Anyone can make PowerPoint presentations. But it doesn’t mean that everyone can create visually stunning presentation designs. Most of the presenters have never actually learned the presentation design principles. However, they are necessary to impact audiences through visual storytelling.
A PowerPoint presentation full of bullet points, overused stock photos, and bland color schemes is the closest thing to a great presentation we can see these days. So, what differentiates a good presentation from a poor one? The answer is simple - content and design. Your speech may be perfect, but the images you show can greatly add or detract from your message.
In this article by DeckRobot, we share some tips that will help you create well-designed presentations that effectively get your point across!
Before you start thinking about presentation design ideas, you need to know who your audience is so you can plan accordingly. If you’re presenting in front of professionals, then you need to design your presentation accordingly. Otherwise, you’ll risk offending your audience by subjecting them to visual torture.
Many people simply choose a design template in the PowerPoint or download it from the Internet, insert the text, create bullet points for each slide, add a few stock images here and there—and they are done! That’s not the case if you really want to impress your audience.
Using the slide themes included in the PowerPoint is the worst idea. They’re overused, boring and usually pretty ugly.
According to the most effective speakers you have to get rid of filled with text, bullet-ridden slides in favor of highly visual presentations that reinforce your words. While we can process images in as little as 13 milliseconds, according to one of the latest studies, the text takes considerably longer to process.
Visuals are vital for any great presentation but this doesn’t mean that picture will exceed the power of the word. One thing will always reign supreme: the power of storytelling. This is why well-designed slides will always start with a good story and good content—not the other way around.
Professional design experts suggest using 2-3 colors throughout your entire presentation design. The advice is to use one color for the foreground, another for the background base, and the third one for accents. This advice makes sense for those who don’t want a variety of colors on their slides as it could be very distracting to the audience.
Images play a huge role in getting your message across. If you’ve got the right image on your slide, you don’t need to do a lot of explaining. You can add a two-word or three-word description, and that’s it. Your audience will know exactly what you’re referring to. Images help make your presentation more visual but don’t get carried away with too many on one slide. It’s a presentation, not a photo album. Limit your designs to a single image with simple or no text.
When you’re designing your presentation on a laptop have in mind that that’s a much different size than the final presentation you’ll be presenting from the screen. When sizing your fonts, make sure that the text should be large enough to be read by the person in the back of the room. Also, don’t be overwhelmed when choosing fonts. Sans-serif is usually the font of choice because it’s easier to read.
Just like images, icons can convey messages without using up too much space on your slides. Icons not only free up space, but they also add to the design especially if you use well-designed icons. It’s also best to use icons from the same icon pack as they would have the same look and feel.
To make your presentation really appealing, you need a high level of contrast between your text and the background. If your background image features a lot of variation, portions of your text may not be legible. In that case, a stylish bar of color behind the image can bring the legibility back while adding visual interest.
A crowded slide is not pleasing to look at. The solution is to have well-spaced elements on the slide.#nbsp; If there’s too much text, too many icons, and images on a single slide, your audience would be confused by the message you’re trying to convey. The design principle “less is more” is very useful in presentations. It not only keeps your presentations simple but also allows you to direct your audience’s attention to the section or subject you want them to focus on.
No matter what your presentation content, make sure you are always using design to your full advantage. With the right combination of design elements, you too can create awesome-looking presentations. Just remember the reason you’re giving out the presentation in the first place – it’s because you’re sharing an important message to your audience. To make this process a matter of a few seconds we suggest you using the DeckRobot plugin for PowerPoint. Using the plugin allows you to save up to 40% of your working time. You can easily adjust all the visual elements in each slide of your presentation like fixing headers, footers, background, logo, font, color pallet according to the chosen corporate guidelines, and much more.
