In the world of business, it is important to not only have a good idea but also be able to communicate that idea in an engaging way. Slide decks are one of the best ways for you to do this. In this blog post we will discuss how you can design a powerful slide deck that will help your message resonate with your audience and make them want to take action on what you're presenting. We'll cover six tips for designing mind-blowing slides!
Consistency within a brand is a huge factor in what makes a good slide deck palatable and easy to digest. If your business/client's business already has an existing style guide this would be a perfect time to refer to it. If you're starting from scratch, decide on colors, imagery and a typeface that can be easily integrated with the feel and content. Is your direction contemporary, classic, or an artful mixture of both?
An important part of designing a great slide deck is having a definitive idea of the story you want to tell before creating the deck. Without a clear idea of your story, messaging can be overpowered by the presentation instead of carrying the presentation. Be sure the slide deck supports your story- never the other way around.
Be wary of cheap tricks like flipping or dissolving pages. Not only can these distract your readers-it may even annoy them. If stock transitions are built into your template deck take a few moments to edit them out. You won't regret the results.
Sure, some of the common stock transitions and animation can be cheesy but don't let that keep you from utilizing effective transitions. Create your own templates- remember, the extreme side of consistency is monotony.
Steve Jobs of Apple believed in giving three benefits to his audience when presenting a new product- three is said to be the magic number when it comes to the mind's ability to retain and process new information.
If it is absolutely necessary to include a video clip, do not set it on auto-play. You would want to be able to control the clip when it is its turn to show up in your presentation. A common scenario sees the presenter clicking to the desired slide and then the player failing to load the video immediately. Sometimes this causes a brief moment of panic on the presenter's end and that split second can lose the attention of the audience. Instead of having the video play with one more click, they cause the deck to advance to the next slide.
We understand there is no one-size-fits-all design to slide decks and every business will have different needs. We hope we've given you at least a few tools to point you in the direction of creating your own unique and effective slide deck!
