One of the most important aspects of a great presentation is design. Presentation design is a fun and creative way to make your message stand out and stay in the minds of your audience. For some presenters, design may not come as easy as writing the presentation. But don’t worry, there are some key steps to help guide you through the presentation design process. Here are five steps to follow that all presenters should know.
Step 1: Choose a style.
To make your presentation look uniform and polished, make sure you are incorporating the same fonts, colors, graphics and overall style across every slide. This will amplify your professional look and impress your audience. PowerPoint, Keynote and other presentation software comes with templates to choose from the incorporate the same colors and fonts. Make sure you don’t break away from in your presentation design as you work on each slide.
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Step 2: Organize your design.
If you plan on using a lot of charts, graphs, or illustrations in your presentation design, make sure there’s a balance. Back to back charts and graphs can be overwhelming for the audience as they try to take in all the information. Spread out your heavy content slides with simple slides so that there’s a nice flow through all your content.
Step 3: Go big with the visuals.
The bigger your visuals are, the more impact your presentation will have. According to the Picture Superiority Effect, humans can more easily recall information when it is presented with graphics or images than with text. So, stay away from the bullet point list and instead use a visual representation or a single word to highlight the main idea behind the slide. Make the most important bit of information on the slide stand out by increasing the font size and giving it a different color. This will boost your presentation design and stand out to your audience.
Read More: The Science of Memorable Presentations
Step 4: Remember your branding.
If you are giving a presentation on the behalf of your company, make sure your branding is part of your presentation design. This may determine what colors and fonts you use. It is helpful to stick with your brand guideline as you work on your presentation design. But it’s also important to consider expanding your branding to include more design elements like icons, illustrations and typography. If you are presenting a personal presentation, you can create your own personal branding. Make a logo that you can use within your presentation as well as on business cards and one sheets.
Step 5: Test run your presentation.
After you have chosen a set of colors and fonts, organized your content, created big visuals and incorporated your branding, test it out. Presenters should always practice their presentation before the main event. Use a test audience and ask them for feedback on your presentation design. If you filled your deck with animations and fancy graphics, make sure they all work as you intended before your event. The last thing you want is for all your hard work to go to waste because a chart got cut off or a bar graph won’t animate. Also, make sure your presentation is compatible with the event space you will be working in. This will give you great peace of mind before you deliver your message.
A great presentation design can elevate your message and leave a lasting impact on your fans. These five steps will get you started in the right direction.
More from the Ethos3 Blog:
The Science of Memorable Data Visualizations
How To Rehearse For A Presentation
Public Speakers Need A Personal Brand. Here’s How To Build Yours
