PowerPoint Redux

YES or NO
Have you ever had to deliver a high-pressured presentation?

Do you find yourself clustering text and bullet points on your slides to relay your
message?

Have you ever sat in a “Death by PowerPoint” presentation?

Are you interested in learning how to design presentations that clearly

communicate your message to the audience?

A clearly designed message can move an audience to action. Agree/Disagree

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Be an MVP
S V P

W V P

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Research
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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D-T-P Continuum

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Presentation Design

Preparation

Principles & Techniques

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 Audience Needs
SIX GUIDING QUESTIONS

1 Who are they?

2 Why are they here?

3 What’s their background?

4 What’s their problem/issue?

5 How can I help?

6 What’s my central point?

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Plaanniing Annalog

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Principles & Techniques
Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Images

White Space

Background

Color

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Signal-to-Noise Ratio
The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) is a principle borrowed from more technical fields
such as radio communications and electronic communication in general, but the
principle itself is applicable to design and communication problems in virtually any
field. For our purposes, the SNR is the ratio of relevant to irrelevant elements or
information in a slide or other display. The GOAL is to have the highest SNR
possible in your slides.
Garr Reynolds from Presentation Zen

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Images
Images serve as strong links to your content. Your ability to choose and use the
correct image can mean the difference between audience comprehension or
audience confusion. Aligned images allow your participants to walk away with a
visual mnemonic, providing them with a much needed memory boost.

SOME RULES
high
Use quality images

Go BIG or go home

Clip Art is for the B I R D S

They sHould MATCH your talk

Rule of Thirds

RESOURCES
http://www.sxc.hu/

http://www.picnik.com/

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White Space
White space or empty space provides a clearer focus on the message you are
attempting to send. Let the slide B R E A T H.

“It’s okay to have clear space; clutter is a failure of design.”

Nancy Duarte from slide:ology

WHITE SPACE MATH FORMULA

Lots of information + lack of white space = A slide your Mom wouldn’t be proud of

Spreading the information + plenty of white space = A slide your Mom would brag about

RESOURCES

http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2008/08/learning-from-the-design-
around-you-ikea.html

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 Background
Don’t let your background fight with your content. Just as a painter starts with a
clean canvas, so should you.

According to Duarte Design:

Dark Background Light Background

• Formal • Informal
• Doesn’t influence ambient lighting • Has a bright feeling
• Does not work well for handouts • Illuminates the room
• Fewer opportunity for shadows • Works well for handouts
• For large venues • For smaller venues
• Objects can glow • No dramatic lighting/spotlights

Do I LEGGO of my ?

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Color
When choosing your colors be sure they contrast with your background and the
other colors.

Important Note: Warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) will come to the front. Cool
colors (blues, greens) will recede to the back.

EXPERIMENT

Scarlett
FLORENCE
Scarlett
FLORENCE
Scarlett
FLORENCE
Scarlett
FLORENCE
Experiment from The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams

RESOURCES
http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.php

http://kuler.adobe.com

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Design Cheat Sheet
1) Have you identified your audience and their needs?

2) Have you identified your central point?

3) Plan Analog: mindmap, brainstorm, sticky notes, chart paper, etc.

4) Storyboard your slides and handouts

5) Check your slides for the 5 design principles

a. Signal to Noise Ratio

b. Images
c. White/Empty Space
d. Background
e. Color

In Case of Emergency

1) Highlight key points or words on your slides

2) Remove all other text

3) Are you able to replace the text with an image?

4) If not, can you break the slide into several pieces?

5) Will a diagram or flowchart send the same message?

6) Convert the text heavy slide into a handout & create a slide around the central idea

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