Originally published 8/10/21, Updated 5/16/25.
Your open enrollment presentation isn’t just another box to check off your to-do list—it’s a strategic opportunity to demonstrate how much your organization is invested in your employees. A well-thought-out presentation can transform confusion into clarity and anxiety into confidence.
But how do you show, not tell? Well, your employees need to know that you have their well-being at heart. And for you, this translates to empathetically and effectively communicating your benefits package so they have the information they need to make truly personalized choices that align with their lifestyle—be it managing a chronic condition, planning for a family, or navigating retirement planning.
Looking for ways to make this year’s enrollment your most engaging yet? Here are seven ideas to update your open enrollment presentation deck to make an impact.
1. Create concise and simple slides
Your open enrollment PowerPoint presentation doesn’t need to be a comprehensive rehash of everything you plan to say. Instead, it should serve as a visual guide to reinforce key information and important concepts related to your benefits package.
First things first, you should record your presentation for folks to refer back to and those who can’t attend. Secondly, send out the presentation deck itself with your notes for further information on what was discussed during each slide. Both steps will allow you to keep the actual slides clean and simple, helping employees understand their benefits plans rather than overwhelming them.
Clean up that design! 🧹
The overall design of your slides is key.
Keep the following tips in mind when updating or creating your presentation:
- Try to present only one big idea on each slide.
- Don’t overcrowd the space with excess text.
- Use large, clear font, not small type or fancy scripts.
- Include visual cues to break up information, i.e., headers, subheads, bullets, etc.
- Long lists of bullet points defeat the point of bullet points (they’re walls of text in disguise!) Try to stick to 3-5 bullets, max.
- Leave white space so folks can digest what’s on screen.
2. Remember, organization is your friend
While you can’t guarantee that every employee will listen to everything shared during your presentation, an efficient and organized presentation will help you keep their attention as much as possible.
Start with an outline slide that states the goal of your presentation with the sections you’ll cover. Number sections accordingly on each slide, so folks understand where you are in the progression of the meeting. Here’s an example:
You should also include a main takeaway, for instance, a “so what” slide or bullet point after each section. Wrapping up with a “what this means for you” summary helps your audience contextualize why that information matters, and hopefully, remember the important details.
3. Be consistent about names and acronyms
The world of benefits is a complex land, full of conflicting names, descriptions, and acronyms. For example, one vendor may call it to-may-to while another says to-mah-to.
You can circumvent the confusion by keeping your benefits definitions consistent and clearly explaining acronyms and terms. Consistency will help with your overall organization as well. (Which, as you remember from the previous section, is our buddy). For example, if you name a section “Health insurance plans” in your open enrollment presentation and then call it “HMOs, PPOs, and HDHPs” in your benefits guide, you’re going to confuse people unnecessarily
4. Include visuals and graphics
Break up your slides with visuals. For a simple and quick addition, include relevant stock images or visuals for the text. (Think: a picture of a family when talking about family coverage).
Next, turn to the more serious visual representations—data-backed graphics. Cold, hard numbers often tell a better story than anecdotes. And the good news? It doesn’t have to be super complex! Most presentation platforms offer easy plug-and-play table and chart creation tools. For example, you could create a bar graph to visually explain how much money you can save with an HSA over five years or compare max out-of-pocket expenses depending on health care plans.
Especially with rising healthcare costs and inflation, employees want to know how to save more money on their healthcare plans. Use visualizations to show them exactly how much they could put back into their pockets, depending on the plans they choose.
The Jellyvision Custom Solutions team can create customized messaging for your open enrollment presentations and more!
5. Incorporate humor and levity
Talking about benefits can get dull and in the weeds—fast. We understand that more than anyone, which is why ALEX keeps it light, conversational, and engaging. You can use that same formula for your open enrollment presentation.
Multimedia moments, like memes and GIFs can help break up the monotony. Remind your people it’s okay to laugh, even though you’re reviewing serious information.
6. Leave time for questions
Save a time block in your schedule for employee questions. At the beginning of your open enrollment presentation, encourage your team members to put their questions in the Zoom chat or write them down so they don’t forget. Then, once you’re done presenting, open up the floor.
If folks are shy with questions, have a few FAQs prepared as a plan B. This might get the ball rolling and encourage others to speak up.
7. Take a practice run
If you’re sprucing up your open enrollment presentation and changing around the flow of information, it only makes sense to test it out first. Round up your human resource team and have a dry run with the new slide deck to make sure you’re not missing any of the finer details.
Or if time/availability allows, get an outside perspective from another employee who can tell you if anything is unclear.
With a new presentation, this also gives you the chance to time it.
Open enrollment PowerPoint templates to steal
When brainstorming how to present benefits to employees during open enrollment, a good old-fashioned slide deck is still one of the best tools.
But you can’t stop there. You or the HR team member making the presentation needs to communicate clear and concise information. With the help of some humor, visuals, and organization, you can ensure this is your best open enrollment presentation yet. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your people. Document it to improve for next year.
An engaging open enrollment presentation is only one part of your communication plan. Download our open enrollment communication templates that will help you explain your benefits offerings to employees. You’ll get access to email campaigns, postcards, flyers, and more.
