What do you do if your slides lack visual appeal and you're a mid-career professional?

Using a simple and consistent design for your slides is essential for keeping your audience focused and engaged. By limiting the use of colors, fonts, animations, and transitions, you can ensure that your message remains clear and easy to understand. A clean and professional design also reflects positively on your credibility and attention to detail. Remember, the goal of your presentation is to communicate your message effectively, and a cluttered or overly complex slide design can detract from that goal.

Easy to read is easy to remember! I like simple designs to engage the audience without distracting them. Simplicity is the most important metric for an effective presentation.

Using images and icons effectively can significantly enhance the visual appeal and impact of your slides. They can help to reinforce your message, evoke emotions, and make complex information more digestible for your audience. When selecting images and icons, ensure they are relevant to your content and align with your overall design aesthetic. Additionally, consider the cultural and contextual implications of the visuals you use to ensure they resonate with your audience.

Choose only relevant and contemporary images. The time for stock images of smiling businessmen giving thumbs up against sterile backgrounds is over. The audience needs sincere, true, human images that they COULD have taken with their smartphones. When we make a presentation, we must get closer to our audience and fill this gap that puts us on a different level from those who listen to us. The first step is to use contemporary and relevant images that the public can recognize themselves in. No more empty 360° images of industry leaders! Embrace visuals that truly connect.

Show don't tell. Visuals literally help them "see" the concept. Be sure to use only one per slide. This reduces confusion. It also let's your picture emphasize your idea. One of my on area's of important is using visual more consistently in my presentations.

Charts and graphs are really helpful to break up text blocks and better demonstrate what you are trying to show. However, if you don’t use the right chart (or even the right labels / categories) it can easily confuse the audience. For individuals who are less confident in their chart-making abilities I would recommend leveraging a resource (my personal favorite when I was learning was a book “Say it with Charts”) that gives you explicit examples of which types of graphs to use in which scenarios.

An early mistake I made is covering every inch of my slide with words and visuals. Simplicity is key. The presentation should complement your talk. Because it doesnt become your talk. Or distract from your talk. I recommend one picture per slide I recommend 10-20 words per slide

Seeking feedback and testing your slides are crucial steps in ensuring their effectiveness. Feedback from others can provide valuable insights and perspectives that you may not have considered. Testing your slides on different devices and screens helps you identify any formatting or visibility issues that need to be addressed. By incorporating feedback and conducting thorough testing, you can refine your slides to create a visually appealing and impactful presentation.