![]() This is essential, especially for presentations that involve a lot of numbers and technical language. The speaker is barreling through a series of bullets, data points, and jargon while us visual learners in the audience are completely lost.ĭon't bury important information in text blocks where they'll be missed by half your audience. Instead, distill your complex ideas into concise visual statements, only focus on one key idea per slide and always keep the text to a minimum. Motion design not your forte? Consider getting a professional to handle the slide animations for you. The effect you're going for is ‘Wooooow,’ not ‘Well, you tried.’ How do you know if animations have value? Ask yourself these questions:ĭoes this slide animation serve a functional purpose?ĭoes it demonstrate something that I can’t convey with words and static images alone? Does it create a sense of momentum in the story I'm telling or reinforce a unified brand message ?ĭoes this slide animation enhance my viewer's understanding of the material?ĭoes it add clarity to my data or is it just a cute aside that I’m using to earn brownie points with the crowd? These ploys scream, "Look at me! I spent valuable time learning how to do this so that you'll like me! Please like me!Īnimation should only be allowed in a professional PowerPoint if it adds value to the content. The era of skeuomorphism is long dead so people don't need to see your slide turn over like an actual page in a book. Adding animation to make your little clip art man shimmy like he’s dancing isn’t helping anyone understand your point any better either. If you must use the default PowerPoint themes, use them as a starting point and customize by adjusting the colors, fonts and backgrounds. Your audience deserves something special. The same ugly gradient background in each and every slide?!ĭon't give your audience Windows 98 flashbacks.Ī bad template undermines your presentation by distracting from the content and sending the subconscious message that you didn’t care enough to format something fresh and unique. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they can tell when you’re using a basic default PowerPoint template. ![]() Listen, it’s safe to assume that your colleagues and clients all have Microsoft Office too. Default Slide Templates (Don't Be That Guy) Death to the Stock Photo is a great free resource.Ģ. Stick with high resolution shots that depict realistic-looking people behaving naturally. They're, more often than not, just models/actors/baristas who are pantomiming the postures of a real corporate team and it feels more like parody.īe very picky about which stock photos you use to fill out your presentation. These images look forced because they are. If you give people someone to relate with (or project onto), they’ll be more invested in what you’re saying.īut there’s nothing relatable or unique about generic “business” people standing in a row with their folded arms and dowdy suits. Human faces make presentations more effective. Rule of thumb: No art is always better than bad art. If the only purpose of an image is to fill in negative space, you’re probably better off leaving it alone. Why?īecause cute Clip Art is useless if it does nothing to help your audience understand what you’re saying. Imagery is essential to your presentation. Say it with me: This is not a time for clip art Don’t let that happen to you. Take stock of your bag of tricks and rid yourself of these bad habits that make PowerPoints look like a relic of a bygone era.
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