Content

Features and functions are great. But never forget that content is king! Presentation management starts with content. Without content, what do you have to present?

After you introduce your presentation management site to your team, show them the files and slides that they need to get their jobs done—and done well. Once your employees are aware of where the content they need is stored, they’ll use the platform—and continue to use it—because it makes their jobs easier.

So, first things first: Get your content house in order.

Some clients find content organization to be a challenging task. That’s totally understandable. You look at your network and see thousands of files.

It’s a lot to manage—but only at first. There’s so much to cull through. So where do you start?

The 20/20 Rule

Here’s a good rule to get you started on your presentation management journey: Create 20 PowerPoint decks with 20 slides each following what we call the 20/20 rule.

Pick your 20 best files. They could be the most recent, the most used or the ones you relied on in your last big meeting. Or they could be 20 different files, each covering different aspects of your business.

Now, break those files into 20 slides each (give or take).

The idea behind the 20/20 rule is that it’s an easy way to help you get started. Twenty files is a manageable amount to edit (assuming you have to), upload and organize into your site. It’s the content foundation upon which you build. We understand that you will eventually have hundreds, even thousands of files in your presentation management solution. However, just twenty files is enough to get started and enough to help determine the hierarchy of your content—as well as which areas of your business might benefit from additional resources.

Over time, you can add and delete files as your business dictates. The 20/20 rule simply gives you a starting point.

Most File Formats Supported

Strong presentation management solutions support almost all file formats. You should be able to store virtually any kind of file—except for .exe and .vbs files (for security reasons).

Files that can be integrated into a new PowerPoint deck include: PowerPoint slideshows, Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, Adobe PDFs, videos and images .

Compliance and Linking

One of the critical benefits of a presentation management solution is ensuring message compliance. So, as you are reviewing your content, you should also consider any applicable legal requirements to ensure that all presentations in your system include the proper disclosures.

In addition to legal disclosures, you should consider which slides should always be presented together to complete the story. As we noted earlier in Section 2, telling a story wins customers. Your presentation management solution should make better story tellers out of all of your employees.