Again The new site will be at: www.betterslides.com

Come take a look and let me know what you think.

And dont forget to keep up to date with www.alltop.com

Thanks
Corey

Your slides will all be different but they will all follow a theme, You want to coordinate this theme for viewing pleasure and a better experience for your audiance. For slides I recommend that you do not follow a pre-packaged templates, but there does need to be a visual theme. ( I will devote some posts soon to creating your own masters and themes). This can be achieved by using the same fonts, the same types of photography, same background color, etc. I also do not think that you should use your company logo on every slide, The first and maybe the last will work just fine. There are numerous sites that will help you in choosing a color palette, a good one that I use from time to time is: http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html. Remember the other tips and bring it all together for this visual theme. Remember: Keep it simple.


While I was putting off my decision, I received an email from vistaprint.com they were offering 250 free cards you just pay shipping and handling. I decided to check this site out. Of course I got to the site and the “free” cards were a small sample of what they had to offer, and in my opinion not really what I was looking for. Most had the cheesy clip art, (and if you have been reading my blog you know how much I hate clip art) some had actual photos but unless you worked in that industry the pictures could be a distraction or confuse people about who you are or what you do.

As an example I am an ex firefighter AND I worked on an ambulance. This company offered two cards for a firefighter and one for an ambulance my problem with them was that they narrowed you down. This is what I mean one of the cards hat a traditional fire helmet it looked real nice but the shield on the helmet had a specific department lettering and the company (what we call the type of truck you ride on, engine, squad, ladder etc.) number on it. Not bad except that I have never worked for an HFD or was never on an Engine 10. So someone could look at that and maybe think I am misleading them, The one with the ambulance also had specific unit information. Also by narrowing down I mean that I don’t just work with fire departments any more I also work with hospitals, Law Enforcement and other agencies by including a agency specific logo or design you box your self in to a particular specialty or area of focus.

I think that the more simple and clear your card is the better You wont have any distractions and your information is more easily found. Guy Kawasaki has a great card you can see it here:

If you do choose a card with a picture on it or even one without look closely at how it flows some cards were not balanced and some drew my eye to one area first, This may not be the most important information or what you want someone to focus on at first glance. I don’t want anyone to have to search for the information they need I want my card to flow, just like my slides. Use the same principals when creating a slide and using a photo, have the photo looking towards your text directing the eye towards the words not away from them.

A few other designs I saw that screamed out at me. One was like a comic book, This to me says I am not serious, I am still a kid playing around…… ok so maybe I am but they dont need to know that!
One had a spiral that went into a whole, kind of like the black holes in movies, just kept going down. To me this seemed to send out a negative message as well. One had cats on it, Cats! I hate them! And of course the clip art, Just shoot me!
One I did like had a Bald Eagle on one side the Eagle looking into the card, it was strong. I just did not like the way the text was being grouped together. The one I wanted was all black clean, different. I did not choose this one because of the font and color of the text, It was a green computer like text, like something from the matrix, (I found out afterwards I could of changed the color and font type….. ohhh well maybe next time).

So in the end I went with a white plain card the flowed and directed the eye to where I wanted it, seeing the information in a logical order.

What does your card say about you?

The rule of thirds is useful for creating a balanced look that uses empty space.Some will tell you to fill that empty space for all kinds of reasons including “it looks more professional” if every bit of the slide is filled with text, data, and images. Resist the urge to add more. Slides full of bullet points don’t make better slides in fact they detract and cheapen the message and take away from you the speaker. Your slides should help your presentation not make it for you. Empty space focus’s the eye on what your point of the slide is and can direct your eye to see what you need them to see. 


If you must use bullet points limit them to one sub bullet section
Here is what I mean, This one is ok
TITLE
Heading 1
– Bullet point one
– Bullet point two
Heading 2
– Bullet point one
– Bullet point two

NOT OK
TITLE
TITLE
Heading 1
-Bullet Point one
– Sub bullet 1

The more bullet points you add and the deeper you get the smaller the text becomes. This makes it even more difficult for those in the back to read.

Display type should get attention and get the point across. Big gets noticed and read, and big makes for easy contrast with small, aiding in guiding the viewers eye. A technique called Kerning (adjusting the space between individual letters) becomes an issue with text at larger sizes because the spacing that worked automatically at a smaller font point may be unbalanced at a much larger point size, but since you are not using so many words at the larger size, adjusting a few letter pairs here and there (such as WA, etc.) will not be such a big deal. Common letters that may need to be kerned include: A,R,T,V,W, and Y. This may seem like a minor thing,but it all adds up.
Ligatures also need to be watched. Ligatures happen when two letters are joined into a single character. Common ligatures include: fl, fi,ft,ff,ffl,ffi
Ligatures and Kerning can be adjusted in the settings or your slide ware.
So how big should your text be? Here is a tip form Slide;ology Take the diagonal size of your computer screen, say it is 20’‘ then measure off that distance in feet from your screen. Start your slide show, if you cannot read something from that distance then it probably wont be able to be read at the back of the room. You can also put your presentation in slide sorter or light table view and take it to 66% size, if you can still read them then your audience should be able to as well. Still in doubt? Try to get to your location early and set up, then stand in the back of the class room and flip though each slide see how it looks.

Sorry that it has been a while since I have updated this site. I have been working on a few projects that have needed my full attention. I will try to get back on track here I have some interesting posts coming up (at least I think so) so stay tuned. 

In the last two posts we covered two very important aspects of creating a good slide show. 1) Only have one point per slide 2) create a visual experiance

Today I will discuss number 3. Contrast

In Garr Reynolds book Presentation Zen and Nancy Duartes book Slide:ology both authors discuss the use of contrast in great detail. 

Contrast can be very effective in drawing the audiences eye to where you want it to go. How can you create contrast in your slides? There are many ways.

1) Size matters

Changing the size of objects on a slide can focus the eye and also aid in perception if you are wanting to show a relationship between objects. one thing to concentrate on is the direction of light and shadows of objects. Also the location of the objects should make some sense. if you are wanting to create a depth to the slide then focus on what adds to your vision. Also where do you start your text or graphics? We read from left to right so remember that when creating your slides starting small on the left and making an object bigger as it goes to the right, for example will lead the eye along a path. You can also do this with any start point.

2) Color

Adding a sharp or bright object, or a darker one depending on the rest of your slide, can immediately draw the eye to that location. This will also help to focus the eye on what point you really want to make on that particular slide. I use this at times when dealing with a text quote. I will have all my text in one color, say white on a black background, and as I am reading the quote I will change the point I want to emphasize to red using a transition build. 

3) Spacing

This goes along with size. When creating objects have a horizon on your slide, this may not be visible to anyone but you know where it is. This will help in establishing depth. The horizon line helps to show near vs. far objects. In the book slide;ology the author shows how to create lines to assist you with showing depth. 

By combining these principals we enhance the quality and clarity of our slides, they become much more effective. 

There has been much study and much written about the minds ability to process a visual message much better then a written or just spoken one. We need to remember this when creating our slides. By creating a “visual” message you will get better participation and more importantly you will get better retention or buy in to what ever it is you are presenting. 

I use my slides as a visual aid not a document projected on a screen. The slide must be compelling, so again use real imagery, clear and powerful just remember to make it relate to what is on your slide. Think about some of the pictures we see on TV or in a magazine, ones from third world countries. Most of these feature children most of whom are sick looking and in very poor shape. Whey do the authors choose these photos? easy. they are compelling, grab your attention and capture your attention, AND you will also remember that slide longer then you will remember what the presenter said or had written on the slide. 

Understanding is a big item here as well. Since we are visual creatures we remember images better then words, and we will form an understanding of the subject and topic much faster and longer lasting but choosing the right visual for the slide. This can be hard sometimes. I have gathered and thrown out many many images while working on my slides. I find one I think is just right but then find it does not really fit for what ever reason. This is a slow and long process but the end result will be great!

In John Medina’s Book “Brain Rules”  The good Doctor high lights 12 rules, or principals for surviving at work and school. Rule number 10 tells us that vision trumps all other senses. Head this advice when designing your slides and you will have a much better end result! 

Good luck, Corey

1) One Point Per Slide

When setting up my presentation deck I like to decide what my point is. I outline my slides on paper with just a real rough sketch of what I want to include on it. Text, Graph, Photo what ever. On each slide I also decide what my point it or the topic. I try to only include one point per slide, but never more then three points. We really wont remember any more then that anyhow. 

I hate cramming information onto a slide, that is not their point! If I need that much written detail I send a text document. I like to leave a lot of space and use big letters, or graphics. The use of space and big objects helps direct the audience to focus on what I am really wanting them to hear (more about the visuals later)

It may take me many slides to tell my whole story but in the end there is greater retention and a better visual understanding of what I wanted to convey. 

The Texas Rangers have a saying, One Riot One Ranger, and in the presentation world we can follow a similar mantra: 

Remember One point- One slide