Use a font size that’s large enough to be read by those in the back of the room, while allowing for generous spaces between ideas.

Corporate logos and identity elements don’t have to appear on every slide.

White space doesn’t have to be white it can be any color or even a blurred background.Īpple is an industry leader when it comes to the effective use of white space.ĭon’t create slides that induce visual and information overload for the viewer.īy implementing a few key rules, you can turn your slides into a luxury item. It creates a calming atmosphere that allows the viewer time to breathe. White space provides separation between points being made as well as makes text easier to read. This leads to a frustrated viewer and one who is likely to tune out of your presentation. The viewer doesn’t know where to look for important information or how to prioritize the data. The slide becomes unattractive, difficult to read, and loses focus. People tend to want to pack as much information onto a slide as they can fit.

In the below example, it’s the gray area. White Space refers to the empty portions of a slide. Notice the obvious interpretive difference between the next two slides. The important facet of this design is that you guide the viewer’s eyes to the most important topic.

The supporting chart makes it easier to understand the performance hierarchy due to the color coding and sorted order of the chart. Suppose we presented the same data in the following manner.įrom just the title of the slide, your audience is made aware of the most critical point about the data. This is a roll of the mental dice because they may come to a different, possible incorrect conclusion as opposed to your intent. Not only is your audience reading the data (and not listening to you) but they are trying to make sense of the data. If you just want them to read the slides, you can just email them a copy of your slideshow and cancel the meeting. Your audience didn’t come to see your slides, they cam to hear your interpretation of the slides.

Unless you are some form of mathematicaphile ( I think that’s a made-up word) you probably don’t get much of a charge at looking at slides full of numbers.Īnother drawback to filling a slide with data is that your audience is no longer paying attention to you they are busy reading all the not-so-interesting bits of data on the slide. Presenting numbers in slide format can be a challenge.

Slide design