A mind-blowing slide deck will accelerate your career. But a dull presentation will hold you back. Here are 10 dead-simple ways to improve your slides today:
#1: Don't start your prep with slide creation. Make your slides the LAST stage of your prep. Start with: • Your audience • Your story arc • Your content Once that’s done THEN think about where slides add value.
#2: Use fewer slides. If you have 50 slides for a 30-minute talk, you’ve gone overboard. Less than one slide per minute is a guide. But if you've prepped your content well, you'll probably only need a few.
#3: Check the text size. Help keep your words to a minimum. Nobody benefits from you reading off your slides. • Use max 30-point font • Use max 20 words per slide Restrict yourself to improve your communication.
#4: Get quality images. There are so many online resources to choose from. Follow these 4 rules for your images: • Never use clip art • Make them high res • Max one image per slide • Ensure you have the right to use them Unsplash. Pexels. Pixabay. Check them out.
#5: Only one idea per slide. Where most presenters go wrong is they try to cram too much into one slide. Stick to one idea per slide and you'll keep your audience on board. If you find that gives you 60 slides...it's time to rework the content.
#6: Choose one font. Consistency gives a much better visual feel. If you understand design, pick a couple of fonts that work together. If you don't, be safe and stick with one font throughout.
#7: Don’t over-animate. If you’re an expert designer - go for it. Otherwise, leave animations out. No talk got better because of spinning text.
#8: Less is more. Your slide deck IS NOT your presentation. YOU are your presentation. Each slide should only be there if it adds value. Make every single one count.
#9: Remember accessibility. Don’t get confused by thinking your slides equal accessibility. They don't. Accessibility is in: • notes • handouts • recordings • audio loops • live transcripts Don’t use accessibility to excuse terrible slides.
#10: Go slide free. I know it can be scary. We rely on our slides for comfort and reassurance. But once you’ve mastered the true value of slides, you might actually find you don’t need them at all. Be bold and try it. It's liberating.
TL;DR 10 ways to 10x your slide deck • #1: Don't start with slides • #2: Use fewer • #3: Limit text size • #4: Get quality images • #5: One idea per slide • #6: Pick one font • #7: Don't over-animate • #8: Less is more • #9: Remember accessibility • #10: Go slide free
