What is good PowerPoint design?

Occasionally, I'm asked by colleagues or clients to send samples of "great slides" or "good PowerPoint." I usually hesitate to send examples of slides since my answer to the question, "what does a great PowerPoint slide look like?" is "...it depends." In a world which often thinks in terms of absolutes — "this is good, that is bad" — "it depends" is not the most popular answer.

Context matters
However, as far as design is concerned, it is useful not to think (judge) in terms of "right or wrong," but rather in terms of what is "appropriate or inappropriate." That is, is it appropriate or inappropriate for a particular context? "Good" and "bad" are indeed terms we use when talking about design — including  PowerPoint slides — but I'm personally cautious of this dualistic thinking, especially when judging a design without its full context available. So much depends on how the visual is placed within the context of the presentation, and the content and objectives of that particular presentation are of paramount concern. Without a good knowledge of the place and circumstance, and the content and context of a presentation, it is impossible to say this is "appropriate" and that is "inappropriate."

Simple but not simplistic
If there is one important precept worth following, it is the idea of simplicity. The best visuals are often ones designed with an eye toward simplicity. Yet, this says nothing about the specifics of a visual presentation. That will depend on the content and context. For example, even the best visuals used in support of a presentation for one audience on, say, quantum mechanics, may appear complicated and confusing to a different audience.

Simplicity is often used as a means to greater clarity. However, simplicity can also be viewed as a consequence. A consequence, that is, of our careful efforts to craft a story and create supporting visuals that focus on our audience's needs in a clear and meaningful way. Ok, simplicity is great you say, but how simple? What is the formula for simplicity? If you can't give me concrete examples, you might say, at least give me a formula for making powerful, simple visuals. But do static formulas for achieving simplicity exist?

In Living Zen, author Robert Linsen (in speaking on the simplification of needs in everyday life) says that a "simplification of existence" is a consequence of an "effective experience of Zen." In other words, as one discovers their true nature, "needs" such as possessions or status are reduced or seen for what they are: superfluous. This begs the question then: "What are the minimum or maximum needs for an individual?" To this the author responds

"No one can define them or draw up a system around them. That is where we should exercise our judgment....Use depends for each one of us on the place and circumstances. If we were to codify the laws concerning it they might soon become a great bondage for us."

Here the author is not necessarily speaking of design and presentation visuals, of course, but we can see how we can apply Zen principles to everyday life including design, even the design of slides and other visuals. Simplicity is an important design principle. But simplicity in design is as much art (small "a") as science. It is, therefore, quite difficult to offer up prescriptions or "rules" for appropriate design. Without full knowledge of the context and circumstances, such rules could become "a great bondage," so to speak, leading to inappropriate design choices or recommendations.

Visual makeover
Having said all of that, below are a few slides demonstrating different visual treatments in support of a single message. The context is a presentation on gender and labor issues in Japan. The purpose of the slide is to visually support the claim that "72% of the part-time workers in Japan are women." This statistic is from the Japanese Ministry of Labor. The figure "72%" is something the presenter said she wanted the audience to remember as it is discussed again as the presentation progresses. So how to design a slide that is subtle, simple, memorable, and fits into a theme that is appealing and attractive?

     

BEFORE. Above (left) is the original slide. The problem with the slide on the left is that the clip-art used does not reinforce the statistic, nor does it even fit the theme of women in the Japanese labor market. The background is a tired, overused PowerPoint template. The text is difficult to read. And as one trainee commented: "it's ugly."

The slide on the right (above) was an effort to display the same information in a pie chart. Besides using an overused template, the visual displays the pie chart in a distorted and inelegant fashion. For the sake of clarity, it is usually best to avoid 3-D effects. Also, rather than giving the slide a title, a declarative sentence that states the point directly may be more appropriate.

     

AFTER: All the slides were redesigned to match the theme above. The slide on the left was the one used for the presentations. But the one on the right could also be used effectively. Notice that either slide (especially the slide without any text) would be virtually meaningless without the presenter's narration. The handout that followed the presentation expanded on the relevance of the statistic and gave it context. The five-page handout proved to be a good reference for those who attended the presentation and for those who did not.

                           

Using a pie chart is also a good way to represent this simple statistic. Here (left) the large text at the top can be easily seen. The text reads more like a headline — a declarative sentence — rather than just a title or category. The slide on the right is another possible way to support the message. In this case a completely different template was used.

Should you design your slides to look like this?
The design choices are many. The examples above are just a few attempts at improving the look & feel, impact, and effectiveness of the original slides. Should you design your slides to look like this? That's your call and depends on your specific circumstance. Also, this particular example does not deal with a technical presentation. If your presentation is on a less technical topic such as leadership, HRM, marketing, etc. then simple slides like these may be very effective. If you are giving a very technical presentation to a technical audience hungry for data, then your slides may look quite different. But even for a very technical presentation, embracing simplicity of design and striving for the greatest clarity possible should still be the objective. How you do that will depend on a great many things.

In future I will show a design makeover featuring more technical content. In the meantime, if you have good examples of visual support for very technical presentation content, please feel free to share it with me. I'd love to see your examples.

Comments

[joecab]

The bit about avoiding 3-D views is good advice when it comes to many graphical statistics since it warps your immediate view of how much each element counts overall. A great classic that touches upon this and much more is "How to Lie With Statistics" by Darrell Huff. This little paperback might be over 50 years old, but it's more applicable as ever.

[Don]

If more slide presenters just simply used light colored fonts on dark backgrounds, things would already vastly improve. I work in an organization where the corporate template is black arial on white background and every time a slide goes up on the projector, it physically hurts to look at it because it's so stark and bright.

[mick]

All statements should be made as questions to the audience..the audience should speak 90% of the time...a mind map is produced live during the presentation...then everyone should receive a copy of the mindmap....in digital and paper form...then alterations improvements new ideas can be added and annotated...meeting two takes place and now the audience can question the presenter...

100minds are better than 1.

[Rob McCormack - Confederattion College]

Good article, thanks,

Much of this article can be seen by viewing a Steve Jobbs presentation (CEO of a Pixar and Apple)

This says it all:
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2006/sb20060406_865110.htm

[coward]

"It's not the tool, it's how you use it."

For some reason, I'm getting this vibe that you feel your equipment is inadequate.

[Otto Rey - Fedora Core]

You must replace PowerPoint with "Presentation Program" or "OpenOffice Presentation". Remember that not all the world have money to lose with Micro$oft Office, and not all the world use a Operation System Toy like Windows.

[eirikso]

You should never underestimate the power of being personal. Of standing out. Being different. The visuals in one of the most excellent presentations I have seen was mainly made up of small notes on the stuff that the presenter found in his hotel room:
http://www.eirikso.com/2006/06/24/making-a-truly-personal-presentation/

[Simon Raybould]

I think Coward has it half right when he (she?) says that you should think in terms of "presentation software" rather than "PowerPoint" - you can make bad presentations in almost any software you care to abuse!

And people do.

You can, of course, make good presentations in almost anything too, but sometimes it's harder than others. Defaults are often not the best and people tend to go with the defaults!

In my experience as a presentation skills trainer (I specialise in newbies and reluctant speakers in the UK) I find that people who are scared use PPT as a crutch: sure they could design better than the defaults but they know nothing and are mind-frozen with fear, so they think the defaults are the right thing to go for: after all, they think, that's why they're defaults, right?

Wrong.

The defaults should be re-thought, particularly for a company such as MS who's "mission" is to make computers and computing available to the non-technical.

Okay - rant over! :)

[nightfox]

This includes OpenOffice too, right? :P

[Millennium-fox]

Hello hello.

I am a Brazilian student (age 16) who enjoys in elaborating powerpoint presentations for school purposes.

My presentations aren't so simple as to it's design, but they're quite attractive.

I Once made a presentation to a inovation and technology institute (mayabe it's not quite that in English. still a known institute) that was better then that of the president of IBM (from Brazil, obviously).
I even made a logo (not that it's official or anything). at the end of the presentation people were taking note of my imaginary company and asking how to contact me. I didn't add anything such as ways of contact because I don't have the time for elaborating too many powerpoints. (I still have stuff to study!).

Anyway, this presentation didn't have it's design in a traditional way. I perhaps overdid it, but in an interesting way, which made the layout... (can't find a matching word...)

If you are interested, I could send you an example of my presentation. I'd me more than satisfied in hearing your comments about it.

Interesting blog! I was searching about PPTs
araound the net and found yours

[Tina]

Good article - thanks for the reminder that simplicity is simply the best.

[fred]

these tips are life changing.
your amazing.
i love you.

[Colleen]

This was helpful, thanks!

[Jere]

Yet another excellent post. I've been digging through your archives lately, and the information you've posted has been incredibly valuable to me.

I was itching to start using some of your methods, so I took a presentation by my boss and completely remade all of the slides in a more visual and memorable style. He liked it so much he sent the slides to our CEO and our sales team, and they are now planning to have me work on all of their presentations.

I owe you a huge "thank you" for taking the time to share so much of your knowledge.

[Craig]

Here is my list of 10 PowerPoint presentation tips.

[Mark]

Good Job.

[Mark(ARGS)]

While I Was In The 9th Grade My Teacher Would Always Stress All Of The Points Mentioned In This Article.
The Most Stressed Point That My Teacher Always Made Was The Scheme Of The Powerpoint Presentation. And Also The Flow and Transition Of The Slides.
She Also Was Big On How The Presentation Presented Itself To The Audience And How The Author Mentioned It Should Be "Simple" not "Simplistic". All Of These Points Are Good Pointers and Should Be Used As A Base or Template On How To Make A "Decent" Powerpoint Presentation.

I Did This Post As Part Of An Assignment For My Technology Class. So Any Information That Seems Wierd It Probably Was Non-Sense To Begin With.

Good Post Though!
Thanks!

[chris]

I liked the serialism of the voganity. It realy makes me happy!

[Cheree Moore]

I would like to echo what someone else commented, there are far too many people out there that try to be "designers" and they end up with poorly designed presentations.

So much money and time is pumped into design in so many other aspects: logos, business stationery, websites, marketing collateral, etc. and yet for the most part, PowerPoint presentations have been ignored.

Presentations are important part of business and yet they fall short when a non-designer tries to pretend they are designers. In the design world it is almost a joke when it comes to clients that try to tell you, the designer, how to do your job.

[Rizal]

Thank you for an enlightening advise. But, somehow, I was just wondering, how does one present a technical presentation (with all those jargons, technical diagrams, flowcharts, etc.) to audience with technical backgrounds but yet maintain the simplicity or should I say the "Zen" of one's presentation.

[Roma]

So, what do you think about last comments ?
;)

[Czeslawa]

Let it be, let it be... What a strange place here.
;)

[Nicodem]

Hi! Your site appeared very useful to me. Excellent work, thanks.

[Mahesh]

Good article.

[rodrigo]

great and useful example for ppt!!