If we’re conveying well, it’s not just the message but the picture. A solid slide deck can better present your argument more clearly, more intriguingly, and ultimately more persuasively. If you’re giving a pitch to customers, your peers, or a room of thousands, a couple of design tricks and methods in your back pocket are worth their weight in gold. Here are some tips on how to deliver a memorable presentation.
First, keep your slides simple and brief. It’s tempting to clutter each slide with words and images, but this blows your audience away. Instead, use simplicity and focus on what matters most: the words you will be speaking. Use few words and skip big blocks of text. A concise, simple headline and a related picture or graphic is often more helpful than an information-heavy slide.
Second, include graphics. Human minds process images faster than words and therefore including the same images, infographics, and videos can make your presentation better. Make an effort to ensure that your images align with your message such that each photo is worthwhile and reinforces what you are discussing. You can even use an Adobe Express online presentation maker for free to prepare effective presentations without much hassle. This tool offers various templates and themes, which are easy to use to produce professional slides without requiring advanced designing capabilities.
Color and contrast. Color scheme aids a lot in affecting mood in presentations and poor decisions make the entire situation worse from communication. Include uniform color effects by means of a good consistent color scheme aiding the presentation and its message by keeping appropriate contrasting to display any text and having a proper representation of what things are accent-color-important for illustration.
Apart from colors, fonts also contribute significantly to readability and aesthetics of your slides. Employ clean and contemporary fonts that are readable. Shun fonts with too much ornamentation and can be difficult to read, particularly when looking from a distance. Consistency works here too—try to limit font usage to a few, such as two or three, and keep repeating them throughout your presentation.
Less is more with transitions and animations. While the temptation to employ flashy transitions is great, they do detract and distract from the message. Employ subtle transition that enhances the presentation flow and employ animations judiciously to emphasize the key points.
The final secret to success is rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Your presentation will be tidy, so yes. But delivery matters, too. Rehearse your timing, your delivery, and your engagement with your audience so that you are not just reading the slides but interacting with your listeners in any way.
Finally, anticipate the worst. Technical issues will always occur, so having a backup for your presentation is imperative. A printout or an alternate presentation on another computer is just one of the possibilities, but being prepared for anything is that you are still able to get your point across despite a glitch.
With these tips in your back pocket, you can create presentations that are stunning and, at the same time, very effective in getting your point across. With special tools, you can quickly and effectively create professional presentations, meaning your job is just a tad easier. Whether you’re presenting to a client or meeting with your team, well-presented presentations can be the difference-maker in getting your ideas across.
