Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Ella Marks, Senior Marketing Manager at Salesforce.


Join us as we chat about the keys to creating an effective presentation, how to prep, and how to create a strong ending.


You should subscribe (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/b...) for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Ella Marks.
Core principles to prep any presentation

We’re starting the last quarter of the year and that means it’s presentation season. Whether it’s presenting about the work we did last year or trying to get budget for next year, creating an effective presentation is a core skill for Salesforce Admins.


That’s why I’m so excited to bring Ella Marks on the pod. She’s presented on some of Salesforce’s biggest stages, like Dreamforce and multiple World Tours. So I wanted to hear her tips for how to put together a great presentation.


The cool thing is that no matter the format or venue, Ella uses the same core principles to prep for every presentation.
1. Who is your audience?

Ella’s first step is to identify the audience that you’re presenting for. Who’s in the room? What do they already know, and what are you going to teach them? Your content is going to be very different if you’re presenting to a room full of admins versus a room full of new users.


If you don’t know exactly who’s in the audience or what their level of expertise is, just ask them. For example, “Raise your hand if this topic is new to you.” In general, it makes your presentation more engaging if there’s a little bit of back-and-forth with the audience.
2. Make an outline and blue box your slides

The next step is to make an outline. Ella recommends starting by making a big list of everything you could possibly say about the presentation topic. Then you can start moving things around, whittling it down, and picking some themes. All of this helps you decide on a call to action.


When she’s ready to start creating her slide deck, Ella uses a technique called “blue boxing” to make a rough draft. Essentially, you use blue boxes to rough out what you’re going to put on each slide. So a slide might have three blue boxes that say:


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Title about why this is important right now


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Text of the most important point I’m going to say


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Image to illustrate the point



We’re trying to sketch out just enough to see how the presentation flows as a whole. Look for a balance of slides with more text and slides with more visuals because that variation will keep your audience engaged. That way, we’re not spending time looking for the right image or writing the perfect title until we’re sure we need it.
3. Nail the ending

Conclusions are always tricky. Ella recommends asking yourself three questions:


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After my presentation, how do you want them to feel?


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After my presentation, what do you want them to think?


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After my presentation, what do you want them to do?



These are your three goals, and the secret to nailing your ending is to address them throughout the presentation. Every slide should be aimed at answering one of these questions so that, by the end, the conclusion feels inevitable.


Ella has lots more great tips for creating effective presentations, including how to prep with a group and the importance of a good pump-up song, so be sure to take a listen. And be sure to subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode.


Podcast swag


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Social


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Ella: @Marks_Ella (  / marks_ella  )


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Salesforce Admins: @SalesforceAdmns  (  / salesforceadmns  )


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Mike on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mikegerholdt/


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Mike on Tiktok:   / salesforce.mike  `


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Mike on X: @MikeGerholdt (  / mikegerholdt  )



 


Full show transcript


Mike Gerholdt:


So we're halfway through August, and for many of us, that's the start or getting real close to the start of the last quarter of the year, which means we're doing a lot of presenting, either presenting to show our work, what we've got done for this year, presenting to get budget for next year as admins for what we'd like to do or, if you're like me and a few...