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In the world of public speaking, few names stand out like Simon Sinek. He rose to prominence through his transformative “Start with Why” principle and his powerful Golden Circle framework, which have paved the way for more compelling presentations that bond communities through inspiration and understanding. In this blog, we will discuss the elements that make a his presentations impactful and what we can learn from them.

Simon Sinek’s presentation style

When you think about powerful presenters, Simon Sinek pops into mind. His masterful communication style can break down big ideas into more relatable concepts, and his unique approach to public speaking has made him a resonant name in the industry.

The “Start with Why” principle

The cornerstone of Sinek’s memorable approach is rooted in a simple question: why? This question urges the audience to dig deeper within themselves and understand the core reasons for their motivations and actions. By understanding the “why,” Sinek argues that this builds a genuine connection with the audience and establishes a strong foundation for inspiration.

In the world of business, this principle translates to strong leadership that cares more about building community than selling products. Starting with “why” provides a compass that allows a presenter to establish authenticity and purpose to form a presentation’s backbone.

The Golden Circle

Another central principle to Sinek’s style is the Golden Circle, which is a concept that moves from the ‘why’ to the ‘how’ and finally to the ‘what.’ By initiating presentations with a driving purpose and rationale, he can foster understanding and connection from the very beginning.

Implementing the Golden Circle provides you with a rough outline to organize your presentation around. Approach your the structure through the why, how, and what, and you can create an engaging and resonant narrative. It offers a lens through which to view the mindset that drives success for organizations and presentations by charting out a grounded and insightful path.

Storytelling approach

In Sinek’s presentations, storytelling is a golden thread that is woven throughout to create captivating narratives that engage the audience. Building on his ‘why,’ storytelling allows Sinek to get more specific about his motives by using real-life examples. That way, he can turn abstract concepts into digestible, relatable tales that are rich with insights and lessons. Being specific about who the ‘why’ is about strikes a chord with the audience and also brings the material closer to their reality. We can see Sinek’s method of storytelling in action in his presentations, including his famous TED Talk.

TED Talk: “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”

In one of the most highly regarded TED Talks, Simon Sinek masterfully applies the Golden Circle in his presentation as he discusses the principles that make up inspiring leadership by starting with the ‘why,’ ‘how,’ and ‘what.’ Aside from the informative insights regarding leadership, the presentation is also a clear demonstration of how a strong narrative grasps the audience’s attention. His Golden Circle structure can paint a picture of successful leadership by emphasizing a deep understanding of the root motives that drive actions. This talk is a must-watch to observe the power of ‘why’ in action as it inspires action and fosters connections. You can watch the full talk right here.

What we can learn from Simon Sinek

As we watch Simon Sinek’s charismatic presenting style, we can observe several techniques that are adaptable to our presentations:

Presentations give, they don’t take

It is said that a giving hand is better than a receiving hand, and this applies to presentations as well. Often, when presenters show up with a motive to benefit themselves, such as funding, connections, or some other advantage, it is very transparent and causes the audience to disengage. The audience is much more likely to trust a giver—someone who has the intention to be of service through their presentation or otherwise share value. Reframe your speech as to how it can benefit the audience, rather than how to extract benefits from the audience.

Share what you know

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to speak about an interest of yours, such as a book that you’ve enjoyed or a personal anecdote you loved? You become so fluent and persuasive purely because you care about it! Now extend that logic to presentations, when you speak about a subject you’re passionate about, that passion is contagious and can captivate the audience.

Another trick is to speak about things you understand. We’re not all experts, and trying to sound smart about things we don’t entirely understand comes off as inauthentic. When you speak about what you know and care about, you will naturally present it more passionately and energetically, so focus on giving the best of what you have.

Own the space

When you present, taking control of the room embodies a readiness to share your ideas, fostering a deep connection with your audience. Owning the room begins right when you walk up to the stage, with a composed walk that establishes a strong presence before you even begin to speak. And once you’re on stage, rather than start right away, take a moment to absorb the room’s energy and make eye contact with the audience. This way, you have a moment to solidify your presence and use your body to complement your speech and add to an impactful delivery.

Begin with the end goal in mind

This is directly related to the start with ‘why’ premise, before you begin, know what the end goal is. By starting with the end in mind, you can tailor any story or thought you share to move you toward that destination. Rather than putting your efforts into your introduction, think about the concluding statement or the idea that sums up the whole talk. This should help you figure out how to shape your presentation in a way that strengthens the main idea.

Simon Sinek has set a benchmark for presenting styles, offering a rich reference to learn from and be inspired by, like his ‘Start with Why’ and Golden Circle principles. By learning about his strategies for engaging narratives, presenters are encouraged to form genuine connections with their audiences by digging deeper into their motivations. Using his methods, such as owning the space and working with your natural strengths, you can create rich, impactful presentations.

What if we told you that some of our favorite presenters are actually famous comedians? Comedians possess a remarkable skill that goes beyond making us laugh. After all, they manage to hold an audience’s attention for an hour with nothing but their wit and charisma. They are master presenters in their own right, powerful orators, and public speakers who know how to keep an audience on their toes. So, what can we learn from these professional jokesters?

Comedians as presenters

Comedians have a special skillset that goes beyond eliciting much-needed laughter; they know how to use humor, storytelling, and perfect timing to build a connection and create an immersive experience. By observing how these talented comedic virtuosos employ their techniques to entertain and engage, we can learn a thing or two about presenting our own stories. Their interesting approach to communication and public speaking, infused with authenticity and charisma, leaves a lasting impression on all audiences. 

Understanding the role of a presenter

Before we begin to explore all the ways comedians can make us better speakers, we first need to understand the role of the presenter. They are not just mere messengers; they are storytellers and motivators. Presenters are given the tough task of igniting inspiration in the audience through their delivery and conveying important information at the same time. And like comedians, they need to connect with their audience to create a memorable experience.  

Case Study: Bo Burnham 

Bo Burnham is considered one of the first viral YouTube sensations, and his creative approach to performing perfectly proves why. Using a brilliant combination of humor, music, and storytelling, Burnham weaves in personal stories and fearlessly explores various topics in his live shows. And playing on the audience’s emotions, he is able to use his authenticity to encourage embracing vulnerability. Furthermore, he infuses his live performances with multimedia elements, playing around with the lighting, sound effects, and even adding musical interludes. This clever use of multimedia adds an immersive touch to his live performances, making them a memorable and resonant experience for his audience.

Case Study: Hasan Minhaj 

Hasan Minhaj stands out as a true orator, effortlessly blending passionate speeches with razor-sharp wit. As a former Daily Show correspondent and host of his own show, Patriot Act, he knows how to address social and political issues while maintaining a light-hearted tone. He does not shy away from tough conversations, rather, he embraces the challenge with openness and charisma. Minhaj’s charm comes from his ability to create a personal connection with his audience, making them emotionally invested in the stories and topics he shares. A powerful speaker, he knows how to use his voice and body language to engage audiences, keeping them on the edge of their seats and eagerly anticipating what comes next. 

Case Study: James Acaster 

James Acaster’s charm and appeal come from his ability to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. With his witty observations, he is able to make the mundane interesting by uncovering its humor, which strikes a chord with the audience. He offers a fresh perspective on familiar (or so we thought) topics through jokes and delivers them with impeccable timing. His seamless flow between his jokes and stories is both unexpected and exciting, crafting a hilarious narrative that ensures that anyone listening is hanging onto his next words. 

Transferring stand-up skills to the presentation stage

Drawing inspiration from the captivating sets of past comedians, we can recognize the level of their public speaking prowess. Aside from eliciting laughter, they are also masters in storytelling and engaging their audiences. Let us delve deeper into their techniques and see how we can use them in our own presentations: 

Timing and delivery

It’s all about delivery and timing! Not just in comedy but also in presentations. Knowing when to pause, when to speak, and when to emphasize all impact how a message is received. Learning to command attention with your voice and body language injects energy and drama into your delivery, making it more impactful. Also, the key here lies in authenticity and being genuine; timing your delivery will tend to come naturally. 

Storytelling and narrative techniques

Storytelling is a primary component of many comedic sets as it engages listeners emotionally. Comedians are skilled narrators who take their audiences on an entertaining journey in their sets, making them think, laugh, or cry. They are able to use narrative techniques such as sharing anecdotes, calling back to an earlier idea, characterization, and others to turn mundane stories into memorable experiences for the audience. By incorporating these techniques to tell stories throughout your presentation, an emotional connection is established with the listeners.

Use of humor and wit to retain attention

And of course, humor is a powerful tool that can improve any presentation and lighten the mood. For example, the comedians we mentioned use humor to simplify or poke fun at more complex ideas, leading the audience to connect more with the message. In presentations, humor breaks the ice to create a more relaxed atmosphere, and when people are feeling easygoing, they are more receptive to absorbing new ideas and information. Plus, humor helps build rapport and trust, as well as making the presentation more enjoyable overall.

Presenting is a nuanced art form that blends together language, emotion, and connection. Comedians have an unparalleled ability to grip an audience and offer us a masterclass every time they take the stage. From perfect timing and passion to observant humor, they demonstrate how a successful presentation lies in creating genuine connections, authentic storytelling, and, of course, a sense of humor.

Data visualization is an art form. Picture this: you tap those dull spreadsheets once, and they transform into captivating visuals that effortlessly convey your message. In the realm of presentations, data visualization is like giving your numbers a much-needed makeover. They are a powerful tool that simplifies and communicates information and also captures your audience, leaving them spellbound by the stories hidden within the numbers.

What is data visualization?

Data visualization is all about representing data through fun and engaging visual or graphic elements such as graphs, charts, maps, infographics, and other formats. Instead of overwhelming your audience with raw data, visual representation makes information easier to digest and more visually engaging.

Why is data visualization important in presentations?

How come data visualization is so important for presentations? Simply because it’s a game-changer! It makes complex data easier to understand, helps spot trends and patterns, and enables better decision-making. When you present data in a visual format, it becomes easier to comprehend and remember, which is especially helpful for more complex data sets or data the audience is unfamiliar with. Also, visuals are like magnets for audience attention; they keep them focused and maintain their attention throughout the presentation. Moreover, data visualization elevates your storytelling by facilitating the visual communication of your message and enhancing your connection with the audience.

Types of data visualizations for presentations

Depending on the data, there are many ways to represent it through various formats. Let’s dive into the common types, including:

Charts and graphs

Charts and graphs are the true rock stars of data visualization and one of the most popular ways to represent data. They are classic, versatile, and can represent a wide variety of data. Pie charts, bar graphs, and scatter plots are just a few of the many types of charts and graphs available. As tried-and-true tools for making data stand out, they can show trends, patterns, and relationships between data points. Also, they are easy to understand and can be used to tell a story about the data.

Infographics

Infographics communicate complex data through a combination of text, images, and charts that share information easily and quickly. With the right mix of visual elements, an infographic can be a powerful tool to help audiences understand complex data clearly and concisely while effectively showcasing the data’s story.

Maps

Maps are a powerful tool for visualizing geographic data. They can showcase trends and patterns, such as sales by region or global statistics. Moreover, maps can demonstrate patterns of distribution and movement and, by extension, can be used to tell stories about the data. Another note is that a map of global statistics could show how different countries compare across several factors, such as population, GDP, or life expectancy. This could help businesses understand the global market and identify potential growth opportunities.

Dashboards

Dashboards are a creative way to display several data points on a single screen, providing an overview of the data at a glance. Dashboards can be used to track different data trends, allowing you and your audience to explore and analyze the data to make informed decisions.

Interactive visualizations

Traditional formats, such as charts and graphs, can help understand trends and patterns in data. However, they can be static and limiting, offering only a single perspective on the data. Here is where interactive visualizations come in. They are still a relatively new type of data visualization that invites the audience to interact with the data points and encourages them to navigate the information and engage in self-learning. It offers an immersive experience for users to zoom in and out, switch between locations, click, and reveal information at their own pace.

Best practices for data visualization in presentations

When using data visualization in presentations, it is important to follow some best practices. These include:

Keep it simple

As usual, a presentation is meant to share a message, and you cannot do that if you have too much going on. Use data visualization strategically to avoid clutter and keep the visuals themselves straightforward and easy to follow. And to keep your data visualization clean, avoid too many data points and colors.

Focus on the story

Your visuals should always be relevant and uplift your main message. They are tools designed to guide and navigate your audience on an informative journey, so any data visualization you opt for should complement and support your presentation’s story.

Use color effectively

A general rule of thumb for using color is that less is more. We’ve spoken before about the importance of an effective color palette; it is another tool to bring out the best of your data. An effectively chosen color palette can highlight key data, create contrast, and enliven your presentation.

Tools for data visualization

Several tools can be used to create data visualizations. Some of the most popular tools include:

Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is Microsoft’s software for creating different data visualizations, including charts, dashboards, and graphs. It offers a wide range of tools to help create rich, impactful reports and visuals.

Tableau

Tableau is the go-to tool for many professional data professionals. Known for its flexibility and easy interface, it also has powerful features that can create detailed and comprehensive data visualizations to help with developing better analysis.

Looker Studio

Looker Studio, a Google product, offers a free, user-friendly data visualization platform that can seamlessly integrate with other Google tools. By simply inserting your data, you can convert the information into extensive reports that are easy to customize.

Adobe Illustrator for Infographics

When it comes to creating high-quality infographics, Adobe Illustrator will reign supreme as the most effective tool. With its powerful vector graphics editing capabilities, it is the go-to software for designing visually stunning infographics that can both captivate and inform viewers.

Examples of data visualization in presentations

Still unsure about how to use data visualization? Here are some examples of how to incorporate data visualization into presentations:

Corporate earnings reports

You can bring that dull quarterly earnings report to life through appealing data visualization tools. Show trends and revenue growth, compare figures, and observe other key metrics with visually appealing analysis to make stakeholders more invested in your story.

Market research findings

Data-heavy market research can quickly amass a mountain of data. Yet with the right visuals, you can have information like market trends and customer demographics converted and communicated into clear and actionable insights.

Social media analytics

Details about social media activity, social media performance, audience demographics, and engagement can be presented through data visualization to showcase growth. They also provide thorough guidelines to determine the next steps.

When you skillfully incorporate and showcase crucial data in an engaging and clear manner, you unlock the power to deliver truly compelling arguments in your presentations. By reinforcing your narrative with impactful visuals, you allow your data to shine and ensure your message takes center stage. Data visualization tools enhance your ideas and also empower your audience with a deeper comprehension of your content.

Graphic design is an industry that has grown and evolved so much over time that it seems hard to believe that it has only been around since the 1950s. Although we typically associate graphic design with logos and websites, the contributions of several designers over the years have exemplified the importance and complexity of design as a factor that influences and inspires consumers.

In learning about the history of graphic design, there are names of famous graphic designers that you should know. These designers are thinkers and pioneers who adventured with the tools they had to push forward the field of graphic design.

Who is the most famous graphic designer?

Saul Bass is thought to be the most famous graphic designer. If you don’t recognize his name, you will certainly recognize his work. Saul Bass designed several iconic logos, such as the logos of Quaker Oats, Kleenex, Minolta, and AT&T, as well as the movie posters for many beloved films like Psycho and West Side Story.

Who was the first graphic designer?

Considered the father of graphic design, Paul Rand was the first to separate fine art from graphic design by emphasizing accessibility alongside aesthetics.

How do graphic designers become famous?

Simply put, it is networking and making connections. Putting yourself out there as a designer is the best way to create awareness about yourself and your work; build a portfolio, work on your interview skills, and take the first step to reach out to clients.

Other methods for getting exposure are building a strong website that showcases your work and getting your work published in relevant publications.

Who is the richest graphic designer?

It’s not clear who is the richest graphic designer since designs may vary in price depending on the commissioner. But looking at their net worths, Chipp Kidd and Michael Bierut have high net worths of $16 million and $1.4 million, respectively.

The importance of graphic designers

In our digital age, visuals have become an indispensable part of a brand. They make the necessary first impression on a consumer and need to grab their attention long enough for them to make a decision.

Taking ideas and translating them into reality, graphic designers use typography and illustration to breathe life into a client’s vision. They are an essential asset to any content creation team.

Most famous graphic designers & artists

Whether you’re a designer looking for inspiration or an amateur who wants to get started, these are 54 graphic designers you should know. These are designers who made an impact in the field of graphic design and inspired their successors.

1 – Saul Bass

Saul Bass got his start working in advertising, but after designing the film poster and film credits for Carmen Jones (1954), he became a graphic designer.

Bass distinguished himself by incorporating kinetic typography, or animated text, into title sequences and end credits of films; notable examples include his work for Psycho, Vertigo, West Side Story, The Man with the Golden Arm, and The Shining.

Aside from film posters and credits, he also designed logos for Quacker Oats, Kleenex, and several other brands. And though these logos have evolved since, they have retained their roots as Saul Bass designs.

2 – Stefan Sagmeister

One-half of the design partnership Sagmeister & Walsh, Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister is known for his minimalist and neutral aesthetic for several acclaimed clients. He is most known for his work on album cover art for bands and musicians like Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Jay-Z, and David Byrne.

3 – Chip Kidd

Currently, the art director for Random House, Chip Kidd started at Knopf Publishing House and has designed nearly 75 covers a year for over 30 years. He’s designed book covers for Haruki Murakami, Donna Tartt, Oliver Sacks, David Sedaris, and Bret Easton Ellis. He’s also a regular contributor to The New Yorker.

4 – Massimo Vignelli

When designing logos and assets for Bloomingdale’s, American Airlines, and Ford, Vignelli borrowed from modernist tradition to incorporate it into his designs for different industries.

As a self-proclaimed “information architect,” Vignelli aimed to condense big ideas into digestible bits for users. His philosophy and legacy are palpable in New York City, as evidenced by his work on the New York City subway map and signage he designed in 1972, which are still used daily by thousands of New Yorkers.

5 – Michael Bierut

A Pentagram partner since 1990, Michael Beirut designed pieces for clients across all disciplines. From the Hillary Clinton campaign logo, branding for Saks, The Atlantic Magazine, the New York Jets, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, his work can be found all around New York City. He’s also a lecturer, critic, and writer for the New York Times.

6 – Milton Glaser

The mind behind the iconic “I Heart NY” logo, Milton Glaser knows what it takes to create a powerful, timeless design. Presented with the National Medal of Arts by the US Government in 2010, Glaser is also a lecturer and the founder of New York Magazine.

7 – Paula Scher

To grasp Paula Scher’s influence, you only need to take a look at some of her clients: Microsoft, New York City Ballet, the Museum of Modern Art, Shake Shack, the Sundance Institute, and New York City’s Public Theater, to name a few.

She is the first female principal at the Pentagram firm. Her innovative use of type as a visual image in her work is deemed to have a lasting impact on the world of design.

8 – Peter Saville

Responsible for one of the most reproduced designs ever, Peter Saville is behind the famous album art of Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures.” He has created album covers for artists such as New Order, Wham!, and Peter Gabriel. His vivid and expressive style set a new standard for album covers.

9 – Jessica Walsh

The other half of Sagmeister & Walsh and later the founder of &Walsh, Jessica Walsh’s colorful and retro vision made her a regular collaborator for clients like Jay-Z and Levi’s. She also teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

10 – Aries Moross

Aries Moross (previously Kate Moross) founded their studio in 2012 working on branding and commercial projects for brands like Nike and Ray-Ban. Yet, with their starkly original, bright, and chaotic typography, the studio found itself focused on music-related projects. Notably, they have created designs and artwork for One Direction and the Spice Girls’ comeback tour.

11 – April Greiman

Greiman was among the first to use technology for graphic design in the 1980s, embracing digitization and even finding ways to incorporate glitches into her work. Influenced by Wolfgang Weingart, April Greiman also introduced his new wave style to the United States scene with her own colorful and acid-laced twist.

12 – David Carson

Largely self-taught, Carson’s style is unconventional, edgy, and grungy. His experimental techniques solidified him as a star in the design world in his role as the art director for the magazine ‘Ray Gun.’

13 – Herb Lubalin

Lubalin’s typographic design, or “typographics,” picked up where copywriting lacked and enhanced written text. His cleverness allowed him to adeptly visually convey language and know when to embellish the text. He is also the typographer behind the ITC Avant-Garde family of fonts.

14 – Paul Rand

In Paul Rand’s 1947 book Thoughts on Design, he wrote about his ideology on design, primarily his belief that design should be functional as well as aesthetic. His theories have shaped what we now know as graphic design.

He also pioneered the modernist Swiss Style of design, which focused on legibility and visual hierarchy.

15 – Max Miedinger

Miedinger’s contribution as a successor of Paul Rand’s Swiss Style movement was the Swiss typeface, a minimalist typeface otherwise known as Helvetica. It was a perfect reflection of the Swiss style captured in a font, clean and flexible, and it helped shape the movement later on.

16 – Wolfgang Weingart

Weingart offered an antithesis to clean, minimalist styles with his spontaneous and chaotic designs. His designs were experimental and chaotic, imagining a new-wave approach to graphic design that includes a more instinctive way of creating.

17 – Alex Trochut

Inspired by street fashion and pop culture, Alex Trochut uses a visual language that is extravagant and eye-catching, creating designs with overlapping styles and genres. His clientele includes brands and musicians like Nike, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Coco-Cola, Apple, Mac, and more.

18 – Dana Tanamachi

Tanamachi famously got her start through a chalk illustration at a housewarming party. Her intricate artworks then made their way into redesigned book covers for classics like Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz and brand campaigns for Nike and Penguin. She specializes in typography, lettering, and detailed illustrations, both of which have contributed to her success.

Influenced by her work, Prezlab’s designers use her as an inspiration when creating book and report designs.

19 – Louise Fili

Louise Fili specializes in branding for food products and restaurants. Her work borrows from modernism and her Italian-American heritage and focuses on typography. She was also an art director for Pantheon Books and designed over 2,000 book covers.

20 – Morag Myerscough

Known as the queen of color, Myerscough is a designer whose studio and projects focus on environmental graphic design, creating large and lively 3D pieces for schools, offices, and exhibitions. She uses bright and vibrant colors to make spaces more exciting.

21 – Adrian Frutiger

Frutiger advanced and adapted typography for the digital realm by developing several digital typefaces, including popular typefaces such as Président, Univers, Frutiger, and Méridien. His work of legible and beautiful typefaces can be seen on signs in London and Disney World.

22 – Alan Fletcher

The British “father” of graphic design, Fletcher’s use of typography and visual language solidified graphic design as an essential element for businesses and not only a decorative embellishment. He is known for designing logos for the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Institute of Directors.

23 – Bradbury Thompson

Thompson was known for his incessant experimentation with styles and methods. By mixing surrealist, traditional, and postmodern styles by layering and incorporating photography, he created inspiring works that challenged tradition.

24 – Ivan Chermayeff

Using abstract shapes instead of letterforms for his logos, Chermayeff and his design firm are responsible for dozens of memorable and iconic logos, including those for National Geographic, the Smithsonian, PBS, and NBC.

25 – Jan Tschichold

Tschichold’s book Die Neue Typographie set new standards and guidelines for typography and typographical hierarchy that are still referenced today. He created many typefaces and is known for creating the classic orange Penguin covers, for which he designed over 500 covers.

26 – Neville Brody

Inspired by punk culture in the 1980s, Neville Brody created edgy and experimental designs for several album covers, magazine covers, and advertisements. Including his work as art director for The Face magazine.

27 – Otl Aicher

Otl Aicher is best known for creating the 1972 Summer Olympics logo, which is also a perfect representation of his minimalist approach, bold colors, and pictograms that he also adapted for several signage systems.

28 – Susan Kare

You might not recognize the name, but you certainly recognize her work. She is the designer behind many of the original Apple’s Mac interface elements like the trash, paint bucket, lasso, floppy disk, etc, that were the base for much of the designs we’re familiar with today. She is also behind the typefaces Geneva and Monaco.

29 – Alex Center

The mind behind several ad campaigns for Coca-Cola, Vitamin Water, and Smartwater. He eventually founded his own design company, CENTER, which focuses on packaging design.

30 – Carolyn Davidson

When the founder of Nike approached Davidson, he asked for a logo that could represent movement. The result was the ever-memorable and iconic Nike checkmark, for which she was paid $35. After Nike went public, she was compensated for the difference in 500 shares of stock.

31 – George Lois

Over his 10 years at Esquire magazine, George Lois challenged the status quo with his memorable, and occasionally controversial, magazine covers. His 1968 Muhammad Ali cover, for example, depicted the boxer with arrows through him to evoke themes of martyrdom for his identity and beliefs.

32 – Jonathan Barnbrook

Barnbrook designed influential and contemporary typefaces such as Bastard and Tourette. Later on, he became David Bowie’s go-to designer in his later career, designing album covers for Heather, The Next Day, and Black Star.

33 – Lauren Hom

Creating work for Google and Starbucks, Lauren Hom’s career in graphic design was initially unplanned, but her whimsical and intricate typography gave her work a shareable quality that brands strive for.

34 – Leta Sobierajski

This designer is an eclectic in every sense of the word. Working with photography, art, graphic design, and fashion and working across disciplines, her quirky and colorful style has been useful for her wide range of clients, including Tate Britain and Gucci.

35 – Lindon Leader

His FedEx logo solidified him as a leader in graphic design, his subtlety and cleverness made the logo the icon that it is. Alongside FedEx, he also designed assets for Hawaiian Airlines, DoubleTree Hotels, and CIGNA.

 

36 – Luke Choice

Hailing from Australia, Choice borrows from comic books and cartoons to create art that tells effective stories through visual design. His dreamy and colorful style can be seen in his work for Samsung and Adobe Max.

37 – Abram Games

Games was a WWII artist who created hundreds of political poster designs. Following his motto of “maximum meaning, maximum means,” his style is simple and direct to highlight core messages.

38 – Alexey Brodovich

His interdisciplinary and experimental approach to design during his term as an art director at Harper’s Bazaar made him an instrumental graphic designer. Constantly playing with trends, his modern and stylish taste informed his work in textiles, posters, magazine layouts, illustrations, and more.

39 – Alvin Lustig

Lustig’s approach suggested that instead of representing the content of the book, a cover should convey the tone and style. This approach to book cover design was an original method that has now become standard practice.

40 – Armin Hofman

A pioneer in Swiss design, Hofman’s clean and powerful designs represent the Swiss movement’s core ideals. He aimed for effective design with a meaningful purpose to create something timeless.

41 – Cipe Pineles

Cipe Pineles’ career is full of firsts: she was the first female designer member of the Art Director’s Club in New York, the first female art director for a magazine, and the first designer to hire fine artists to create mass-market covers. Her work is featured across diverse magazines, including Vogue, Seventeen, and Glamour.

42 – Claude Garamond

You might recognize the name Garamond from the font. Born in 1505, he was the first person to specialize in type design, paving the initial road to type design and graphic design as a whole. In addition to Garamond, he also created the fonts Sabon and Granjon.

43 – El Lissitzky

Lissitzky’s strong visual language in Russian propaganda posters used stylized shapes and bold colors. A pioneer of the Bauhaus movement, his work influenced the next generation of contemporary graphic designers.

44 – Erik Nitsche

Throughout his 60-year-long career in design, he added his modernist touch to everything he worked on. His emphasis on design being a tool extended beyond the commercial meaning to include an industrial one.

45 – Hermann Zapf

Hermann Zapf pioneered the move from press printing to computerized typography. And in addition to creating a typesetting program that offered a blueprint for many current softwares, he also created many typefaces such as Palatino, Optima, and Zapf Dingbats.

46 – Jacqueline Casey

Casey’s work introduced Swiss typography and design to the United States, a marriage of modes that shaped contemporary design. Her work featured Swiss-inspired cleanness with poignant messages.

47 – John Maeda

Maeda pushed boundaries in every medium he worked in, including digital and analog mediums. His exploratory use of computerized media helped develop motion graphics as we know them today.

48 – Josef Muller-Brockmann

Another proponent of the Swiss movement, Muller-Brockmann’s work emphasized what he called “radical minimalism,” which used geometric shapes and clean fonts with touches of bold color. His legacy in the Swiss movement lies in his use of grid systems, a widely useful tool for designers today.

49 – Ladislav Sutnar

Specializing in information design, Sutnar used design to make sense out of nonsense. To aid his aim of creating clarity, he used a notable technique of dialing back the color and type palettes.

50 – Lester Beall

Beall is remembered for his transformative attitude toward graphic design; he treated designers as problem solvers with the potential to add value to the marketing world. His avant-garde and uplifting work set a standard for designers to imagine timeless pieces.

51 – Lucian Bernhard

In the era of art nouveau, Bernhard embraced his own version of minimalism. As an art director for advertisements, he used flat colors and no slogans, relying instead on a plain illustration and a logo for a clean, dialed-back look.

52 – Muriel Cooper

Cooper was a graphic designer who started using computers in her work before they were commonplace. Her use of movement, visual depth, and 3D shapes was groundbreaking and pioneered the development of computerized graphic design.

53 – Seymour Chwast

Contrary to the Swiss movement, Chwast’s expressive style involved fusing design and illustration in original, playful ways. His novel approach was able to repurpose past design trends into fresh and interesting new iterations.

54 – William Golden

Golden was a pioneer in the post-WWII era who was to mold the field of graphic design. His spirited designs pushed design into new territory. His work helped define what graphic design is as a field and emphasized differentiating between artists and graphic designers.

Dozens of designers with unique visions have added to graphic design as a field and bettered it as a craft, so you can see how graphic design became the ever-expanding field we now know it to be. It is forever changing and evolving thanks to the fearless experimentation and relentless creativity of different designers. Overlapping personalities and clashing ideas have granted endless possibilities for the imagination to wander.

Sources:

• https://lallsopp.github.io/john_baskerville/designer-essay.html
• https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2021/02/saul-bass-teach-web-design/
• https://creativepro.com/typetalk-the-typographic-expressions-of-stefan-sagmeister/
• https://nationaltraveller.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=554:aizone-campaign
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• https://mascola.com/insights/design-legend-ivan-chermayeff-created-logos/
• https://www.signdesignsociety.co.uk/event/jan-tschichold-and-the-new-typography/
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• https://alexkiteblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/neville-brody/
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• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/372602569162241671/
• https://medium.com/@akcloudfox/user-centered-design-susan-kare-8814381365a7
• http://thealexcenter.com/vitaminwater-vis
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• https://letasobierajski.com/Trophies
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• https://theinspirationgrid.com/amazing-typographic-artworks-by-luke-choice/
• https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/abram-games-designer
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• https://chroniclebooks.tumblr.com/post/96481703275/from-book-covers-to-helicopters-alvin-lustig-was
• https://posterhouse.org/blog/armin-hofmann-1920-2020/
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• https://www.moma.org/artists/515
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• https://www.rit.edu/carycollection/william-golden

When pitching and presenting big ideas, it’s important to consider the structure of your presentation from the very beginning. In this blog post about presentation design, we will lay out a pitch structure you can use when presenting an idea for a new project. We’ll call this presentation approach “The Big Thing,” a six-step method for winning the hearts and minds of your audience.

The structure for a powerful pitch presentation includes the following:

Step 1: The Primer

Take your audience back to a time before a certain technology existed, one similar to yours but not quite what you are pitching. Here is where you set up the context of your “big pitch.” For instance, let’s go back to the beginning of cloud computing. Before the cloud existed, did you ever think that Dropbox could grow into a company with over 400 million users? The “big thing” in this scenario is pointing out the potential growth of cloud computing and how it will substantially change the business landscape.

Step 2: The Ups & Downs

Once you’ve established that the cloud is a big deal, use this section to talk about how some current companies are doing well by embracing it while others completely ignore it. Since your idea is to create a storage platform in the cloud, this section sets you up nicely for your next step: suggesting all the good things to come for those who have embraced the new technology. The key here is to try to drive your point home by indicating how things will improve even more in the future. The more you emphasize this idea, the better you will do in the rest of the presentation.

Step 3: The Benefits

Next, hint at the idea of a happy ending without going into details about your company yet (Dropbox). You’ll want to make sure that your audience is aware that happiness is not a guarantee unless they take part in or support your new project. This is where you capitalize on their FOMO (fear of missing out).

Step 4: The Specifics

Now that you have laid down a solid foundation, the next step is to get into the crude details of the project. The trick here is to package everything into 3 memorable talking points – no more, no less. These three talking points should address how the company will deal with current and future challenges and maximize the next great opportunity.

Step 5: The Proof

If you have proof of success, such as early customer beta data, customer testing that you have conducted, peer reviews, or anything else that would showcase your project as primed for success, then this is the step where you put it on display. The idea here is to show data-driven evidence to prove that success is just a matter of time.

Step 6: The Ask

Once you have gone through all the previous steps correctly and compellingly, the final step is almost natural – The Ask. Lay out your request clearly and concisely while briefly going over how you will use the money (or any other resource being requested) to take the project over the finish line.

And lastly, a quote from Albert Einstein which we think is fitting when it comes to pitching big ideas, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

As a presentation design company in Dubai, we love sharing our knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. If you have enjoyed this post then you might also like to read:

McKinsey-style business presentations

How you can make your sales presentation “pitch-perfect”

How to avoid the dreaded “Death by PowerPoint”

There is more to PowerPoint than text boxes and “image insertion”; this blog pulls back the curtain on some of the best ones we love to use as a professional presentation design agency in Dubai!

If you’re like most people, you probably use PowerPoint for work or school presentations. But did you know that there are features in PowerPoint that can help you design better presentations? Here are a few presentation design features in PowerPoint that you may not have known about.

There are three stages to designing a presentation: planning, designing, and delivering.

Each stage requires its own set of skills and knowledge. Presentation designers must be able to understand the needs of the audience and communicate with them. They also need to have a strong understanding of the latest PowerPoint features and how to use them effectively. PPT designers must be able to create visually appealing presentations that engage the audience and deliver the desired message.

There are a few PowerPoint presentation features that can help you create better presentations, no matter your skill level in design.

Here are six features you can use to improve your PowerPoint presentations:

01 Presenter View

This view allows you to see your presentation on one screen while your audience sees something different on another. This is handy if you want to include notes or additional information that you don’t want your audience to see. To enable Presenter View, go to the Slide Show tab and click on Set Up Slide Show. Under Show Type, select Presenter View and click OK.

02 Custom Shows

This feature allows you to create a presentation within a presentation. For example, if you’re giving a presentation on marketing tips, you could create a custom show that contains only the marketing slides. To create a custom show, go to the Slide Show tab and click on Custom Shows. Now click New, give your custom show a name, and select the slides you want to include. When you’re finished, click OK.

03 Action Buttons

You can add action buttons to your slides to allow your audience to take action during your presentation. For example, you could add a button to allow the audience to send an email or visit your website.

To add an action button, go to the Insert tab, click on Images, and find the Action Button. Choose the button type, and then click OK. Add whatever text or image you want to appear on the button, and then position it where you want it on your slide. Then click on Apply when you’re finished.

04 Built-in themes and templates

PowerPoint comes with a variety of built-in themes and templates that you can use to create professional-looking presentations. To access them, click on the “Design” tab at the top of the PowerPoint window.

05 Use custom fonts

 If you want to add a bit of personality to your presentation, try using a custom font. To do this, click on the “Format” tab and select “Fonts.” From there, you can browse through the different fonts and choose the one that you want to use.

06 Add multimedia

Adding multimedia elements such as images, videos, and audio can help make your presentation more engaging. To add multimedia elements, click on the “Insert” tab and select the appropriate option.

All in all, PowerPoint is a powerful presentation tool that can help you create presentations that are both professional and engaging. There is a range of other features that liven up a dull presentation, such as slideshows with text, images, and videos, and you can also add interactive elements like quizzes and polls. You can also create slideshows that are responsive to changes in the screen size, so they will look great no matter what device they’re being viewed on.

And finally – your delivery is key. Make eye contact with your audience and speak clearly and confidently. Pace yourself so that you do not lose your audience’s attention.

If you want Prezlab’s PowerPoint experts to work on your next presentation, then hit us up!

Selecting a color scheme that stirs the desired reaction in your audience is a tricky and challenging process. Unfortunately, picking out an appropriate color scheme isn’t as simple as putting together the colors you like. The color choices used in a PowerPoint presentation reflect the character and personality of your business. When the color wheel offers itself to your imagination, how do you know how to use it correctly?

We cannot underestimate the power of color. It’s a language of its own, influencing emotions and setting the mood for your presentation before you even begin to speak. Presentation slides can convey a relaxed, professional, or confident persona based on the color scheme alone.

What do colors mean?

Starting off with the tough question: what is color?

All that color comes down to is perception. When an object reflects light, it reflects different combinations of wavelengths that our brains interpret as color. And once we begin to understand color theory, we start to have a better understanding of how we perceive colors.

What is color theory?

Color theory offers a foundation for understanding the rules around color and color schemes. It is a basic guideline for mixing colors and analyzes the visual effects of how colors mix or contrast with each other.

Once you understand the logic of color, you can create and use color palettes more effectively and confidently.

Primary colors

Primary colors are colors that cannot be created by mixing colors and they are yellow, red, and blue. When it comes to creating a color palette, the primary colors anchor the color scheme. Meaning that using any one or any combination of the primary colors will place limits on your color scheme when you decide to select other colors.

Secondary colors

The secondary colors are created by mixing the purest form of any two primary colors. The three secondary colors are orange, purple, and green.

Tertiary colors

Tertiary colors take things a step further. They are created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color, making them a mix of several colors. But unlike secondary colors, they are not mixed in equal amounts.

For example, red-purple, or magenta, is a mix of red and purple, meaning it is two parts red and one part blue.

The six tertiary colors are red-purple (magenta), red-orange (vermillion), blue-purple (violet), blue-green (teal), yellow-orange (amber), and yellow-green (chartreuse).

The color theory wheel

The color wheel is a chart that organizes colors in a circle to showcase the relationships between the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. From the mind of Isaac Newton, a color wheel is a tool used to visualize colors to help facilitate the creation of color schemes. 

What are the additive and subtractive color theories?

The additive and subtractive color models are systems of color reproduction related to how the eye receives light to produce colors.

The additive colors are red, green, and blue, or RGB. The RGB color models are for electronic screens like computers or TVs. It begins with black and then adds red, green, and blue light to convey a spectrum of colors. When more colors are added, the result is lighter and closer to white. With the three colors combined in equal amounts, you get white light.

Meanwhile, the subtractive color model applies to any color typically seen on a physical surface, namely paper. In this model, you subtract colors to get closer to white. The subtractive colors are cyan, magenta, yellow, and key/black (CYMK), and these are usually the colors listed on printer cartridges. When these colors are printed, they absorb the light and appear black.

How to combine colors?

Using the color wheel, we can experiment with color combinations to create original and effective color schemes. There are seven major color schemes in graphic design that designers regularly use and return to.

Warm colors

If you draw a line through the color wheel, it cleanly separates the warm and cool colors. The warm colors are reds, yellows, and oranges, and they are hues associated with energy, brightness, and action.

Cool colors

Cool colors are blues, greens, and purples, and they often connote feelings of peace, calm, and serenity.

Complementary colors

A complementary color scheme comes from combining colors that stand directly opposite each other on the color wheel (such as purple and green, orange and blue) and their respective tints.

Since this color scheme offers a strong contrast, it’s best to use one color as a dominant color and use the second color as an accent in designs. Use contrast to highlight important points in your presentation.

Split complementary colors

A split complementary color scheme features a selected base color and the two colors that neighbor that base color’s complement. The result is a versatile and nuanced color palette that is more diverse than a complementary color scheme while still maintaining a healthy and interesting contrast.

Although this color scheme is easy to achieve, it can be tricky to maintain. A split complementary scheme offers more color combinations, but it takes a bit of experimenting to find a good balance.

Triads and tetradic color combinations

A triadic color combination creates a balanced contrast by featuring three colors at an equal distance from each other on the color wheel, forming a triangle. However, it can feel overwhelming when the colors selected are bold. This can be handled by choosing one color to be the dominant one and using the others sparingly or by selecting a softer tint.

A tetradic color scheme is achieved by drawing a rectangle on the color wheel, resulting in a vibrant color scheme.

Analogous colors

Analogous colors sit next to each other on the color wheel and together create a soothing color scheme. When using analogous colors like red, yellow, and orange together, it’s best to have one color dominate, the second color support, and a third color accent.

Monochromatic colors

With a monochromatic color scheme, you choose one color and support it with its varying shades and tints. The result is a calm and consistent feel that looks polished and professional. This type of color scheme is easy to use since you only need to select one color and then use black, white, or grey to change it. 

How to choose a color scheme?

These formulas for putting together color combinations are easy to pick up with enough practice. Yet, the challenge lies in the other factors you must consider when choosing colors for your color palette, which affect the impact and effectiveness of your color scheme.

Consider the user experience

When creating a presentation, consider the audience and the purpose. For example, using a monochromatic color palette is appropriate for a professional presentation, while complementary palettes are versatile for different types of occasions.

But also remember the details; for example, a bright background could be distracting and make it hard to read the text.

Set a mood for your color scheme

What is the mood you want to convey? If you want an energetic presentation, you’re better off using brighter colors like reds and yellows. While shades of blue are great for creating a peaceful and serene mood. Or you could tone down the clutter by creating negative space in black or white.

Working with high contrast

Be clever with your use of contrast. If you’re using a dark background, use light text that your audience can read, and vice versa. It’s important to use high contrast in more professional presentations to draw the audience’s attention to the contents. Draw attention to your important points with accent colors.

Follow the 60-30-10 rule

Originally an interior design rule, the 60-30-10 principle has proved to be a great tip for graphic design. It adheres to a balance of 60% of the main color (for backgrounds), 30% of the secondary color (filling in shapes or images), and 10% for the accent colors in outlines and text.

Refer to your color wheel

Use the color wheel to your advantage. Refer to it constantly to select color combinations of different color schemes. Sometimes, a color scheme that may look good in theory might not work with your presentation. It takes several tests to find a scheme that resonates with your personality and serves your presentation.

Draft multiple designs

As with any creative endeavor, there is no way to find out how your ideas will work without drafting and experimenting. In your quest of finding the appropriate color scheme, you need to create multiple drafts with your palette suggestions and see which works best. It’s good to step away from your work and sleep on it to refresh your perspective.

Keep it simple

Don’t overthink it. Keep your color scheme simple. A monochromatic palette is a great starting point for beginners since you’d only be working with one color. For more advanced users, try not to work with more than four colors; anchor your design in one dominant color and use the others for support.

Avoid unnecessary usage of color

Exercise restraint. Not every instance will need an explosion of color. For example, in a chart with only two variables, heights, and length suffice as differentiating factors. But when a third or fourth variable is introduced, then the color becomes necessary to emphasize or highlight differences.

Be consistent with color across charts

When using multiple charts and graphs, make sure to be consistent throughout the presentation when referring to the same groups. It keeps the document neat and organized and helps the reader follow along.

Leverage the meaningfulness of color

Different colors hold different meanings and symbolism. If you’re using color in graphs to represent certain groups, then keep in mind the colors they are typically associated with to make it easier for a reader to follow.

A general rule to follow is avoiding high color brightness and saturation or at least keeping them to highlight a particular element. 

Attend to color blindness

Be inclusive of those with color blindness. The most common form of color blindness causes those afflicted to confuse red and green, and less commonly the confusion between yellow and blue. So use variety in the lightness and saturation to differentiate between colors rather than relying only on hue.

Sites like Coblis have color blindness simulators to help you get an idea of how your visuals will look and if there are potential ambiguities.

Types of color palettes

When it comes to data visualization, color is a necessary component in visual aids such as charts and elements. Misusing color could be distracting or confusing, but using color productively helps you tell the story you want to tell. Depending on the data you want to convey, there are different types of color palettes to consider.

Qualitative palette

A qualitative palette is used when the information presented deals with categorical variables such as age groups, countries, race, etc. In a qualitative palette, a distinct color is assigned to each variable or group.

A qualitative palette relies on the colors to differentiate between several variables, so try to limit the palette to no more than ten colors. Any more would create confusion in distinguishing between groups. Play around with hues, lightness, and saturation to create distinctiveness between colors.

It’s also important to maintain overall cohesion to not create unintentional bias by highlighting certain variables more than others.

Sequential palette

A sequential palette is used when the variables are numeric and typically portrayed sequentially. Often in a sequential palette, the lightness or hues are the distinguishing factors between variables.

The use of lightness is the most recognizable form of a sequential palette, which is why a single hue could be used. Low values are connoted with lighter colors, while darker colors are used for higher values. Otherwise, it is recommended to use two adjacent colors from a warm or cool palette.

Diverging palette

A diverging palette is applied when numeric variables have a central value (like zero). It’s useful to think of a diverging palette as two sequential palettes meeting at a middle point. The two sides are assigned two distinctive colors, and as with sequential palettes, lightness is used to portray distance from the central value.

Discrete vs. continuous palette

Sequential and diverging color palettes interact with data values with either discrete colors akin to a numerical value or through a continuous fading function between the variable and color.

Often, the process of creating color palettes follows the first method of using discrete or distinct colors, even though it would make sense to use a continuous color function to communicate the relationship between values.

However, people distinguish details such as length or position more quickly than they do color differences. So discrete palettes highlight patterns in the data, and we can set a clearer range within a discrete palette. While on a continuous palette, data would be pushed into a narrower range.

How to create a color scheme for your presentation

With the variety of color schemes and color palettes possible, where do you even begin creating your own? There are many variables involved in building a color scheme for your presentation, so start at the root and select colors appropriate for your goal. You can also reach out to our team for their presentation design (and palette-making) expertise.

Our presentation design services

Pick your colors

Building a color scheme begins with selecting colors that fit your purpose and mood. The process of picking colors is simplified once you can select a base color to build on.

The dominant color

Visual language is very effective in creating a subconscious connection and resonating with your audience. So begin by selecting a dominant color that encapsulates your beliefs and best represents your topic and niche to create the base for your color palette.

The secondary color

A secondary color supports your scheme’s dominant color and makes it stand out more.

The accent color

Accent colors are used to contrast and emphasize points in a presentation. Complementary colors make for perfect accent colors as they offer a bold contrast that attracts the eye. Accent colors are meant to be used sparingly to not overwhelm the viewer.

Keep colors in balance

Maintain a balance with your color palette and diversify the use of colors in highlighting text or brightening slides. Apply the 60-30-10 rule to your dominant, secondary, and accent colors.

Use the theme color palette

When creating your presentation, take advantage of the theme palette feature in PowerPoint and Google Slides. This tool allows you easy access to your color palette and lets you quickly change the colors of text and elements in your presentation at once without having to do them individually.

Use the tools at your disposal

There are several tools available for building a color scheme and using color palettes in presentation and design software. Use them to create a cohesive and engaging color scheme to be used in your presentations.

Tools and resources for using colors

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of color theory and how to build a color scheme. However, that shouldn’t discourage you from using tools and resources that help you speed up the process of selecting the perfect color scheme for your presentation.

Data Color Picker

Data Color Picker is a great tool for generating color schemes for sequential and diverging palettes. Often, some hues are left out between the two endpoints of a sequential palette, but Data Color Picker has a default tab for palettes that is perfect for generating multi-hued palettes.

Chroma.js Color Palette Helper

This tool has detailed options for crafting a color palette, with options for the type of palette desired (sequential, diverging), correcting lightness, and a color blindness simulator. These features of the chroma.js Color Palette Helper allow for more refined and cohesive palettes.

Color Thief

Since there aren’t many tools for creating qualitative palettes, you could extract potential color palettes from images with colors that resemble your intended mood. Color Thief is a tool that lets you generate a color palette from your own uploaded pictures. Although you would need to tweak your options to create an appropriate palette, Color Thief is a great starting point.

Viz Palette

Similar to Coblis, Viz Palette is a color palette tool that allows you to see how your palettes are perceived by individuals with different color perception deficiencies and color contexts. Furthermore, you can alter the color palette instantly in the tool.

Adobe Color

Adobe Color is a free Adobe tool for building color palettes based on different schemes and combinations. Moreover, it offers premade color schemes to play around with, use in your presentation, and even save if you’re an Adobe user.

Illustrator Color Guide

In the Illustrator Color Guide, you could generate a 5-color scheme along with its tints and shades based on the one color you select. And with preset modes, you could select the type of color scheme you want to create. You can save your color palettes to return to them in future presentations.

Preset Color Guides

Chances are, you’re familiar with Microsoft Office products. Well, did you know that all of the Office softwares have preset color schemes that you can use for your projects? In PowerPoint, you can find the color schemes in the Colors menu in the Slide Master view. You could select an option or customize your own.

Stop making those oh-so-nineties slides and indulge in these new presentation design trends.

We all know that presentation design plays a vital role in any business presentation, which is why it is important to be aware of the current design trends for presentations. Since great sales presentations or pitch decks can win and retain clients and help get that much-needed round of funding, all the details will matter.

In this blog, we will cover some of the most popular presentation design trends you can use for your next presentation.

So let’s jump right into it.

Flat Design

Flat design is one of the most popular trends in modern presentation design. It has been around for some time now and it has become increasingly popular over the years. This trend is characterized by its simplicity and minimalism, making it very appealing to designers who are looking for something clean and fresh with a minimalistic approach to content layout. 

Minimalist Design

The minimalist trend is also very popular among designers these days, as it offers a similar approach to flat design but with a more modern twist. This trend focuses on simplicity, cleanliness, and ease of use all of which are qualities that have made this style so popular among users today.

Colorful, Bright, and Bold Design

Presentation designers are looking at more creative ways to attract audiences. A popular trend in presentation design is using colorful and bold colors to make presentations more engaging and eye-catching.

Infographic-Style Slides in Presentations

Infographics are a great way to present data in an interesting and engaging way. They are a type of visual representation designed to be both informative and interactive.

Some of the best infographics have been made by designers who have not only mastered their skills, but also understand how to make their designs as user-friendly as possible. This means that they need to know how to use color, font size, layout, and other design elements to create an infographic that will be easy for the audience to read and understand.

Bold Typography Design

Designers are increasingly paying attention to typography as a focal point of their work. We are seeing more designs where typography is at the center stage of presentations.

Custom typography fonts are very beneficial when the goal is to create a professional and unique presentation. They allow for the customization of layouts, text formatting, layering, and line spacing to accurately control the content.

Bonus Tip

Shorter Presentations

With the prevalence of Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram Reels, Stories, etc., audiences are now accustomed to content that is short, sweet, and packed with value. This also means that attention spans are extremely short nowadays and this also applies to presentations. If you can eliminate redundant slides and join different points into one slide then definitely do it. A short presentation with around ten slides is, by no means, something unusual.

Look at each slide in your presentation and ask yourself, “Can this slide be merged into other slides?” or “Is this really required?”

In conclusion, you could merge your company’s guidelines with current presentation design styles to create eye-catching and trendy slides. If you need help with building great presentations without losing control of your brand identity, then speak to our presentation design experts at Prezlab.

If you enjoyed this blog, you might also like to read:

Present stories, not just slides

How to choose the best presentation color schemes & combinations

How to effectively structure a “big idea” pitch for maximum impact

It’s super easy to underestimate the influence of PowerPoint design until you come across slides that instantly grab your attention. We’ve all sat through presentations of all kinds: the good, the dull, and the ones with visuals that make us sit up a little straighter.

This is when we recognize how the power of great presentation design has the potential to turn a simple PowerPoint presentation into a captivating experience for an audience. They make the message more compelling and enhance your business presentations by elevating your brand identity.

Why does PowerPoint design work?

01 It’s eye-catching. 

In the digital age, visuals are often the first thing people notice. That makes delivering information more effective when conveyed visually. Using an engaging PowerPoint slide design evokes curiosity and turns quiet interest into an eagerness to learn more about your topic.

02 It’s effective.

Most people are visual learners, meaning that other than listening, your audience should be able to follow along through visual aids. Charts, graphs, timelines, images, and others are all excellent ways of incorporating visual elements, especially ones that serve both an aesthetic and functional purpose, into your presentation design.

03 It’s straightforward.

Your presentation will benefit from engaging PowerPoint designs that help communicate your ideas more clearly. We don’t pick up on information when it’s presented to us in a box of text. We do, however, remember when the material is represented in a cohesive visual representation that is easier to understand.

04 It helps the presenter.

Clear PowerPoint design cleans up the flow, allowing the presenter to follow a coherent narrative and presentation. When the presenter can respond accordingly to a visual cue in their presentation, it keeps them more focused and intentional as they speak.

What are the effects of a great PowerPoint presentation design?

01 It makes a good impression.

There’s no need to emphasize the effect a powerful first impression can have on a business. Having business presentation slides that look good presents a cohesive and credible brand identity. So, solidify your presence with a killer visual representation of your brand identity to leave a strong impression on decision-makers in the audience.

02 It shows that you respect your audience.

We know you have prepared for your presentation, but how can your audience? PowerPoint design gives the impression that you put in effort for your presentation and are therefore a trusted source of information in your field. Any audience member can recognize a clean slide design as a sign of someone who knows what they’re talking about

03 It benefits your audience.

One of the main purposes of presentation design is to communicate new information clearly. People retain information better when it is communicated in smaller pieces. When you design a PowerPoint with the audience in mind, you can tailor it based on their background and understanding. That way, you guarantee that they walk away having learned and understood your message.

Great, now where can we start? 

So, where does one begin creating a smooth presentation slide design? Well, for starters, having a clear-cut outline of your content gives you a starting point on how to organize your information. Keep in mind details such as the color palette, images, and volume of text when creating your presentation slides.

From there, you can effectively build engaging presentation slide designs.

At Prezlab, we believe great presentation design should be accessible to everyone. That’s why we have loads of free and premium templates, free slide evaluations, and a team of presentation design enthusiasts ready to transform your ideas into sleek, beautiful designs.

Leave your competitors in the dust and grab those prized page-one positions with near-perfect on-page SEO

Most businesses can feel daunted and overwhelmed by SEO, and there is a good reason too. There are thousands of factors that impact rankings and they are constantly changing. To make things easier, we put together this checklist to help you nail your on-page SEO. And in some low-competition industries, taking these steps could be all that you need to rank on Google’s first page. Alternatively, you can hire an SEO and Digital Marketing agency in Dubai.

A Foolproof SEO Checklist

01 Setup Google Search Console – it’s a powerful tool by Google and is very handy in spotting and fixing SEO issues on a website. Plus, it’s free and super easy to set up.

02 What you do not track, you cannot improve. Set up Google Analytics and configure your conversion goals according to the most important actions you want users to take on the site. This tool is free and incredibly easy to set up and configure.

03 Go a step further and set up Google Tag Manager and set up more conversion-related events like clicks on phone numbers, emails, and other actions that are meaningful to you.

04 If your site is on WordPress, install the Yoast SEO plugin. This plugin makes it super easy to perform several SEO-related tasks such as optimizing meta tags and creating a robots.txt file and sitemap.

05 Keywords research – use the Google keywords tool and Google suggestions in search to find the best keywords to optimize your pages. You can also use tools like Keyword Tool to make your keyword research process easier.

06 Try to include your best keywords in your URLs. There is a lot of data out there that proves that having keywords in the URLs helps pages rank better and have a higher CTR.

07 Map out your keywords so that you have 2-4 keywords that would be used on each of your main pages (such as services pages or category pages for eCommerce websites). Use your toughest keywords with the highest search volume on your homepage.

08 Use your most important keyword (for a given page) as high up on the page as possible – ideally within the first 150 words of that page.

09 Use your most important keyword (on a given page) in the H1 tag of that page. Use only one H1 per page.

10 Use your second most important keyword in the H2 tags of that page. Have up to 3-5 H2 tags on each page.

11 Write well-thought-out meta titles for each page by starting your meta title with the page’s most important keyword. Try to keep your meta titles under 60 characters. Meta titles are a huge factor for on-range factors, so you really want to get this right.

12 Write well-thought-out meta descriptions. Pro tip: treat your meta descriptions as ad text. One way to do it is to take inspiration from the ads on Google. Meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor, but they can improve your CTR that then impact your rankings.

13 Optimize your images – name your images with your keywords and include your keywords in the ALT tags of each image. Don’t forget to compress your images before uploading.

14 Log into Google Search Console and check for any 404 pages – 301 redirects the 404 pages to the most relevant pages. If you can not figure out the most relevant page to redirect users to, redirect them to the homepage.

15 Internally link to your most important pages. Make sure each of your most important pages is internally linked to all the other pages. Crosslink your strong pages with other strong pages.

16 Set up an XML sitemap.

17 Set up a robots.txt page and other no-index pages that should not be on Google – such as login pages, thank you pages, pages behind a paywall or a password, and pages such as privacy policy and terms and conditions, etc.

18 Make sure all of the external links on your site are tagged “no-index.”

19 Make sure your pages are mobile-friendly. We can’t stress the importance of this enough. Use this mobile-friendliness testing tool.

20 Check for broken links on the site using this tool. The 301 redirects any 404 pages to the most relevant page.

21 Use HTTPS instead of HTTP. And ensure all your pages are redirecting to the HTTPS versions. HTTPS is a definite ranking factor in 2021 and it’s pretty easy to set up. Here is a guide to help you along your way.

22 Optimize your page speed. Check your page speed with the Google Pagespeed Insights tool. This tool will tell you what your page speed score is and what elements on your pages need to be optimized to move the needle in the right direction. Sometimes it can be challenging to bump up the page speed, and if that’s the case, we recommend using a tool such as this one.

23 Use schema markup wherever possible on your site’s pages. Use the schema testing tool to make sure your schema is implemented correctly. Implementing schema can be tricky so make sure you understand how it works.

24 Research and write great content before sharing it on social media.

Keep in mind you can always hire a professional SEO company to take care of your on-page and off-page SEO. Prezlab specializes in SEO, social media management, and digital marketing, specializing in presentation design, branding, and video production.

 

 

We are at the very center of a massive turning point in the marketing industry. Here are some basic ideas to help you navigate and be more effective.

It’s easy to get caught up in the digital marketing strategies from a few years back. In 2021, every tactic you use has probably been updated or abandoned. In this blog, we want to share some of our experience, knowledge, and understanding of modern digital marketing.

Digital marketing strategies to use:

Leverage the power of short-form videos

Millennials prefer Facebook and Instagram, while Gen Z prefers Snapchat and TikTok. The increased demand for short-form video content makes it more lucrative for brands to employ social media influencers. The marketing teams of many companies realize that people are spending more time on social media, and they have started to focus their budgets on social media channels. Quick and catchy videos are currently loved by marketers, especially for their ability to target younger customers.

TikTok for Business recently launched new advertising options, so marketers should take advantage and get started on TikTok and Snapchat. When it comes to short-form videos, you need to strike a balance between brand messaging and the casual tone of the format, which will require research into your target demographic, strategy, creativity, and an understanding of their attention span – which is around 8 seconds.

Looking for a social media agency in Dubai? Look no further.

Content is (still) king in 2021

Content marketing connects you with your audience and helps you build trust. It is one of the best ways to engage and convert your audience. Content marketing costs 62% less but generates 3x more leads than outbound marketing. One way to get the most out of your content is to write about topics relevant to your company’s brand. A study found that companies with business blogs generate leads at an incredible rate of 126%. However, content marketing to sell your products and services is relevant for more than just blogs. There are also e-books, whitepapers, infographics, listicles, and email marketing campaigns.

“Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 percent to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions.”

Berger, Jonah, Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Artificial Intelligence and automation – the new norm

As more companies recognize the benefit of applying AI to customer service, they are working to create chatbots to integrate into their existing website or systems. However, you can’t expect a chatbot to do everything that a human can. But if used correctly, it can seem like one of your employees is helping. It’s no wonder that more and more companies worldwide are starting to use AI in their sales process. Marketing automation is a digital marketing trend that is becoming the new norm.

Action items that are more relevant than ever:

01 Update your website with a new modern look that is responsive on all devices. It’s surprising how some websites still struggle with outdated web designs and slow loading speeds.

02 Set up tracking and analytics to get as much data as possible on website performance and user engagement. Apart from the usual suspects – Google Analytics and Google Search Console, we also highly recommend using tools such as Lucky Orange or Crazy Egg to gain deeper insights into user behavior with heatmaps and user session recordings.

03 Tie together all your marketing activities on all channels like Google Search Console, email, Facebook, Instagram, organic, and others to re-reach users on multiple channels regardless of where they came from initially.

And lastly, keep in mind that digital marketing is one half of the equation when it comes to winning online – the other half is getting people to talk about your brand. We wrote a blog on achieving that which you can read here.

If you wish to learn more about this subject and gain rich insights into why certain things “catch on” then we highly recommend the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger.

 

How to Design Presentations for Maximum Attention and Impact

Designing presentations is a process that involves creating and arranging slides, text, images, audio, and video to communicate the main points of a presentation. But before designing your presentation, you should be clear about the purpose of the presentation. Ask yourself, “What is it really that you want to communicate?” The purpose of a presentation may be to persuade, inform, or entertain. To create a successful persuasive presentation, you need to know your audience well and understand their preferences. More on this later.

Here are some key ideas that would help you do it right.

In most cases and with some types of presentations, positioning yourself as an expert on the subject helps a lot in building trust

01 Prepare killer visuals
02 Providing relevant facts and statistics wherever necessary without overdoing it
03 Presenting clear and convincing arguments

A presentation should focus on making the information as clear and concise as possible. It’s not just a slideshow of words; it is a story, giving insight into your thinking.

What Makes a Great Presentation

A good or bad presentation design can make all the difference in most cases.

For starters, a good presentation should be clear and concise. It should draw in the audience with its visuals and help them stay focused on the core message being delivered. It should also be easy to understand and easy to read.

Essentially, the keys to a great presentation can be boiled down to four pillars:

01 Content
02 Audience
03 Structure
04 Consistency

A great presentation design should first and foremost provide support for your content. This content could include supporting graphics, charts, outlines, images or videos, diagrams, timelines, and so on.

Additionally, ensure the content is relevant to the audience and at the appropriate level of detail. This is where knowing your audience goes a long way and pays rich dividends in the world of presentation success.

Before you crack your fingers, roll up your sleeves, and start putting together your presentation, you need to draw out the outline or structure of the presentation. Ask yourself, “What is the best way to unfold your argument?” or “Should you start with a story or a statistic?” or “Should you go over the values behind the message first or cover that after you have given statistical evidence?”

A well-thought-out outline can make a world of difference. If you get this wrong, you run the risk of making the presentation messy and confusing.

Lastly, a well-designed presentation displays content effectively through consistent use of typography, color, imagery, illustration, and sequencing. A consistent design should make each element of the design work well and nicely tie everything together.

Parting Pro Tips…

Try to sum up your key point for the audience in one sentence. Remember just one key point, not two or three. This way, if the audience fails to remember anything about your presentation, they will at least remember the one central idea.

Now, think about what you actually need to show to drive that point home. Most people make the mistake of adding too much superfluous information – data, graphs, etc. However, what you really need is one stat or number that gets to the heart of the idea you are arguing for.

Use simpler graphics as much as possible to simplify the text. For instance, use overlapping circles to indicate a common ground between two options or side-by-side boxes to show options. These visual cues are registered in our brains at a deeper level compared to words.

If you found this interesting, then you will definitely love to read 5 Presentation Lessons You Can Learn from Steve Jobs.

Also, in case you haven’t noticed Prezlab specializes in engaging and persuasive presentation design along with video production and animation, and branding in Dubai and across the UAE and GCC.

 

Steve Jobs was one of the most innovative leaders of our time. Among other things, there is a lot that can be learned from him when it comes to presentation design and what aspects of his presentations made them so memorable and entertaining. Some would argue that he was the one person who completely changed our minds about what makes a presentation great—in a world of long, boring, and unimaginative slides, he used presentation techniques that followed a completely different approach.

In this piece, we thought it would be a good idea to go over the five principles that Steve Jobs followed when it came to presentation design and delivery. So let’s jump right into it.

How did Jobs give incredible presentations? 

Steve Jobs was known for the friendly and open demeanor he had while presenting. He avoided technical vernacular and kept his ideas straightforward with quick, memorable titles. Jobs was a showman. He was enthusiastic and told stories, he had confident body language and told jokes, which made him appear more approachable. What can we learn from him as we practice and prepare our own presentations?

01 Use a compelling theme & title

Come up with a headline and general theme for your presentation that run through the entire deck as an underlying message. This headline should be short enough to be easily memorable and tweetable. Think back to Steve Jobs’ iPhone launch in 2007, when his headline was “Your life in Your Pocket.” This quick slogan summed up his whole message and was memorable enough for the audience to carry with them even after the presentation. Think about the theme of your presentation. What do you want the audience to walk away remembering? Now simplify it into one, all-encompassing catchphrase.

02 Engage the audience by telling a story

Tell a story that hits people at an emotional level. It’s a well-known fact that stories are one of the most powerful tools that leaders use to inspire, motivate, and educate. This is because stories are far easier to remember than facts and figures. And research, according to psychologist Jerome Bruner, points to the fact that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they are embedded in or contextualized with a story.

Like Steve Jobs, you could frame your narrative around defeating an antagonist—the problem at hand. Introduce yourself or your company as the hero. Paint a picture of how your product or service defeated this problem and emerged victorious.

03 Simplify bigger numbers

Simplify large numbers. This ensures that people can grasp the facts better. For instance, Steve Jobs would say, “We sold 2 million iPods in the first 59 days.” And then he would give context by adding, “That’s nearly 34 thousand iPods sold every single day.” In February 2013, Apple reached 25 billion songs downloaded from iTunes, and he simplified the number so it was easier to understand. For instance, he’d say, “On average, that’s 15,000 songs every minute.” His whole approach was about simplifying big ideas. Don’t leave the audience confused, connect the dots and explain the relevance these numbers have to them.

04 Use compelling visuals

Studies find that using images boosts information retention. Since most people are visual learners, they can pick up on the information shared in a presentation when shared as an image.

Jobs used big, bold, and clear pictures and rarely used more than two images on a presentation slide. In the 2007 launch of the iPhone, he used three images to highlight that the iPhone could do all three things—be a phone, a music player, and give you internet access. Then he quickly moved on to his normal procedure of using one striking image.

05 When it comes to words, less is more

Use fewer words. If you want a presentation like Steve’s, you will have to edit and re-edit your words. Leave only the most important phrases and cut out everything else. The idea is to communicate your message in the most impactful and memorable way possible, rather than having your audience read slides full of text. So he would use words like “magic” instead of the full, grammatically correct sentence “it works like magic,” and similarly, he would use “no stylus” instead of “it has no stylus.” You get the idea!

Jeff Black, the founder of the leadership development company Black Sheep, says that Steve’s presentations boiled down to three key factors: powerful storytelling, emotional connection, and obsessive preparation. Black says the late Steve Jobs was a masterful storyteller. “He was the messenger, he was the star of the show — not the PowerPoint slide.”

And one more thing… the average PowerPoint slide has on average forty words. Steve Jobs would use an average of nineteen words across 10–12 slides. That’s the presentation zen.

If you are interested in learning more about designing a presentation like Steve Jobs, we recommend the book “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience.” Or you can just reach out to professional presentation design services in Dubai and across the GCC—we specialize in not only delivering your message but also helping you tell your story and push your brand forward.

Let us design your presentation!

Keeping your audience engaged while trying to deliver your key messages can be difficult. A helpful way of doing this is by telling stories where you take your audience on a journey and appeal to their emotions. In this blog, we discuss storytelling components you can incorporate into your next presentation.

Every story-driven presentation has five main components. If any of these components are missing, your story will be incomplete and won’t have the impact you are hoping for.

The five components of presentation storytelling are:

Setting

This is where you build context and set the stage for everything that is about to happen in the story. The goal is to get the audience to really step into the character’s shoes and get on the same page with them. Try to describe the world you are painting for the audience as vividly as possible.

Characters

Just like you did with the first component of “setting,” it’s pivotal to develop the characters as well as you can. Describe them in detail—what their goals were, who they were, their backgrounds, their emotions, etc. The characters here are people who the audience can easily connect with and empathize with. It’s also extremely effective to give that character a name—or, if that character is you, make that crystal clear.

Conflict

The third component is “conflict.” And as the name suggests, this is the part where your story picks up momentum and gets interesting. It is also the part that can either make or break a story-driven presentation. The focus here is to build friction and tension. Explain the point of conflict in detail and highlight key aspects of the conflict. Make it as relevant as possible to your audience so they can feel the conflict themselves and begin to empathize with the characters.

Big idea

Now that you have established the setting, the characters, and the conflict, the next step is to unveil the “big idea” that will act as a bridge toward a miraculous resolution. Drum roll….

This “big idea” is the one you want your audience to remember and take away from the presentation if they forget everything else.

The big idea could be something like:

It was time for us to rethink our decades-old sales process because what we had was painfully flawed and ineffective.

Or

We needed to find better ways of listening to our customers.

Or

The industry was dying quickly, and so were we as a company. It was time for us to change direction and do it fast.

Structuring your presentation around one big idea is so important that we wrote a whole blog about it: How to effectively structure a “big idea” pitch for maximum impact.

Resolution

The resolution part is where you safely carry your audience through the conflict, using the bridge of the big idea and into the “resolution.” It is where you tell the audience how everything resolves with the help of that one big idea.

Most presentations make the mistake of stating their presentation design efforts with a resolution that makes the entire presentation boring and potentially could have the opposite effect since they already know that things will eventually end well. There is no conflict, therefore no interest, and therefore no impact.

We often see designers get carried away with visuals and graphics and completely neglect their stories. Remember that even the best-designed presentations will not have half the impact they could if there isn’t a solid story behind them. Don’t get us wrong. We are huge fans of presentation design ourselves, so much so that we wrote an entire blog on it How great PowerPoint design impacts your presentation.

If you are looking for a story-based presentation that cuts through the noise and delivers your message with nuclear-level impact then drop us a line. We are more than happy to help you define, outline, and present your story most effectively.

In the business world, consulting presentations come as a relief from the constant ambiguity and uncertainty. Having data and research inform the consultant’s advice offers a beacon of clarity for clients. But often it is the way a presentation shapes that impression; this essential tool has the power to influence decisions, challenge mindsets, and pave a path for organizations. At Prezlab, we’ve seen firsthand the impact a well-crafted consulting presentation can have, and in this blog, we will discuss what elements you can master to create game-changing slide decks.

What is a consulting presentation?

While consulting presentations may look like just another slide deck, they actually have a lot of influence that can make or break a project. It is where a consultant lends their expertise to a client’s needs through clarity, brevity, and persuasion to bring insights and recommendations to life. We aim to unravel the different elements that make up an effective consulting presentation by identifying their purpose and components.

What is the purpose of a consulting presentation?

Before we look into the components of a consulting presentation, let us understand the purpose behind them:

Securing funding

The story of every successful startup begins with a powerful pitch deck, which is the heart of any venture’s idea. The presentation here doesn’t just tell an investor about a premise; rather, it sells an idea to showcase the potential it has to redefine the industry. An expertly crafted consulting presentation turns a budding idea into concrete, actionable propositions. These presentations bridge the gap between a visionary and an investor and make the case for an idea to deserve the capital and resources to be brought to life.

Influencing policy

With any policy change or societal shift, consulting presentations bear the responsibility of pushing for informed and sound decision-making. These slides are not just about the facts and figures; they provide strategic narratives that provide the necessary groundwork to steer those decisions. They weave together data, research, and stories to make a case to urge policymakers to consider new options that can shape the future.

Driving organizational change

To stay relevant, many businesses find themselves needing to reproduce and change within the ever-evolving marketplace. When found at these crossroads, consulting presentations are the guiding light that paves the way for a new direction. Their role isn’t just to gather compilations of what aspects need to change; they are blueprints that encapsulate the essence of the new vision. It sets the scope and maps out the roadmap, providing a reference while rallying all those involved to align for a common goal.

Key elements to consider for an effective consulting presentation

As we unravel the layers that make up an effective consulting presentation, you quickly realize that it’s a lot more than just the facts and figures. Rather, it’s an experience that inspires and influences the audience. By blending data with storytelling, these presentations are an art form in themselves. Let us explore some of the crucial elements that presenters must consider to ensure that their presentations can truly make an impact and resonate with their audience.

Crafting a powerful narrative 

Narrative is the necessary bridge that links raw data with thoughtful insight. Stories make information more human and relatable. To craft effective narratives for a consulting presentation, consider:

Understanding the audience

Before you start, think about who it’s for. Are you addressing stakeholders looking for ROI or directionless employees? Recognizing what your audience is looking to hear is half the work. When you tailor the narrative to specific perspectives, you’re already halfway there to gain their trust and attention.

Building a hook

Every engaging story starts with a strong beginning that hooks you in. In consulting presentations, this translates into the problem statement or the “why should I care?” part of the narrative. But it’s not about simply stating the problem, you need to frame it in a way that can resonate with the audience. By posing the central question, you lure in a curious listener and lay the foundation for the rest of the presentation.

Taking them on a journey

Once you’ve managed to hold your audience’s attention, you can now begin the narrative journey. Using the traditional storytelling structure, you begin by introducing the challenge and setting the tone. Then you lead them into the middle part with the extensive research. And finally, you smoothly slide into the conclusion with your solutions. Stories turn audiences into active participants, so you can end on a hopeful note by giving an audience a vision for the future to look forward to and begin working towards.

Building trust through transparency 

Trust is rooted in transparency. You cannot build relationships without a confident audience, so avoid “fake news” by keeping in mind the following:

Using authentic data

Naturally, you want the data to support your argument, and you might get the urge to cherry-pick the information that fits your narrative. However, authenticity is achieved when the facts speak for themselves. The presenter’s true skills lie in making the narrative fit the facts, not in altering the facts to fit the narrative.

Being clear on sources

Every piece of information shared should have a traceable origin point. Being straightforward with where your data was sourced from gives your presentation credibility and protects it from any potential disputes. Since information can be found easily and everywhere, the quality and reliability of the information are crucial. Presenters can emphasize their meticulous research and foster trust by clearly stating their sources.

Highlighting assumptions

Many consulting presentations will feature forecasts and projections for the future that rely on assumptions. It can seem tricky to support projections for results that do not exist yet, but by outlining the assumptions, you add a layer of depth to the presentation. It provides a proactive approach that anticipates future results and showcases the presenter’s preparedness and research. It shows that they considered several angles and perspectives, solidifying them as trusted advisors.

Customization for audience engagement 

Every audience is different, and recognizing this difference can make or break a presentation.

Customization is not merely a modern trend but an essential aspect of effective communication. At the heart of any successful presentation, lecture, or seminar is an understanding of the audience’s unique characteristics and needs. Every audience varies in its preferences, culture, and expectations. Recognizing these nuances doesn’t just enhance the presentation; it’s often the difference between one that’s forgettable and one that leaves a lasting impression.

Segmenting the audience

Audiences are rarely homogenous; there will always be distinct segments that each have their own interests and priorities. Assuming otherwise will lead to broad and unspecific messages that are too general to benefit anyone. By recognizing the different types of people within an audience, a presenter can incorporate different elements to resonate with and relate to each group. Tailoring a presentation to address different concerns ensures that the main ideas and concerns are addressed and that no one feels lost or dissatisfied.

Using relevant case studies

Another way to address a specific audience’s concerns is to offer case studies that are relevant to their industry and experience. Real-life examples make the abstract concrete. The theories and models are valuable, but drawing parallels from true events can effectively make the point clear and resonant. Relevant case studies make the subject matter relatable and closer to the audience.

Mastering the Q&A session 

Usually, the consulting presentation is just the precursor; the real challenge is what comes after: the Q&A segment. It is the perfect opportunity to properly engage with the audience, in that unscripted conversation, you can best demonstrate your expertise in the subject matter.

Anticipating questions

Even though every audience is different, a seasoned consultant can usually predict the kinds of questions that will come. By being able to anticipate these questions, you can prepare succinct and thought-out answers for a seamless interaction. Not only does preparation showcase your expertise, but this proactivity also shows that you respect the audience’s curiosity.

Handling curveballs

Despite your preparation, there will always be unexpected questions that catch you off guard. And although these curveballs present a challenge, they are also an opportunity. The key is to handle these questions with composure and transparency, you can acknowledge that you might not have an immediate answer and offer to follow up. This way, you would indicate your credibility by reminding the audience that you are always learning and evolving.

Ending on a high

There is no need for a Q&A session to just be a static series of responses, you can use this opportunity to go back to your presentation’s original message and theme. This way, you ensure that the message isn’t lost after segueing into different topics covered in the Q&A. By repeating the core idea, you solidify the presentation’s primary takeaways and leave that as the audience’s final impression.

A consulting presentation aims higher than a typical presentation; it offers a roadmap to help clients navigate their challenges. It weaves together a sophisticated blend of influence, understanding, and engagement to share research and insights with an audience. By putting together a compelling narrative and building rapport, these presentations educate and empower audiences to envision the path ahead. As they are about shaping perspectives and steering choices, they should be an illuminating experience for stakeholders.

In the world of consulting presentations, every slide you present needs to be able to guide clients through a maze of insights and strategies. They juggle several objectives at once: sharing information, persuasion, and building connections. When executed well, they flaunt your credibility and leave an enduring impression on clients. But as it is with any medium, there are do’s and don’ts that shape how well a presentation can be made. Regardless of which stage you’re in, this blog will discuss points you need to keep in mind to create slides that are impactful and beneficial.

The do’s of a consulting presentation

A consulting presentation is your chance to narrate a compelling story and to ensure that you’re able to do so, you should consider the following:

DO consider your audience’s point of view

Sitting through a presentation might not always seem exciting for the audience, but sitting through a presentation that they can’t understand? Not the best scenario. Although being considerate of your audience sounds obvious, you might find yourself getting carried away with your data and analysis, not realizing that it might be too much. Recognizing what your audience wants to learn is one step in creating a slide deck relevant to their interests. They are seeking insights and actionable plans, and if you find that you’re sinking too far into the extensive details, take a step back and remember the bigger picture. 

DO recap and look forward

Even in the best scenario, where the audience is fully engaged and invested, a final recap remains essential. Providing an overview of the key points and a summary will help solidify your core message and guarantee that you and your client are on the same page. Also, use this opportunity as a way to discuss the next steps or any follow-up actions to provide clarity regarding the next phase.

DO format your slides

In the consulting world, firms like McKinsey and BCG are known for their fixed formats and style templates, and for good reason. Formatting here is less about aesthetics and more about functionality, it is needed to ensure consistency, clarity, and appeal. Some general rules for formatting a consulting presentation include avoiding spilling out text and committing to staying within the margins, using a uniform font size, a uniform title size, and length, and using each slide to communicate a single point. These rules ensure a clear slide design that helps avoid misunderstandings while maintaining a professional and clear appearance.

DO use impactful headings

The headings you use have a crucial role in guiding your audience through your presentations. To craft an effective header for a slide, use clear, punchy language that incorporates action words. Headers should be sharp, catchy, and brief, preferably between 6 and 10 words that can capture the essence of the slide without relying on jargon. When created with intention, a well-written heading introduces the slide and sums up the story.

The don’ts of a consulting presentation

Presentations can persuade, inform, and inspire, but they also risk being ineffective. To evade common consulting presentation mishaps, avoid the following:

DON’T use jargon

For the sake of effective communication, using industry jargon can feel necessary. But you tend to walk a fine line. While they can boost your credibility as an expert, they can also alienate those who are unfamiliar with your vocabulary. The key here is to simplify your language; make sure to use common and straightforward language when discussing your insights and analysis. In cases where a jargon term is more appropriate, take the extra step to define it to clarify its meaning.

DON’T use generic templates

The world of consulting is dynamic and constantly changing, and your slides need to reflect that. Relying on a generic template can unintentionally communicate a lack of effort from your side, suggesting that your slides were created as an afterthought. To showcase genuine engagement, it’s essential to create slides that resonate with your audience and address the unique nuances of every consulting session. Personalizing a presentation to the context not only boosts your credibility but also demonstrates your commitment to delivering tailored solutions.

DON’T structure improperly

When navigating a vast sea of information, clearly structuring your presentation is crucial. Otherwise, you are aimlessly wading through dense data without any rhyme or reason, leaving the audience in a state of confusion. A logical structure can create a seamless narrative that flows naturally from one point to another, it is also where every slide can build off its predecessor. Invest time into your content to personalize it and intentionally showcase it in a way that transitions smoothly to create an effortlessly compelling presentation.

DON’T mischaracterize the objectives

Before sitting down to create your consulting presentation, you must first determine its primary objective. Is your purpose here to diagnose a problem or provide a solution? When there’s a disconnect between the intention and content, it can be confusing and, worse, unprofessional. Consider what the client’s anticipations are and aim to align the objectives with their expectations. Establishing the purpose will guide and shape your content and message and enhance the efficacy of your presentation.

In conclusion, it’s important to note that a consulting presentation is a lot more than just sharing insights on a slide. It reflects your expertise and the depth of your knowledge, and it shows off your communication skills. By keeping in mind these do’s and don’ts, you can elevate the quality of your presentation and share a resonant and impactful experience with your audience.