If you have worked on designing a compelling and beautiful presentation, then you would know how daunting it could be if you are not a professional presentation designer. Additionally, if you are also the presenter of the slides for a very important investor pitch meeting, then the pressure is a 100-fold increase. But is there an option to ignore either of these? No, I believe. The importance of having a great professional presentation cannot be undermined. The most important element that gives any presentation a professional look is its design. The designs dominate the entire presentation and clearly make it look professional. There are a lot of customised templates that are available for different kind of presentations. Learn how we master the art of presentation design
Why is a professional presentation important?
A presentation is the most sought out medium to put your message to the audience. It is a great tool to filter out the most important message that needs to be delivered in a short span of time, thereby focusing on the critical content. Well-crafted slides with supporting text will help to focus on the context so that the audience will have enough content and context to make decisions. A professional presentation breaks down the whole discussion into short and clear tasks that are easy to understand and relate even after the presentation is over. It packs the conversation from start to finish with the key take away, actions, images and summaries that are hard to forget. But imagine you have a big presentation coming up and you are the key presenter. With not enough knowledge and experience in preparing a presentation, this huge opportunity could make you feel very nervous. If you really would like to make professional presentations that help you put your best foot forward, then there are few tips that will bring out the best presentations from you. With the 6 tips shared below, you will transform your boring slides into a fully professional slide deck that you would love to present to your investors.
6 Tips for designing a professional presentation
‘Rule of Three’ Layout
Your choice of a layout should blend well with the content that you are about to present. Engage the audience with the ‘rule of three’ which states that when the slide is split into 3 sections that are equal in size there is increased memory and engagement. The three parts in the layout allow you to showcase your team members or start-up members or steps in a process. Plan the layout where the visuals are on the top while you can place the text at the bottom to make it more interesting.
10-20-30 Rule
Often, the biggest question that presenters face is about the length of the presentation. This depends on the number of slides as well as the text that you add to your presentation. Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist, framed the 10-20-30 rule to answer these questions. A presentation should have 10 slides, should not extend beyond 20 minutes and should never have the font size below 30 points. The 10-slide rule enforces that you should retain only the most valuable content, rest should be cut. The 20-minute presentation makes sure that you trim out all the unnecessary talking and sharpens your communication. The 30-point font is quite straightforward. It advocates you not to jam pack your slides by using a font size smaller than 30 points. Make it easy for the reader to read the text on your slides.
Colour Play
Colours bring life to your presentation. But at the same time, poor choice of colours ruin your presentation. The safest choice is black text with white background. But it can be boring to death. Choose colours that can portray the personality of the presentation. Colours can be used to bring special effects, but limit using many colours in the same slide. A contrast colour to highlight the text from the background can be a brilliant choice. To sum it, keep it easy on the eyes of the reader while delivering great colours.
Visuals
We are all visual learners. Our brain is predominantly an image processor. Hence visuals become the most important aspect of a professional presentation. Use graphics, images, pictures, and videos to express your message with more impact. Keep simple and easy to understand graphics that can connect with your audience and engage them till the end. When you have an option to present information in visuals and text format, choose visuals over the text. Research has concluded that people remember an infographic much better than simple text. Associating your slides with visual elements has higher retention power. Have a look at the way the visuals have been used in the below slide deck to convey the message to the clients. https://www.pitttch.com/portfolio/investment-company-sales-pitch-deck/
Font Style
Fonts can be used to communicate the personality of the presentation. They can bring in a professional tinge to the text if chosen carefully. Do not choose funny or fancy fonts that are hard to read. Instead, choose fonts that are legible and can be easily read by people. Try experimenting with popular and trending Google fonts as the regular fonts such as Arial and Calibri are overused and don’t make any distinguishing impact. Keep a consistent font size and colour. Don’t confuse your audience by changing the font size and colour in each slide. This gives them an impression that some of the content is less important than the other. The spacing between words and between the lines is important since they make an impact on the overall look of your text.
Closing Note
Never close your presentation by wasting a slide with a ‘Thank you.’ What do you most remember from a movie that you saw or a presentation that you attended? It was the closing slide that made the everlasting impression. Take advantage of the last slide to give instructions on the next steps. Provide useful information about your product, ways to buy it, or promote your e-letters, or offer a free coupon code. Make sure you don’t drag too much and close it professionally.
Conclusion
No matter which industry you’re in, an excellent presentation can enhance the chances of getting you closer to your desired target. It does not take much to prepare a good professional presentation with the relevant information. Play well with the visuals, text, and colour, but don’t overdo on the presentation design and layouts. Slide decks have become the popular choice for professionals who are giving presentations. The assurance that they have a strong deck eliminates the nervousness thereby allowing them to focus on the content and presentation. To look at the professional presentation design for pitch decks please visit our website.