How do you use alignment and contrast to improve readability in PowerPoint?

1 What is alignment?

Alignment is the way you arrange the elements on your slide, such as text, images, shapes, and charts. Alignment helps you create a sense of order, balance, and harmony on your slide. It also helps you guide the eye of your audience and emphasize the most important points. There are four types of alignment you can use in PowerPoint: left, right, center, and justify.

2 What is contrast?

Contrast is the difference between the elements on your slide, such as color, size, shape, and font. Contrast helps you create a sense of variety, interest, and hierarchy on your slide. It also helps you highlight the differences and similarities between the elements and draw attention to the key information. You can create contrast in PowerPoint by using different colors, sizes, shapes, and fonts for your elements.

3 How to use alignment in PowerPoint?

To use alignment in PowerPoint, you need to select the elements you want to align and then choose the alignment option from the Home tab, the Format tab, or the right-click menu. You can align the elements to the left, right, or center of the slide, or to each other. You can also use the grid and guides feature to help you align the elements precisely. To access the grid and guides, go to the View tab and check the Gridlines and Guides boxes.

4 How to use contrast in PowerPoint?

To use contrast in PowerPoint, you need to select the elements you want to contrast and then change their properties from the Home tab, the Format tab, or the right-click menu. You can contrast the elements by using different colors, sizes, shapes, and fonts. For example, you can use a dark background and a light text color, or a large font size and a small font size, or a round shape and a square shape, or a serif font and a sans serif font.

5 Alignment and contrast best practices

To use alignment and contrast effectively in PowerPoint, you need to follow some best practices. Incorporating alignment and contrast consistently throughout your presentation will create a coherent and professional look. However, it is important to use alignment and contrast sparingly and strategically, to avoid clutter and confusion. Alignment and contrast should be used to support your message and purpose, not for decoration or distraction. This will help you communicate clearly and persuasively.

6 Alignment and contrast examples

To illustrate how alignment and contrast can improve readability in PowerPoint, let's look at some examples. Here are two slides with the same content but different designs:

Slide 1: No alignment and contrast

[Insert image of a slide with text and images scattered randomly, with no clear order, balance, or hierarchy, and with similar colors, sizes, shapes, and fonts]

Slide 2: Alignment and contrast

[Insert image of a slide with text and images aligned to the left, with a clear order, balance, and hierarchy, and with different colors, sizes, shapes, and fonts]

As you can see, slide 2 is much more readable than slide 1. It has a clear structure, a strong focus, and a visual appeal. It also conveys the message more effectively and efficiently.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?