after picture superiority. One space in this lesson, I want to share with you. Another. Universal principle of design and as always how you can apply to your own presentations and it's something that we are going to borrow from photography. The rule of thirds. Now, the rule of thirds is very simple, imagine that this is your screen, it could be the screen of your camera or the screen of your smartphone and what you can do either for real because some smartphones allow you to do that or in your mind, you can divide the screen into three parts, both vertically and horizontally. And what that does is it creates four intersecting points. And these points in photography are called focal points or power points like power point presentation tool. And what this rule tells us is that even if it's an unconscious thing, but our eyes tend to get attracted to these areas. So if you want to make sure that your photos look interesting and dynamic instead of placing the main compositional element of y...

our photo in the center, which is called Death Center in Photography, you want to place it either along the dividing lines or on the focal points. For example, my brother is a photographer, he works a lot in Africa. He goes to Africa and he uses his tool which is photography to show us what's going on in that part of the world. And so I asked him, I said, look, I'm developing a course for five and learn, can you send me some photos? I just want to share some of your examples and here are some examples. Now look at these photo here and look at where the eyes of their kids are right there on the focal point. And here is another example. You see the main compositional element which is the child is not placed in the center, but along one of the two vertical lines and the same concept applied here, but in the other line. So you see the rule of thirds is a very simple but very effective way to make sure that your photos look more dynamic, more interesting. Now, what if we apply the same principle to presentation? Design, what do you think? What can be an application? Because of course we also want to make sure that our slides are interesting and dynamic. What could be an application of the rule of thirds to the way with designer slides, I'll give you a couple of examples. They're not the only ones, but just to give an idea quotation slides every time you quote somebody then you can place the author, the person you're quoting on one of the two vertical lines and then the quotation itself on one of the two opposite focal points. I've done it here with Einstein imagination is more important than knowledge and I've done the same thing here with guy Kawasaki. It took me 20 years to get comfortable as a public speaker and he is a great public speaker and you see here the rule of thirds in action. And here is another example, it's not just for quotation slides this is a slide that I showed you before, I don't know whether you paid attention to it, you didn't have to because it's unconscious, but you see it's not a coincidence that I moved the bar chart and it's a bit towards the left, right there on the vertical line and then the title very close to the opposite power point. Why? Because I know that even if it's unconscious but your eyes will get attracted to those areas, so I want to make it as easy as possible, as fast as possible for you to understand what I'm talking about when I show you something on the screen so that you can focus right back on me as the presenter. Remember, design is not just about making your presentations look nicer, it's mainly about helping your audience better understand what you say. And here is the last example you see here both elements, the title and image are placed in the center Now what if we show something different to our audience? What if we show something like this? Isn't there more interesting? Isn't there more dynamic? It is. And the reason why that's the case is also because we applied the rule of thirds. So these were three fundamental principles of design. Picture superiority white space and rule of thirds. Remember picture superiority, keep it visual wide space. You use a lot of empty space on your slides and rule of thirds to make them more dynamic. Now, in the next lesson, I want to show you some before after slides, so that you can see how you can combine all of these principles together and how you can really apply them to your own presentations. I'll see you there.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Exercise #1: ABC - Understanding Your Audience

Exercise #2 - Define Your Objective

Exercise #3: ATR - Brainstorm To Find Your Key Messages

Exercise #3: Mind Map - Brainstorm To Find Your Key Messages

Exercise #3: Traffic Light - Brainstorm To Find Your Key Messages

Exercise #4: 70 Words

Exercise #5: Storylines - Develop Your Storyline

Exercise #6: Storyboard - Sketch and Design Your Visuals

Andrea Pacini

Certified public speaking and presentation coach with 10+ yrs experience helping hundreds of businesses including 300+ TEDx speakers

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topics covered in this class

Business Design Projects Public Speaking

Ratings and Reviews

julie haskett

I was just beginning to create a series of presentations when I noticed this course. Serendipity! I thought I knew what I was doing, but learned some great techniques. More importantly I learned what NOT to do. Now I have much more confidence in the process.

michal babula

A lot of useful information.

Sara

Exceptional course. Very well organized and taught. The course was engaging and practical, with clear actionable approaches, examples, and activities from beginning to end.

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Design Principle #3 Rule of Thirds

Design Principle #3 Rule of Thirds

Lesson Info

21. Design Principle #3 Rule of Thirds

Lessons

The Importance of Presentation Skills in Business

Understanding Your Audience

Setting Transformational Objectives

Brainstorming Technique #1 - Audience Transformation Roadmap

Brainstorming Technique #2 - Mind Map

Brainstorming Technique #3 - The Traffic-Light Technique

Quiz: Ideation

Selecting Key Messages

Creating a Clear Storyline

Storyline #1 - The Basic 3-Act Play

Storyline #2 - Changing the World

Storyline #3 - The Sales Pitch

Storyline #4 - The Board Presentation

Storyline #5 - Project Presentation

Putting All Together

Making it Original and Enjoyable

Quiz: Creation

Simplicity in Design

Design Principle #1 Picture Superiority

Design Principle #2 White Space