Top tips for designing presentation slides

Tips you wish you had known sooner

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A resource for Local Authority Research Practitioners (LARPs)

Specialist Centre for Public Health

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Follow brand guidelines

This will include where logos should be placed.

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Always use a logo/images with transparent background on coloured slides.

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Never put a white background logo on a coloured slide e.g. see image on the right.

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First, find your organisations master template slides and brand guidelines

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Specialist Centre for Public Health

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Font and colours

To be accessible, text on slides should be size 18 or larger.

This is size 12!

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Your font should also meet brand guidelines.

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Use the set colours associated with your organisations brand.

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To change a colour.

Select ‘More colours’ (see top image on right)

Select ‘custom’ and enter the HEX number (starts with a #) in the HEX box.

10 minutes = 10 slides and 1300 words

A 10-minute presentation should have no more than 10 slides.

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The only exception is if you are adding snazzy transition slides.

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If you prepare your script, aim for no more than 1300 words.

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Specialist Centre for Public Health

Examples on next slide

If you fill your slide with text, your audience are reading and not listening.

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If you are reading directly from your slides, your slides have too much text on them.

Less text, more talk

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Specialist Centre for Public Health

Specialist Centre for Public Health

An example of text in short sentences, chunked by theme.

An example of too much text

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If you use shapes, select ‘no outline’.

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It looks professional and ‘clean’.

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If you insert text within a shape, make sure it does not overlap the shape.

Remove shape outlines

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This

Not this

Specialist Centre for Public Health