POWERPOINT CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

I was networking recently and almost had to dash out the room to breathe in and out of a brown paper bag for a few minutes – I had just seen possibly the worst Powerpoint Presentation of my life. Each slide horrified me from the clashing colours, the bad fonts and the tacky shapes (fellow designers no doubt will empathise with me here) Obviously I didn’t really take in what the presenter was discussing.

At KuKu Creative we create professional and engaging Powerpoint presentations for businesses of all sizes so with that in mind I just wanted to quickly share some tips with you to help you on your way.

1: PICK YOUR TOOLS CAREFULLY

There are many tools on PowerPoint and as tempting as it is please don’t use them all. It’s blatantly obvious when someone has treated it like an all-you-can-eat-buffet using a multitude of awful drop shadows, text outlines and different shapes.

KUKU TIP:

Keep it simple by choosing one or two different effects and sticking to them all the way through. This will keep your presentation consistent but not confusing.

2: ALIGN YOUR OBJECTS

Don’t just drop in your text box randomly. Powerpoint has nifty little guidelines that tell you when something is aligned with its neighbour – USE THEM. It will add a little more time onto the creation of your presentation but it will so be worth it in the end.

KUKU TIP:

Research the “rule of thirds” to make things more pleasing to the eye and think of each slide with an invisible grid on it. Place items in the same portion of the grid on each slide. i.e., an image will always go in X spot or Y spot. This provides more continuity and makes for a more harmonious presentation.

3: CREATE CUSTOM SHAPES

Squares, circles and wait for it …..STARS! You can always rely on stars to cheapen and date presentation. Make use of the fact that you can create custom shapes and get creative. Simply right click on a shape and click “edit points” and the world is your oyster. (why not draw an oyster?)

KUKU TIP:

Don’t overdo it. It’s not a geometry lesson. Find a nice and unique shape and stick to that one. Why not get creative with your borders too?

4: CONSISTENCY

By creating one nice page and then using this as a template you will be on your way to an engaging and consistent presentation. Select a style and size for a heading and the same for your subheading and body text. Don’t mix and match fonts or colours. Decide on two or three core colours and one or two fonts.

KUKU TIP:

As tempting as it is to go crazy with the fonts and colours do a bit of research first and make sure everything looks nice and harmonious. You don’t have to use Times New Roman or Arial either. A bold font for headings and a nice, clear one for the body is a good starting point.

5: REVIEW IN REAL TIME

By the time you’ve finished you are probably sick of seeing your presentation but it’s important to go through it in real time as this is how your viewers will see it. Ask yourself – are there any boring parts? Is it looking too samey? Is that colour becoming annoying?

KUKU TIP:

Try to look at it cold and through the eyes of someone who has never seen it before and ask yourself – does it make sense?

BONUS TIP!

Don’t use rubbish photographs. People respond much more to images than text so make sure these images are sized correctly, clear and relevant.

If you need help with your presentation get in touch. We are happy to cast our eyes over it for you and give you some free tips.

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POWERPOINT CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

1: PICK YOUR TOOLS CAREFULLY

KUKU TIP:

2: ALIGN YOUR OBJECTS

KUKU TIP:

3: CREATE CUSTOM SHAPES

KUKU TIP:

4: CONSISTENCY

KUKU TIP:

5: REVIEW IN REAL TIME

KUKU TIP:

BONUS TIP!

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