“Slides are slides. Documents are documents. They aren’t the same thing. Attempts to merge them result in what I call the ‘slideument,’” says Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen. He’s referring here to dense, text-heavy presentation slides.
For best results, follow these tips:
Limit bullet points and text on your slides.
Put as much as you want in the speaking notes, which we can display for your reference only during the event, but put only key points on the slides. It’s called PowerPoint, not Power-Let-Me-Read-You-My-Whole-Presentation-From-These-Slides. Your slides will clarify and reinforce important info, but do not substitute for you as the speaker.
Your audience reads your slides faster than you talk. So if your slides are all text, they’re not listening – and they’re finished reading before you finish talking.
Use one slide for each idea or key statistic.
If you’re defining five terms, use one slide per term. Webinar participants do not want to look at the same slide for more than 1-2 minutes maximum. This means more slides, not fewer.
Add a slide for each interaction.
If you plan to ask a question that participants will respond to, include a slide that reminds you to pause there and ask. It will also make it clear to attendees that it’s their turn to participate. Your producer will help you by displaying the poll or providing instructions, if necessary. Allow up to 60 seconds for participants to respond before you discuss the outcomes.
Make use of visuals to illustrate your points whenever possible.
A powerful photo with just a few words on it will help participants remember your key points much better than a slide containing 10 bullet points in 12-point font.
Use a unique title on each slide.
This helps your audience focus on the main idea for that slide and makes it easier to navigate slides during the live event.
Use a simple template.
Your producer will generally provide an approved template for you. Please use the template colors and fonts without changing them.
Limit transition and animation effects.
These can get “wonky” and behave in unexpected ways in the virtual meeting room, so better remove animations or limit animation effect to “Appear.”
Your producer will help to shape and revise your slides once the content is approved.
He or she will add images if needed, break up dense content, adjust slide titles, and incorporate instructions for interactive elements of virtual events. Graphic design and editing will also revise the slides to create a stellar final product. Following the guidelines above will reduce the number of changes required after you submit your slides.
If you have any questions about how best to present or illustrate your material in slide form, your producer is happy to work with you.
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