Presentation design should never, ever be an afterthought. It deserves the kind of attention you give to your first date outfit, your bedroom paint color, or your new car purchase contract. The good news is that with a little time and intentionality, you can create truly beautiful presentation slides.
The online Oxford dictionary says that beauty is “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.” You may have heard the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But just because you gaze on your old slides with love doesn’t mean they are universally appealing or that they have aged gracefully. We need slides that look fresh and will appeal to your audience. These 5 tips can help you create beautiful presentations.
1. A cohesive color palette
One of the quickest ways to make your presentation design beautiful is to use an attractive color palette. If you aren’t familiar with color theory, you might want to start with this article on five ways to build a color palette. My favorite place to start when designing is with the Adobe color page. I’d suggest you start by clicking on the explore button at the top of the page. Then, search for color palettes that catch your eye. They need to work well with any company branding colors you may be using. They also need to fit the mood of your presentation. Once you find one that works, you can copy the color hex codes directly from Adobe and import them into your slide program by pasting the hex code into your custom colors menu.
2. An easy-to-read font
A second way to make your presentation design more beautiful is to use an attractive font. If you think that means a cursive script, back away slowly. The main thing you need to know when choosing is a font is that it needs to be easy to read from the distance from which your audience will be viewing it. Take into account the size of the font, the shape of the font, and the way all the letters look in both capital and lowercase form. K Design Co. has put together 20 Canva font pairings that can give you some great ideas. Also check out our blog on 4 things to consider when choosing a font.
3. Simplified slides
One of the quickest ways to make your presentation design more beautiful is to take things out, or, at the very least, spread things out. A common mistake presenters make is to cram too many things onto one slide which makes it look cluttered. And clutter can wreak havoc on our brains. Mikael Cho says, “Whether it be your closet or office desk, excess things in your surroundings can have a negative impact on your ability to focus and process information. That’s exactly what neuroscientists at Princeton University found when they looked at people’s task performance in an organized versus disorganized environment.” So remember to leave out anything that doesn’t directly help your audience to understand your point. If it’s not actively helping them, it’s probably distracting them. And it’s not making your slides look any better.
4. Contrast
Any good designer knows that a little pop of color, a play on dark and light, or even some different textures can elevate a design. Things that are different draw our attention powerfully. So you’ll definitely want to use contrast in your slides. However, you should do so sparingly and with a clear purpose for why you are using it. When I give presentations, I like to direct my audience’s attention by using a contrasting color on the slide. For example, when I recently presented at conference in Nashville about the difference between misinformation and disinformation, I put the following words on the slide: “Misinformation is a mistake. Disinformation is deliberate.” I chose to put the words “mistake” and “deliberate” in a contrasting color from the rest of the text. This contrast underscored that the primary difference between misinformation and disinformation boils down to the intent of the person. This contrast not only made the slide more beautiful, it made it more meaningful as well.
5. Controlled movement
Movement, like contrast, attracts our attention and can be really beautiful when used correctly. But it’s also one of the quickest ways presentation design can get cheesy or feel outdated. This is the point at which I implore you to avoid using PowerPoint animations like “random bars” and “bounce.” Those movements might have been cool a couple decades ago, but they just look clunky now. The movement you want to aim for should add to the mood and overall communication of your ideas. Recently I attended the dissertation defense of a friend who was likening reading to breathing. As she presented, elements on her slides faded in and out, mimicking breath. The subtle movement kept our attention without distracting us, all the while making us conscious of our own breathing. The movement she incorporated was truly beautiful, drawing us in deeper to her ideas. Check out these ideas from Canva for how to create movement in your next design.
You may not be a professional designer, but it’s not beyond your reach to create a beautiful presentation. Think color, font, simplicity, contrast, and movement. When you keep these 5 design tips in mind, you can elevate both the look of your slides and the impact they have on your audience.
Check out some of the beautiful presentation designs in our portfolio and get in touch with us if you want more information on how Ethos3 can help with your next big presentation.
