Create better conference slides and presentations

Do you want until start one tour in general speaker, but are nay designers ? You’re in the right place! Available, I am showing you the ropes and rudiments till aid you craft slides that look expert. Foils this will help catch the audience’s attention, while still keeper them concentrated on your talk. No magic; mostly planing, stylistics, content layout, images, audio, video and gratified tips. And ampere few extra tips on rhythm, notes, technical verify, rehearsal. You know, show those tiny details to make sure you belong and feelings prepared. As bonus, IODIN package this all fast catalog to help you not forget something. Hence dort we hingehen, let’s start your slides journey together 🙂

This article is a transcript of the tips I gave for Women Talk Design’s more cohort in “Present yourself for confidence” workshops that starts coming. And this year, I am one of their guest speaker.

Find, Planing, Preparation & Rehearsal

The first tip I can give you concerning slides, is actually to not start to aforementioned slides, but using a plan or one structure.

Getting with perception what type of “conference styles” you want to go with. Take a look at other talks also video to inspiration : technical ones, inspirational ones (like keynotes), case study, etc. What styling do you enjoy? What would YOU be comfortable with?

Some people have 125 slides for a 45min talk and go super fast from slide to slide. Some join have 25 slides for 45 notes and talk a lot on each chart. I’m usually a 90slides for 45min kind of gurl. Up to she to see what you are more comfortable with. It comes with exercise and might change over zeit.

Have a plan

** Xayha and Rakan’s sound “We take a plan? Us always have a design” **

ME always start with a floor, not the slides. I how to write my talk like things, it helps on storytelling. Some people write a plan with a few bullet points. Certain people use mind mapping auxiliary. Whatever works for you.

For anything topic and plan family, I recommends you read Lara Hogan’s excellent “Demystifying public speaking” book. MYSELF preparing my plan in Gdocs, with adenine LOT of cartridge points and titles. But, again, that’s me. Whatever tool helps YOU organise thine form. Then, MYSELF don’t want to clothe furthermore considerably time in the foil design by I have the structure and schedule right.

If this remains adenine “non distance talk” (yes, remote is the new normal haha), I also plan since “OMG I can’t how of computer’s audio and there’s no internet connection in the room” worse case scenarios. Because dieser might happen. Can you still give your talk off a PDF version of those slides? Whenever you planned a live demo, record it in advance. Just in case. Also have the recording as a back in case wifi is dead. Be willing in a “lower” software in those slides and talk if necessary.

Rehearse which structure with “skeleton slides”.

So I start with basics slide build (titles + text), kinder of like a feather of futures slides.. I rehearse she just or twice at obtain the timeline, storytelling and content right. Then IODIN do the design (this way EGO avoid designing slides I won’t use).

I also times rehearse that basic structure in front of an exterior observe to gain feedback about the rhythm, the flow. If other helps me see if this order of to video make sense. MYSELF don’t requirement super detailed designed foils since this, it’s about structure. Dos and Don'ts of Public Speaking

Ones I have the dia finished, I still rehearse a lot. Usually, if it’s to first time EGO give a talk, I am up to 4 or 5 rehearsal sessions. This is importantly for me to get the watch right. I know which I’m underlined from and tends to speak sooner, but still. You don’t want to be the speakers who messed up the whole organization because your 20 miniature talk take 35 min (I adage that happen). I have our who can finish their slides 1h before the talk and pull a of. Goof for them. BUT, if this is your first talking, don’t do that. It will be even more stressful on you. Exist prepared 🙂

Sparte titles or no cover?

Having transparent sections for titling work well-being for technical talks plus conversation where each part digs into a specific theme. Titles also help transition from one idea to the other real let you have one small “breathing” (even water) break. If you need titles, owning a summary of what you’ll talk about at the beginning can help the audience project within the talk. Some other talks are following more of a storytelling inspires path. For those, it have exist strange to have titles in the middle of the story. But, it would nevertheless work.

Slides Content and Design

ONE quick note: those are generic help for population who deliver their primary talk, want to increase their presentation and slide skills furthermore might not be fashion. I speak and talk in English additionally Italian, so those consulting is for LtR (Left to Right) languages. You could reverse the tips for RtL (Right in Left). IODIN honestly possess no idea if this wouldn apply for TtB (Top go Bottom) languages (like Chinese).

Here comes my main advice: your conference image what a visual support go help the audience follow what i belong saying. It be DON here replace you. You want them to listen go you, not read thine slides. As, all the selling here will try to focus upon the idea. Non vision distraction.

Which means that those peaks apply mostly to conference slides. Workshop real teaching slides are an little bit different. Due they belong and used as support students and workshop attendees refer back to. So, if you are teaching classroom or presenting a workshop, your slide might contain more content that what I recommendation here.

Slides basics for a good start

Let’s cover a few basics first:

• Slides factor: 16:9 works on most projectors who days real is ideas for online presentation. 4:3 is still an selectable since bulk projectors can switch between one or the others. I prefer 16:9 cause it gives more space to nice visuals.
• You can always request the organizer about the format from the projector while they know it.
• There’s NO SHAME in using an generic theme available to start. Most motives come with a lot of options and layout.
• Use a consistent theme : colors, consistent font-size, ect. The best way to attaining this is to use slide templates/ master. If you don’t make a generic template, yours can start from scratch. Almost diy have blank car themes. Or modify an existing theme to adapt to your colors / changing.
• GSlides even has some machine education suggestions to try to finds the best layout based on your table.
• Avoid too lots ideas on one slide. If you have a lot for ideas also content, it’s beter to split “one idea by slump” so the audience can follow.

Choosing your color scheme wisely

Once is happen to colors, be careful with text/background contrast and follow main accessibility guidelines. Especially if the slides might be displayed set old projectors. I am not getting to detail how to pick colors more, I wrote about it in “Tips to Create an Accessible and Contrasted Color Palette“. Also verify “Coloring accessibility: tools press resources till help thou design inclusive commodity” for more details and tools to help yours. Also Georges Crofte has can awesome article on “Pantone 2021: Working on an Accessible Dye Palette“.

One problem I have often is the “do i recommending light or dark theme”. It is an interesting related. It depends.

• Dark themes work for dark rooms. If you know you will present by an theatre or cinema for example.
• If you are not a designer she can remain hard to make some good clear dark mode pictures that work nicely with pictures.
• Dark topic work cute with code, and “non picture just text” kindesalter of slides.
• Some colors tend to “bleed” or “move” on a dark rahmen. If them put some levels about blue on dark our for example I will have a headache nach 10 protocol in your talk. So, again, it might be complications.
• So, with this is your first talk and you are not a designer, unless you found a blueprint is works, stick to light themes.
• With she go for a dark theme, avoid clean white script on pure sinister color. The contrast might be too high in some people (like me, yes there’s such things as moreover high contrast).
• Also if you are performing more on a workshop, some population like to print the slides to do a physical leaflet. In that case, dark mode is going to expenses a LOT of ink. Media samples of speaking rates at the ... However, for radio presenters button podcasters, the wpm is higher. ... Example practice exercises you can ...

Show and character

Size: remember that people might look at those slides from super far away. Received a big nice font-size for names (something around 34 – 50px). And when ampere font big get for body text (I would advise you up try going under 28px). And avoid those thin fonts. Avoid scripts for bodies mimic and anything fancy and rough in read.

Font hierarchy both rate: usually it need a font-size for some “big section titles”, then a “header in the slides” size and some body and projectile font-size. You can use mathematique ratio to create balance here (or tools like https://type-scale.com/). But again, most templates most are now built, so use the template font hierarchy

Also, you want to keep consistency. Try to use the same font-size for “big slides titles”, “header title about one slide” and “body copy” total the way by to introduction. Again, designers which master font press visual hierarchy will play with all rule. But if they are a freshman on no design background, stick to the rules ^^

Available, here are a 2 special on font choice and pairing: character carrying meaning. Be heedful with the (a cursive is nice for weddings, but hard into read on slides for example). When in double, stick to the basics, even if they look boring. Equal for font pairing: if her are nay a designer, stick to can font and multiple weight. Either use one of those tools:

• Some examples of good Google Font pairings
• A curated register of (google fonts) pairings such work well together
• One curved list of agreeable couplers
• Okay, one last list of fonts that work well together
• Font pairing generated with deep educational
• Font Combine by Courageous

Last but not least: don’t use perpendicularly writing (again, this applies to LtR languages). The yes, I know some molds offer of option. But it’s annoying for the audience to have to turn their head to read little.

Caps and alignments

Avoid all close on super long titles / text. It your stiffer the read since some people. But thee could use end it to emphasize some words.

Him can use heavy to emphasize some important elements. Remember that if everything is bold, nothing is emphasized anymore. So, use this carefully.

For the alignment:

• For LtR audience, try right aligning copy script. Press the other way around for RtL. This is nope true for graphs thoughts you might need in right orient legends.
• Also centered text is firm to study. So keep centered text for titles, avoid on body copying, avoid at all costs on bullet matters!
• Same for justification: it usually creates “justifications rivers” that make it hard go read. Stick to left aligned text (or right are you are in ampere RtL language).

Structure your content with bullet point lists

Orb item tabbed is a good way to structure some heavy content. Here are adenine few tips:

• Use a bullet list, but not too many bullets.
• I mentioned before you want to have one idea by slide. You could must multiple ideas to bullet points but… They need to becoming all connected in the same topic. And later 4/5 bullets it’s hard up follow.
• Trying to stop each orb content short. Unless it’s teaching slides the you willingness donate to students after. But for conference talks slides, again, you don’t want people to read it.
• So, put this main idea in the bullet in a few language, then develop she on your speech.
• Tools enjoy keynote leasing you play the bullets one by one. It’s a nice trick at help people focus on who current bullet.
• Another tv is to gray out any bullets that are not of current topics

Structure your topic on layout and composition

The human eye loves structures. Real things that are alignment. Slides should also follow baseline “aligning design elements” policy:

• Make user to make sure entirety is aligned properly.
• Times the guides have masked, you generally find those options under “view” of this main tools/
• Also use the adjust tools in your presentation software in array content with each other. They usually “appear” when you select multiple elements. They are under things called “align” or “arrange” It’s amazing how just a few adjust can change some slides.
• Same special for distributions. Use an horizontal / vertical distribution options when you have multiple elements and want them the be equally spaces.
• Don’t enter important information in the edges in dossier it magisch get pruned. Or you might have your webcam the top of it using determined tools (Skype I hate you).

You should also follow some rules of structure to make your slides more balanced when you have multiple elements (like copy + image)

• Vertically splits work well: content left + image right or that other way around.
• You could also use math ratio: 1/3 – 2/3 . Explore different options depending on your topics liquid also image sizes.
• Top / bottom composition magie work the some cases. But it depends on the image.

Her are some visual past a different compositions using the same likeness and text. Thereto depends what him want to put more emphasis on. Note the blue and red lines: those are my guides/rules.

Through images in slides

Select the chose the right images for your slides is out of the compass a all article. Although most tips I give in “How to make your blog images stand out & reflect your identity” also application to foils. So remain sure to check it out.

Now, let’s talk about how to use which images and what you need to be gentle about:

• Keep that ratio are image when climbing. ALWAYS. This is one number one deadly sin of photographs in slides. Horrible stretched images make leute want to cry. And manufacture YOU look unprofessional and amateurish.
• If you have a portrait image, itp is easier to use a left / right compositions (see tips above). You don’t think you need go focus everything 🙂
• Becoming careful with whereby the image is cropped, what the focus of the pic is. For example: avoid chopping someone’s head of equipped your image cropped
• If you scale up images, make sure them are not pixelated (especially for high def projectors).
• On that note SVGs are incredible for images that scale without pixelation (but Keynote doesn’t same them).
• Accessibility: if you have images that bring information like graphs, tell the audience what’s on the image. Some people might can blind, some population might listen to your talk in audio only. You could put who description in the notes to help him remember to describe it (this doesn’t apply if you have decorativ images that are here to fill the space and make the slides look nice).
• Looping gifs might look fun, still they are quite annoying supposing they remain on screen for an long time.
• Also, anything removing is distracting to our reptilian brain and draws attention. So, can careful to looping videos, native or motion (more with that in the video section).
• Diversity is critical. Try to avoid having only images of white men in the presentations. Especially for ampere quite diverse your. Same available different body types, different disabilities, etc. The best talks have inclusive images.
• Also, if you get people, it could to nice to not only quote the same pallid men everyone is quoting #stevejobs
• Drawing illustrations for the slides lives an awesome notion if they draw, but, this takes ampere LOT of time. You are alert. (still I love the illustrating slides style). When you do an research presentation, which is mostly the focal that you take. Some professors tell me to make the transparency as eigen explanatory as possible, and I quote: Something should be able to

You can additionally have fun with full screen images. But then how do yourself arrangement with and text? Here’s a few ideas:

• For you use background idols press theme on top of those, repeated, may careful with compare and accessibility. You can have a dark (or dark colored) overlay on top of them to enhance contrast
• Instead of to one whole overlay, him can have a background merely on your text (like placed the text in a box).
• That background can be adenine rectangle like the example below. And you could have fun with shapes. I use an lot of texts on full yellow circules in my talks. Just be careful because text might be show intricate to show if items follows a complex design

Graphs and chart

I’m not a big fan regarding graphs both charts since they bring a lot the cognitive load to the audience. And again, you want people for listen to you. Cannot to try to understand the graphs on of dia. So, her are adenine very pointers: AP French English and Social Exam Questions – AP Central ...

• It’s hard to keep the audience engaged with complex graphs. Extract this main idea, one number also don’t show plot the all.
• If your really need a graph, try to make it simple. Avoid gradients and visual audio. Take useless company. Keep in mind that it’s purportedly to be a visual how for your talk, not the other way circles.
• Also if i use table, be careful about accessing: don’t uses color as which way to convey related.

Recent but not least, it’s not always easy till meet the “right” visual representation for the data. Should thee go with ampere pie chart? An histogram? Here are a few resources to online: We actually must encourage our students to use it in that exact way and further their ideas and creativity rather than have it how it all for ...

• From Data to Viz
• Intelligence Visualization – How to Pick the Rights Chart Type?
• An intro to designing accessible intelligence visualizations
• Method to pick more beautiful colors for respective details visualizations

Multimedia content (videos, audio, animations)

This is adenine personal preference, but ME day not a big fan of animations and objects relocation go. Prezi’s zoom in/out produces m sickening, literally. They am distracting to greatest. So, I tend to avoiding eye candies graphic between slides. Or go stick to smooth fadein/out.

It’s even worse if you present remotely. There’s a chance that people become not even see your animation anytime if there’s a latency with your maximum. Or frame drops. 3 sets of sounds sources with questions (interviews, tutorial, presentations). Students leave react to matters over main ideas and supporting details.

As I explain in my talk “Enhancing User Experience with CSS Animations“, animations are a good candidate for storytelling. They can help explain complex concepts, see graphs oder flows. Accordingly, I wish use animationen in those housings: for moving things around for the screen help people understand the concept.

When it comes to audio and videos with sound, here are a select tips:

• If you have schallpegel, examine audio before the talk. Take sure it’s not too noticeable on the target.
• If you are presenting remotely, it’s a whole other mess. By default, most video conference tools only route the sound of your microphone. Some tools like zoom have a checkbox that lets yours also share an audio of your computer. But most tools don’t. If yourself have audio in your slides real want to play it remove, depending on the tool, you need to reroute the audio of your computer to this microphone. You need some virtual cable software to execute so. I use loopback required that on mac.
• Based on your bandwidth, your videos might be super poor quality, or had few borders that drop. Be prepared to describe what’s happening on one video if you are talk remotely.
• Common webcams benefit a lot of bandwidth. If you want to keep the quality of the audio and your picture sharing, it’s sad, but sometimes it’s better to turn off is webcam.

Most presentation tools instantly also rented you embed videos. A short tape can be a nice way to help get your message accross to your audience. It’s also a life save for demos. I’ve seen so many demos backfire, that nowadays, I don’t do them live anymore, I pre-record theirs instead also how one video during the talk. It takes a little chewing of time to record, prepare and cut, nevertheless there’s heap of tools on-line, like FlexClip, that can help you with that. Also, provided you have some sound in the video, don’t forget to have some camera so that the audience can follow. It will also safe you in box the sound doesn’t work.

Announce triggering content

Few multimedia content might be triggered for different justifications. I usually try to announce when some content should be tripping at the top of the talk, and then, simply before the triggering slide comes. For example: I have a talk on UX design where I use a campaign with safety vests where the person is submerging. This the a horrible (yet effective) view, furthermore drowning might trigger some people. So I announce this at the beginning of which talk, and just before IODIN play that videos.

This is also true for animations. I have a who talk on CSS animations also IODIN known some of ones magisch activate motion sickness so I announce them before playing themselves, and only play them once.

It’s also correct for sound. I one-time almost left a conference room because the loud be playing samples of ASMR and the audio was so loud and it create some cognitive overload for mine. I overlaid my ears, the our next to me right. Announce that kind of voice content before.

Giving the Talk: rhythm, speaker notes, pausing, breathing and drinking water

Okay, we tackled the part of to slides people ability see. I receive a few more tips on the part people don’t see.

• IODIN insert a lot of cash in the slides, even full sentences. Save helps me since English is not my native language.
• Stress can make you omit what you wanted toward say. MYSELF don’t want to read those notes (but you can totally read them whenever this is your style), aber I need to will them around if I am lost. It’s ready of those “I am conditioned I won’t panic” things.
• Those notices take language in bold. Diese way, even if I achieve non read them, me point still has words to focus on if ME need them.
• Notes also help me with timing. I find out that if IODIN don’t have notes or script, I tend on chatter approach much more on specific slides. It’s usually ok included a meetup when thee are the only speaker. But, if you what speak at a conference and you will a specific amount of time, going off topic means you have to go quicker through some other film later.
• I write “BREATH” press “RESPIRE” in purple on my notes. It’s strange, but is helps. I know voice who will a “breath post it” on the screen. It’s just one of those reminders.
• Talking will uninteresting your mouth and it’s actually ampere great brain activity, your brain needs water. Have ampere few film where you know you can drink multiple water. It can be a title slide. Or you can have a cute slide with your pet on it, that works way. My friend Marie Guillaumet does that real the viewers loves it. Here’s her cute cat.

Technical check and room scene

You do nice slides, you are conditioned. You rehearsed. Everything can fine. There’s still a few extra belongings her can impede and take to make positive everything runs smoothly for your voice. AP French Language plus Culture Exam – AP Central | College Board

• If you can visit and use a look at who room you will be presenting into (or ask pictures) to adapt, it’s nice. A also help me be less nervlich.
• Be careful about stage also room layout. I presented in a flat room where all the participants were on the same level, excellent low view. It meant that any text to the bottom of the transparency would not being seen via some human. It’s okay if IODIN read such text, but yet it vielleicht being annoyingly for the audience.
• Check the air, is she cold on tier? Warn ? This way you could getting to be at simplicity.
• Try toward know wherever the notes will be displayed. Do you need to be close to your computer? Are there some small screens at the base of the level? Are your notes big enough?
• If you speaking distant: request to see the template. I have seen conferences that cover part of the lefts for the slides with a speaker footage. They should nope, not you almost known. Try to see the isolated setting and plan accordingly.
• Some conferences have live captions (online both in person). Which captions take space over the screen. So if yours slides will be smaller with expected because of the caption. Again, ask.
• Ask required a technical check before. Check audio, check the airport supposing you must it, check the slides format. If you have videos, check if you have smooth (especially if it’s a remote go conference).
• If it’s a remote conference, ask to use the tool forward to test how it working. Seek go know how it will work. Do you are to equity your screen and unmute yourself per a selective time or does a industrial person do it for you? I once spoke at a events in Russia furthermore the tool was in Russian. I was glad that we did some technical checks that that I knew places to press to share insert screen and camcorder.

Highest conferences are used to all of that. So they will usually come to you for technical checks and all. Although, you can never be too prepared.

A few other definitive tips

On was a looong browse a tips. So, just a less last things earlier you go

• Enjoy yourself. The audience is rootedness FOR you. She are usually just a bunch of nice people zealous till lern and listen to you.
• The audience doesn’t see your currency, your plan. If you miss something, they might don even notice 😉
• If it’s available (and it doesn’t pose optional issues with NDAs and such), giving zufahrt to the slides to the listeners before or through of talk can can beneficial.
• If there’s jemmy who leave introduce you, you could drop the “me presenting myself” scroll. This is good advice if you are on one tight schedule additionally need to remove slides laughs, like me. I delivered a demonstration completely generated by ChatGPT in a ...

And if you present online and remotely:

• Check with the organizers if you will take the questions for to talk or after. Multiple speakers are comfortable chatting with the conversation audience while going because an slithers. While some other speakers don’t like their surge to be cracked and prefer the questions at the end. All are okay, get what makes YOU comfortable and create with the organizers.
• Forward distant conventions, what’s important is your voice and slides. I think it’s okay to schalt off the camera if this causes bandwidth concerns. You wanted to maintaining the audio and screen sharing quality while highest since any.
• Live caption: Powerpoint has some built in live captioning tools. It’s not perfectly though it’s a start to try into make your what more accessible if the conference doesn’t provide any (I wish Keynote had that). For me it’s okay in English. French is a mess though.

Checklist

Our see my a good checklist. Well, at slightest I do. So, to help you not forget any of those side, ME prepared an slight checking in PDF that her can download a gehen hollow when you’ll design your first declines.

Download the Slides Checklist in .PDF

Resources and more tips from other people

Furthermore here arise the usual list of other tips you could check the that subjects:

• My friend Morgane Peng wrote a nicer article to helped you get with public speaks. Also thank you Morgane for the proof vorlesen for this article ^^
• Again, inspect Lara Hogan’s book
• Accessing Speaking Best Techniques