You do not win your audience hearts with boring templates and blurred presentation structure. To make sure you are not responsible for death by powerpoint, discover and use the 5 rules you need to obey when designing a deck. Those most crucial rules are easy to apply and are a step in a right direction when it comes to rocking your next board meeting or any other meeting for that matter.

1. by Espresso 1882
5 rules you need to obey to design a winning deck
and rock your next board meeting
5 best beans blog

2. trash your templates right away1
Good slides are ones that were designed with audience in mind and that express your style and
support your story. Templates suck at this. It’s best to trash them or leave them to mediocre speakers.
Try to design your very own slides – look for inspiration in editorial graphic design, in press,
magazines, art and movies. Make your slides truly yours. (But always think of audience first).
MY TIP Trash the templates and replace them with individually designed slides CLICK TO TWEET

3. more visuals less words2
According to the picture superiority effect, concepts are much more likely to be remembered
experientially if they are presented as pictures rather than as words. Can’t argue with that. Use
words wisely to express general idea or signal the problem. Use pictures to catch attention and
boost emotions that help your audience to focus. Represent data visually with diagrams and
infographics.
MY TIP Think of the idea the slide represents and look for a visual representation of it. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

4. tell a story to win their hearts3
Our brain loves stories – they help us understand and structure the world around us. The best
stories are the ones with dramatic shifts, strong narrative and clear structure. Make sure to tell a
story from one point of view. If you are presenting an app or some digital tool, use the user scenario
as a template. Good story is dynamic, emotional and has cultural references that are easy to identify
by the audience you are presenting to.
MY TIP Mix moods and emotions – show the darks scenario and then the salvation. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

5. be precise – one slide is one idea4
MY TIP
Slides are anchors. They should be more like headlines that help you and most importantly your
audience map the area or issue you are communicating at any given moment. Make sure to
introduce one idea per slide. This way your structure will be clear and your audience will follow. It is
easier to select visuals too, when using this rule. You choose one picture that illustrates one idea.
Less is more – use precisely one idea per slide to make the structure clear. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

6. make brave design decisions5
MY TIP
Make your slides truly yours. When designing them make brave decisions based on various
inspirations. Think of style you want to use – it has to be in sync with your research outcome. You
design decisions must be understood by your audience and help them resonate with your narrative.
Look for design inspiration on behance.com and in magazines. CLICK TO TWEETMY TIP

7. 5 REASONS WHY PEOPLE SUCK AT DESIGNING SLIDES
AND HOW TO MAKE SURE TO AVOID THEM
Those were
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by Espresso 1882
5 best beans blog

8. PHOT0 CREDITS
Photo Credit: demandaj via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: demandaj via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: demandaj via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: By Kristian Karlsson
Photo Credit: Shandi-lee via Compfight cc