The most important presentation slides

Every designer strives to create a presentation that will go down in history, a flagship that others will follow. To do this, it is important that all presentation slides follow a clear structure, have clear and logical navigation, and have a consistent style.

In this article you will find recommendations for the most important presentation slides. The knowledge gained will help you put all the puzzles into a harmonious picture and not miss anything important.   

Structure is everything

Before starting work, it is worth deciding on important details on which the progress of the project will depend:

• Purpose of the presentation. Is it necessary to evoke specific feelings in the audience or is it enough to convey dry statistical facts?
• Target audience. Investors, when making decisions to invest millions, do not mind a more detailed story consisting of dozens of slides. While it is difficult for first-year university students to keep their attention for more than 15 minutes. 

The classic backbone that you can adapt to any project is the following structure:

• Introduction;
• Identification of the problem;
• Solution option;
• Conclusion

Keep it focused by adding or subtracting information as appropriate.  

Slides not according to GOST

There are no generally accepted standards or clear requirements for structure. But we decided to share recommendations that are guaranteed to strengthen your presentation and bring the result as close to your goal as possible.

So...

You should place a preview on the first slide. The person at the start should understand where he ended up and whether it’s worth spending time on. (After all, time is the most valuable resource!) Remember yourself when you go somewhere on business. You are not very interested in what is going on around you. Isn't it?

It's the same story with the audience. By and large, no one cares. To attract attention, you need to try hard. And you only have a few seconds to do this. No more than five. If you managed to hook the audience during this time, this is already a success! 

This mission is assigned to the title slide. You should design it brightly and excitingly: maximum graphics and minimum text. After all, this is the face of the presentation! You can’t judge a book by its cover, but, whatever one may say, it attracts attention from the very beginning. 

Great title slide. It’s immediately clear what we’re going to talk about.

And here you will have to work hard to catch the essence.

First of all, a person sees a preview. And if it doesn’t attract him, he won’t go further!

About the filling

The content of the slide also depends directly on the target audience:

• Investors care about numbers and prices;
• For the owner of brand new square meters in a new building - a photo of a cool renovation with a price lower than anywhere else;
• Parents of a high school student - the advantages of the university, the regalia of teachers and prospects for graduates. 

Show the advantages as clearly as possible and omit the disadvantages (or better yet, transform them into advantages). 

How?

Here's an example. The Veonix design studio does not have specialists with half a century of experience. But we are all young and creative, we understand modern trends, we easily get along with customers, and grasp their wishes on the fly. Despite huge portfolio and grateful reviews we go without a crown and offer order a presentation at the right price! 

In this case, we translated the “youth” of our studio into a positive way. And to be honest, in our niche, “20-30 years on the market” is most often not an indicator of quality. 

What would Sherlock say?

Remember how the famous British detective managed to solve the most difficult problems? Most of all, he paid attention to detail! The little things are the most important thing, and not only in forensics.

The situation is the same in design. The details provide a general impression of the entire presentation. Each element of the slide has weight and meaning. 

Women's accessories play a similar role in creating the entire look. There are two extremes and only one golden mean:

1. Some young ladies completely refuse accessories, look like gray mice and prefer to remain in the shadows. 
2. Others are hung in three layers with an arsenal of inherited gold even when they take out the trash, exposing their bad taste. 
3. And still others skillfully complement the image with stylish, almost invisible jewelry and look stunning! 

What conclusion do we draw from this? We choose style, conciseness and minimalism. Holmes would approve!

How to design transitions   

The role of transit points for designing the transition between related topics of one presentation is played by separator slides. 

What does it look like?

Something like this: several white screens with information on one topic, then a black sheet with a warning heading that it’s time to change the switches - the train will go in a different direction. And then again white screens, only on a different topic. (Black and white is relative).   

Like here.

A slide divider is a lifesaver that helps separate one of your topics from another. 

Background White Bim Black ear

You will not find a more ideal combination than black letters on a white background in the entire Universe: they are read and perceived better than others. Light backgrounds look more neat and at the same time give more conversions (applies to websites). 

Dark presentations with slides have their advantages: they are strict and more stylish. Many luxury perfume stores, for example, use a black background. This is premium level!

But you have to work with black carefully. If you decide to go with it, remember: the color should not be completely black. Choose a softer and more noble shade closer to gray. 

There is a real anti-example of a beauty supply store. Sign: mournful black glossy background + title in white italics + black and white photo of a girl. The impression is depressing, like from a funeral goods store. Creepy design! I would like to pass by quickly. 

Something like this.

Among the worthy black and white examples is the Adidas logo. Simple, stylish and gorgeous. Nothing extra.

Everything ingenious is simple.

In general, black and white is a good color, but you need to be able to work and handle it carefully. In skillful hands it becomes a masterpiece, but in crazy hands... well, you get the idea!

Table of Contents and Summary

Servers are bursting at the seams with water and dubious information. You've probably come across terms like slide table of contents or slide summary in articles about design. But, in fact, there are none. Or rather, they may or may not be. 

Each designer has his own slide algorithm, for example:

• numbers;
• about us;
• team;
• projects (portfolio).

They all have their own meaning but do not always have to be present in a particular project. 

But what a presentation definitely cannot be without is a title page, a slide with advantages and contacts (final slide).

The title slide is catchy and intriguing.

A slide with benefits is attractive and convincing.

A slide with contacts explains what to do, where to pay?

The algorithm is simple: draw attention to yourself, then explain why you need to work with us and that’s it, come - we’re waiting! By the way, Jobs’s call was very simple: “Go and buy yourself this!”

For example, on our website the most important block is portfolio. Here you will find examples of work with prices and estimated completion times. This is the main information that interests our clients.

Little things that spoil the slide

Poor word hyphenation and dangling conjunctions at the end of a line can significantly spoil the impression. To prevent this from happening, finish working on the project with a control check using this checklist:

1. All objects are aligned relative to each other and the slide as a whole.
2. There is enough "air" in the slide. 
3. There are no spelling or punctuation errors in the text.
4. The slides contain only the most important words, no text.
5. One screen - one thesis.
6. 2-3 colors (two main, one for contrast).
7. 1-2 fonts (for main text and for accents). 
8. High quality pictures.
9. There is no clutter of elements and photos.
10. The entire presentation is made in the same style.

Take note of the best examples. Just like the legendary Jobs did, who based his speeches on the principles of persuasion from the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. 

"Ethos, pathos and logos" are tools that make your message more powerful and help sway people in your direction. 

"Ethos" is a guide to your authority.

"Logos" is the meaning, logic of the message.

"Pathos" - the emotions, desires and dreams of the audience. 

Simple and 100% brilliant!

Thank you for your attention! We join in the words that end most speeches. On our own behalf, we would like to add that good examples, practical advice from practitioners and work done from the heart will definitely bring you success!

If you need help, please contact the company Veonix. We save your time and effort, create professional presentations that exceed your expectations!