5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

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by Espresso 1882 5 steps to design great slides and stop wasting time in the process 5 best beans blog

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The better you come prepared the better results you get in slides design. The very act of putting the presentation together is and should be the last step. Unfortunately many people have bad habit of starting the work with opening Power Point or Keynote only to fail miserably as they have not thought of structure, visual codes and the audience first. Sometimes they even come up with a pretty decent presentation that fails to deliver and communicate the messages they intended to. Why? Because they design for themselves and that is the road to nowhere. I never design for myself. I always follow those 5 steps to design better slides and schedule my work.

Transcript of 5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

Page 1: 5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

by Espresso 1882

5 steps to design great slides and stop wasting time in the process

5 best beans blog

Page 2: 5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

do your research well1Your communication is effective only when you know the people you communicate to. Surely it is not possible to be friends with everyone in your audience but at least do some good research on who they are, what they dream about, what they aspire to, what stories they resonate with. Do your research well as this is the foundation of great communication.

MY TIP Use internet, Google Trends and Twitter to learn more about your audience. CLICK TO TWEET

Page 3: 5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

think of story and structure2Once you have researched your audience, it is best to think of the story and the structure. How to start – questions, quote or statistics are great ways. What blocks does you story consists of? Try the different options with clear structure our mid-brain and neo-cortex love so much. The more emotional the story and the more twists of action it contains, the better.

MY TIP Best presentations are based on strong opposites – try dark scenario and good one. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

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choose the style that fits best3

MY TIP

Your story is great – now think of the visual style that would fit best. Minimalistic and elegant or maybe vibrant and colourful like the 50s press ads. Whatever your decision is, always bare in mind that you are designing for your audience and not for yourself. You may hate the manga anime style, but if your audience loves it, it’s wise to use it.

Look for inspiration in everyday life. Magazines and art are great source of inspiration. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

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gather resources you will need4You know your audience, you have story they surely will resonate with, now it is time to gather resources you will need. I’m talking pictures, icons, fonts that suit your chosen design style best, quotes and all statistics that support your idea. Gather all the resources handy to make it easy to design slides in no time at all.

MY TIP Try creating folders for all the necessary resources you’ll need with your presentation. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

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design the actual slides5

MY TIP

You have the story with the structure, all the resources kept handy, now it is time to start designing the slides. Remember that the structure comes first and make sure to use one idea per one slide. Be consistent with your chosen style and make sure to test if the story is clear.

Do the template slides first to make it easier and faster to follow the style guide. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

Page 7: 5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

5 steps to designing great slides and stop wasting time in the process

Those were

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sign up to our newsletterby Espresso 1882

5 best beans blog

Page 8: 5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

PHOT0 CREDITSPhoto Credit: Thomas Leuthard via Compfight cc Photo Credit: the bbp via Compfight cc Photo Credit: By Ariana Prestes Photo Credit: By Luke Chesser

Page 9: 5 Steps to Designing Great Slides and Stop Wasting Time in the Process

5 steps to designing great slides

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do your research wellthink of story and structurechoose the style that fits bestgather resources you will needdesign the actual slides