by By Tomi Ross
In the creative and fast-paced world of public relations and advertising, a compelling presentation deck is essential. A slide deck is more than just a visual aid; it serves as a powerful tool to fuel your ideas, concepts, and overall storytelling. Mastering the art of creating engaging slide decks will prepare you for your future in creative industries.
Let’s break down how to create a slide deck that will inform and entertain your audience.
- Understand Your Audience
The critical first step, that should be done before the actual slide deck, is understanding your audience. The audience is your client, brand executives, creative teams, agency decision-makers, media representatives, etc. It’s imperative that proper amounts of research is done on the client/brand’s background, policies, and overall brand values/ messaging. This background research will truly understand the level of formality, tone, and visuals of the slide deck.
- Choose a simple & clean design
Your slide deck should have a simple and clean design. To me, there is nothing worse than a presentation that feels rushed, all over the place, and kind of thrown together. The design and graphics should feel purposeful.
A good rule of thumb is to make sure the entire deck is consistent. By this, I mean that the fonts, colors, and layouts should be the same all throughout. I love to use two different fonts, two to four colors, and around four distinct page layouts.
This helps make the deck feel consistent yet also new and engaging. A clutter-free deck allows your audience to truly focus on what is important, like the ideas and messaging.
If creating a slide deck from scratch feels a bit overwhelming, look at websites that provide premade slide deck templates. My favorite website is Canva. Canva offers easy-to-use templates for presentations, Instagram stories, and various other visual content. There are features that highlight visual design graphics. Other websites that I enjoy are Slidesgo and SlidesCarnival.
- Use Visuals
Visuals and graphics are an amazing tool for a presentation. Visual elements are key to capturing and keeping the attention of your audience and breaking up dense information. Visual elements include:
- Images
- Videos
- Charts/ graphs
- Graphics
Visual elements also help create an emotional appeal and connection with the audience. People are much more drawn and taken aback by imagery compared to heavy text. Emotional appeals also increase retention. People are more likely to remember and effectively recall information when there is an associated image.
I would classify myself as a visual learner, so visual elements always help me understand the full picture!
- Have minimal text on slides
When creating a compelling slide deck, keeping text at a minimum is essential. Slides that are busy can overwhelm an audience. Slides should have key points and ideas highlighted. You can view the text on slides as a reminder. It is there to remind yourself of the key ideas and then you handle the rest. Your audience will be impressed when you have the confidence to tackle the presentation and speak from memory. It shows that you have a full, in-depth, understanding of who they are, what they need, and how your ideas align.
Also, once again minimal text helps keep the slides clutter-free!
Final Thoughts
A presentation deck is a tool that can propel your ideas and overall story. It is an essential part of the creative industry so it’s important to practice these skills now. Good luck with your next slide deck!
Great blog, Tomi! I appreciate all the helpful tips. I especially like how you also give resources to help make a slide deck if doing it all from scratch is overwhelming.
Hi Tomi, this was a really thoughtful post! I totally agree, presentation slides that feel rushed and put together at the last minute are the worst, and really difficult to follow. I also like that you provided the websites that you personally prefer to use. These were great tips!
Tomi,
This is a great blog on the importance of a good presentation or slide deck. Regardless of almost any career field, it is very likely that you will be required to create slide decks for work, your superiors, or even your clients. Minimal texts on slides is one of the best ways to declutter your presentation, but also show those your presenting to that you know your material well.
Hello Tomi,
I found your emphasis on understanding the audience completely valid and maintaining a clean, visually appealing design interesting. It does set a solid foundation for delivering impactful content albeit a quite boring one. You have very practical tips on an overall minimal aesthetic, ensuring clarity and maintaining audience attention. Very ironic advice for someone entering the creative industry which is why I found it so captivating.
Hey Tomi, presentation decks are a crucial part of almost every professional field, and you hit the nail on the head of what makes a presentation engaging. Knowing who you are talking to, have minimal text, and using visuals that compliment what you are saying are all necessary features to a successful presentation.
Great job, Tomi! As a college student, I find myself making slideshows right and left, so your tips will be helpful in the future! As you mentioned in your article, it is important to make slideshows visably pleasing, but the most important part is getting the information across easily. I plan on using your suggestion of two fonts, a couple colors, and a couple formatting options. Thank you for the great read!
Good job on your post! I think you provided good tips that are easy to follow. They make a great foundation for anybody to make their own effective presentation. Well done!