This document provides a guide to creating engaging presentations with key points about information, visuals, quality, and preparation. It recommends limiting information to 1 point per slide and grabbing attention within 3 seconds. Visuals should be used to enhance the presentation but avoid stock images. Quality requires consistent design, fonts, color schemes, and whitespace. Most importantly, proper preparation through careful creation, rehearsal is needed and can take 30 hours for a 1 hour presentation.

1. A guide
More accurately; a set of
ideas and principles
How to make your
presentations good

2. How many people
have been bored in
presentations?

3. Too many people use slides as a crutch,
rather than an aid

4. So, this is my guide* to how to
make presentations better and
more engaging
*I am not a licensed professional, and other guides
are available. Your statutory rights are not affected.
No animals were harmed in the making of this
presentation.

5. INFORMATION
Point 1

6. Information and data is good. But too much is not.

7. Avoid vomiting words on your audience. Otherwise, print out the slides,
pass around, and go home
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

8. Ideally, keep it to one point
per slide
You have 3 seconds to grab
attention
POINT ONE POINT TWO POINT THREE POINT FOUR POINT FIVE POINT SIX

9. Be a merciless
editor.
Keep it relevant.
POINT ONE X X POINT FOUR X POINT SIX

10. Don’t overload with too much data and information
Limit what you show; Bikini principle

11. VISUALS
Point 2

12. They say a picture can paint a thousand words

13. USE THEM

14. Adding visuals can give your
presentation a bigger punch
Good source:
But remember:
COMPFIGHT.COM
(Creative Commons, free-ish*)
*with condition

15. Don’t rely on bad
stock pictures.
Seriously. No.
And remember, design for everyone in the room

16. QUALITY
Point 3

17. Bad design will let
you down
Avoid childish and
boring images (and
ClipArt)

18. Learn how to steal designs.
Reverse engineer great* presentations
Two great resources:
SLIDESHARE.COM
(LinkedIn’s presentation website)
EVERYTHINGISAREMIX.INFO
(Learn how to steal great design)
*i.e. not this one

19. Small word about FONTS.
Learn to explore and choose brilliant fonts
However, PCC choice is limited to standard ones. Choose wisely.
FONTSQUIRREL.COM
(Beautiful fonts)

20. Invest time in consistency and
neatness.
Whitespace is not a bad thing.

21. And choose a
consistent colour
scheme
COLOURLOVERS.COM
(Great resource for colour schemes)

22. But, there is one point to remember that stands above EVERYTHING

23. PREP
Point 4

24. Hands up.
Who prepares properly?
And I mean, PROPERLY?

25. Presentations need care and
attention.
Create a story
Put together the words
Create beautiful slides…

26. …and properly design things.
Don’t blame PowerPoint if you just
slap things together and hope it
sticks.

27. Most importantly:
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
Roughly, an 1 hour presentation can
take up to 30 hours of prep time

28. You owe it to your audience to make it the best experience possible

29. Let’s Recap
Avoid too much
information
Use visuals
Improve the quality Proper Preparation