Presentation Preparation
Step3: Design slides
This step should not take a long time than the previous steps if we have a clear image of slides and slide sequence. Now we know our plan, what we need to provide, what we need to get, what we would like to discuss. Please check Step:2 Make a plan for details.
Now we are ready to open up the presentation tool.
Firstly we pick up existing slides and see if we can use it as it is or need some customization based on customer interest. And if we don’t have slides we need to make new slides. For both cases, I think there are 2 key elements for designing slides such as “Keep it simple” and “Use visual“.
1. Keep it simple
I like the simple presentation! Please check the following 2 slides.
Which one would you like?
I like the latter one. I prefer to show a simple presentation that is one message in one slide.
I believe we have to avoid the former one because
Too small text
Too many messages
If the text is too small, attendees can’t read the message, which may lead to the attendee’s frustration. Attendees may lose attention to a presenter.
From my experience, it was advised that 18-point of font size is a minimum. If you use a smaller font size than 18-point, I assume the attendee can’t read it.
If there are so many texts on a slide, the attendee may read the text message without listing to my talk. Because attendee want to know what’s next and it’s much faster to read the text than listening to my talk. Then I lose the attendee’s attention. It’s not easy to digest too many messages. I believe it’s better to provide 1 message in 1 slide to keep the attendees’ minds organized and focused.
2. Use Visual
Key messages here are
- We need to spend the most time on Step2: Make a Plan.
- Use whiteboard first to make a plan then use PowerPoint to design slides.
So you can understand how visual helps our understanding. Please compare the text-only slide above.
I learned “Simple” and “Visual” essence from PresentationZen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter).
Especially I like the 3 essences described in this book.
Kanso is elimination, subtraction, omission
Flukiness is Asymmetry, irregularity
Shibumi is articulate brevity, eloquent suggestion, minimalism
It’s my favorite book. We can see a lot of graphics to understand how to apply Zen philosophy to our presentation. Let’s check this book and make your presentation simpler with Zen!
Now we can move to the next step!. Step4: Review.
Thank you for reading this post.
Here are other steps for how to prepare your presentation.
Collect information
Make a Plan
Design slides
Review
Rehearsal
