Design principles for your presentations: using these tips both literally and figuratively

Claudia Brogan, February 2017

One of my speaking-heros recently recommended to me the fine books by Garr Reynolds, Presentation Zen and Presentation Zen Design. Whether you consider yourself an experienced graphic artist or are early in your development of presentation-design, you'll certainly find unique and borrowable tips that you can relate to and act on. Reynolds has a knack for trimming ideas to their elegant, clarified essence. 

I highly recommend learning about Reynolds' key ideas. One crisp, clear overview that gives a useful introduction to the principles of Garr Reynolds can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50mHX8_B5-s

It is a straightforward, inspiring way to take a fresh look at your presentations, whether the verbal elements and organization of your next speech, or the slide-design lessons which will improve the visual parts of your speech.

One key idea that Reynolds champions is removal of text whenever possible, doing away with bullet lists and complicated diagrams. Instead, he coaches us, take the initiative to dig up powerful images that will convey your idea in much more vivid ways. Audience members react with a visceral sense: the inspiring sight of an open road to conjure up a new beginning, or a photo of 2 people in earnest conversation when you are teaching effective eye contact when providing Customer Service. Artistic paintings and inspirations to model for your audience members that they take a new creative approach to a vexing problem.

Recently, when re-reading Reynolds' masterful book "Presentation Zen Design" I noticed that three of his slide-design principles also work masterfully to serve to help us improve our stand-up presentations:

• Designing for the Last Row. Not only is this true when selecting font-type, size and text passages for slides, this is also a smart reminder for us when delivering oral presentations. As a mattr of fact, it helps to begin your remarks by speaking to each of the back corners of your audience. This signals to all that they are included, that you are aiming for them to hear well and that even your quietest comments will be aimed so that they too can appreciate them.

• Avoid Clutter. Simplicity is the key in designing slide presentations. Excluding the nonessential and choosing "decorations" or illustrations judiciously will help the slides be clean and clear. Interestingly enough, this same principle also applies to oral presentations. In the writing and practicing of your next presentation, ask yourself what descriptions or anecdotes are really only "decoration"---just because a story is funny, that does not mean it belongs in the precious little time that you are allotted for your speech. Use a careful editing eye to see if there is anything superfluous that can be removed to help your next speech flow smoothly and clearly to the key points you hope to deliver.

• Let the Letters (and Words) Breathe. When the spacing between letters on a slide look uneven, adjustment needs to be made so that words are legible. When size of slide text is increased, the amount of vertical space between lines can increase too much. The space between these lines is called "leading;" too much of it or too little of it will make the slides hard to read. Similarly, when delivering your next presentation, be intentional about the use of pauses between words. People who speak quickly often race even quicker when nervous or excited: make notations where you want to deliver a specific pause for emphasis, for dramatic effect, and for the listener to catch up to your next point. Letting the words of your speech "breathe," with pauses in between, will help clean up your speech and add interest. 

Each of us as speakers can continually learn ways to improve our presentations. We can liberally borrow ideas from other professionals, try them on for size, and model them in our next speech. We are never done learning. Give these three principles a try--both in your design of slides and in your verbal delivery--and see what great improvements you discover.