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When it comes to presentation slides, the first name that usually comes to mind is PowerPoint. The program has certainly made a mark in the industry; as a matter of fact, many people will agree that at one point in the past, it could be likened to a monopoly. Still, just because PowerPoint is ubiquitous in the presentation realm doesn’t mean that everyone excels at it. You’ve probably had to sit through a terrible presentation that didn’t seem to be going anywhere at some point in your life; even so, anyone that has ever had to create a PowerPoint presentation will attest that the only thing worse than enduring a boring presentation is delivering one.
It certainly isn’t easy to create an excellent PowerPoint slideshow; the numerous tools that are available on the platform make it difficult to stitch together a unique presentation. Nevertheless, there are a few methods and tricks you can employ when creating your slides that’ll certainly help make the process simpler. One such technique is the use of templates by hislide when setting up your slideshow. These templates save you the hassle of building each slide from scratch which can be an uphill task if you don’t know your way around the program.
Creating Unique Slides
Apart from utilizing external resources when designing a PowerPoint exhibition, there are a number of things you can do within the program that may also be of great benefit to your presentation. Similarly, there are also a few practices you should avoid so as to ensure your slideshow has a unique, professional look.
PowerPoint Dos
Here are some of the positive habits that can catapult your presentation to greatness.
Maintain Consistency
One of the worst things to do when making PowerPoint exhibitions is failing to adhere to a uniform design pattern. Inasmuch as using various interesting backgrounds can be a great way to pique the audience’s interests, there are some elements that need to be consistent throughout the whole slideshow. Details such as primary colors and fonts should remain uniform throughout your entire presentation in order to ensure it has a consistent pattern. Nevertheless, you can break this rule every once in a while to emphasize important points.
Use Visuals More Than Texts
It’s important to always keep in mind that slides aren’t meant to supersede your entire presentation, they’re only visual aids. Therefore, it would be wise to minimize generating wordy slides that only end up distracting the audience as they try to read it. Instead, use more high-quality images and short videos that’ll act as breaks after every few minutes of talking. You can also use diagrams such as timelines and graphs to showcase information.
Have A Summary Slide
Creating a final slide that summarizes all the key points of your presentation can be very propitious. Besides helping your audience comprehend your entire presentation a lot better, having a summary slide will definitely be beneficial for those who may be taking notes.
PowerPoint Don’ts
On the other hand, there are a few practices that are detrimental to any presentation and should be avoided at all costs; here’s a list of some of these destructive habits.
Don’t Create Too Many Slides
Although slideshows are extremely valuable in presentations, it’s very easy to overuse this vital tool and end up causing more harm than good. Constantly flipping through several slides during your presentation can be very distracting, making your audience lose focus on what you’re saying. Even though the appropriate number of slides depends on the length of your presentation, a good rule to follow is having one slide per minute.
Avoid Flashy Transitions
Transitions can make a presentation stand out but only when they’re used correctly. Apart from a few subtle ones, most transitions are either extremely animated or too outdated to make a positive impact on your presentation. They may look great at first but audiences usually get tired of them really quickly.
Don’t Oversaturate Slides
In some circumstances, you may have a lot of valuable information to share with your audience, thus ending up having tons of information in your slides. When you display a lot of information in a single slide, it can be rather difficult to maintain the attention of your audience. Using short questions instead of bullet points in your slideshow can help to direct their attention back to you once they’re done studying a particular slide.
Conclusion
PowerPoint is a very powerful tool that can be used to create amazing presentation slides; however, it’s also pretty easy to end up with unsatisfactory results if you don’t have the right knowledge. Even so, utilizing the information presented above will help you design exceptional presentations that’ll dazzle any audience.
