The Lost Art of Presentation Design

If you ask most people, they will say that business presentations are boring, and they are right. The use of software like PowerPoint, default templates and bullet points has led to mundane presentations delivered in a mundane way.

The good news are that there is hope. Any presentation can be redesigned to communicate information effectively and help the speaker engage with the audience. One of the most valuable tools when redesigning a presentation is simplification.

The first thing you need to do when redesigning your presentation, is to identify your core message. You need to gather all the thoughts and ideas that are in your slides and then simplify to understand what the core message is. Once you have it, this needs to be used as the theme for your presentation and you need to keep coming back to it.

When it comes to changing your slides, remember that simplicity is king. Having a lot of information on a slide confuses and forces people to read instead of listen and engage. You need to keep your words to a minimum, use graphics and images whenever possible and never EVER use bullet points.

If you just apply the second part and change your slides to be clean and with less information, you will already have made a great progress. It's important to understand that the audience has come to listen to you and not read a few slides. If it was for the latter, you could have sent them as a PDF and not do the presentation at all. Using simplicity will help you deliver your message effectively and engage with your audience.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

What did you Learn Last Night?

Last night we had the pleasure to take part in another round of portfolio night reviews with Consurgo at University of the Arts, London.

We worked with graduates and students from different fields, including graphic designers, product designers and illustrators.

What I found is that a lot of people forget the basics that are needed when pursuing something (like a job) and presenting their work. Here are some thoughts:

• Know what you're aiming for. You need to be clear about what you are trying to achieve and present it through your communication and work.
• Become the best at what you want to do. There are no excuses. If you want to work in a certain field, start doing work in that field, even if it's projects you come up with.
• Be confident. If you love what you do, show it. If you don't, don't bother.
• Create a flow. When presenting your work, you need to tell a story. Use emotions to engage your audience and be clear about what you are trying to communicate.
• It's a pitch. Like it or not, when you go for an interview or to show your work, you are pitching for something. Whether it's to get a job, a freelance contract or space in a gallery, you have to prepare a good pitch and practice delivering it.

The points above are not aimed at just creatives presenting their portfolios. Anyone that is looking for a job or starting something needs to have these always in mind.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis