Non-Designer's Presentation Book, The: Principles for effective presentation design, 2nd Edition

Non-Designer's Presentation Book, The: Principles for effective presentation design, 2nd Edition

by Robin Williams
Released July 2017
Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
ISBN: 9780134685939

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Book description

Robin Williams, teacher and designer, knows what it takes to give a good presentation. In this revised and updated book, Robin makes it easy for even first-time presenters to get past their fears of creating a presentation. She expands upon the four fundamental principles of good design and typography introduced in her award-winning Non-Designer's series and adds four more principles specific to achieving clear communication with slides.

Let Robin guide you in her signature light-hearted style through the entire process of creating a presentation-from planning and organizing your ideas to designing effective, beautiful slides that won't put your audience to sleep.

In this essential guide to presentation design, you'll learn:

  • What makes a good presentation-or a bad one

  • How to plan, organize, and outline your presentation

  • Four principles for developing effective presentations

  • Four principles for designing beautiful slides that communicate clearly

  • Specific tips for using animation and transitions that aren't annoying

  • A list of timeless presentation rules . . . that you should totally ignore

Table of contents

  1. About This E-Book
  2. Cover
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication Page
  6. Contents
  7. Introduction
  8. Section I
    1. Chapter One Where to Begin?
      1. What’s a presentation?
      2. Does it need to be digital?
        1. Personal experience
      3. Yes, it needs to be digital
      4. Which slide size to use?
      5. Both presenting and posting?
      6. Where is your audience?
        1. A visual example with you, live
        2. A visual example without you
      7. What’s a bad presentation?
        1. The structure
        2. The presenter
        3. The digital presentation itself
      8. What’s a good presentation?
        1. Put it in words
      9. Software options
        1. Apple Keynote
        2. Microsoft PowerPoint
        3. Google Slides
        4. Canva
        5. Prezi
        6. Haiku Deck
        7. VideoScribe
        8. PowToon
        9. PresentMe
        10. More apps all the time
      10. Boundaries can be great
      11. Templates and assets
      12. Share your slides
    2. Chapter Two Get yourself Organized
      1. Plan, organize, outline, write
        1. Old technology sticky notes
        2. Outline features in presentation software
        3. Mind maps and idea clouds
        4. Then type up your presentation
        5. Slide sorter or light table view in software
      2. Now that you’re organized
  9. Section II
    1. Four principles of presentation design
    2. Four principles of design
    3. Chapter Three Clarity
      1. Edit the text!
        1. Avoid lengthy complete sentences
        2. Don’t present your notes
        3. Write in the active voice
        4. Avoid the ’ings
        5. Experiment with editing the text
        6. Sometimes you need the text
      2. Spread out the text!
        1. Use all the slides you need
      3. How many slides in a presentation?
        1. But use one slide when appropriate!
      4. Sometimes you need lots on one slide
        1. Clarity in the design
    4. Chapter Four Relevance
      1. Get rid of superfluous stuff
        1. That includes the logo on every page
      2. Backgrounds
        1. The more complex the information, the simpler the background
        2. When is a busy background okay?
      3. Don’t use dorky clip art
      4. Use relevant photos
        1. Video and animated clips
    5. Chapter Five Animation
      1. Animation creates a focus
        1. Transitions and animations as complements
        2. Clearly transition between major topics
        3. Use transitions to keep your audience on track
        4. Use animation to illustrate and clarify
        5. Animate a chart for clarity
      2. Concerns about animation
    6. Chapter Six Plot
      1. Make a beginning
      2. Tell us where you’re going
      3. Text vs. images
      4. Find the humans in the story
        1. Find the humans in the audience
      5. Tell relevant stories
      6. Vary the pace
      7. Make an end
      8. And leave time for questions
  10. Section III
    1. Chapter Seven Contrast
      1. Contrast with typeface
      2. Contrast with color
      3. Contrast provides substance
      4. Contrast can help organize
      5. Contrast demands attention
    2. Chapter Eight Repetition
      1. Repeat to create a consistent look
      2. Repeat a style
      3. Repeat the image, but differently
      4. Unity with variety
      5. Design the repetitive elements
      6. Repetition doesn’t mean sameness
    3. Chapter Nine Alignment
      1. Alignment cleans up individual slides
      2. Alignment cleans up your deck
      3. Alignment unifies your deck
      4. Alignment makes you look smarter
      5. Alignment is a great organizer
      6. Alignment continued
      7. Alignment will need adjusting
      8. Intentionally break the alignment!
    4. Chapter Ten Proximity
      1. Create relationships
      2. White space is okay
      3. But avoid trapped white space
      4. Proximity cleans and organizes
      5. Proximity is a starting point
  11. Section IV
    1. Chapter Eleven Handouts
      1. Why include handouts
        1. It’s a permanent record
        2. Post your speaker notes
        3. When you do NOT need handouts
    2. Chapter Twelve Learn your Software
      1. Turn off “AutoFit” or “Shrink text to fit”
      2. Set the vertical alignment to the top
      3. Adjust the space between lines
      4. Adjust the space between paragraphs
      5. Crop or mask an image
      6. Don’t squish the images
    3. Chapter Thirteen Ignore these Rules
      1. Never read a slide aloud
        1. The real problem
      2. Never use serif typefaces
      3. Never use animation
      4. Never use more than one background
      5. Never make a slide without an image on it
      6. Never use more than five bullet points per slide
      7. Never use more than two or three words per bullet point
      8. Never use PowerPoint
      9. Never turn the lights off. Never turn the lights on.
      10. Never provide handouts before your talk
      11. Never use pie charts
      12. Never use Arial or Helvetica
    4. Chapter Fourteen Listen to your Eyes
      1. Quiz: Listen to your eyes
      2. Checklist for content
      3. Checklist for slides
      4. Put it all together
    5. Chapter Fifteen Resources for fonts, images, templates, etc.
      1. Professional images, video, etc.
      2. Free images
      3. Inexpensive fonts
      4. Credits
  12. Index

Product information

  • Title: Non-Designer's Presentation Book, The: Principles for effective presentation design, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Robin Williams
  • Release date: July 2017
  • Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
  • ISBN: 9780134685939