Jake PopistAre you trying to come up with slideshow presentations that are more effective? While there are many factors that will determine the effectiveness of a slideshow, one of the most crucial is the manner in which it is designed.
The design of your slideshow will cover numerous areas, from how each slide is designed all the way to the overarching design of its structure. To start to design more effective slideshows however, there are three tips that you should try to keep in mind:
- Limit each slide to a single point
One of the most common mistakes that people make when designing slideshows is they attempt to cram as many points as they can into each slide. That is not effective, and not only is having a wall-of-text on a slide unappealing but it is unlikely to deliver the information effectively.
Instead of that you should try to limit each slide to a single point. The rest of the slide should use visuals such as photos, diagrams, and graphs to illustrate the point, provide context, and deliver the information more effectively.
- Use contrast to create focal points
In every slide that you create you should make sure there are clear focal points that immediately draw the attention of viewers. The best way to create those focal points is by using various types of contrast – such as color, size, shape, or proximity.
Ideally each slide should have one main focal point, and one or two secondary focal points. Essentially that will help ‘guide’ viewers through the content on the slide, so that they experience it in the way that you want them to.
- Create a consistent theme across your slides
Every slideshow presentation should have a consistent theme that establishes a foundation for the design of its slides. Don’t be tempted into using any of the default templates however, as they tend to be over-used and aren’t really that great anyway.
Instead you should focus on creating a consistent theme of your own in terms of the background color, typography, alignment, and so on. By establishing consistency across your slides, you can sometimes break with it and make a specific slide stand out in contrast.
It should be noted that you should be especially careful about the visual effects that may be present in some slideshow software, such as animated transitions or image filters. While both can be useful they should be used sparingly, and part of learning how to create a slideshow on Mac or PC that is effective is understanding how and when to use such elements.
In some cases the software you use may provide you with other opportunities to improve the design of your slideshows. For example if you use Movavi Slideshow Maker for Mac you could save the slideshow presentation as a video and incorporate audio elements such as a voiceover and background music.
At the end of the day however you should now be able to design far more effective slideshows – though it may take a little bit of practice on your part.
Craig Upton
Jake Popist
