Wendy Gates Corbett, Refresher Training, LLC, gave an informative Association for Talent Development presentation on developing better slide decks. She exemplified her strategy for creating slides by creating great slides for this presentation. I especially like the slide that she used to outline what we were covering for the day.
Before I begin, I want to note that she used very effective handouts to support her presentation. Corbett demonstrated presentation software should not be used to create handouts. Handouts should be created specifically as takeaway support material.
As Corbett talked about her different examples showed before and after photos. It became immediately clear how her recommendations improved the slides.
Another thing Corbett did during her presentation that I really liked was giving us time to dissect a poorly designed PowerPoint slide and recommend changes to the slide. During these activities, she used a countdown timer in her presentation. I thought this was a nice addition to the slide; she never left her slide deck.
Brain Science 101
Before she jumped into her seven rules, she focused on the science of building presentations as they affect learning. As she noted visuals serve as cognitive aids. When you use both words and images in your presentation, you increase memory and recall. This is known as the picture superiority effect. The reason this works is both words and images are processed in different parts of the brain. More brain is being used to help learning.
7 Rules
Declutter Your Slides
When you see something messy or cluttered, your brain starts going into problem-solving mode and reacts negatively to it. We have a tendency to try to put everything into our training. More does not necessarily equal better. You need to ensure every object you’re putting on your slide has earned its right to be on that slide. Don’t overload your slides, instead break them up and use more slides. If you insist that something has to be part of the slide deck and it’s extra material, put it into the speaker notes.
Give Them a Clue
Let them know what they are prepared to see. Corbett provided a nice example where she showed first-quarter results. “First Quarter Results” was the title of the page. As you looked at the slide, you couldn’t necessarily tell if things were good or bad. She recommended retitling the slide to say “First Quarter Results: Profits Improved.” This made more sense and improved the impact of the slide.
Don’t Dump the Data
In higher education, we use a lot of data. We use a lot of charts and graphs. We can overwhelm our viewers. In this presentation, Corbett demonstrated how you can isolate specific data points so you can focus your presentation. To do this, she used transparency, rectangles, squares, arrows, etc. to draw attention to the point she wishes to make.
Just the Gist
Remove the number of words that you have on your presentation. Instead, use just a fragment to specifically address the point. In essence, you’re creating a very brief outline to help control attention.
Lose or Limit Bullet Points
Basically, get rid of your bullet points. Bullets kill, use sparingly. Death by PowerPoint is a real thing and it’s because of bullets.
Lose the Logo
You may have a requirement to have a logo on your title page and maybe the ending page but the logo gets in the way of learning. You should not use the logo on the content pages. Some organizations insist that the logo be used, but once again, if it does not add to learning, it detracts from learning.
Go Big
No squinting is allowed. Ensure that you use a font size of at least 24 points so that everyone can see your text. If you’re including images in your slide presentation blow them up. Do not use small, puny images. If you’re downloading images from a stock library ensure that you download the large-size images.
Favorite Resources
She offered a number of different resources to help build better presentations:
I thought this was a very well put together presentation. Corbett definitely demonstrated her knowledge of putting together presentations. They were clean and very effective. Her tips will definitely help you build better presentations.
Additional Reading
- Extend Your Presentations Through Reuse
- #ATD2018: Virtual Classroom Facilitation: A License to Thrill!
- Every Day People Are Giving Bad Presentations
- Seriously Higher Ed, Stop With the Crappy PowerPoint Presentations
Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash
