There may be several different ways to reach out to your clients, but nothing beats a good, ol’ classic slideshow! It allows you to present data visually, which leaves a more lasting impact on the viewers. It helps you convey more than just your ideas, reports, or studies; it is a representation of your brand.
However, making a slideshow is not easy. It involves the subtle balancing of several elements that tie it all together. At the same time, there are several things that you could overdo or do wrong.
Best Practices of Slideshow Creation
Does the thought of creating a slideshow leave you overwhelmed? Here are a few dos and don’ts for creating a slideshow for your clients:
1. Know Your Target Audience
Before you get started on deciding the slideshow content, the color theme, and the typeface, it is important to know your audience. You and your audience have to speak the same language to feel understood.
Plus, you have a better chance of connecting with your clients if you mirror their personalities and brand personas through your slideshows. The following are some questions that you can ask yourself to learn more about your client:
- What is your client like?
- What do they want from you?
- How is your product/service a solution for them?
2. Create an Outline
Now that you understand your target audience, you must collect all the relevant information and build a structure for your slideshow. Develop a logical flow on how you wish to transition and steer the conversation. Use it as a blueprint to create a skeletal structure and fill it in with content.
While you’re at it, also take the time to explore the various tools that you can use to make the slideshow. While PowerPoint is a classic, your designs may feel a little too generic or restricted. You can check out Invideo, a free slideshow maker, that allows you to create fun and personalized slideshows in a matter of a few clicks!
3. Maintain Uniformity
You could use a promo video maker or post your slideshow on Slideshare; what matters is that it should reflect your brand voice. Anyone who sees the slideshow should trace it back to your firm.
Hence, you have to maintain uniformity and consistency throughout your designs. You can create standardized powerpoint slides templates with a set color scheme and company logo to ensure design unity.
4. Use and Highlight Keywords
Let’s be honest, those who have to attend slideshows and presentations may not even be interested in some cases. And if you bombard them with walls of text all over your slideshow, you will lose them further!
It is always a good practice to keep your slideshow neat and tidy, with a minimum of words that deliver maximum impact. Make generous use of bullets and highlight the keywords to get your message across clearly.
5. Use Illustrations
As stated previously, slideshows allow you to present your information in a visual format. Hence, you can make use of illustrations to break down and present even complex data, such as company finances or production capacity!
The point of these graphics is to accentuate your message and convey it in an attractive form. Hence, avoid overdoing it, or else it will have the opposite effect. Choose an appealing color palette to suit these visual elements and stick to at most 2 to 4 shades per slideshow.
Quick Tip: If you are using Google Slides for your slideshow, you can insert a gif in Google Slides to make it more interactive.
6. Create a Summary Slide
Finally, create a concluding slide and summarize everything that has been covered throughout the slideshow. Once again, make use of bullets, keywords, and key illustrations to keep it brief yet effective.
Through a summary slide, even if you may have lost your clients at some point, you can redirect their attention back to the key elements of the presentation. In addition to grabbing their attention, it will make it easier for your clients to remember your ideas.
Slideshow Creation Don’ts
1. Cluttering Your Slides
You don’t have to slap every piece of information on a single slide!
This tip sounds like a no-brainer, right? However, it may surprise you how many professionals commit this grievous mistake!
A good rule of thumb is to include 1-2 images or 4 to 6 lines per slide. These have to be spaced out evenly and aligned for better readability. Take a few steps back and assess your slides before moving on to the next one!
2. Overuse Slide Transitions, Sounds, and Animations
Do you wish to highlight an idea? Make subtle use of slide transitions, sounds, and animation.
Do you want your idea to drown out all the bells and whistles? Overpower it with slide transitions, sounds, and animations.
The above example highlights how you can mess up the tools and features and distract your clients. Make only minimal use of effects.
3. Illegible Fonts and Color Combinations
How many times have you been unable to make heads or tails of the situation simply because of the curly or fancy fonts? Or was it the color combination (think brown against black or vice versa) that made it almost impossible to read?
Stick to high-contrast shades for your background and text to make them stand out. However, avoid using a bright background, as it will strain your clients’ eyes.
Further, choose a standard typeface that is available in multiple weights (bold, regular, light, medium, italics, etc.) to play around with a simple and uniform font. It allows you to add variation without ruining the font’s consistency.
4. Poor-Quality Images
Using low-resolution, poor-quality images is the best way to say, “I couldn’t care any less about creating this slideshow!”
It is quite possible that an image that looks decent on your device’s outline will pixelate or get blurred out when it is projected in full-screen mode. Thus, make it a habit to include high-resolution pictures within the size range of 1000 pixels to avoid any embarrassment.
Final Thoughts
A perfect slideshow is a combination of simplicity, readability, and enjoyability. Thus, aim for these three characteristics, and your presentation will be an instant hit. Review your slideshow constantly throughout its design and development stages to nip mistakes in the bud.
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