presentation design

presentation design

Enhancing Presentation Design

1. Importance of Effective Presentation Design

An effective presentation is a presentation that is both informative and persuasive. The main purpose of a presentation is to convey an idea to the audience, and the best way to do this is by being straight to the point and informative. This is achieved through organized content that is free from distractions. The presenter is the primary focus, and the slideshow should merely aid the presenter in delivering the content. The cause of each slide should be clear to the audience. Finally, the audience should be able to remember the content after the presentation is over. This should be the case whether it was a 5-minute presentation or an hour-long lecture. An effective presentation will stick in the minds of the audience.

In today’s changing environment, presentation design has become an essential skill for those who wish to effectively communicate ideas both in and out of the workplace. Designing an effective presentation involves using the software, selecting the right template, the right color and background, charts and graphs, and finally practicing the entire presentation. Different industries have very specific needs when it comes to presentation design. A sales presentation has different needs compared to a medical presentation, for example. However, effective design is a common factor in all successful presentations. But what is an effective presentation?

2. Elements of Compelling Presentation Design

Ease of contrast In order to direct the audience’s attention to a specific part of the slide, it may be necessary to make a visual comparison. This could be accomplished using animation, but the simplest method is often to create two slides and use a blank screen as a temporary overlay. Any visual comparisons should be as direct and clear as possible. For instance, direct comparison of two bars would call for a bar chart rather than a line chart. Scales and axes should be consistent across slides.

Strong focal point Each slide should have one focal point, and everything on the slide should point to it. This may sound obvious, but it is easy to create charts that are so complex that the audience is unsure of what they are supposed to be looking at. If you are presenting a complex multivariate analysis, it is generally better to present several simple charts each with a specific point, than one overly complex chart from which you will have to explain all the details. Measures of data complexity can help guide the choice of chart type. In general, emphasizing the data rather than the methodology is a good idea. Audience memory of your talk will fade with time, so it is better if they remember the interesting result that required a clever method, rather than vice versa.

Clarity of purpose It is important, whenever we’re creating slides or charts, that they clearly and obviously relate to the points being made. It is all too easy to create presentation materials that are interesting, charming, or even funny, but which fail to enhance the audience’s understanding of the talk (because they don’t actually illustrate the point being made) – we’ve all seen presentations that do this. Therefore, the first question to ask when creating a slide is “what statement is this slide making, and how does it relate to my objective?” If you find yourself unable to answer these questions, or the answers are weak, then chances are you don’t need the slide at all. Flawed slide design can turn into a vicious circle: a slide with no clear point requires an explanation, which requires a slide of its own, and so on.

3. Techniques for Engaging Visuals

An effective visual will simplify a complex idea, and the most effective tool for this is often through diagrams or graphs. All presenters should be familiar with Edward Tufte’s work, and seek to add depth and clarity to information communications. A much used tool is the PowerPoint SmartArt, used for simple explanation of complex ideas. This should be constructed in the presence of the audience, as it forms a traceable pathway of explanation. PowerPoint has the capability of animating these drawn objects, but if this is not done too gaudily or in excess this can greatly increase message retention and speaking clarity. An effective visual is often better to leave up during a defined section of a presentation, but more complex graphics are best explained step by step. This can be done by building the graphic up in fragments using custom animation. Finally, a good visual will relate to a real life or personal experience of an audience member, and nothing can beat simple, effective storytelling with the natural accompaniment of the speaker’s voice.

Information is easier to understand when it is consistent, and visuals are no exception. The formatting of slides should not detract from your message, but maintain clarity and emphasis. Always maintain a similar layout, for example always positioning caption text on the bottom of the slide, using the same font and size for slide titles. Text should be simple and concise, with bullet points creating a clear outline. It is possible to delve into further detail and complex explanation by using handouts, thus keeping continuity between the Verbal and Visual presentation. An effective Visual Aid is to use colour, as this greatly increases the retention and understanding of information, but this should be used sparingly and consistently as to not confuse the message. Poulton and Ruffin suggest using colour only for a point of emphasis, since that color will be the most retained by the audience. One might consider using a consistent colour code throughout a series of presentations.

Here’s how to choose the right visual: Visuals displayed on a screen have a supportive role, they should clarify a point, and not make the speaker superfluous (Williams). Therefore, we must consider whether Visual Aids have a place in the presentation. Information which can be conveyed by speaking, such as a detailed explanation or complex argument, is best left to verbal communication. Visual Aids are more suitable when trying to explain simple, static, visual information, or when the presenter wanting to enhance the verbal message.

4. Organizing Content for Impactful Presentations

Express main points clearly. Discernible connections. Eliminate unnecessary information. Easy-to-follow logic. Create useful and engaging handouts. Fulfill the “descend with modification” philosophy. Follow your oral presentation with a written one, in which you can afford the audience the luxury of details and documentation. Express main points clearly. Discernible connections. Eliminate unnecessary information. Easy-to-follow logic. Create useful and engaging handouts. Fulfill the “descend with modification” philosophy. Follow your oral presentation with a written one, in which you can afford the audience the luxury of details and documentation. Express main points clearly. Discernible connections. Eliminate unnecessary information. Easy-to-follow logic. Create useful and engaging handouts. Fulfill the “descend with modification” philosophy. Follow your oral presentation with a written one, in which you can afford the audience the luxury of details and documentation. When thinking about organizing your presentations, consider the evolutionary tree. Diagram your main ideas to clearly illustrate their origin and the connections between supporting data. It’s vital to elicit understanding in your audience as quickly as possible. They are more likely to stay tuned if they comprehend the basic framework before delving into the details. Your goal is to reduce the time it would take for them to understand your study or project on their own. This can be achieved by expressing the main points clearly and eliminating unnecessary information. This sounds simple, but is frequently the most overlooked step in effective presentation. The next point can be viewed as a specific instance of the general theme of organization. When providing an oral presentation, you will almost invariably be leading your audience through a series of logic. In most cases, it is helpful to guide this logic in the right direction. Take, for example, a presentation I once saw on self-defense techniques for women. Though the topic itself is not science, the method had so effectively employed the scientific method that the presenter was oblivious to it. I proposed that he add a slide to illustrate the logic, at which point he hung his head and uttered, “you and your causality”.

5. Delivering a Memorable Presentation

5.2 Practice Makes Perfect It is relatively obvious that practice is very important, but not many people practice enough or simply just practice once and believe that is enough. Practice your speech at least 4 or 5 times, without even looking at the presentation materials. By knowing the speech off by heart, you will come across much more engaging towards the audience. One technique can involve recording yourself and listening back to the recording. This can help pinpoint areas of your speech that may require improvement. By practicing without the materials, you are only familiarizing yourself with the presentation, whereas you should be prepared to present it without any materials at all. This makes you less dependent on the content and should still enable you to deliver a good presentation.

5.1 Understanding the Content of the Presentation If you have put together a great presentation, your content already has enough to provide a great presentation. By having a thorough understanding of the content, this will make the delivery of your speech easier, thus possibly coming across more convincing. At the very least, make sure you have an introduction and a conclusion to what you are delivering. It is something that is often overlooked and forgotten. By having this, it will make your presentation that bit more memorable. During the introduction, you should briefly explain the direction of your presentation and the conclusion should sum up the points made. Keep it simple. Often, it is the speech which goes off key points and talks too much about irrelevant things that make presentations bland. Stay on the topic.

Delivering a presentation properly can be just as important as the work you have put into creating the presentation. There is no limit to the amount of preparation work you need to put into delivering a memorable presentation, but sometimes less is more. Read through the following steps to ensure you have put enough preparation for delivering a presentation.