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5 Golden Rules for an Effective Presentation Design

Be it to drive a speech, take your audience on a visual journey or align their attention to a particular subject, PowerPoint Presentations are arguably the most impactful tools around. Nonetheless, 90% of times presentations turn out to be dull, messy or distracting. Luckily you don’t have to be a pro, here are the 5 golden rules for an effective presentation design.

1. Keep it clean and concise

If you want your audience to retain anything from your presentation, bombarding your slides with information is NEVER a good idea. Include key points and keep enough white spaces and you should be able to attract their attention to the main ideas.

2.Limit  the length and number of bullets

Restrict yourself from using not more than 4-5 bullet points per slide. Keep a check on the length too by using main keywords only, that way it will be hard for your audience to be bored or miss key points. 

3. Make your own template

Using a standard template might be an easy shortcut, but create your own if you want to stand out. Use the convenient Slide Master feature to change design layouts (Learn how to make your own template).

4. Use  colors and fonts wisely

Go with colors and fonts that do not distract from the core concepts of your presentation. Stick to dark backgrounds with light text/light backgrounds with dark text. Try not to include more than 3 different colors on one slide. If you want a crisp look, Sans Serif Fonts like Arial, Calibri, Verdana, and Tahoma are usually safe bets. 

5. Add visual content

Videos are by far the best way to get your audience to tune in at any given time. Use videos (learn how to add videos to your presentation) that solidify your core idea and you should leave a lasting impression. Adopting these basic tricks might just take you one step closer to designing an exceptional PowerPoint Presentation.