Whether you’re developing a presentation for a conference or a meeting with potential customers, great design can take your slides from average to awesome.
PowerPoint is a great tool to showcase an idea or a proposal in a very engaging way. It’s also ideal when you want to present a lot of information and make it easy for your audience to absorb the main ideas with just a few bullet points or charts.
This article will provide you with a few tips on how to make presentations that impress.
1. Always use Slide Master
Instead of designing each slide separately, save time, effort, and hard drive space by using Slide Master to create eye-catching templates. Include your animation process in the same step so you get a 100% ready-to-use design. Use Slide Master to set elements that appear on all slides such as the header, footer, page numbers, etc. You can use it to create different layout templates like a section page, title page, or agenda.
Instead of designing each slide separately, save time, effort, and hard drive space by using Slide Master to create eye-catching templates. Include your animation process in the same step so you get a 100% ready-to-use design. Use Slide Master to set elements that appear on all slides such as the header, footer, page numbers, etc. You can use it to create different layout templates like a section page, title page, or agenda.
2. Maintain a consistent visual style
Creating your own theme is an important way to maintain your brand guidelines and represent your company or brand in a consistent way. All the fonts, colors, layout, and animations should be consistent in their feel and look. Whatever the topic of your presentation, be sure to stick to one look and feel. If you use a different style for every slide, you’ll end up with a messy, unprofessional-looking presentation. The shapes you use, placement of text boxes, and style of charts and graphs should also be consistent throughout the presentation.
Creating your own theme is an important way to maintain your brand guidelines and represent your company or brand in a consistent way. All the fonts, colors, layout, and animations should be consistent in their feel and look. Whatever the topic of your presentation, be sure to stick to one look and feel. If you use a different style for every slide, you’ll end up with a messy, unprofessional-looking presentation. The shapes you use, placement of text boxes, and style of charts and graphs should also be consistent throughout the presentation.
3. Use high-quality graphics
Graphics add a lot to the design of a presentation, but using a poor-quality, low-resolution image will detract from the entire presentation rather than improving it. Once you’ve added your images to the presentation, make sure they’re aligned and look like they’re visually related. You can do this by using a grid to line them up or cropping them into different shapes like circles. Also avoid using clipart from PowerPoint, which can be very generic.
Graphics add a lot to the design of a presentation, but using a poor-quality, low-resolution image will detract from the entire presentation rather than improving it. Once you’ve added your images to the presentation, make sure they’re aligned and look like they’re visually related. You can do this by using a grid to line them up or cropping them into different shapes like circles. Also avoid using clipart from PowerPoint, which can be very generic.
4. Avoid clutter
Don’t try to cram too much onto a slide—less is more. Keep each point or summary short. If there’s too much content, split it up onto more than one slide. Too many pictures, words, tables, colors, or animations will only end up overwhelming or confusing your audience. Keep the information to a minimum if possible, so you can organize and design it for maximum impact. An ideal slide will contain a headline, 3-6 bullet points, and a picture or graph. You can always add extra talking points in the Notes section that you can speak to during the presentation. This will enable you to keep the information on the slide high level and clutter-free.
Don’t try to cram too much onto a slide—less is more. Keep each point or summary short. If there’s too much content, split it up onto more than one slide. Too many pictures, words, tables, colors, or animations will only end up overwhelming or confusing your audience. Keep the information to a minimum if possible, so you can organize and design it for maximum impact. An ideal slide will contain a headline, 3-6 bullet points, and a picture or graph. You can always add extra talking points in the Notes section that you can speak to during the presentation. This will enable you to keep the information on the slide high level and clutter-free.
5. Don’t get too fancy with fonts
While different fonts can enhance the presentation and add visual interest, sticking with easy-to-read fonts is always the best choice. For corporate presentations, avoid overly stylish or whimsical fonts. For more informal topics, feel free to use fonts that match the topic as long as they’re still legible. Font size is also very important. As a general rule, use a font size of at least 24 points for headings and 14 points for the body copy.
While different fonts can enhance the presentation and add visual interest, sticking with easy-to-read fonts is always the best choice. For corporate presentations, avoid overly stylish or whimsical fonts. For more informal topics, feel free to use fonts that match the topic as long as they’re still legible. Font size is also very important. As a general rule, use a font size of at least 24 points for headings and 14 points for the body copy.
Note: With PowerPoint for Mac, fonts aren’t embedded. That means if you share the presentation or view it on another computer that doesn’t have that font, PowerPoint will use a different font and your presentation may not render correctly.
6. Use color carefully
Colors are one of the main components when designing a presentation. When used in a smart way, they can add a lot to the style. Colors are usually used in accordance with the logo or brand colors of the company. A logo can have one or more colors, so decide which one is the most prominent or best for presentations, and use that color for most things. If there is no brand color, use colors that highly contrast each other. For example, if you’re using a dark color in the background, try using white on top of it. A black background with white font is the most contrasting combination. Never use colors that are similar or match each other, like pink on red. They’ll not only be difficult to read but also look bad. Red fonts should only be used for errors or warnings. Don’t make your slide a rainbow of colors. Stick to 2-3 colors per slide and keep the same color, or at least the same color style, for the whole presentation.
Colors are one of the main components when designing a presentation. When used in a smart way, they can add a lot to the style. Colors are usually used in accordance with the logo or brand colors of the company. A logo can have one or more colors, so decide which one is the most prominent or best for presentations, and use that color for most things. If there is no brand color, use colors that highly contrast each other. For example, if you’re using a dark color in the background, try using white on top of it. A black background with white font is the most contrasting combination. Never use colors that are similar or match each other, like pink on red. They’ll not only be difficult to read but also look bad. Red fonts should only be used for errors or warnings. Don’t make your slide a rainbow of colors. Stick to 2-3 colors per slide and keep the same color, or at least the same color style, for the whole presentation.
7. Bring it to life with animation
Animation can take a presentation from boring to inspiring. Add animation that suits the topic and the content. Avoid cluttering the presentation with too many animated elements or overly complex animations. Don’t use any animation that diverts the audience’s focus from the content or from the presenter. Slow and simple animations best suit corporate presentations while faster animation can be used for more informal topics. The purpose of animation is to help better define and enhance the content, not to overwhelm or distract. If there’s too much content on a slide and you don’t want to split it into multiple slides, animation is the best solution. For example, if you have a list of five steps, you can use animation to reveal one step at a time.
Animation can take a presentation from boring to inspiring. Add animation that suits the topic and the content. Avoid cluttering the presentation with too many animated elements or overly complex animations. Don’t use any animation that diverts the audience’s focus from the content or from the presenter. Slow and simple animations best suit corporate presentations while faster animation can be used for more informal topics. The purpose of animation is to help better define and enhance the content, not to overwhelm or distract. If there’s too much content on a slide and you don’t want to split it into multiple slides, animation is the best solution. For example, if you have a list of five steps, you can use animation to reveal one step at a time.
8. Create eye-catching charts
Charts are a great way to present a lot of data in one easy-to-digest graphic. Be smart how you use color and be very clear what story the chart is telling. What’s the most important thing you want your chart to communicate? Use only as many data points as your audience needs to know. Avoid cluttering it with text, numbers, or extra lines. If a lot of text is needed, use reference numbers in circles and put the details under the chart.
Charts are a great way to present a lot of data in one easy-to-digest graphic. Be smart how you use color and be very clear what story the chart is telling. What’s the most important thing you want your chart to communicate? Use only as many data points as your audience needs to know. Avoid cluttering it with text, numbers, or extra lines. If a lot of text is needed, use reference numbers in circles and put the details under the chart.
9. Take a step back
Once your presentation is almost done, take a look at it as a whole. Does it tell a powerful story? Do all the little details work together? Is it communicating what you want it to communicate? Will it resonate with your audience? Don’t be afraid to break the rules, not all of them are always applicable. For design inspiration, check out well-executed presentations from design firms such as Duarte for ideas. For technical advice, visit Microsoft’s help center. Explore, play with features, try new things, and come up with a powerful presentation that resonates with you and your target audience.
Once your presentation is almost done, take a look at it as a whole. Does it tell a powerful story? Do all the little details work together? Is it communicating what you want it to communicate? Will it resonate with your audience? Don’t be afraid to break the rules, not all of them are always applicable. For design inspiration, check out well-executed presentations from design firms such as Duarte for ideas. For technical advice, visit Microsoft’s help center. Explore, play with features, try new things, and come up with a powerful presentation that resonates with you and your target audience.
PowerPoint is packed with features and design possibilities. With these tips in mind, your next presentation is sure to wow your audience. Good luck!
Source :UPWORK
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