Whether its food or knowledge, the way we receive it matters.
1. Please Place the Slideshow into "Presentation Mode"
Throughout my educational career, from high school to university I have had to sit through an innumerable number of slideshows that were presented in “editing mode.” This mode, as the name suggests is for editing, the thumbnails, editing bar, speaker notes and assorted tools/settings take up half the space (distracting the viewer) while the featured slide occupies the remaining space.
This is a screenshot of a Google Slides presentation in editing mode. Please don't present your slides in this mode!
The popular slideshow softwares (Microsoft’s PowerPoint & Google’s Slides) offer the presenter with a button that places the slide deck into a presentation mode. In this mode, the featured slide occupies the entire screen and additionally, the animations function properly! By doing this, the audience is offered an engaging and inviting experience where they are able to experience each slide, one at a time.
This is the same slide, in presentation mode. Much better, right?
2. The reduction of textual material displayed on a given slide is paramount for the engagement of the viewer/audience.
TLDR: Cut down the amount of text per slide.
The purpose of a slideshow is to augment your presentation, supplementing and enhancing the presentation to provide visual interest and dimension. The viewer and audience should receive information from both you and the slides; the slides alone should not be the presentation.
This slide contains waaaay too much text!
I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has been trapped in the audience as the presenter delivered the entire presentation through the use of a slideshow. They simply placed all the information on the slides and dictated the information back to the audience. This prevents audience engagement as the viewer realizes that they can simply read the slide quickly in their head and find other ways to occupy their brains. Or worse, they pay no attention to the presentation as they can simply download the slides at a later time to read.
Of course, there is the fear that all presenters have: if the slide does not contain all the information the audience may not remember it, furthermore you (the presenter) may forget to mention it!
Here are four tips & tricks to deal with these issues
i) Use speaker notes
Most slideshow softwares offer a speaker note section in presentation mode, make use of it!
This presentation mode allows the presenter to see their notes but prevents the audience from reading them
Hopefully, you have rehearsed the presentation or know the information well enough to use the speaker notes as a guide rather than a script
ii) Utilize short bullet points
Instead of writing long/full sentences, stick to short phrases or the key pieces of information
Pretend you were Tweeting out the information, short bite sized pieces of information are easier to digest!
iii) Create more slides
If you feel that a slide has a lot of information, spread that text over multiple slides rather than cramming it all into one.
It helps to incorporate images and illustrations into your slides as well
iv) Make a handout
Rather than simply providing the presentation to the audience for reference, allow them to access your content at a later date with a handout that summarizes your main talking points
Paper handouts or PDFs work well for this and using a QR code of link shortner, you can provide the viewer with a copy at the conclusion of the presentation.
This deck contains the same information as the slide above it but, spread over multiple of slides
3. Modernize Your Assets
Much like presentation appearance, the visuals you incorporate into your slideshow should reflect the latest trends and modern design. Although the information may be current, if the displays you utilize are dated, they affect your informations credibility.
Both these slides have the same information but one resonates with students more than the other
Artwork
Clip art and other visuals show their age. With the use of a variety of free visuals at our disposal, there is no reason why we should not update our slides to reflect the modern era we are in. I recommend using sites like Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay for free stock photos. Additionally, modern icons can be found in Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. Please ensure that you understand the legal and ethical ramifications regarding the use of images found online.
Fonts, fonts, fonts, fonts, fonts
There are hundreds if not thousands of fonts available for use. Some need to be downloaded if you’re using a program like PowerPoint, but if you’re using Google Slides feel free to experiment with the vast amount of fonts they provide. I suggest using the exciting and ornate fonts for titles rather than the whole presentation. Simple easy to read fonts are best for the bulk of the presentation’s text.
4. Consistency is Key
Keep to a single theme for a presentation as it provides a more professional appearance. A presentation that has inconsistent elements is extremely distracting.
Fonts
I suggest keeping to a single style for your body text and one for the headings. Decorative fonts can be utilized for dividers or large titles. Try to keep these elements the same from slide to slide to maintain consistency.
Colours
Pick a few colours that will carry through the slide show and create a theme.
Text On Top Of Images
In order to ensure the legibility of text placed over images, use a light colour over a dark background and vice versa. A tip for maintaining legibility is to have white letters outlined in black.
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