How to Build a Presentation Archive That Can be Used Time and Again


You may have spent countless hours perfecting your presentation. Much to your delight, it really resonated with audiences and ended up being a huge success. It may be a while before you have to present again, but that doesn’t mean you should get rid of this fabulous presentation and start over when the time comes.

Creating an engaging slideshow presentation takes a tremendous amount of time and hard work, and the truth is, you don’t need to start every new presentation from scratch. There are many times when it is appropriate to reuse slides and presentations, and this can be a huge timesaver. In addition to saving time, you will already have some familiarity with the slides, given that you have presented them before. This can actually make you a more seasoned and confident presenter. Therefore, it is to your advantage to build a presentation archive that can be used time and again. Here are some quick tips to think about when creating presentations to be archived and repurposed. 

Choose a Standardized Format Across All Your Slides

When you are creating presentations for your archive, try to stick with the same format across all the slides. If each presentation has a different color palette, font, background, and style, it can be difficult to to combine slides from different presentations. Since different styles and formats can be distracting to audiences, it is best to stick with a style that is uniform across all of your presentations. This ensures that your slideshow will still be cohesive even if you are reusing slides from different presentations. 

Keep the Same Points, but Change Your Examples and Narratives

An easy way to repurpose a presentation is to use the same key points and overall message, but change the examples and personal narratives. Since a slideshow is only intended to act as a guide, the majority of the presentation should come from the actual speaker. This means you can keep the slideshow as is, but change what you actually say by using different examples and different stories for each presentation. You may even be able to dive a little deeper with a new audience who is more familiar with your topic than a previous audience. . 

Tailor Your Presentation to Each New Audience

You don’t need to completely reinvent the wheel each time you give a presentation, but you do need to make small adjustments to tailor your message to each new audience. For example, you might want to adjust your presentation if you are speaking to a group of empowered females so that it is unique from the presentation you gave to a group of investors. The key is to use specific examples, unique experiences, and content that is relevant to each specific audience. 

Repurpose Your Presentations into Other Forms of Content

People interpret information differently when it is presented in different ways. Some may like it presented in a video tutorial while others prefer to read it. You can make the most of your archived content by repurposing it into other forms. Think of it as giving your old content a makeover, which will make it appear fresh and unique. Here are some examples of those other forms of content:

  • Webinars
  • Blog posts
  • Podcasts
  • Video tutorials
  • Individual Images to be shared on social media platforms
  • Infographics
  • Articles