There are probably 100 reasons why your idea or business is awesome,
but audiences only remember a few points after a short presentation or pitch.
In this lesson, let's look at best practice for creating
presentation slides consistently and with impact.
Presentations need a clear storyline or agenda
broken into easily digestible sections.
Visuals can then be used to support your narrative and emphasize points.
This is the grid. Grid view, it's a great place to organize individual pages.
You can add, duplicate, or delete pages.
10 slides is an optimal number for most short presentations or pitches.
A good rule of thumb is 1 page, 1 point.
A slide therefore expresses 1 idea.
Don't crowd your slides with multiple ideas.
It will confuse your audience.
Some ideas may take more than 1 slide to express a point, and that's fine.
There that's looking better.
Another essential tip is to show, don't tell.
This means wherever possible, use visuals to tell the story instead of text.
In the Elements tab, you'll find photos, graphics,
or even charts to visualize data here.
Graphs and charts help make complex
statistics and data seem simple and much easier to remember.
An opening slide might contain the title of your presentation
along with some brief company details such as a logo or your name.
You could also consider using a welcome slide.
So there's something on the screen when people
enter the room or join a virtual presentation early.
An agenda or table of contents will give the audience an overview.
It'll grab their attention and persuade them it's worth sticking around for.
The ending slides might contain a summary of the main points and your contact details.
This is an instance where showing a lot of text and bullet points is acceptable.
Keeping this visible during Q&A sessions will help audiences
think of questions to ask and help them retain the information.
This slide could even be sent around after the presentation.
Rather than using a thank you slide, consider leaving your audience
with something thought provoking like a quote.
Thank you should come out of your mouth at the end of the presentation with a smile.
Let's face it, memorizing a 45-minute presentation word-for-word
can be overwhelming and time-consuming.
That's why Presenter Notes are so handy.
They give helpful cues for the talking points
and when in Presenter View, you'll be able to see what slides are coming up next.
Here's a few tips on what to include in presenter notes.
Short prompts with main ideas or messages to keep the presentation on track.
Story reminders help presenters recount stories
naturally without sounding like it's being read from a script.
Be sure to distinguish it's a reminder rather than a statement to be read out aloud.
Notes only appear in the presenter window not the audience window.
So write things you'll understand at a glance.
It doesn't need to make sense to anyone else
unless you're putting the presentation together for someone.
You can also edit the presenter notes from here too for quick changes on the fly.
Canva is a powerful presentation tool when you're designing your next presentation.
Remember to follow the basic rules like 1 page, 1 point
and show, don't tell to create beautifully, simple and engaging slides
that keep your audience hooked.