Friday
2 10 Best Rules for Creating Beautiful Presentations
Presentations can either drag you to sleep or make you sit up and
take notice. In the first case, minutes often look like hours and hours
feel like days. But beautifully designed presentations can summarize
loads of information into smart and actionable points. They are not only much easier to remember but also leave a deeper impact than simple text articles.
So just in case you intend to design a presentation, here are 10 rules that you should keep in mind.
Before you kick off your presentation, make sure you clearly know what you want to achieve through it. A presentation that lacks clearly defined objectives often ends up confusing the audience and leaves them unsure about its message.
Therefore, you need to identify the primary and secondary objectives of your presentation before you start. Try focusing on one or two major issues instead of covering a dozen discussion points.
Having a clear objective will also help you define clear action items for your audience and give your presentation a real sense of purpose.
Make sure you plan the opening and closing stages of your presentation carefully as well. A solid opening may well keep your audience engaged till the very last slide and a carefully designed closing will leave the audience thinking and wanting to know more.
Themes really set the tone of your presentation. If you select a boring, dull and forgettable theme then it is likely to put your audience to sleep even before you get to the main points of your presentation.
Try to be innovative in selecting the main theme of your presentation. There are many online tools that offer tons of extremely attractive free presentation themes and even allow you to design your themes from the scratch.
Whichever way you go, make sure that you keep your target audience and the nature of your presentation in mind while selecting your theme.
Using different variations of font styles and sizes plays a vital role in taking your presentations from good to great. Select a main font to be used throughout your presentation and use it in combination with a similar font to highlight important points in your presentation.
Also use different variations of font sizes to emphasize on key areas of your presentation.This not only makes your presentation look more attractive but also stops your audience from going to sleep.
There’s no fixed way of using colors in presentations. It all depends on the type of your presentation and your target audience. But as a general rule, avoid using dull colors as the main theme of your presentation. This usually puts people off pretty quickly.
One of the best ways of making your presentations stand out from the crowd is using high quality multimedia content. Add combinations of high resolution images and eye-catching videos throughout your presentations.
This not only keeps your audience fresh and interested, but also communicates the message of presentation much more effectively.
But make sure your animations are not distracting your audience and hindering the flow of information. Instead, focus on using animations that complement the theme and mood of your presentation.
EWC Presenter allows you to use tons of highly attractive and eye-catching presentation themes for free. You can also add different objects and data illustrations to present your data more attractively.
Just as WordPress will make it a lot easier to create a blog and an app like IM Creator will make it much easier to build HTML5 websites, Presenter makes it easy to create your presentations.
Using the right tool not only saves a lot of time but also helps you create much more attractive presentations.
Your audiences are human beings and they have limited attention spans. So make sure you do not overburden them excessive information.
The best way is to limit your focus to one or two main issues. Give your audience some learning space and let them digest the information that you’ve presented.If you try to tell them everything in one presentation, they will end up learning absolutely nothing.
Ask question in your slides and create interaction points where the audience needs to contribute. If done correctly, this can work wonders for your presentation.
So just in case you intend to design a presentation, here are 10 rules that you should keep in mind.
Have a Clear Objective
Before you kick off your presentation, make sure you clearly know what you want to achieve through it. A presentation that lacks clearly defined objectives often ends up confusing the audience and leaves them unsure about its message.
Therefore, you need to identify the primary and secondary objectives of your presentation before you start. Try focusing on one or two major issues instead of covering a dozen discussion points.
Having a clear objective will also help you define clear action items for your audience and give your presentation a real sense of purpose.
Plan Carefully
Planning is one of the most critical parts of designing an engaging presentation. Keeping your core objectives in mind, develop a flow of information in your presentation. Try presenting facts in a way that not only makes clear sense to your audience but also keeps their interest levels high.Make sure you plan the opening and closing stages of your presentation carefully as well. A solid opening may well keep your audience engaged till the very last slide and a carefully designed closing will leave the audience thinking and wanting to know more.
Use Attractive Themes
Themes really set the tone of your presentation. If you select a boring, dull and forgettable theme then it is likely to put your audience to sleep even before you get to the main points of your presentation.
Try to be innovative in selecting the main theme of your presentation. There are many online tools that offer tons of extremely attractive free presentation themes and even allow you to design your themes from the scratch.
Whichever way you go, make sure that you keep your target audience and the nature of your presentation in mind while selecting your theme.
Use Variations of Font Styles and Sizes
Using different variations of font styles and sizes plays a vital role in taking your presentations from good to great. Select a main font to be used throughout your presentation and use it in combination with a similar font to highlight important points in your presentation.
Also use different variations of font sizes to emphasize on key areas of your presentation.This not only makes your presentation look more attractive but also stops your audience from going to sleep.
Use Intelligent Color Combinations
Color combinations can either make or break your presentation. So make sure you select them carefully while keeping your target audience in mind.There’s no fixed way of using colors in presentations. It all depends on the type of your presentation and your target audience. But as a general rule, avoid using dull colors as the main theme of your presentation. This usually puts people off pretty quickly.
Add High Quality Videos and Images
One of the best ways of making your presentations stand out from the crowd is using high quality multimedia content. Add combinations of high resolution images and eye-catching videos throughout your presentations.
This not only keeps your audience fresh and interested, but also communicates the message of presentation much more effectively.
Use Eye Catching Animations
Alongside high quality multimedia content, use attractive animations to make your audience fall in love with your presentations. Creating animations is now easier than ever before thanks to a number of online presentation tools that can be used for free.But make sure your animations are not distracting your audience and hindering the flow of information. Instead, focus on using animations that complement the theme and mood of your presentation.
Choose the Right Tool
Most of the points mentioned above need you to have intermediate to expert designing skills. However, free online presentation tools, such as EWC Presenter, have simplified this problem.EWC Presenter allows you to use tons of highly attractive and eye-catching presentation themes for free. You can also add different objects and data illustrations to present your data more attractively.
Just as WordPress will make it a lot easier to create a blog and an app like IM Creator will make it much easier to build HTML5 websites, Presenter makes it easy to create your presentations.
Using the right tool not only saves a lot of time but also helps you create much more attractive presentations.
Avoid Information Overload
Your audiences are human beings and they have limited attention spans. So make sure you do not overburden them excessive information.
The best way is to limit your focus to one or two main issues. Give your audience some learning space and let them digest the information that you’ve presented.If you try to tell them everything in one presentation, they will end up learning absolutely nothing.
Ask Questions and Engage Your Audience
Communication is a two way process and needs continuous input from both sides. That is why asking sudden questions or adding small activities within your slides is one of the best ways of keeping the interest of your audience alive and keeping them engaged in your presentation.Ask question in your slides and create interaction points where the audience needs to contribute. If done correctly, this can work wonders for your presentation.
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