This document discusses poor presentation slide design. It notes that slides are often filled with too much unimportant text that presenters just read, lack organization and proper formatting. Specific poor design elements called out include typos, lack of alignment, repetition, unrelated stock images, and small or hard to read text and fonts. The document suggests improving slides by unifying design, having a clear purpose on each slide, using proximity, alignment and your own effective images instead of stock ones. It advises preparing well, being respectful of the audience, taking ownership of the presentation, and knowing when design rules can be broken for effectiveness.
6. DOEST THIS SLIDE LOOK FAMILIAR?
It’s completely full of text and the
presenter is just standing there
reading it with their back to you.
They just keep droning on and on
with infomation that they *think*
may be important but aren’t exacly
sure because they were either too
stupid or too lazy to remove all…
7. THE SAGA CONTINUES…
…the unimportant stuff that really
didn’t matter anyway. And by now I
bet you can’t remember the title of
the last slide or the fact that it
contained three typos.
So listen to me when I say…
28. EFFECTIVE IMAGES
T-800 comes from the future
to keep John Connor, the
future leader of the
rebellion, from being
killed by the T-1000.
They play cat-and-mouse
until Arnold is able to
destroy the T-1000. He
then must destroy himself
to complete his mission.
THREE PARTS TO A GOOD PRESO:
CONTENT
SLIDE DESIGN
PRESENTATION
3-LEGGED STOOL
IT all starts with content
Simplify
Three
Unify
Point
Ideal
Define
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
Know your audience: newbs or uber brains?
Newbs: don’t lose them! broad strokes, key points, thought provokers
Ubers: don’t waste their time! get to the meat, dig deep, new info
I would have written you a shorter letter but I didn’t have the time. – Mark Twain
Message loses impact
Audience loses focus
You lose credibility
Proven as best way people remember
Happens in nature, we can ID patterns and relationships
Works in design too: rule of thirds
Stick to the message
Avoid tangents, anything that weakens your point
Graph slides v interest/ data v understanding
WHO IS THIS GUY?
What’s your #1 goal? inform? Sell? Persuade? Educate?
Why are you even here?
WIIFM/so what?
P really should go first but that wouldn’t make sense: PSTUID
Keep time, attention, agreement
Slash garbage, expand, clarify
Keep them wanting more?
Help organize your thoughts see how the preso will play out
Where you need structure, ups & downs…
Good for pace
Tell them what to do!
Bottom line it for them
Make your case/call to action
So what?
Does this train of thought have a caboose?
Contrast
Repetition
Alignment
Proximity
Kuler
Pantone
Target audience prefs (sites, pubs)
Colors
fonts
Image style
Grids
Bullets & hierarchy
Rule of thirds
Gestalt (CRAP?)
Close things are related
Graphics or messages
Images are % better than text
Good pix are hard to find
Rights & royalty-free
Resources – istockphoto, stock.xchng, compfight.com
Your photos
Drawings (NCMPR guy)
Photoshop, Illustrator, free image tools
Rights & royalty-free
Resources – istockphoto, stock.xchng, compfight.com
Your photos
Drawings (NCMPR guy)
Photoshop, Illustrator, free image tools
Serif, sans, artistic
How to use, qty
Headline & text examples 1-2-3
Basic
Nicer for emphasis
Stylized for impact
Typography as a term
v
Resources – fontsquirrel, myfonts, fontfont, dafont, font spring…
Google “beautiful fonts”
Icons- the noun project, iconmonstr, picol.org
Careful: embed/transpo, resident
Show the significance of the data. What’s your point?
Infographics
Horizontal Bar Charts. Used to compare quantities. For example, comparing sales figures among the four regions of the company.
Vertical Bar Charts. Used to show changes in quantity over time. Best if you limit the bars to 4-8.
Pie Charts. Used to show percentages. Limit the slices to 4-6 and contrast the most important slice either with color or by exploding the slice.
Prepare
Respect
Own
Practice (X% build preso XX% practice)
Know your audience
Get feedback during practices
Know your stuff & reason you’re presenting
Be courteous, gracious and professional
It’s their time – make it count
Be yourself
Start strong
Ditch podium/bring clicker
Notes function/presenter mode
Slides as visual cues
Express passion
THREE PARTS TO A GOOD PRESO:
CONTENT
SLIDE DESIGN
PRESENTATION
3-LEGGED STOOL