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You are here: Home / Design / Charts, tables & diagrams / Slide design rules for effective presentations

Slide design rules for effective presentations

November 24, 2013 by Ellen Finkelstein 8 Comments

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Slide design can be very subjective but there are some rules that are objective. These rules ensure that your slide is easy to understand and remember. When you use these rules, you can create clear slides that no one will struggle to comprehend. You’ll find that these rules are general enough to allow for lots of creativity and flexibility in your design.

I’ve broken up the rules into a few categories.

powerpoint-tips-slide-rules-1Background

Rule 1: The background shouldn’t be so busy that it attracts attention to itself and away from the slide’s content. This includes logos, footers, etc.

Rule 2: The background should leave enough space for your content.

Rule 3: The background color should contrast highly with the text color.

Text

Rule 1: The text color should contrast highly with the background color — or the color of anything else the text is on, such as shapes, images, charts, or text.

Rule 2: The text should be big enough to be read by a person with mediocre eyesight at the back of the room. Even chart labels should be readable and main text should be even larger.

Rule 3: In most cases, text should be sans-serif (such as Arial, Verdana, or Tahoma) because it’s easier to read on-screen.

Rule 4: There should not be so much text on a slide so that your audience is reading while you’re talking.

Images

Rule 1: Images should be of high-quality; use photos unless you’re creating an iconic look (such as the image for this post).

Rule 2: Images should be as big as possible without overwhelming text; they usually look best when they reach to the edges of the slide.

Rule 3: Images should help the audience understand and remember the point — and be persuasive, if that’s your goal. They shouldn’t be merely decorative.

Layout

Rule 1: Put one point or idea on a slide.

Rule 2: The audience should quickly know where to put their attention.

Rule 3: Objects on a slide should be orderly — no misaligned objects, for example.

Charts

Rule 1: All the text on a chart should be legible, even the axes.

Rule 2: Only include the data that is necessary to make the point.

Rule 3: A chart should be as simple as possible in its design, without losing clarity.

Tables

 Rule 1: Only include the data or text that is necessary to make the point.

Rule 2: All the text in a table should be legible.

Free downloadable checklist!

Do you agree with these rules? Do you have others that you follow? Would following a list of rules like this help you design more effective slides? Leave a comment!

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READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

Related posts:

  1. How to design more effective slides with the Tell ‘n’ Show(SM) method
  2. 3 Components of an Effective Presentation
  3. Create effective graphs/charts
  4. A quick way to design better photo slides–the 3-side rule

Filed Under: Charts, tables & diagrams, Design principles, Shapes & text boxes, Text & fonts Tagged With: Design, effective presentations, rules, slide design, slides

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The #PreziTop100 Online Resources Every Presenter Should See – vps-test.prezi.com Managed WordPress SiteSlidehunterHuda OsmanKarenEllen Finkelstein Recent comment authors
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Danny Rocks
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Danny Rocks

Ellen –

Excellent – and time-tested – advice!

Thanks for sharing your expertise!

Danny Rocks

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9 years ago
Ellen Finkelstein
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Ellen Finkelstein

Danny, glad that you liked it! Happy to share!

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9 years ago
Karen
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Karen

I downloaded the checklist (which I LOVE, thanks!) but can’t open it. What type of file is it? Tried Word, PP, excel, adobe reader, etc).

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9 years ago
Ellen Finkelstein
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Ellen Finkelstein

Karen, It’s a Word (docx) file. Are you using Word 2003? If so, I’ll send you a version for Word 2003.

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9 years ago
Karen
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Karen

Thanks, Ellen, I have Word 2010. I got it; I had renamed the file for easy reference for me. It had saved as a zip file for some reason, and I wasn’t looking for that.

Again, thanks.

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9 years ago
Huda Osman
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Huda Osman

Thanks Ellen. Your advices are always useful and needed. Thanks for sharing

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9 years ago
Slidehunter
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Slidehunter

The Ellen Finkelstein Guidelines are created specifically to get your slides out of your way.

Thanks for the sharing nice post!

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8 years ago
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The #PreziTop100 Online Resources Every Presenter Should See – vps-test.prezi.com Managed WordPress Site

[…] Ellen Finkelstein—Slide Design Rules—What Are Yours? […]

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