Presentation design for people who hate slides

I've sat through a lot of presentations in my career, from trade shows to boardrooms to project reviews. The ones I remember never had the most slides or the cleverest animations. They had one clear idea per slide and a speaker who wasn't reading from the screen.

If you dread building presentations, these six rules will make the job quicker and the result far stronger.

1. Write the story before you open the software

Start with a sheet of paper. What do you want your audience to think, feel or do at the end? Write the headline for each slide as a full sentence that moves the story forward. If you can read the headlines in order and follow the argument, the structure works.

2. One idea per slide

If a slide makes three points, it should probably be three slides. More slides aren't a problem. Crowded slides are.

3. Your slides are not your script

If everything you plan to say is on the screen, your audience will read ahead and stop listening. Put the key point on the slide and keep the detail in your speaker notes or a separate handout.

A slide should support what you say, not compete with it.

4. Make the important thing the biggest thing

Every slide has one element that matters most: a number, a quote, an image or a conclusion. Make it large and give it space. Everything else should be smaller and quieter.

5. Use a template, and stick to it

A branded template with set fonts, colours and layouts means you're not making design decisions at midnight before a pitch. It also means every presentation from your business looks like it came from the same place.

6. Turn tables into charts, and charts into sentences

Nobody reads a twelve-column table on a projector. Show the trend as a simple chart, then add a headline that says what it means, such as "Enquiries doubled after the new website launched".

A quick check before you present

Flick through your deck in thumbnail view. Can you see a clear pattern of headlines and visuals? Is any slide noticeably busier than the rest? That's the one to simplify.

Presentation Design turns your final content into up to 10 clear, branded slides, supplied as editable PowerPoint and PDF files.