CPA Ontario course: How to Present Financial Data Effectively using PowerPoint (December 17, 2014, Ottawa)

Accountants often use PowerPoint to present financial data to peers, executives, suppliers, and others. It is critical that others understand the impact of the financial analysis so that decisions can be made and the bottom line positively impacted. Unfortunately, too often the barrage of numbers is overwhelming to the audience and they leave confused.

This workshop will show you a new approach to financial presentations: Make it about the message, not the numbers. That may sound simplistic, but it can make the difference in communicating effectively to the important audiences you speak to. Numbers are only a measurement of an underlying story. The audience wants to know the story. If you want others to take action after your presentations, you’ll learn practical ideas that will make a difference in your presentations.

Learning Outcomes:

In this session, you will learn:

  • What audiences say annoys them about presentations, so you can avoid these mistakes
  • A structured approach to planning your message
  • Five strategies for reducing the information overload in your presentations (the single biggest issue in financial presentations today)
  • The few key ideas you need to know about slide design
  • How to use the data from your Excel spreadsheet in PowerPoint tables and graphs
  • A decision based approach to determining the best visuals to use to communicate your message (including many examples from real presentations)
  • What you need to do to prepare your slides to be e-mailed to those who couldn’t attend the meeting so they understand your message easily

Register on the CPA Ontario site here (non-member pricing available).

By Dave Paradi

Dave Paradi has over twenty-two years of experience delivering customized training workshops to help business professionals improve their presentations. He has written ten books and over 600 articles on the topic of effective presentations and his ideas have appeared in publications around the world. His focus is on helping corporate professionals visually communicate the messages in their data so they don't overwhelm and confuse executives. Dave is one of fewer than ten people in North America recognized by Microsoft with the Most Valuable Professional Award for his contributions to the Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams communities. His articles and videos on virtual presenting have been viewed over 4.8 million times and liked over 17,000 times on YouTube.