A500.8.3.RB – Good Presentation Design

"Technical knowledge is not enough. One must transcend techniques so that the art becomes an artless art, growing out of the unconscious." — Daisetsu Suzuki

From my point of view, the essential element so of a good presentation is the same as a good written letter or story.  First, a presentation has to have a strong introduction that tells the story or message or the why behind the presentation and from the beginning, captures the audience attention.  Second, it has to have an informative body of information that is concise, clear and organized where it keeps a balance reality and passion or emotions.  And lastly, a presentation requires a strong closing or conclusion where it reiterates the pivotal message of the presentation.  The closing accelerates the conviction of its targeted audience and gives its audience a sense of satisfaction.

Some of the essential elements needed to deliver a good presentation are: a) effective utilization of multimedia tools where the design of visual presentation is based on how the targeted audience process the information; b) effective utilization of contrast where one item of the design is more dominant than the other to convey to the targeted audience focus on the message being conveyed; c) the presentation has to tell a story where the targeted audience finds the presentation memorable; d) utilization of the same elements or message throughout the presentation to bring in clarity, consistency and coherence; and e) effective utilization of an empty space to make a presentation better organized, with clarity and more interesting. 

Garr Reynolds once said, “We have become accustomed to a ‘PowerPoint culture’ in which a disconnect exists between the audience and the presenter.  Many people, including many top business leaders, are fed up with PowerPoint.  But it is not PowerPoint’s fault – PowerPoint is just a tool”.  We all have experienced the monstrosities of bad presentations and I myself, unfortunately, have given one of those “bad presentation”.  I believe as leaders, we can consider ourselves as subject-expert matter.  But we have to admit, when we just joined an organization, we have the tendency to follow the exact procedure or tradition our predecessor has done it or maybe we have those type of supervisors or department heads who requires us to do the same way they do their own presentation.  Sometimes presenters are not given an option or leeway to be more innovative and do things differently from what we call the “usual. 

 As it pertains to a good presentation design, it would be best not judge a design based in terms of whether the design was created correctly or incorrectly.  A presentation design must be judged whether the design was appropriate or inappropriate.  One needs to understand the full substance or context of a presentation in order to learn or judge whether a presentation is appropriate or not.  Overall, the most common element that drives command of presentations is its simplicity.  Simplicity often times is utilized as a means to a more excellent translucency.  Although simplicity can also be conceived as a consequence but it is all about crafting and creating supporting visuals that are mainly centered on the targeted audiences demand in a positive and significant manner.

Overall, a good presentation contains a combination of good graphics, images, and facts that are memorable.  A good presentation provides data and information that are honest, relevant and tells a story.  It talks from the heart and creates an emotional connection to its targeted audience.  Finally, a good presentation design guides its targeted audience in the midst of a journey that catalyzes a rationalization of here and now.

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.” — Charles Mingus

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” — Leonardo da Vinci

References:

Presentation Zen: How to Design & Deliver Presentations Like a Pro by Garr Reynolds

The Big Four: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity from Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds