Creating a polished slide deck can help you deliver a clear, engaging, and memorable presentation. Whether you are pitching an idea, teaching a lesson, or sharing a story, your slides can support your message and enhance your delivery. In this article, you will learn some tips and tricks to design and refine your slide deck, based on some basic principles of slide design.
Before you start working on your slides, you need to have a clear idea of who you are presenting to, what they need to know, and how they will react to your content. This will help you tailor your slides to suit their expectations, interests, and level of understanding. You can also use this information to choose the appropriate tone, style, and format for your slides. For example, if you are presenting to a technical audience, you might want to use more data, graphs, and diagrams, while if you are presenting to a creative audience, you might want to use more images, stories, and metaphors.
This point is extremely important - if you're a trainer, you want to have conducted a needs assessment to see what knowledge is required for your audience. One of the easiest ways to do this is to do a quick survey (preferably before via e-mail, but can also be done at the beginning of the presentation with the intro). The survey should be formatted such that you quick tally of who are new to the material and who has a bit more experience. [Example: "How often do you you X product/service?" a) Weekly b) Monthly c) Everyday] During the presentation, call out some of the advanced features via slides for "Hot tips" or "Hidden Gems" (or whatever's appropriate) that will give the more experienced users some value.
Once you have defined your audience, you need to plan the structure of your presentation. This means deciding on the main points, the order, and the transitions between them. A good structure will help you organize your ideas, create a logical flow, and avoid confusion or repetition. You can use a simple outline, a mind map, or a storyboard to plan your structure. You can also use the rule of three, which suggests that you should limit your presentation to three main points, each supported by three sub-points, and each sub-point illustrated by three examples or evidence.
When you design your slides, you need to follow some basic design principles that will make your slides look professional, consistent, and appealing. These principles include contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity. Contrast means using different colors, fonts, and sizes to create visual hierarchy and emphasis. Alignment means aligning your elements to create balance and order. Repetition means using the same elements, such as colors, fonts, and shapes, to create unity and harmony. Proximity means grouping related elements together to create clarity and connection.
Visual aids are any elements that you use to complement your verbal message, such as images, charts, graphs, diagrams, icons, or videos. Visual aids can help you illustrate your points, simplify complex information, and capture attention. However, you need to use them wisely and sparingly, as too many or too irrelevant visual aids can distract or confuse your audience. You also need to make sure that your visual aids are clear, relevant, and consistent with your design principles. You can use tools like Canva, PowerPoint, or Google Slides to create and edit your visual aids.
Text is another element that you use to communicate your message, but it should not be the main one. Your slides should not be overloaded with text, as this will make them hard to read and boring. Instead, you should use text to highlight the key points, provide context, or guide your audience. You should also optimize your text by using simple and clear language, short and concise sentences, and bullet points or lists. You should also choose a readable font, size, and color for your text, and avoid using all caps, italics, or underlines.
The final step to create a polished slide deck is to review and rehearse your presentation. You need to check your slides for any errors, inconsistencies, or improvements. You can use tools like Grammarly, Hemingway, or SlideLizard to proofread and polish your slides. You also need to rehearse your presentation with your slides, to make sure that they match your timing, tone, and delivery. You can use tools like Zoom, Loom, or Prezi Video to record and practice your presentation. You can also ask for feedback from someone else, such as a colleague, a friend, or a coach.
I ask for feedback often from friends and colleagues to make sure that presentations have a good logical flow and communicate information clearly. Most colleagues welcome an opportunity to collaborate, and then you can both mention this teamwork on year end reviews or employee evaluations as an added bonus.