Posts Tagged ‘ Presentation slide design

Simplicity Always Works

One of the biggest problems in the world of presenting today is that too many people put far too much information and detail into their slides. When you do this, you loose the focus of your presentation, and this ultimately leads to your audience becoming bored and finally to fall asleep.

Take a look at the video below from Holiday Inn Hotels. The wonderful simplicity of the advert would make brilliant presentation slides. There is an image (a relevant image) and just two simple words.



The picture captures the emotion and the words create the message. There is nothing complex, there are not bullet points, lists, charts or graphs. Just a simple image with a simple message. And that is all you need to do to create amazing presentations today. Sadly, too many presenters do not do this and that is why presentations today have such a bad name.

The Dangers of PowerPoint

Over the last few days, there has been much comment of the slide that was featured in the New York Times newspaper regarding the slide that Gen. Stanley A McChrystal, leader of the American and NATO forces in Afghanistan was shown when took over the leadership in Afghanistan.

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Gen. McChrystal was heard to comment “when we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war”.

There are far too many problems with this slide to go in to here, but here is my take on the whole debate:

PowerPoint and Keynote are tools that can be used to enhance our presentations, and can both be useful in conveying our message in a stronger and more friendly manner than by words alone. However, over the years our presentation software has become the main focus of our presentation, and that is where we are going wrong. PowerPoint and Keynote were never developed to be the main focus of the presentation. They were developed to help the presenter.

The above slide is creating news now, but I have sat through hundreds of presentation with slides similar to this one. Presentations where the text was too small and there was far too much detail in the slides. This never enhances our message, this always confuses our message and our audience will just turn off.

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During the Battle of Britain in World War II, there was no PowerPoint or Keynote software, and so the British airforce used a table, with models for aircraft and a map to follow the war. This not only simplified a very complex battle, it also enabled the leaders of the war to fully understand what was happening in a clear and accurate way.

While today we may not have access to tables with maps and models, we do have access to white boards and flip charts. When we are faced with describing a very complex situation, the use of flip charts and white boards can make the explanation much easier for our audience. We must always remember, that when it comes to presenting, PowerPoint and Keynote are just one kind of tool from many different kinds. The key to a good presentation is simplicity, not detail.

There is a lot of comment on this article. For more insights and opinions please see:

Nancy Duarte of the Slide:ology blog

Guy Kawasaki on the Holy Kaw blog

Inspiring Concept Ads for slide design

I am a big fan of an advertising style that is called “concept ads” These ads are just simple pictures with a very powerful message.

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In todays world when most people are in too much of a rush to even notice advertisements on billboards and in magazines, these ads have such a powerful image, that they make the viewer stop and think. The example above is from the World Wildlife Fund, and the message is simple and clear. There really is no need for a lot of text to explain these pictures.

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We can learn so much from these kinds of ads when it comes to designing our slides. These ads show that we really do not need to write a lot of text to get our message across. All we need is an image that is relevant, simple and clear.

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For more images on these kinds of ads you can view some examples by going to the following websites:

Flickr’s concept ad group

The graphic design blog

슬라이드 이미지 만들기

슬라이드 이미지 만들기

지난 주 금요일 오후, 아름답게 핀 벚꽃들을 촬영하러 올림픽 공원에 다녀왔습니다. 벚꽃을 찍으면서 마음속으로는, 나중에 있을 프레젠테이션에 이 사진들을 어떻게 이용할 수 있을까 생각했습니다. 이런 생각은 제 사진찍는 방식을 바꾸어 놓았습니다. 이미지에 텍스트 삽입할 공간을 남겨 사진을 찍는 것처럼 말이죠.

이런 생각은 정말 중요합니다. 만약 정기적으로 프레젠테이션을 하신다면, 사진 파일을 모아보시기 바랍니다. 이런 파일들이 현실적인 느낌을 갖는 멋진 슬라이드를 만들어 내는데 큰 도움이 될 것입니다. 위의 사진에서 볼 수 있듯이, 벚꽃은 오른쪽에 있으면서 왼쪽에 텍스트를 위한 충분한 공간을 남겨 주고 있습니다. 이 사진은 현재 제 컴퓨터의 “Stock Photos” 폴더에 저장되어 있습니다. 그러니 나중에 이 사진을 프레젠테이션에 사용할 수도 있고, 또 저작권이나 사용허가에 관해서 걱정할 필요가 전혀 없는 훌륭한 사진이 되는 셈입니다. ㅎㅎ

이전 포스트에서, “Stock Photos” 폴더를 만드는 것에 관하여 언급한 적이 있습니다. 이렇게 폴더를 만드는 것은 창의적인 무언가가 특별히 떠오르지 않거 나 아예 생각나지 않을 때 정말 많은 도움을 줄 수 있습니다. 이런 사진들은 여러분들에게 영감을 주고 슬라이드에 훌륭한 이미지가 되어 주기도 합니다.

또 다른 유익한 정보 하나! 전문 사진작가인 Tomas HawkeFlickr.com에서 훌륭한 포토 스트림을 가지고 있습니다. Thomas는 기존의 작가들과는 다르게, 그의 Flickr 스트림에 있는 대부분의 이미지들을 “Creative Commons” 라이센스안에서 사용할 수 있도록 설정해 놓았습니다. 프레젠테이션을 위한 이미지가 필요하시다면, 이곳에서 무료로 사용하실 수 있습니다. (단, 저작자표시, 비영리 사용등의 제한이 따릅니다.)

컴퓨터 안에 프레젠테이션을 위한 사진 앨범 폴더 (“Stock photos”)를 만들어 프레젠테이션을 미리 미리 계획 하신다면, 준비 시간을 줄일 수 있을 뿐만 아니라 놀라운 영감도 얻게 될 것입니다. 그러니, 오늘 당장 사진첩 폴더를 하나 만들어 보시기 바랍니다.

Creating Slide Images

Last Friday afternoon I went out to take some pictures of the wonderful cherry blossom in my local park (Olympic Park, SE Seoul). While I was taking these pictures, I had in my mind how I could use these images as slides in future presentations. This thinking changed the way I took the photographs as I had to think about leaving space in the images for text.

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And that is a very important point. If you do presentations regularly, collecting a file of photos can really help you to create some amazing slides, that have a real feel to them. As you can see from the above slide, the cherry blossom is placed on the right side of the image leaving plenty of space on the left for text. This image is now placed in my “Stock Photos” file on my computer, so in future, I have a great image, with no worries about copyright or usage.

In a previous post I mentioned about creating a “Stock Photo” folder, and the creation of this folder can really help you when your creative juices are not flowing particularly fast. These images can give you inspiration, as well as some amazing images for your files.

As a postscript to this. Professional photographer Thomas Hawke, has an amazing photo stream over at Flickr.com. Thomas is an unusual photographer as most of the images he has made available on his Flickr stream are on the “Creative Commons” licence, so you are free to use these images for your presentations (subject to certain limitations)

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Planning ahead by creating a stock photo album on your computer can not only save you some time, it can also give you some amazing inspiration. So start creating today.

Have fun with text

There seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that makes most presenters type their text in a straight line. I do not know where it comes from, but if you only think in straight lines, then you are going to find it hard to design some exciting and interesting slides.

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There is nothing in any rules that says you must keep all your text in straight lines. You can let yourself go and have some fun by slanting or tilting you text in your slide.

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When using images, tilting your text can really make your slide come alive. But, you need to make sure that the tilt fits in with the image. I would suggest that you play around and see what looks best when you place the text in to your slide.

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By using the horizon in the middle of the picture, I was able to place the main text in this slide on a natural slant that fits perfectly with the image.

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Always remember that you have the power to place you text anywhere you like in the slide, the only rule I would suggest you follow is that the text and image balance each other, and you can use your own eye to see this balance.

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So remember, you do not have to keep your text in straight lines, you can tilt it, you can even make your text vertical. The most important thing is that you have some fun and keep the balance.

텍스트를 가지고 마음껏 놀아보세요!

대부분의 프레젠테이션을 살펴보면, 슬라이드 텍스트를 수평으로 정형하는것이 발표자들 사이에서 일종의 불문율처럼 보여집니다. 저도 언제 어디서부터 이런 규칙이 생겼는지는 잘 모르지만, 만약 여러분이 텍스트 디자인을 항상 수평으로만 생각하신다면, 무언가 재미있고 흥미로운 슬라이드를 디자인하기가 어렵다고 느끼시게 될 겁니다.

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모든 슬라이드 텍스트를 반드시 수평으로 정렬해야 한다는 규칙은 세상 어디에도 없습니다. 여러분 모두, 세상에 있지도 않은 그런 규칙에서 벗어나, 텍스트를 기울여도 보고 비스듬하게도 만들어 보면서 슬라이드 디자인을 즐겨보시기 바랍니다.

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슬라이드에 이미지를 삽입하실 때, 텍스트를 비스듬하게 놓으시면 여러분의 슬라이드를 더욱 더 생동감 넘치게 만들 수 있습니다. 하지만 기울인 텍스트와 이미지가 서로 조화를 이루는지 확인 해 보셔야 합니다. 이미지와 함께 텍스트를 이곳 저곳 놓아보시면서 슬라이드에 가장 잘 어울리는 부분을 찾아보시기 바랍니다.

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위의 그림 중간에 보이는 수평선을 응용해, 그 수평선을 따라 메인 텍스트를 자연스럽게 기울여 이미지와 퍼펙트하게 어울리는 슬라이드를 만들어 보았습니다.

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슬라이드의 주인은 바로 여러분 자신입니다. 슬라이드 안의 텍스트는 여러분이 원하시는 곳 어디에든 넣을 수 있다는 것을 항상 기억하시기 바랍니다. 한가지 여러분이 따라 주셔야 할 점은, 여러분 자신의 시각으로 텍스트와 이미지 사이의 조화를 찾아보시고, 이 둘이 서로 발란스를 이루도록 해야 한다는 것입니다.

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그러므로 기억하세요! 텍스트를 꼭 수평으로 유지해야할 필요가 없습니다. 텍스트를 기울일 수도 있고, 수직으로 만들수도 있는 것입니다. 가장 중요한 것은 텍스트와 이미지의 발란스를 유지하고, 텍스트를 이곳 저곳 놓아보면서 디자인을 마음껏 즐기는 것입니다.

슬라이드의 조화

불과 5년전만 하더라도, 프레젠테이션에 있어서 슬라이드 디자인을 중요하게 생각하는 사람들이 그리 많지 않았습니다. 그러나 미디어의 눈부신 발전은 대중들로 하여금 시각적 충족에 끊임없이 갈증을 느끼게 하였고, 프레젠테이션계는 이러한 대중의 욕구를 충족시키고자 조금씩 조금씩 변화를 이끌어 왔습니다. 하지만 이러한 변화에도 불구하고 현재까지 많은 발표자들이 가지고 있는 취약점은, 슬라이드의 조화를 신경쓰지 않는다는 것입니다.


프레젠테이션 중 갑작스럽게 슬라이드 디자인을 바꾸는 것은, 종종 청중의 눈을 피로하게 하고 혼란스럽게 만들 뿐 아니라, 여러분이이 전하고자 하는 메세지에도 혼동을 줄수 있습니다. 아래의 그림은, 일관된 테마를 유지하지 못하여 슬라이드끼리 서로 조화를 이루지 못하는 프레젠테이션의 한 예를 보여주고 있습니다.



위 프레젠테이션 슬라이드들은, 디자인이 너무 자주 바뀌면서 일관성 있는 테마를 구성하지 못하고 있습니다. 그로 인하여 각각의 슬라이드들이 너무 혼란스럽고 어지러워 보이며, 일관된 스토리를 담지 못하는것처럼 보입니다.


위의 슬라이드들은 일관된 테마를 유지하고 있기 때문에, 눈이 전혀 피로하지도 않고, 톤도 한결 정돈되어 보입니다. 단순한 검정 바탕과 두가지 색상의 텍스트 및 동일한 폰트 사용으로 전체 프레젠테이션 슬라이드가 조화를 이루고 있습니다. 또다른 특징은 모두 흑백 이미지를 사용하여, 슬라이드 전체를 한층 더 조화롭게 만들고 있습니다.


슬라이드의 조화는 훌륭한 프레젠테이션의 핵심요소입니다. 여러분의 스토리와 함께, 단어와 메세지들이 일관성을 이루어야 합니다. 이러한 일관성이 없다면, 여러분의 프레젠테이션은 혼란스럽고, 전달하고자 하는 메세지를 잃어버리게 됩니다.


슬라이드 제작 시 유의할 점 4 가지!

1. 최대 2가지 폰트를 사용하세요 (가능한 동일 그룹에서 나온 폰트들로 사용하세요)

2. 사용하신 폰트는 최대 2가지 색상으로 사용하세요 – 하나는 헤드라인이나 하이라이트를 표시할 때 사용하시고 나머지 색은 슬라이드 본문에 사용하시면 됩니다.

3. 원칙상, 바탕색상을 한가지로 유지하시는게 가장 좋습니다.

4. 사용하시는 이미지들이 서로 유사하도록 신경써주세요 – 흑백 사진과 컬러 사진을 한데 섞지 말아주세요.

마지막으로, 아래의 슬라이드 세트는 하나의 끝내주는 테마를 일관되게 가지고 있습니다. 전 이 슬라이드들이 보여주는 조화로움이 완전 좋습니다. ㅎㅎㅎ

Restraint, Simplicity and Naturalness

One of the main themes in Garr Reynolds’ book Presentation Zen, are the concepts of restraint, simplicity and naturalness. Garr does a great job in his book to explain these concepts and I want to try and explain how we can use these concepts when we present in English as a second language.

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RESTRAINT:

Essentially, this means holding back. Keeping your slides and words to their core meaning and not using too much, whether that is a slide with too much information, or a presenter who is rambling with too many words, when fewer words and slides with less information are used, you message becomes clearer and your audience’s understanding is greater.

Sadly, in today’s business world, the pressure to pack in as much information as possible is high, and we often try to use far too much information, whether that is too much text on a slide or too many words spoken. We need to ‘restrain’ ourselves and use less. When presenting, less really does mean more.

This concept can really help us when presenting in a foreign language. It means we do not need to worry too much about how many English words we use, we just need to focus on the words that really matter. When we isolate the words that really matter, we can then ensure that these are incorporated into our slides to help the effectiveness of our presentation.

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Above, you can see that the same message can be given by using less words, and by doing so you can create a more powerful slide.

SIMPLICITY

Simplicity does not mean simple – as in a lack of intelligence. It means simple to understand. One of the biggest mistakes presenters make is they quite often assume that their audience has the same level of intelligence as they do, that they understand everything the presenter does. This is not true. A presenter must remember that there will quite likely be a number of people in their audience who do not understand the technicalities of the topic.

A good way to manage this is to prepare your presentation as if you were preparing to give your message to your grandmother. If your grandmother can understand your message then your audience will. (unless you grandmother was a nuclear physicist – use your judgment)

The same applies to your slides. Do not over complicate them.

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The slide on the left is much more complicated than the slide on the right. WHile the left slide does have a strong meaning, the one on the right is ‘cleaner’ and ‘simpler’

The language you use is also important. Simple words and short simple sentences have a clearer message than long sentences and long words. Trying to show off your level of English is a pointless exercise. You over-complicate your message and many in your audience (who also may be non-English speakers) will not understand. Aim your level of language to a person with an intermediate standard of English and remember to speak slowly.

NATURALNESS

Be natural in your delivery. This means be yourself and do not try to be something you are not.

When we deliver a presentation, it is important to be natural. If we read our slides we lose naturalness, we sound robotic and we lose character and personality. It is so important for you to actually learn your presentation in a way that you deliver your presentation naturally. Reading and reading and reading your presentation and learning it by heart will lose its emotional value. You need to learn it in a way that preserves its naturalness. For me the way to do this is to learn notes, not sentences. Learning notes means that I use the link words like “and”, “then”, “but” etc, naturally. And that is the way for any non-native English speaker should be learning their presentation.

For more information on the concepts of restraint, simplicity and naturalness, I highly recommend you buy a copy of Presentation Zen. THe book is available in many languages, so I am sure you will find a copy in your native language.

A great little presentation tool

One of my students pointed me to this great little software called “Prezi” It is an online presentation tool that could dramatically improve the style of your presentations.

I did a quick two minute sample that you can view below.