PowerPoint Deadlines Can Be Stressful – 5 Ways To Survive

Whether you are presenting online or in person, meeting deadlines for a business PowerPoint presentation can be challenging. This is especially true when multiple departments across locations and time zones are involved in the content creation. To help you avoid costly last-minute emergencies and days of delay, your design experts at eSlide have assembled our five top tips for meeting your presentation deadline every time.

1. Start With An Outline

The more you do in advance for your business PowerPoint presentation, the fewer problems you will encounter when it’s crunch time. Get off to a good start with a strong outline. We recommend you write it in a dedicated outline-only document (PowerPoint offers a great outline tool). This way you’ll be able to see the flow of your story, step back from it, and rewrite as necessary – all before you start thinking about or creating visual components. Your outline will help you communicate your vision more easily to your content contributors, so they know what you need from them to sell your idea.

2. Distribute A Calendar

Collating content from distributed teams requires a lot of advanced planning. That’s why a calendar of deadlines is essential for every high-stakes presentation. It should include all key dates, including legal, FINRA or other reviews, design, production, and rehearsals.

Once you’ve created your calendar, distribute it to everyone involved in the process. This will help focus contributors’ minds, so they don’t leave anything too late. Let them know that you will be checking in at certain points for progress reports. If possible, create a system that enables participants to see the updated calendar and review each other’s work-in-progress slide decks. Send reminders before each deadline, so there are no last-minute emergencies.

3. Provide A Template

An optimized template is an absolute must when managing the creation of a business PowerPoint presentation. While this can seem like extra work at the start, the amount of time and effort it will save you at the end of the process is well worth it.

An optimized template should contain well-constructed masters using correct color and style setups and several good example slides. Once you’ve created your template, distribute it to everyone involved in the presentation. This will enable you to combine contributions easily into one master file, saving time at the end of the process when you need it the most.

4. Create Sample Slides

Sample slides are an essential part of an optimized business PowerPoint presentation template. But these need to be more than title page and text page. Your contributors also need examples of any potential graphic elements too, including guidance on how to create and use them. This gives them all the information they need to submit content that’s appropriately formatted and styled. An incomplete template may mean you have to rework content before its useable. So, save yourself time and last-minute headaches by giving contributors all the information they need ahead of time.

5. Schedule Progress Reports

Schedule incremental checkup meetings so you can see contributors’ work-in-progress drafts. This lets you identify problems early and provide extra help if a contributor is having trouble. Always send reminders before each deadline approaches. You can publish decks to a slide-sharing service such as MS Teams so participants can review work online, allowing them to dip in when they have time. You want this process to be as easy as possible for all contributors to keep them engaged and responsive.

Finally, remember that it’s critical to set realistic deadlines. Too much padding, and presenters won’t take your deadlines seriously and some may ask for a deadline extension. Not enough padding, and you won’t have sufficient time to fix any issues that arise.

Bonus Tip: Enlist Professional PowerPoint Advice

A well-designed, on-time business PowerPoint presentation will give you the best chance of achieving the result you need. At eSlide, we understand the critical importance of getting presentations right and delivering them within the deadline. With 20 years’ experience helping Fortune 500 companies around the globe, eSlide specializes in creating high-impact presentations for high-stakes meetings.

Get in touch with eSlide today to speak with a member of our professional design team to ensure you never miss an important presentation deadline.