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Presentations: slides and visuals

Helen Kelly

You don’t need lots of visuals; you need the right ones. So plan visuals strategically. Here’s how.

1. Tell a story.

List ideas for three visuals that tell your story:

beginning - what you’re talking about
middle - why it matters
end - closing views.

This is the big picture you want the audience to recall and it’s the story you want the handout to tell. Add ideas for visuals that round out the story line. Make a working list.

2. List points that need backup.

List things you need to say in two ways - words with an image or two sets of words.

For something scientific or theoretical, use a few non-technical words for the slide and fill in the detail when you speak.
If it’s a touchy subject, use pointer words like Difficult News for the slide; then deliver the news in person.
If you want the audience to concentrate as you explain - or remember a phrase - use the same words on the visual and in the talk.

Add an image if you can find the right one. Integrate the backup visuals with the story line and review the sequence. This is your Visuals List.

3. Write impact headlines of one to six words for each visual.

Write down between one and six words that broadcast the key message for each slide. Aim to reach people who know nothing of your subject. Test with colleagues: what do the words say to someone reading them? Keep at it until what you mean is what they get. This headline is the feature of each visual. Write down the headline for each item on your Visuals List.

4. Choose images for immediate impact.

Use images if you need them for impact and communication. Use them to explain what’s intricate or new, and as an alternate way of grasping what you say.

Use cartoons if they enhance the mood you aim to create or relieve the strain of painful things; otherwise, leave them out.
Avoid detailed charts, graphs, spreadsheets, or anything else that clutters and distracts.

It’s useful if collectively the images tell your story as a standalone. Listeners who are visual learners, not verbal, will have your message intact at the talk and at home. Add copies of the images to the Visuals List.

5. Choose a font and type size visible easily at twenty feet.

Don’t fill the slide with fancy or tiny type; the audience stops listening and can’t read it anyway.
Use a sans serif typeface – letters without extensions or curlicues.
Don’t choose letters that are high and narrow or ones that are short, widely spaced, scripted, italicised or dark.
Choose a font that’s easy to read in all formats: standard, small caps, underlined and bold.

6. Make one point per slide and make it bold.

Each slide progresses your story.
Put the headline centre stage in big, bold letters.
Don’t use italicised type or any other style device to put that point across; rely on the right words.
Don’t make the headline a sentence or list of bullet points.
Use an image alongside headlines that are theoretical or abstract rather than factual.
Use the pause feature to bring in points that support your headline but not to bring in the headline itself.
Leave one-inch margins all around and double space lines of text.

7. Keep the text punchy, brief and neat.

Use short phrases to support the main point. Keep a thesaurus to hand.

Replace jargon with precise meaning.
Check every long word for a shorter version.
Try for words that rhyme inside, like hope and soap; it helps people read fast and grasp meaning.
Don’t use complete sentences unless you’re quoting someone. They invite people to concentrate on the slide instead of you.
Align the text and make it a design feature across the show.
Make the images big enough to matter or leave them out.

8. Be selective about design features.

When it comes to visuals, think impact not glitz.

Choose thin-line frames if any and bypass decorative ones unless they add value.
Choose a format that matches your personal style.
Portrait is formal; landscape is casual and by far the easier to read.
Use the same format all the way through.

And please, be selective about special effects. Yes, words can fly as they enter your slides and do lots of other fancy tricks. However, they’re cute, and cute may not be everyone’s definition of professional.

9. Choose colour to produce a mood.

Decide what mood you want to create. Then choose colors for background, text and design features.

Red is excitement, sex, vigor and youth.
Blue is intellect, truth, thought, focus and deliberation; it can be cold if you use it alone.
Yellow lifts spirits; people feel optimistic and creative.
Green is peaceful. Violet suggests genuineness and meditation.
Orange is passionate and sensual though too much can suggest you’re not serious.
Brown says you are serious, very reliable and well, a tad dull.

Create drama by contrasting bright and dark colors. Unusual colors surprise people so don’t use them unless you know whether the surprise will be welcome. Warm colors leave a lasting impression. Overall be careful. Color can be more powerful than words so what’s at stake here is nothing less than whether you’re well received and achieve your aim.

10. Edit relentlessly.

Make up the slides and check the effect one slide at a time. Check that colour and design have the desired impact. Check that the words are simple, there’s space around them, and nothing interrupts the eye. Check line by line for spelling, grammar, punctuation and style. In Word, the taskmaster sits at Tools/Options/Spelling & Grammar.

Set the Writing Style dialogue box for Grammar and Style. Obey instructions.
Change every passive voice to active voice; passive voice puts people to sleep.
Watch those apostrophes.
Decide whether bullet points will be actions or nouns and be consistent throughout.
Don’t put full stops (in the US, periods) at the end of bullet points unless your organisation uses that convention.