Artwork...a picture really does paint a thousand words...

Death by PowerPoint is a widely used business phrase - if you've read our comments, you'll know our view on the whole topic!  One of the main reasons this excellent piece of software comes in for such criticism is the proliferation of bullet points & text on slides. 

If a picture can paint a thousand words, why won't people let it?! 

The best presentations are those that are visually reinforced by strong slides - the very best way of doing this is losing the text & replacing it with relevant images.

A couple of pointers...

• Clipart should be used with caution!
  • The famous Microsoft image of a duck hitting a computer with a magnet may represent frustration with IT but your audience will see it as old-hat & clichéd.
   
• Image files can be huge if uncompressed
  • Depending on the spec of your PC, the number of slides or the version of PowerPoint you're using, a simple thing like the file size can make transitions stutter into life & ruin any audio content.
  • Wherever possible, compress the image down to the minimum file size. 
  • PowerPoint is relatively forgiving with image files but remember to trial run before presenting - a grainy image is worse than no image at all!
   
• Make sure you're allowed to use the image
  • An image search on Google may give you lots of different images to work with but do you have permission to use them?
  • "Borrowing" images from other people's websites is a no-no - you've been warned.
  • If in doubt, contact a professional who can advise the best course of action or officially source the images on your behalf.

...and something for you to be going on with...

You may find the following images handy for your presentations:

Making the most of the space!

Do not cover every corner of your slide with text or pictures-it will scream at the audience. What does this mean for text? If you only have four points on a slide, do not put them in 48-point size. It seems very strange to see one slide in 32-point text and the next in 48-point.

Finally don't put all the text and all the pictures at your disposal on a slide just because you can. This is one the most common mistakes designers made. Be ruthless! Look at your slides and ask yourself:

• Where is my eye looking?
• Is my eye moving towards one or two spots on the slide?
• Are there so many little text boxes and images that my eye is confused about where to look first?

When you design each slide with a simple layout and a clear point, your web audience will have a much easier time following your message.

Our thanks go to Claudyne Wilder for this useful article!

Click here for more useful presentation images.