Experimenting with Your Presentation Design

In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered what came to be known as his “Above All, Try Something” speech at a small Southern university. He was the governor of New York at the time, and the nation was engulfed in the Great Depression. During that speech, he delivered this line: “the country demands bold, persistent experimentation.” FDR wasn’t touting a conclusive answer to a complex problem. Rather, he was encouraging Americans everywhere to think outside of the box. To get busy experimenting.

When is the last time you experimented with your presentation design? Are you using the same slide deck you used 5 years ago? 10 years ago? Do you opt for the same template or format every time? What if you switched things up and, in the spirit of FDR, pursued “bold, persistent experimentation” with your presentations?

Today, we’ll look at why experimentation makes us uncomfortable and offer some tips that can help you experiment with your presentation design.

What is it about experimentation that makes us so uncomfortable?

1. When we experiment, we could fail. Did you know fear of failure is called atychiphobia? Why is this fear so prevalent? Well, it’s because we associate failure with loss. It could be loss of “face” (how others perceive us). Or loss of time spent working on something that didn’t end up working out. It could also be loss of self-esteem. We feel badly about ourselves when we don’t succeed. All of these losses pile up and keep us from wanting to try something new lest we fail.

2. We are comfortable with the status quo. We stick to our comfort zone. In order to see why, it’s helpful to look at how psychologists and behaviorists define comfort zone: “the comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.” So, the comfort zone reduces our anxiety because it doesn’t require us to risk anything. But look at that part right in the middle: “deliver a steady level of performance.” That means no growth, no acceleration, no promotion, no progress. This type of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” thinking leads us to settle for “just okay.” When all the while, an innovative and impactful presentation could be right around the corner.

How to experiment with your presentation design

So we know that we need to experiment if we want to create better presentations. Here’s how to get started.

1. Revise an old presentation as practice. Since we know that experimentation can be uncomfortable, start with an old presentation, one you’ve already given. That way there’s really no reason to fear failing. If you don’t like the look of your revised slide deck when you finish, you can just revert to the original design. As you revise, try to look at the slide deck with fresh eyes. What could you change? Get creative. Try new colors, images, layouts, elements, sequences, and more. And check out these tips on how to be more creative.

2. Incorporate multimedia elements. If you’ve never produced a presentation slide deck with video, animation, or music before, try it! Audiences of today want multimedia presentations that mimic the dynamic media they engage with every day. As Forbes writer, Lyndsi Stafford says, “Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it on video, compared to 10% when reading it in a text. So adding multimedia elements can help you break out of your rut, along with helping with content retention.

3. Get inspired. One of the best ways to get a fresh look for your slide deck is to see what others are doing. Study the current trends and use those to inspire you. Here are a few of my favorite places to look for presentation design trends:

4. Make multiple versions. The next time you are working on a presentation slide deck, commit to making 2 or 3 different versions. This will force you to experiment during the design process. Then, gather feedback from a few people on the different versions of your design. This will help you understand what does and doesn’t resonate with potential audiences.

We believe FDR was on to something. The best ideas do often come from “bold, persistent experimentation.” Don’t be afraid to try something new in your presentation design. Not every idea you have will work. And that’s okay. But you’ll hone and sharpen your design skills as you experiment. And the end result of your commitment to experimentation will be better presentation slide decks and better presentations.

If you feel like your presentation design is fresh, but your message content and delivery is still stuck in a rut, check out these 4 tips. And to find out how we can help you take your presentations to the next level, reach out now.

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