Have you ever dozed off in a presentation? I have and in all the presentations I have been to. All these presentations had a few things in common. Same default template, same boring colors, no pictures, too much text and too many bullets. Some even had hard-to-read fonts, I did not even understand if it was because of the font size or font style (or both).
Well, here are some simple tips for your presentation that will help you not lose your audience after slide no:3
Well, here are some simple tips for your presentation that will help you not lose your audience after slide no:3
- Do not use pre-existing templates as it creates an "oh man! not again!" perception - you lose your audience from the very first slide
- Try to be creative in your thinking and colour choices. Color visuals increase willingness to read and participate if used right. Color enhances learning and improves retention
- Use pictures (the right pictures) try getting pictures that are meaningful and that compliments the color of your template and that compliments the color of your concept
- Use as minimal text as possible. Say what has to be said and not what could also be said
- Too much of information on a single page is a bad idea. Your audience wont even read it. Trust me "been there done that". If there is too much of text that HAS to be said, split it into pages that are continuos and consistent in the positioning of objects and text and the usage of color
- Do not use serif fonts as it decreases readability
- This is sans serif (Arial)
- This is serif (Times Roman) i dont think this is pleasing to read
- Do not use a font size less than 20. Use any lesser and you end up giving a headache to your audience
- To balance the slide always place your objects in the middle and centre of your work area
- Use objects consistently e.g., if you use a rectangle for a slide to show the take-away point and on the very next slide you put a bubble to show the same, it isnt a good idea. Objects and colors play an important role in cognitive recognition.
- Use blank slides in between to drag the attention back to you. May be a black slide or a white slide. But not any reds or greens for Christ's sake, please..
- Withstand the urge to use animations unless it is necessary. There is nothing like using the right animation to explain a concept, a story, a process, a cycle. But restrict yourself from using slide transitions like wipe and swipe and blinds and checker-boxes and dumb transitions. You just might slide-swipe your audience to snore loud at you. My suggestion is if you do not know when and where to use transitions and animations, just restrict yourself from delving into it coz if you screw up, your going to look silly. Get an expert to do the job
- Avoid shapes that convey no meaning or you think does not add value to the slide. Simplicity is the key to great presentations.
- Avoid patterns in the background. They reduce readability and is a pain in the----EYE ;-)
