Originally published 8/10/21, Updated 4/30/24.
Whether you’re hosting a virtual employee benefits fair, an in-person open enrollment fair, or a hybrid version of a benefits presentation, one of the most critical aspects of this event is the presentation itself. The slide deck serves as the visual foundation for the kick-off to open enrollment. With five generations in the workforce, your employees have varying benefits needs as they hit different life milestones, so effectively communicating open enrollment information to a diverse audience is critical. And let’s face it, this year you may have to deliver some bad news or announce changes to your benefits package and need to find a way to do communicate empathetically and effectively.
Use our list of seven open enrollment presentation ideas to spruce up your slide deck or create a new version. We’re also offering tips and tricks to make this event less boring and more engaging for your employees.
1. Create concise and simple slides
The PowerPoint or slide deck presentation for your open enrollment meeting 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. Avoid the dreaded wall of 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
Some of your team members are going to be bored during your presentation or might even zone out. It’s human nature. We have other things on our mind. After all, open enrollment isn’t as exciting as binging a new series.
An efficient and organized presentation will help you keep their attention as best 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 might also want to 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
You know what’s a snooze fest? 💤 Slide after slide of nothing but text. 🥱 Variety is the spice of life, so spice up your open enrollment presentation with various visuals. For a simple and quick addition, include relevant stock images or graphics 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 (ideal for a virtual benefits fair), 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 of 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 presentation yet. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your people. Document it to improve for next year.
Starting from scratch? Download our open enrollment communication templates for presentation slides that’ll help you communicate your benefits offerings to employees. You’ll also find open enrollment email campaigns, postcards, flyers, and more.
Happy presenting!
