Instructor

10 tips
for making

BEAUTIFUL SLIDESHOW PRESENTATIONS
Edahn Small www.AskEdahn.com Edahn.Small@gmail.com
Credit: Jessica Castro, unwrittenmemories.com

Tip #1

KNOW YOUR GOAL
Be clear about the goal of your presentation before your begin composing it.

Presentations, like cats, fall into two categories:

Presentations, like cats, fall into two categories:
Ugly BeautifulCredit: Pete Hunt, Flickr

Presentations, like cats, fall into two categories:
Ugly Beautiful

Just Kidding.

Credit: Pete Hunt, Flickr

Presentations fall into two main categories:

Technical presentations
teach people about a topic. The topic can be anything.

Persuasive presentations
make people see something (like your brand) a certain way.

Most presentations will combineelements of both.

Don’t bore them!
Be focused, but not too dull or repetitive.

It’s hard to communicate when people are busy playing on their phones... trust me.

Tip #2

PLAN IT OUT
Create an outline or storyboard of the major topics you want to address.

Sketch the basics 1
Outline your main points

3 2
Add detail to your outline until you figure out what you want to say ineach slide Sequence your slides effectively

Make sure your presentation follows a logical or chronological sequence.

Show restraint
Resist the urge to cram everything you know about your topic into your show.

If you try and

tell them everything, they won’t remember anything.

Tip #3

AVOID STOCK TEMPLATES
Run away! Run away!

Pop quiz, hotshot:
Which slide is morememorable?
(in a good way)

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Trick question.
They’re both vomit.
And both templates.

The Problems with Stock Templates
They lead to infinite bullet point syndrome (IBPS) They discourage graphics Every slide ends up looking the same The designs are usually hideous The presentation looks like every slideshow presentation you’ve ever seen • Your audience will lose interestand focus after slide number one zero • It reminds people of the 90s (that’s bad) • • • • •

Build your own theme instead.
But h-h-how?

Tip #4
Color

Tip #5
Fonts

Tip #6
Layout

Tip #4

CHOOSE A COLOR SCHEME
Choose 5 colors that look good together and match the tone of your presentation.

Pick 5 colors and alternate them in your slides.

Choose one accent color thatstands out from the rest.

Choose colors that reflect the tone of your presentation.

ColourLovers.com

Choose colors that reflect the tone of your presentation.

Mellow and modern

ColourLovers.com

Choose colors that reflect the tone of your presentation.

Mellow and modern

Passionate and aggressive

ColourLovers.com

Choose colors that reflect the tone of your presentation.Mellow and modern

Passionate and aggressive

Something about scarves

ColourLovers.com

Websites to help you pick color schemes (for free)

http://www.colourlovers.com
User-generated color palettes and more

http://kuler.adobe.com/
Similar to the above

http://www.colorschemedesigner.com/
Computer-generated color palettes

http://www.colorhunter.com/
Upload a picture andit pulls out the main colors

Tip #5

CHOOSE A FONT SCHEME
Don’t get too crazy with fonts. Pick 3 and stick to them.

Choose one font for titles.
One font for body copy. One font for body copy. One font for body copy.

And one font for accents.
Fonts on this page: Frutiger LT 95 UltraBlack (Title), Frutiger CE 45 Light (Body, Footnote), Airport (Accents)

Like color, your fontsshould also match the tone of your presentation.

Font name

Good topic
The 50s Horror Movies Space, Tron, Techno Music

Not so good topic
Hockey Daffodils, Ballet Estate Planning

Glamour

Chiller
Nasalization

Tip #6

LAYOUT SCHEME
Develop a few layouts and repeat them throughout the presentation for cohesion and clarity.

CHOOSE A

Use the same layouts for slides that have...