At BuyAPresentation, we post presentations online regularly. We are frequently featured on AuthorSTREAM and Slideshare multiple times and have won a Slideshare presentation contest. Very few presentations actually make it to the top. So, we analyzed the top online presentations with an average of over 3000 favorites and here are the results on what the online audience likes and the conclusions on how to make your next presentation the favorite in terms of slides:

1. Look and Feel of Title Slides: Simplicity Beats

About 70% of the best presentations (14 out of 20) use large text on title slides. Even if used, the title slide shows a small or dull image. The content of the presentation and not the first slide is king.

2. Popular Topics: Technology and Marketing

Given that these are presentations shared on a social network, it’s probably no surprise that technology-related presentations are the most popular. Marketing (technology in marketing) is the other broad category that is popular. 93% of the most favorite presentations are related to marketing, social media or presentation skills. Some tags in the best presentations: PowerPoint Tips, Social Media, Marketing, Trends, Technology, Future, Creativity, Design.

3. Experience matters, advertising is fine in the end

In relation to the popular topics selected above, it is also interesting to note that the authors of the presentations are sort of experts in their field. Almost all presentations (9 out of 10 presentations) are posted by people who represent your company and want you to buy a book (eg Brain Rules for Presenters) or market your company (Shift Happens). This also shows that it is okay to talk and sell your company or product at the end of the presentation.

4. Coverage: the number of slides matters

The best presentations have at least 45 slides or more, with an average of 90 slides. The number of words per slide averages 17. However, the range of the number of words per slide is quite wide as some presenters have used a lot of text for some slides (such as a handout).

5. Design: few images, more diagrams and visual elements

In general, most presentations use few images and a lot of images and diagrams. By images, I mean playing with the text (small/large, different font sizes, styles) to make a point. Many of the presentations use a lot of diagrams like process flow, data graphs, etc. This makes the presentation more interesting to read and understand.

All the best presentations also have one important characteristic in common. They do not have a standard presentation template or background colors. The backgrounds are usually white and use a range of colors and different slide formats. Some presentations use visual cues; for example, all slides with rulers have a standard look.

See Part 2 which covers the structure and components of the presentation in detail.

Best Presentation Source: Slideshare.net – All-time favorites including: Brand Gap, Death by PowerPOint, Social Media, What The F–k is Social Media, Shift Happens, Brain Rules for Presenters, The Real Life Social Network, Visual and creative thinking, Steal this presentation, All about Google