PowerPoint can be a valuable tool to convey information and is a great way to engage visual learners. Even if the spoken presentation is well rehearsed, a bad visual experience can ruin it for the audience. That’s why it’s always best to enlist the help of a designer, so that your slides look polished, professional and on-brand. Here are our tips for creating a successful presentation…
Keep it Simple
Keep your design as clutter free as possible so that it is easy for people to process. White space should be used generously as it sets the tone of your design and gives more impact to your message. If you feel your slide is beginning to look a bit too busy with too much happening, then split your message out over several slides.
When it comes to text, remember that less is more. Headlines should be bold and stand out on the page. You can use bullet points to get across your key messages and make sure you keep the text brief and to the point.
Keep the design consistent
Having one style for one slide and then a different style for another can be jarring to the audience. The design of your presentation should be in keeping with your brand. The same fonts should be used and ideally you should stick to no more than two font families. A template can be created with certain features you want to remain consistent throughout the whole presentation. For example this one we created for Vestey (pictured below) has the orange and red lines at the top and bottom of each page, the logo on the right hand corner and the headline in the same colour, font, size and location on every page.
Make it visual
Nothing makes peoples’ eyes glaze over faster than a text-heavy slide, or slide after slide of just text . We understand images instantly. We have to work to process text. In fact, the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than it does text. Therefore the use of large, powerful images will get your point across quicker as well as looking visually appealing. You should make sure your images are of good quality and not pixelated.
Avoid using distracting graphics, such as clipart, that do not offer value and can make your presentation appear tacky. Infographics can be used to break up the monotony of words, these should be simple, easy to follow and use the same colours and fonts as your brand.
Tell a story
Every presentation should start with an intro and an end slide, these need to instantly grab the audiences attention. Storytelling has always been an effective way to convey information and make it more memorable. So, don’t just give information, facts, and figures on your slides. See if there is a theme you can tie throughout your whole presentation. Just like a story, your presentation should have a good structure to it and should flow easily.
If you’ve ever had to present to a group of people, you will know how intimidating it can be. You can relieve a lot of this pressure by putting some groundwork in and preparing an engaging visual presentation that is sure to impress your audience.