the like), I’ve been lucky enough to not have had to make one myself in well over a decade. Suffice to say, actually producing a professional-looking slide deck these days takes me ages to accomplish, what with all the bullet points, image sourcing, thematic formatting, and whathaveyou.

But with the help of Gemini, I was able to pop out a solid eight-slide introduction to the Seattle, Washington, region that discusses the city’s main attractions, the state of its housing market (both sales and rentals), its education and health care systems, and reasons why folks should move to the region — all using simple prompts like, “add a slide discussing the education system in Seattle, the number of primary schools in the Seattle area, and Washington’s average education ranking among U.S. states.” I did all of that in under 10 minutes.

There were a few limitations to what Gemini could help me with, mind you. I repeatedly asked it to incorporate motion transitions between each slide ( because who doesn’t love a good star wipe ?); however, the system kept generating slides discussing transitions as a subject topic instead. I ultimately had to add those effects by hand.

Also, if I were actually giving this presentation in public, I’d have to spend a good amount of time going back through and confirming the veracity of each of the bullet points to ensure the system didn’t hallucinate anything, but without the AI, just creating this deck by hand would have taken me a couple of miserable hours at least.

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A new research paper from Apple reveals that the company relied on Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), rather than Nvidia's more widely deployed GPUs, in training two crucial systems within its upcoming Apple Intelligence service. The paper notes that Apple used 2,048 Google TPUv5p chips to train its AI models and 8,192 TPUv4 processors for its server AI models.

Nvidia's chips are highly sought for good reason, having earned their reputation for performance and compute efficiency. Their products and systems are typically sold as standalone offerings, enabling customers to construct and operate them as the best see fit.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant is a powerful tool designed to streamline and enhance your professional productivity. Whether you're new to AI or a seasoned pro, this guide will help you through the essentials of Copilot, from understanding what it is and how to sign up, to mastering the art of effective prompts and creating stunning images.

Additionally, you'll learn how to manage your Copilot account to ensure a seamless and efficient user experience. Dive in to unlock the full potential of Microsoft's Copilot and transform the way you work. What is Microsoft Copilot? Copilot is Microsoft's flagship AI assistant, an advanced large language model. It's available on the web, through iOS, and Android mobile apps as well as capable of integrating with apps across the company's 365 app suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. The AI launched in February 2023 as a replacement for the retired Cortana, Microsoft's previous digital assistant. It was initially branded as Bing Chat and offered as a built-in feature for Bing and the Edge browser. It was officially rebranded as Copilot in September 2023 and integrated into Windows 11 through a patch in December of that same year.

Google announced Thursday that it is releasing Gemini 1.5 Flash, it's snack-sized large language model and ChatGPT-4o mini competitor, to all users regardless of their subscription level.

The company promises "across-the-board improvements" in terms of response quality and latency, as well as "especially noticeable improvements in reasoning and image understanding."

More From Forbes

The three biggest presentation mistakes in the boardroom.

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Nina I. Surya is the President of UniqueSpeak Consulting , a media training and communications firm.

Board presentations are like no other—they often have the distinct honor of being unanimously frustrating for the speakers and the board alike.

Board members complain they don’t get what they need. Presenters leave exasperated with a Sisyphean task: No matter what they do, criticism abounds and they are back to square one the next time. Carl Icahn famously said , “I sit on a lot of boards. I don’t have to watch Saturday Night Live anymore. I just sit at the board meetings.”

It does not have to be this way.

You were asked to present for a good reason—your board needs to hear what you have to say. So before sifting through data points and mulling over your deck, be sure to avoid the biggest drivers of disconnect between executives and directors at board meetings.

1. Not Allowing Time For Interaction

Have you ever stuffed a suitcase to the seams only to realize you forgot an important item and had no way to make room for it? When it comes to board presentation, that all-too-overlooked item is time for interaction with the board. When you present to your board, regardless of the topic, your purpose is not just to share good information. It is to promote higher-level thinking.

Board members are more likely to voice appreciation when a presentation helps to level up a discussion. To accomplish that, you need productive interaction as a key component of the presentation.

I once had a client who sat on several public boards. He maintained that the phrase board meetings is misspelled: They should be called bored meetings. With the waning attention spans of even the most sagacious professionals, this is no surprise. Interaction fosters engagement, especially among those who share ultimate accountability.

It may be tempting to cram your time slot with all the expertise you can muster to impress the board members. However, hosing them down is not helpful, so leaders miss the mark.

The notion of more interaction may sound scary. A senior executive once confessed, “I don’t want to give them a chance to attack.” But showing up as a strong leader involves welcoming the tough questions. According to research by Corporate Board Member and the EY Center for Board Matters, directors feel one of the most effective ways they can offer support to leaders is to “provide effective challenge ... asking tough questions and being skeptical when needed.” Directors often see tough questions as a way to make an idea stronger and shed light on potential blind spots.

So make sure to factor in plenty of time for Q&A. If you have a 30-minute slot, leave at least 10 to 15 minutes for discussion. This is not something you want to rush.

Kenneth Freeman, who has sat on the boards of Quest Diagnostics and TRW, among others, advises “framing agenda topics with questions where board feedback and insights are desired.” Your CEO can be helpful in this regard.

2. Providing Too Much Information

Most board presentations are too dense—overflowing with unnecessary details and too many slides. Remember, board members aren’t there to roll up their sleeves and get into the weeds, and they don’t like being expected to do so. As one board member told me in frustration, “We are there to guide and decide, not to do.”

Another effect of density is that speakers start reading off the slides, turning the presentation into a glorified audio version of the pre-read. Your presentation should add color, texture and context. Share your perspective and thought journey. Data by itself can be interpreted in many ways. As the expert in the room, your job is to extract the meaning and ramifications.

Remember, many board members sit on several boards and may not specialize in your space. A board member of an S&P retail company once quipped that he should bring his grandson to the meetings to translate the “tiring tech talk.”

While boards race to keep up with growing trends, it is not their job to know your job. You need to make the presentation understandable. Although you don’t want to talk down to them, make sure to avoid jargon, technical details and tangents.

One way to hit the sweet spot is to put additional data in the pre-read appendix. Some board members go deep and detailed into the pre-read. Some merely flip through. Give them the choice.

3. Not Focusing On A Core Message

One of the first questions I ask someone preparing to give a board presentation is, “What is your core message?” It’s surprising how many executives (sometimes even CEOs) struggle to answer clearly. This can sink a presentation.

A senior leader once told me, “I’ll just give the board the most important information and let them decide what to do with it.” Wrong. Time and time again, board members have said to me, “We got an information dump, but what was the point?”

In general, there are four reasons to give a board presentation: provide a regular update, share a report that affects a looming decision, manage a crisis, and seek approval for a budget or project.

Regardless of your reason, the big takeaway of the presentation should be crystal clear and stated at the beginning. Unlike in the movies, big reveals at the end of a board presentation don’t work well. Start with your conclusion, and then elaborate.

Boards have to deal with greater volatility now than at any other time in recent history, along with a new crop of concerns, ranging from cybersecurity to AI and precarious geopolitics. Help highlight the risks and ramifications of any decision they make. Show them what you think, how you got there and why your way is the best option.

And be transparent. If it appears you are trying to gloss over something to protect yourself in one area, it can potentially rob you of credibility in all other areas.

Look at your board’s needs, pain points and burning questions. Next, home in on your goal for the presentation and reverse engineer from there. Not only will you make your life easier, but your board members will thank you.

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