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Why should you include graphics in your presentation? Visuals give a presentation greater impact. Audiences feel that
speakers who use graphics are better prepared, more professional, and more credible. Furthermore, presentations made with visuals are more persuasive.
Do you want to increase understanding and retention?
Emphasize key points? Show relationships? Illustrate trends? Clarify complex issues? Explain abstract concepts? Well-designed graphics help communicate ideas quickly and effectively, keep a meeting focused, and
facilitate comprehension and learning. One study found that using visuals in a presentation can reduce communication time by 40 percent.
Presentations, 101
Step 1
What's your objective? To provide information?
To sell something? Who is the audience? What do they already know about your subject? What action should attendees take following the presentation? Try to summarize your goal with a single sentence.
Step 2
Organize your materials to create a sequential outline of important
information, listing the key points and supporting ideas. This is the time to do any needed research to gather any materials or data to reinforce your message. Don't try to put too much information into one
presentation. Audiences only absorb a portion of what is presented to them, therefore it's important to determine in advance what essentials they must retain. Your audience will remember most the beginning and end of
your presentation. Consider a strong opening (agenda/outline) and closing (summary/review). For a long presentation, consider making summaries throughout the program and handouts can help to reinforce your message.
Step 3
Identify any graphics that will
illustrate your ideas; create a visual script or storyboard. Audiences remember concepts, trends, and impressions, not raw data. Visuals that are too complex take the attention away from your story. The presentation
should portray the "big picture" and supplemental handouts can provide "close-ups" to expand on your theme. Reserve detailed information for your handouts.
Step 4
Review each slide to ensure the information is important, accurate,
and understandable. Make sure the presentation flows logically from beginning to end. Check to see if you have adequately covered each idea and edit slides to eliminate unnecessary or repetitious points. Before you
finish, it's a good idea to share your presentation with a co-worker or two to proofread and check for clarity. Once your slides are complete, output to film, overheads and/or hard copy.
Step 5
Rehearse so that you are completely familiar with the slides'
sequence and timing. The visuals should help to remind you of key points. Try out the presentation on a colleague; a second person can often help you find something you've overlooked.
Step 6
If you travel by air, carry slides in your hand luggage. Store
slides in a tray (if desired) and inside a box to keep them clean and in proper order. If you will be presenting in an unfamiliar meeting room, be sure to check room conditions in advance: darkness level, screen, AV
equipment, power supply, etc. Check to see if back-up equipment is available and try to have a spare projector bulb on hand. Arrive at the meeting early so that you can check that AV equipment is working properly. And
now, on with the show!
The following pages include some things we think you should know if you are producing your own slides.
Setup/Margin Suggestions
Set the page size for "35mm slides." Be careful
not to place information too close to the edges. Try to leave at least a 1/2" margin at the top and bottom and sides.
Color Ideas
Colors shown on a monitor screen will not precisely match files printed onto film. If you are going to use an unusual
color combination, we suggest you bring us a test file first.
We recommend that slides have a consistent appearance. One uniform "look" for the entire presentation displays a distinctive, professional
company image.
Try to use contrasting colors. Light text on dark backgrounds looks best. Examples are: yellow text on dark blue, white text on dark red, etc. Avoid light colored backgrounds as they can show
dust, dirt, and a distracting glare. Graduated backgrounds give a professional look. Avoid using red for text; many people are color blind in the red spectrum.
Text Tips
To ensure your files will output correctly, use the standard fonts that
come with your program. A good rule of thumb is to limit each slide to no more than six lines of text and six words per line. For maximum readability, give your slides this "low tech" test. Print a slide out
with an 8 1/2 x 11" printer and lay the page on the floor. You should be able to easily read everything on the page from a standing position. Think about billboards - they often use five words or less!
Two
or more simple slides are more effective than one complex slide. Changing slides often help keeps the audience's attention. The average adult attention span is only eight seconds, so it's important to change slides
often to hold their interest. Bullets are great for listing several related ideas. You may want to consider the use of build slides for bulleted items. By revealing one point at a time you keep your audience involved in
your presentation instead of reading ahead of you.
Be consistent in placement and usage of headings and body text. For a clean and simple look, avoid using too many different type fonts and sizes. You might
select one type style for headings and a second type style for the body, and select one text color for your heading and another for body copy. Slides with sans serif type fonts like Helvetica are very readable.
Fancy/decorative type styles are often difficult to read. Consider using bold text; thick type is generally more readable than thin. Minimize or avoid words in ALL CAPS as they can be difficult to read. Use italic text
sparingly for emphasis, but avoid underlining.
Don't worry about punctuation or forming complete sentences - remember, you are working to communicate concepts. Please proofread carefully.
Using photos, logos, clip art
If you need to add
images, graphics, logos, etc. to your presentation, please contact us for advice on the proper file size/s and format to use to produce the best output. Picture files that are too large will cause your program to work
slowly and take up excess space on your disk or hard drive, picture files that are too small will result in jaggy, rastered images.
We can add photos, illustrations or logos to your slides. If you don't have the
graphic you are looking for, give us a call, we can add art to your slides from our image library.
About Charts
Charts can add meaning to your message and are usually easier to understand than tables. If possible, present tables in handout form, they
often have too much information for easy comprehension.
A well-designed chart is a powerful tool, but a cluttered chart with unnecessary information is counterproductive. Be sure to use colors consistently when
designing charts. If one chart shows "expenses" in red, each successive chart showing "expenses" should use that same color. Try to keep chart elements to five segments or less. Each chart element
should use a color that is clearly different from each other. Try to keep any labels as short and simple as possible.
• Pie charts work best to show proportionate relationships.
• Bar charts are good for comparisons of various items. A stacked bar chart shows the accumulated contribution of each data element relative to the whole.
• Column charts show variations over a period of time. Use a column
chart to if you need to display negative numbers.
• Line
charts are best for showing continuous effects of changes or trends over time. Using a multiple line chart makes it easy for viewers to see similar trends. Line charts can also show projections. You can use a solid line
for "actual" and a dashed line for "projections."
• Area charts emphasize quantitative information as opposed to showing "trends" in simple line charts.
Duplicate Slides
An extra set of slides allows you to share your program with other
presenters and serves as a "backup" against damage or loss of the "originals." Duplicate slides are most economical if you request them with your original order.
More Than Just Presentations
Martinelli Studios also offers product and
corporate photography, trade show prints, copy services, digital manipulation and restoration, scanning, and design services. Please give us a call to discuss your next project! |
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