{"id":491,"date":"2024-03-29T05:36:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T05:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wonderslide.com\/blog\/?p=491"},"modified":"2024-05-15T03:36:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T03:36:40","slug":"the-ultimate-data-driven-guide-to-crafting-more-effective-slides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wonderslide.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-data-driven-guide-to-crafting-more-effective-slides\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentations Demystified: The Ultimate Data-driven Guide to Crafting More Effective Slides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

This article is part of a larger research project that was aimed at discovering the main difficulties users face when creating presentations. The data that was used as the foundation for this article can be found here<\/a>. You can also test your slide designing skills using Wondercheck<\/a>, our new custom GPT.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Know your audience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before you even begin building on your presentation, you need to get to know your audience. What are their backgrounds? Are they experts at the subject at hand, or will they need more context? Are they looking to engage with the presentation, or do they just want raw numbers laid out the fastest way possible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, to start, you need to clearly define your target audience: company employees, training department specialists, students, clients, advertisers, etc. This information will lay the foundation for your slides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One very common mistake when making a presentation is using abbreviations, complex or technical terms that aren\u2019t known to your audience \u2014 not only are they unlikely to understand what\u2019s on the slide, but this is also likely to lower their engagement going forward. You need to make sure that the terminology you use is either well-known, or clearly explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing your audience is key to making them feel interested and engaged, as well as being able to \u201cread the room\u201d so make sure to never skip this part. Otherwise, the quality of your slides might have very little impact on the overall success of your presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Composition is key<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When making presentations, composition usually takes up the bulk of your work time. While it may seem insignificant to some, composing your slide properly can make all the difference when it comes to legibility and engagement. Presentations that adhere to certain design principles are proven to be more effective, regardless of their content or target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to limit yourself to one idea per slide – if there are several disparate thoughts on it, you need to either remove the secondary information, or divide said slide into several slides. Overloading a slide with content is a serious mistake and a surefire way to make your audience less engaged. You need to break large blocks of information into pieces so that they are easier to remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, sometimes limiting yourself to just one slide just isn\u2019t possible. If that\u2019s the case, then it is recommended to divide the slide visually into semantic parts using tiles, then arrange the parts from top to bottom and from left to right depending on the degree of their importance. Think about the emphasis in each part and accentuate it with color or size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a \u201cgood\u201d slide, text information is always accompanied by visual elements. For instance, a text bullet can be accompanied by a corresponding icon on the left. If the slide mentions specific people, then instead of icons you should use their photos, but it\u2019s imperative that all icons and photos are designed in the same style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When showing charts, graphs, or tables, one cool technique for adding some life to your slides is placing the elements in a mock-up (a .png image of a laptop\/phone\/tablet). This is something that is extremely simple to execute, but will give your presentation a more polished look when showing any kind of data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another important thing to remember is to keep everything in alignment. All text has to be aligned either to the center, or to either side \u2014 using different text alignments on the same slide is a serious mistake. A mistake that might seem almost too easy to make, but you\u2019d be genuinely surprised at how many people make it \u2014 at least we were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Armed with this knowledge, your slide composition skills are already way above average. But if that\u2019s not enough, here\u2019s a few more tips to improve them even further:<\/p>\n\n\n\n