PRESENTATION DESIGN

CRASH COURSE

the beginner’s guide to creating beautiful, impactful and thoughtful presentations.

HI!I WRITE ABOUT MARKETING/BRANDING FOR HONIGMAN MEDIA AND IDEONAND TEACH DIGITAL MARKETING AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY

I’M JOE GELMAN

STORYTELLING RHETORIC DESIGN1 2 33 ELEMENTS OF GREAT PRESENTATIONS

STORYTELLING1

STORIESHUMAN BEINGS ARE NATURALLY RECEPTIVE TO

GREAT STORYFROM A YOUNG AGE, WE LOVE A

HARDWIREDTHE HUMAN BRAIN IS

TO CRAVE STORIES

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“SHARED FICTIONS

“HUMANITY’S ASTOUNDING ABILITY TO COOPERATE IS DUE TO OUR ABILITY TO BELIEVE IN

watch the talk →

– Dr. Yuval Harari

IN THE REAL-WORLD THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS…

MONEY BORDERS LAWS

IN THE REAL-WORLD THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS…

MONEY BORDERS LAWS

THE STORIESWE TELL OURSELVES LIE AT THE HEART

OF OUR SHARED IDENTITIES

IF IDEAS ARE LIKE VIRUSES

STORIES ARE HOW WE MAKE THEM

CONTAGIOUS

ALL MARKETERS ARE STORYTELLERS

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…

IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THEN THAT

ALL GREAT BRANDS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN

GREAT STORIES

GREAT PRESENTATION SKILLS CAN HELP

TELL YOUR STORY

HOW CAN YOU MAKE YOUR STORIES

MORE EFFECTIVE?

YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR

SHAPE

“BASIC SHAPES

“ALL GREAT STORIES THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF WRITING HAVE ALL SHARED ROUGHLY THE SAME

watch the talk →

–Kurt Vonnegut

START END

GOOD

BAD

Recognize this story?

SIMILARLY, GREAT PRESENTATIONS ARE MADE BY JUXTAPOSING

GOOD vs. BAD

“ALL GREAT PRESENTATIONS SHARE

“AFTER LOOKING AT HUNDREDS OF PRESENTATIONS I FOUND THE SAME BASIC SHAPE

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–Nancy Duarte

PROGRESS IS RELATIVE…

COMPARE THE WORLD AS IT IS WITH WHAT IT COULD BE

I LOOKED AT A LIST OF THE MOST FAMOUS FIRST LINES IN LITERATURE AND FOUND

THAT GREAT AUTHORS DO THIS TOO!

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

– ANNA KARENINAleo tolstoy

“It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

– 1984george orwell

THIS CONTRAST WILL MAKE YOUR MISSION CONVINCING

2RHETORIC

“The purpose of design is to Inform and Delight”

–Milton Glaser

“The purpose of presentation design is to Inform, Delight & Persuade”

RHETORICAL TRIANGLEARISTOTLE DEVISED A SYSTEM CALLED THE

RHETORICAL TRIANGLEPATHOS

LOGOSETHOS

RHETORICAL TRIANGLEEMOTION

LOGICTRUST

GREAT PRESENTATIONS NEED ALL THREE OF THESE ELEMENTS TO BE THROUGHLY CONVINCING

Would this ad make you

want a Big Mac?

LOGIC ALONE WILL NEVER CONVINCE ANYONE!

IF IT DID, NO ONE WOULD SMOKE

THE TRUTH OF THE RHETORICAL TRIANGLE IS WHY ANTI-SMOKE

ADS LOOK LIKE THIS

• BULLETS• KILL • ATTENTION

NOT JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE VISUALLY UNEXCITING…

…BUT ALSO BECAUSE THEY MISS 2/3 KEY APPEALS

GREAT STORYTELLING WILL APPEAL TO EMOTION

AND GREAT DESIGN WILL CONVEY TRUST

3DESIGN

FIRST THINGS FIRST, LET’S COVER THE BASICS

COMPOSITION

NOTICE THE POINTS OF INTEREST WHERE THE LINES INTERSECT

The Last Supper Leonardo DaVinci

THIS FRAMEWORK IS CALLED THE RULE OF THIRDS AND IT’S A GREAT WAY TO MAP OUT YOUR SLIDES

LOOK! I PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH!

MULTIPLY THE IMPACT OF YOUR POINTS OF INTEREST, BY GIVING THEM

PLENTY OF BREATHING ROOM

MULTIPLY THE IMPACT OF YOUR POINTS OF INTEREST, BY GIVING THEM

PLENTY OF BREATHING ROOM

ALL THESE UNOCCUPIED SQUARES

THIS IS REFERRED TO AS

NEGATIVE SPACE

COLOR

THIS IS THE COLOR WHEEL. IT’S A CONVENIENT WAY FOR ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS TO DIAGRAM THE RELATIONSHIPS OF COLORS AND TO IDENTIFY HARMONIOUS PAIRINGS

Fun Fact: The color wheel was first introduced by Isaac Newton in 1672

THE COLOR WHEEL

ANALOGOUS

THIS WORKS

COMPLEMENTARY

THIS WORKS

IN FACT, I USED A COMPLIMENTARY COLOR SCHEME FOR THIS PRESENTATION

CONTRAST

AS VISUAL CREATURES, HUMAN BEINGS ARE

PATTERN-RECOGNITION MACHINES

SO WHEN A PATTERN IS BROKEN WE TAKE NOTICE:

IT STANDS OUT BETTER

THE MORE WAYS YOU CAN CONTRAST

THE BIGGER THE IMPACT WILL BE

THE DUTCH MASTER JOHANNES VERMEER INTUITIVELY UNDERSTOOD THE POWER OF CONTRAST.

JUST LOOK AT THE DRAMA THE INTENSE LIGHTING OF THE FACE ACHIEVES BY BEING SET AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND

I RAN A PHOTOSHOP FILTER THAT AVERAGED THE COLORS AND IT’S CLEAR JUST HOW BRIGHT THE FACE IS.

BUT LOOK AT HOW MUCH DARKER THIS COLOR LOOKS IN ISOLATION. THE CONTRAST OF THE BACKGROUND IS WHAT MADE IT IMPACTFUL.

Looks much darker now, no?

TYPOGRAPHY

Serif

Sans Serif

QUALITY SERIFSTimes New Roman

BodoniGeorgiaGaramond

QUALITY SANS SERIFSAvenirFutura

HelveticaGill Sans

Garamond 60pt goes great with Helvetica. Since Helvetica is very rigid and Garamond is calligraphic the contrast works nicely. Notice how neither one distracts from the other; instead the two fonts complement each other wonderfully.

HELVETICA 120pt

Once you’ve set your type using a harmonious grouping of timeless fonts, accentuating this contrast with a nice complimentary color scheme simply sets your work over the top.

HELVETICA 120pt

YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT I DIDN’T USE

THE TYPEFACES I RECOMMENDED

NEUE HAAS UNICAIowan Old Style

IN CASE YOU WERE CURIOUS, HERE ARE THE

TYPEFACES I ACTUALLY USED

“Learn the rules like a professional, so you can break them like an artist.”

–Pablo Picasso

SIMPLICITYSIMPLICITYSIMPLICITY

MOST CRAPPY SLIDES SUCCUMB TO

DATA OVERLOAD

ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO DATA VISUALIZATION

STRIP ALL UNNECESSARY DETAIL

“The best design is as little design as possible.”

–Dieter Rams

FOR TEXT, FOLLOW GUY KAWASAKI’S

6/60 RULE

NO MORE THAN SIX WORDS PER SLIDE NO LOWER THAN 60 POINT FONT*

*I only broke this rule because I’m not giving the talk in person. Again, break rules only once you know ‘em well.

WHEN IN DOUBT TAKE IT OUT!

LOOK AT HOW DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED THIS SLIDE WAS

ONCE IT WAS SIMPLIFIED

SOURCE: Presentation Zen Garr Reynolds

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