Presentations should be as unique as your business and the information you’re trying to present. However, there are certain types of presentations that are common across industries and teams. Before you worry about which slides to include or how to organize your information, you’ll need to determine which type of presentation is best for your audience.
To figure this out, ask yourself: Are you entertaining or informing? Are you speaking to colleagues, investors, or potential customers? Asking these questions will help you choose the type of presentation that supports you best. Beautiful.ai is here to make this even easier with a description of different types of presentations to help you choose.
Informative Presentations
An informative presentation is educational, concise, and to the point. While other presentations may entertain or inspire, the main goal of an informative presentation is to share information.
A good example of an informative presentation is a human resources benefits presentation. Human resources needs to explain what benefits employees receive, how benefits work, which important dates employees need to remember, where employees can find more information, and so on.
An HR benefits presentation for new hires (or any informational presentation) should be short, straightforward, and easy to understand so that new employees will remember the information they’re given.
Instructive Presentations
A presentation that teaches something is similar to an informative presentation, but it goes beyond sharing facts. It also instructs the audience on a specific topic. People attend or view an instructive presentation with the intention to learn, and they leave with a better understanding of the topic of the presentation.
There are many examples of instructive presentations. Workshops, training sessions, or webinars teach audiences a new skill or procedure by offering specific information or instructions. Explaining new policies to a company is another type of instructive presentation. For example, an HR benefits presentation for new employees may be informative, but a presentation for existing employees about policy changes might lean more towards instructive, especially if employees have to take action or need to ask questions.
Persuasive Presentations
Many presentations hope to sell something or persuade the audience to take certain actions. Persuasive presentations often present a problem and explain their solution using data. Examples of persuasive presentations include business pitches or sales proposals.
For example, a startup company looking for initial funding may need a startup pitch deck or a Series A presentation to convince investors to back their idea. A startup pitch deck would explain a problem in the market, how their startup will solve that problem, and how they’ll monetize their business. A Series A presentation can help a startup secure more rounds of funding to grow their company and pursue further goals.
Motivational Presentations
One of the most prominent examples of inspiring presentations? TEDTalks. Many motivational speakers use TEDTalks to inspire people to think or change their behavior.
Motivational presentations in the business world may not be as dramatic or life-changing as a TEDTalk, but they still aim to generate interest or gain an audience’s approval. A company overview presentation is a good example of a motivational presentation. It may present the information of a company — how it was founded, who is leading it, what the company does — but more importantly, it tells the company’s story.
A company overview presentation connects with the audience. A manager may use it to boost morale at a team meeting. Or an executive may present a company overview to convince potential customers or investors to work with them. Or, an HR rep may use it to make new hires feel welcome and excited to join the company.
Decision-making Presentations
Need to make a decision within the company? A presentation that shares a problem, solution options, and their outcomes can help speed along the process. Decision making presentations might be found in business meetings, government meetings, or all-hands meetings.
For example, let’s say a company wants to improve engagement on their social media channels. There are many ways they might achieve their goal, including hosting giveaways, dedicating more resources to creating Facebook posts or Instagram stories, and researching their audience or competitors to see how they can improve. A marketing campaign plan template for a presentation would keep details of the problem, different options, and possible outcomes organized in one place. It would inform and guide everyone involved in the meeting, helping them make informed decisions on how to move forward.
Progress Presentations
Imagine our hypothetical company decided on a marketing strategy to meet their goals. Now that they have a campaign in place, they need to report on the progress of said campaign. This sixth presentation type shares status updates, progress towards deadlines, collected data so far, any obstacles popping up, and tasks that need to be added or adjusted.
A team stand up presentation is a great example of this type of presentation. Team stand up presentations usually include an agenda, talking points, deliverable updates, discussion topics, and time for questions at the end. This presentation keeps everyone organized and focused, ensuring that everyone is still on the same page and working towards the same end goal.
Whichever Presentation Type You Choose, Create it With Beautiful.ai
Now that you know which presentation type is right for your project, it’s time to create a beautiful and effective presentation. With Beautiful.ai, you don’t need to set aside hours of time to build your presentation, nor do you need design expertise to do it. Use one of our many presentation templates that can be customized for your needs in minutes. No matter what type of presentation you create, Beautiful.ai can help you do it.
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