Presentation software, such as PowerPoint, plays an important role in many fields, especially in education. To design a good presentation you must start with a clear plan and use clear messages.  Structure, content, design and delivery are interwoven. You must clearly consider the entire presentation, including the script, the structure and the slides, aimed squarely at the learning stage of your students.

Things you likely will need to consider when planning you presentation include:

• Reviewing and editing the text to improve comprehension
• Formatting the slides to create a neat and clear look and feel
• Planning the colour scheme to suit the context
• Adding attractive backgrounds for visual appeal
• Creating custom graphics to support key points

The principal purpose of a presentation is to convey information visually. Good presentation design requires an eye for detail. All the principles of design apply to any piece you may create. How you apply those principles determines how effective your design is in conveying the desired message and how attractive it appears. So you will need to consider how to design a slide presentation that is subtle, simple, memorable, appealing and attractive, has high impact and achieves your learning objectives.

Links to Resources

Delivering Your Presentation

Presentation Helper: Presentations

This website provides many useful ideas on how to design and deliver a successful presentation including “presentation secrets” from a range of experts, an outline of essential presentation skills, presentation ideas and presentation hints and tips.  

http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk/presentations.htm (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

Planning and Designing Your Presentation

Designing Presentation Visuals

This page provides many useful tips on how to design a presentation such as thinking of your listeners, guidelines for good visuals and ways of adding variety.

http://www.plu.edu/libr/media/designing_visuals.html (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

Presentation Helper: Power Point

This link provides some very valuable resources and downloads including some basic design tips and ideas on how to enhance a presentation.  Free downloads include Power Point templates, sound clips, music and clip art.

http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk/powerpoint.htm (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

About.com: Desktop Publishing: Illustrating the Principles of Design

Provides examples of how the six principles of design can be applied to any layout or presentation.  The “before and after” format demonstrates how knowledge of these principles can enhance the clarity and effectiveness of a presentation.  Provides links to a comprehensive range of tutorials and other related online resources.

http://desktoppub.about.com/od/designprinciples/l/aa_pod2.htm (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

Sociable Media

Cliff Atkinson, co-author of “Five Ways to Reduce Powerpoint Overload”, is the president of Sociable Media.  His company’s website provides links to book discussions, blogs, article and interviews, as well as a number of free downloadable resources such as templates and story board guides.

http://www.sociablemedia.com/ (retrieved, March 23, 2009)

Presentation Zen

A blog discussing the question, “What is good Power Point design”?  The site discusses the importance of context, i.e. the target audience and setting, simplicity as an important design principle and provides examples of good and bad visual treatment of slides.

http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/09/whats_good_powe.html (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

Typography 1^st

Incorrect choice of fonts and poor page layout can ruin an otherwise good presentation.  This site provides a number of tutorials on the principles of design, correct use of fonts or typefaces and achieving a good layout.

http://www.typography-1st.com/typo/txt-lay.htm (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

Some Ideas about Composition and Design

Provides a detailed explanation about the visual elements and the principles of design and composition.

http://www.goshen.edu/art/ed/Compose.htm#principles (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

Authors@Google: Garr Reynolds

A You Tube video, approximately 1 hour and 11 minutes long.  Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds shares his experience.  Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today's world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ2vtQCESpk (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

Theoretical Perspectives

Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides: The Assertion-Evidence Structure

An article which is critical of the way information is usually presented in Power Point slides.  Instead, the writer advocates an “Assertion-Evidence structure” for presentations that have the purpose of informing and persuading audiences about technical content.  Provides links to other commentaries on Power Point and research on Assertion-Evidence design.

http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/slides.html (retrieved, March 11, 2009)

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