New Year, New Deck? Consider a Minimalist Approach to Your Presentation
There’s been lots of talk on social media since the start of the new year, as there is every year, of cleaning out closets, getting rid of the unnecessary, and maybe even taking on a new mindset. I’ve been loving the concept that the less stuff I have, the less time I have to take managing my stuff — dusting my stuff, organizing my stuff, moving my stuff from here to there. I’ve been cleaning out old boxes, recycling, donating, re-selling, and I’m breathing easier.
Which had me thinking, wouldn’t it be great to consider the same for our presentations? What if we applied a minimalist mindset here and had to spend less time tinkering with our presentations? Less re-sizing and deciding on fonts, less moving the clip art from here to there, less cropping of all those stock photos. The good news is, this mindset can work in your favor, not only in saving you time and headaches, but also improving the clarity and upping the professionalism of your presentation.
The good news is, this mindset can work in your favor, not only in saving you time and headaches, but also improving the clarity and upping the professionalism of your presentation.
When designing a presentation, less is almost always more. Your presentation should support and reinforce what you’re saying, adding where useful, and, gasp! keeping silent where not.
Of the thousands of decks I have seen, it’s clear when the presenter is confident in their level of knowledge on the subject matter. Usually, it’s clear if someone is trying to compensate for something (a discomfort with their understanding of presentation software or their level of design knowledge). And here’s the thing — you need very little design knowledge to appear competent in your deck. If you are confident enough to ruthlessly cut down your text, cut down the bells and whistles, cut down on the animation, you are going to be in a much stronger place to present your content.
If you are confident enough to ruthlessly cut down your text, cut down the bells and whistles, cut down on the animation, you are going to be in a much stronger place to present your content.
Here are some great resolutions as it relates to presentation design, and what I would use less of to improve the clarity of any presentation:
Less text — People can either read what you’ve written or listen to what you’re saying, but they can’t do both. So, choose your most important thought, and say it. If there are details that you feel are important, but are going to take your audience’s attention away from your main message, drop it in the notes, or add an appendix for sending on later.
Less visual clutter — Our eyes and minds orient towards straight lines, vertical and horizontal. So where you can, try to put things in rows or columns, or have content lined up in some sort of way that feels like it’s providing order. Also on the topic of visual clutter, remember that white space is good! Just because space is there does not mean it should be filled. Balance, proportion, breathing room. These quick fixes go a long way in providing more clarity to your presentation.
Less predictable stock photography — sites like unsplash are great for a refreshing take on the image, and are free (don’t forget to credit the author). If you use an image that is more tangentially related to the concept or provides a refreshing break from what someone would be expecting to see, you’ve got the bonus of creating an element of surprise and a break from the normal pattern which will re-engage your audience. Science says so.
Less font variety — the words do not need to convey some sort of artistic concept — let them just be words, clear and legible with a common font. A good general rule is to try to stick to no more than two fonts in your presentation. Here’s a list of 10 of the stronger fonts, which should be available whether you’re using Powerpoint, Keynote, Google Slides, or anything else.
So, the takeaway? Put less stuff on your slides. Allow for more space, more room for your audience to listen to what you’re saying. Remember this is a multi-media experience, and you are the main character. Consider it like a capsule-wardrobe upgrade for your communication.
Adrienne is Presentation Designer at InVision with over fifteen years of design experience in the Science and Tech space. She is an enthusiastic explorer of the intersections between neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and presentation design. She spends her free time painting miniature watercolors, singing to her kiddo, and learning to play the ukulele.
