With interactivity becoming the staple of our online lives, it seems only natural that we should give a thought to how interactivity can be enhanced while making a PowerPoint presentation. Conferences in the brick-and-mortar world made it easier to involve the...

These days, preparing for a meeting is both simpler and more complex than before. Avoiding tiring commutes was one reason to rejoice in WFH! However, if you're wondering why working from home leaves you more tired than it should - and what you could do to alleviate...

For those who have the Monday morning blues, thinking about the week's demands, we thought we'd share two resources that cut through the clutter and cut to the chase, in answer to 2 simple questions: Q: Designing presentations for the web? A: Here's a how-to that can...

Online meetings have made screen-sharing a must. And while most of us are just happy to press ‘Share Screen’ – here are a few things that any able professional should keep in mind.

Thinking visually, experts say, is ideal for this digital age. And yet, it's an old and very powerful source of game-changing ideas, as this video shows us. While, in earlier posts, we've enjoyed thinking about the important role of images and the importance of...

Continuing the thread on multi-media, one of the easiest and most effective ways of adding a dynamic element to your presentation is to add in gifs. Having said that, it’s important to choose wisely and well. When you’re spoilt for choice, it helps to have a few handy...

In our post The A-Z of PPT, M was for both memorability and multimedia. The way we look at it, a great way to make a presentation memorable is to design it as a multimedia presentation. And if that seems complicated, relax. All it means is that your presentation...

In an early post on design, we wrote about the importance of color coordination when designing your slides. If you already have a design template to work within (as is the case with corporate presentations) the color options and grids are already decided for you,...

Teamwork always gives the best results, in most cases. Often for a meeting, you may be required to present along with your colleague, or in groups. These team presentations are crucial when you pitch your point across, as they would decide the fate of the deal or...

When you walk into a room as a presenter, it’s easy to feel as if you’re the central figure, however in reality, your audience is. It’s in their power to embrace or reject your ideas. You’re presenting because you need them to change their beliefs or behavior in some...

If you are not familiar with the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint created way back in 2005 here’s how it goes: The most effective PowerPoint presentations should contain no more than 10 slides, last no longer than 20 minutes, and feature font no smaller than 30 points....

Imagine, you burnt the midnight oil and clocked countless hours working on a very important PowerPoint Presentation. You exit out of your presentation, grab a snack and after you return to your PC, you discover that your PowerPoint file is missing! Of course, the...

PowerPoint presentations can help you convey your message to your audience in the right way. However, while making a presentation you need to ensure that your presentation and information on the slides is to the point and concise. Hence, to help you nail your next...

Pictures in presentations is a powerful tool to help elevate your presentation design and keep your audience engaged. However, for a certain topic there are various pictures available and often you might get confused as to which picture to select. To help you with...

A handout can be defined as a piece of printed information that is provided, free of charge, especially to accompany a lecture or advertise something. Handouts are often considered a vital part in the corporate setting to tell more about your work to your client. Here...

GIFs are the happy medium between images and videos. A few years ago, using GIFs in presentations would have seemed quite unprofessional. However, with the emerging social media trends and the advancements in technology, using a GIF in your presentation is almost a...

Speaker Notes in PowerPoint help you remember important points such as key messages, stats or figures while you give your presentation. The speaker note section is generally at the bottom of your screen. You could use the speaker notes to add more information or...

Today’s generation is the internet generation. We live in a mobile- based culture where everyone from drivers to vegetable vendors now a days have mobiles. Various audience, for the sake of convenience prefer to have their presentations on their mobile devices. Having...

It is said that stories engage seven parts of the brain whereas facts and figures engage only two. However, these days for presentations, most people rely on facts and figures and do not involve stories. Maybe because facts and figures are to build more credibility....

When we come to give a presentation, our aim is to stand out. Nobody goes with the aim to blend into the crowd. But, when you turn on your laptop and project the same standard PPT with a standard Helvetica / Calibri / Times New Roman font, you’ve lost a valuable...

Have you ever been in that position – where you are giving a presentation / writing a report or even debating with a friend about something, and you feel compelled to talk at length, in an attempt to prove credibility or how much research we have done. While that...

If expert data presentation is the game, tables and charts are the game. Charts are what you use to add life to your numbers, show comparisons effectively and make the presentation make sense to even laypeople. Charts are of different types, and each type serves a...

Whether we do or don’t know too much about Powerpoint slides, one thing that people know universally is that the amount of text should be kept to a minimum. Gone are those slides with paragraphs and paragraphs of information, leaving the reader darting between...

Powerpoint presentations – the new language of ideas. Moving on from an age where ideas were communicated in small groups to people who knew the same language, had the same background and thought the same things, we are now in an age where ideas are communicated to...

In this generation, learning how to make presentations has been a journey. In going from paragraphs of text to images and text in bullet points, to learning how to use only the important text in presentations, and it all gets exciting the day you discover Smart Art....

If you’ve seen a designer’s report or presentation, you must have noticed one feature that sets them apart – iconography. Iconography is the use of visual images and symbols and interpretation of those. In reports and presentations, iconography is used to supplement...

No matter what line of work we are in, there is that air of mystery and awe when we look at someone in a flight, in a suit working on their laptop early in the morning. This person, very often, turns out to be a consultant. As consultants go, the crème de la crème of...

Lines evolve into space. Shape is a two-dimensional area confined by an actual line or implied line (an edge for example). In drawing shapes are created when the ends of lines are joined to enclose areas. There are two primary types of shapes we can use – Geometric...

Going further from Colour, Type and Lines, we come to Space as the fourth element of design. Spaces is important in most places. It helps create music, it helps in relationships and it even helps in public spaces. Lack of space creates noise. The same is true...

Now that we are moving forward with a base in colour and type, we focus on the next element of design that is lines. Lines are the simplest design tool with a lot of usefulness. • Lines help convey feelings, moods and can add strength to the presentation / artwork....

The second element of note in our “Design Elements” series is Type. Type design is something that can be intimidating to many, with complicated terminology like kerning, ascender, tail, baseline, leading, etc. to accompany it. Don’t worry, we’ll get there but first we...

Color is one of the most powerful and obvious elements we have at our disposal to produce good design. Here is a base to understand colour definitions: Hue – the descriptive name of the color. eg. Red, Green, Orange, Pink are all Hues. Primary Color – Red, Yellow and...

There is a common experience people face – you hear someone tell a long story, or say you are in a meeting and someone is on a long rant – and the minute it ends you have just one reaction. “So?” It’s that moment of bewilderment where your mind scrambles to understand...

As a designer or a design enthusiast, one of the most important aspects of the process of creation is to reference and to be inspired. For this inspiration, it is always a struggle to find a ever-flowing stream of content. Therefore, we bring to you a list of some of...

Clarity in speech is something we all aim for. Everybody wants to sound like a great orator when they speak, not just on stage but also to each other. Clear speech makes one sound refined, strong and pedigreed. One aspect of clear speech is not having filler words....

Time each slide according to the amount of information it has on it. Slides with few bullet points may take one minute and slides with more content may take more than five minutes. This way, you will know how much time you will take. Slides that have no multimedia and...

Every so often we have to send and edit files in different formats than the one we have. Therefore, we need to be able to convert files from one to another. Here is a step by step guide for PDF to PPT:   Open a file in Acrobat. Click on the Export PDF tool in the...

Google Slides can readily convert presentations in other formats to a Google Slides presentation format. That means that if you are asked to change or update a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, for example, you can do it using Google Slides. Here is a step by step...

Making a good ppt is an art, and the principles of good design can be used to make your ppt look like a work of art. For this, we draw from Dieter Ram’s Ten Principles of “Good Design” 1. Good Design Is Innovative Don’t believe anybody who tells you the possibility...

The first question to answer here is to think about what information you want to convey. One should know that the presentation is what is important, and what you intend to convey. The slideshow is just one part of this equation, the focus should be on the information...

Try these 10 tips to get over your nervousness and to develop confidence while speaking. Be prepared Know that even experienced speakers get nervous, so expect nervousness before your presentation. Don’t force your jitters away. Accept them and turn them into energy...

There are various kinds of mediums that can be utilised when one makes presentations, but each come with certain benefits and ill-effects that we should account for to ensure the best possible presentation experience for our audience. 1. Lap visuals Pros of using lap...

Introductions have an important function but are often overlooked as boring speeches before the actual interesting information. Introductions are meant to create interest and zeal within the audience and have them build anticipation for the presentation to start Write...

To deliver an unforgettable and remarkable presentation, there are 3 skills that need to be acquired. You need to get CONFIDENCE, CONVICTION and ENTHUSIASM. These qualities will help your audience to engage with you during your presentation. Confidence The best way to...

Most speakers panic when asked questions and distastefully try their level best to avoid them. Unfortunately these tactics are often seen through by the audience and the speaker’s credibility is scrutinised and seen as an incapable presenter. These are obvious tactics...

No one complains when your presentation lettering information is too big but they will, and should if it is too small. Legibility is a big part of presentations. As the speaker, you are not expected to read out word-by-word every sentence in a paragraph- the audience...

Before big presentations, a great way to build confidence and practice lines is rehearsing several times. It may be time consuming and tedious but it is a great way to build confidence, smooth out any imperfections in your presentation and find mistakes. Step 1  Try...

- A great way to cover feelings of nervousness is to use humour. Letting your audience know you are nervous may not necessarily create a bad impression, it could endear you to them. - Humorous anecdotes and sharing personal experiences could help support your...

Imagine you are about to deliver a key piece of information during your presentation and suddenly the screen behind you goes blank- A speaker’s worst nightmare. To prevent this (including other mishaps like tripping over wires or losing audio) you should set up...

Your structure of your PowerPoint is important. It should have a flow of ideas and a narrative your audience can follow. Often, when creating PowerPoints you can get caught up in creating details and specifics for a slide which does not need it. While creating a...

Silence doesn’t always have to be uncomfortable or awkward. Use it to your advantage to create a strong impression. Overloading the audience with information and speaking fast may quicken the time spent on the presentation but it could affect the way information is...

Familiarise yourself with your presentation and practice multiple times beforehand. This way you will be prepared for questions and will be able to answer them calmly. Arrive before your audience and take your time to set up. Make sure you do a screen test, sound...

Simplify and do not complicate your designs. Remove unnecessary footnotes and chart sources. Ensure your information presented on screen or in your presentation is legible to the people sitting furthest away from you. Do not use colour for decorative purposes as it...

‘How long is this going to take?’ - a question that races through the audiences mind before the actual presentation starts.                                                                                                                                                 ...

The reason for putting together a PowerPoint presentation is to influence and make your audience believe in an idea that you have confidence in. Most people dislike sitting through PowerPoint presentations and may feel it’s a waste of time so you must give them an...

Respect your audience It is important to check your tone before speaking to a fellow audience member. It is unadvisable to speak down (or even up!) to a fellow audience member. Speaking respectfully to your audience builds relations and ultimately the presentations...

The most important thing to remember when using animations in PowerPoint is to keep it simple. While PowerPoint provides a lot of options for animating pictures, shapes, slides and more, over-using them can distract your audience and make your presentations look...

Bold text is trending and here’s why you need to dump the tiny text Using larger and bolder fonts emphasise content over aesthetic Simple looking and legible text is eye catching and appreciated by the audience Increases legibility Bold fonts encourage the audience to...

Formal presentations have become monotonous. Make a PowerPoints with a unique and different style to grab your audience’s attention. Make a PowerPoint that shows you value how your slides are presented. Pick a soft pastel colour theme and stick with it throughout. For...

Stick with the classics… here’s why you need to. With the surplus of new extravagant fonts and flashy images, animations and videos people tend to forget that less is more. Using over the top decorations and multimedia could distract your audience and you from the...

Learn the Pros and Cons of Microsoft’s biggest competitor. PowerPoint: This software is synonymous with ‘presentations.’ and is part of Microsoft's office suite. It is used widely by professionals all over the world. Pros PowerPoint’s best feature is its usability....

Sometimes the applications of certain colour combinations work well during PowerPoint presentations and can draw attention to important content aspects. Then there are colour combinations which make your presentation difficult to process. Colour correct your...

Illustrations are growing and are becoming increasingly popular in the world of design for a number of reasons. Here is why you need to incorporate illustrations into your presentation – Illustrations depict distinct ideas. When clearly drawn, they can convey thoughts...

Thoroughly research your point If you understand your material well then it will be easier to explain it to others. This way, answering doubts or queries will be much easier. Use humour Include relatable stories and jokes to explain points. It is often more effective...