Tips for Designing Effective Presentation Slide Decks

Contributed by: Curtis Newbold, PhD

Difficulty level: Easy/Intermediate

Whether you’re leading a meeting or presenting on stage, delivering virtually or in-person, nearly any presentation will benefit from a well-designed slide deck. “Well-designed” is the key here. Slides that are overly busy, text-heavy, flooded with bullets, or that use poor choice of colors, fonts, or layouts can cause problems in a hurry.

While research has proven over and over again that well-designed visuals increase audience members’ attention, engagement, and recall; poorly designed slides can dull attentiveness, distract focus, confuse and frustrate audiences, and even damage the presenter’s reputation.

That puts a lot of pressure on designing good slides!

In this Shortcut, I outline a helpful 8-step process for designing slides that will enhance your presentation, impress your audience, and make you look good!

Step 1: Keep Your Audience in Mind

Figure 0.

Slides are only as good as your audience perceives them to be. Keep the people you’re presenting to in mind by ensuring that each slide does something helpful for them. Ask yourself the following questions about your audience before preparing a slide deck:

• Why are they here?

• Why should they care?

• What do they need to know?

• What don’t they need to know?

• What can I do to make ...