Content is king

Employee communications tools

PowerPoint

Purpose Typical audience Pros Cons Can you do it yourself? Thinking points
A great support tool, ideal for delivering the ‘headlines’ and high-level messages All DSM colleagues Easy & inexpensive, plus DSM template building blocks available PPT overload, plus a limited wordcount, while image selection is critical Yes Is your PPT understandable without you being there to present it?

What is this tool?

PowerPoint is best used as a communications support tool. It gives your audience the headlines, but really you should be the star of the show. Make sure your slides aren’t too ‘busy’. Try and go with one image per slide that really crystalizes your message – and keep the words snappy and concise. And of course, you can use Speaker Notes to help keep you on track! 

What and when is it typically used?

Check out the comparison notes below and weigh the pros versus cons. This will help you decide how to spend your time/ money for the best result.

Benefits

  1. Easy and cheap.
  2. Template building blocks are available for faster working.
  3. A powerful storytelling aide if you use it correctly.

Challenges

  1. PowerPoint overload: too many slides!
  2. Limit amount of text per slide.
  3. Choosing powerful visuals can be a challenge.
  4. Some usability knowhow needed.

How to use this tool

Things to keep in mind

  • Less is more.
  • Run through your slide deck with a colleague for a quick sanity check before you share it more widely.
  • Context is important: if people will be viewing your presentation as a standalone (ie, without you presenting it to them) will they be able to understand it?

KPIs for this tool

How will you know ‘what success looks like’? Measuring the response to this channel /tool could give you a better understanding of whether you’ve reached your communication objective. KPIs can be qualitative or quantitative. Here are some ideas:

  • After giving your presentation simply check what your audience thought of it! Perhaps with a survey?

Final thoughts

If this a stand-alone initiative, then go ahead! However, if this is part of a wider initiative, you might want to take a step back and look at the broader communications perspective. A good starting point is our 9-step approach to creating your communication plan - which includes an overview of all the internal channels and tools.

Read more

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