You know it when you see it. A great presentation design stands out for several reasons- it can be the brand tone, the simplicity of its design, or even its movement on the screen. It just feels good looking at it. Every slide works together in flawless harmony from beginning to end. So, how to you make a great presentation design happen? Here are our top 5 things to consider:
1. Design is Not Consistent
Your presentation communicates its personality through its design. A consistent design that resonates your brand and message will naturally build stronger connections with your audience. Different elements on each slide will lead to visual noise like static on a phone line. Stay honest with the design elements you choose to visually communicate with and thread them through your entire presentation- not just across a few slides.
2. Your Brand Guidelines Don’t Translate into Your Presentation
If your brand tone looks stunning and consistent across all your other marketing collateral but fails to translate the same feeling into your presentation, it’s time to reevaluate how it looks. Your presentation is one of the most effective marketing tools that someone will react to, so it naturally needs to shine. Don’t feel limited on how to integrate your brand design into a presentation software. Importing pictures, colors, vectors, line styles, etc. are all possible in order to translate your brand look and tone flawlessly.
3. Relying on Your Template to Do All the Work
Most businesses have a ‘Corporate Presentation Template’ to turn to. While templates are a wonderful and essential way to start a presentation, they’re also not a magic design wand. Depending on the structure of your template, you may feel limited or overwhelmed by its choices. Look at a template as a guideline and not as a plug-and-play solution. Templates are hypothetical design suggestions based on hypothetical content- so always allow your real content to lead the design, not the other way around.
4. You’re Scared of Omitting Information
Packing information into a design is like overeating at a buffet- you immediately feel sick afterwards. It’s natural to want to copy and paste entire pieces of information into a content box, but how does reading tiny lines of text strike your audience? Distill your information and data down to give your audience a fighting chance at digesting key messages. If your intention is to create a leave behind, then having more content is helpful- but allow this to be a separate document you provide, not your main presentation.
5. No One is in Charge
If there’s multiple key stakeholders that have a say as to what should go into the presentation with no point person, then this can cause distress on ensuring a great presentation outcome. If no one is responsible, then you have a governance issue. Every presentation needs a point person to ensure that the presentation content and lifecycle follows its objectives and goals. Establishing ownership can ensure that your presentation has clarity, consistency regardless of how many people were involved behind the scenes.
Summary
If any of these describe a pain point about your presentation, it’s time to act now! Building a great presentation isn’t easy but it can be done and worth the investment in the long run. You’ll start to see better engagement with your audience and stand apart from your competition. Want a FREE evaluation of your presentation? Fill out our contact form at: http://www.pulsedesignstudio.com/Contact and check out on how we’ve helped build successful presentation solutions for our clients on our Work Page.
