so far we talked about this idea of simplicity in presentation design, of removing the unnecessary and we looked at a number of fundamental principles of design for you to be able to do that. The question I get asked all the time is I would love to follow the approach, but how can I do it? If at the same time I need to use my corporate template, my slide template. And it's a fair question because it's true. Many organizations do have a poor slide template that enforced bad design. So if that's the case in the organization you work, I'll give you some options. There are some options open for you. The first thing you should try and do is to get the template changed. Why not? If your company has a poor slight template, take responsibility for improving it. So find whoever is responsible for that template, ask them to take this course and suggest politely that perhaps that template is okay for documents producing power point but not for oral presentations. Another option is to present with...

out slides again, who says that you always need to have slides when you present. Sometimes you can go with a flip chart or a white board as we said, you can distribute a document. I know that it's not always ideal or possible, but often it's better than being stuck with a lot of visual pollution on the screen. Another thing you can do is to insert some black slides from time to time. We talked about in the previous lesson. Now of course use your template but then if from time to time you use a black slide I guess that nobody's going to complain if in death slide there is no confidentiality notice or a logo or a slide number. Another option for you is to use the middle of the screen. Now often this template is not always, but often this corporate templates, they have something at the top perhaps for the title and something at the bottom for things like the confidentiality knowledge is the slight number the day, the local now you can keep that constant but you can vary what happens in the middle of the screen and you can apply the principles you've been learning in this course in the middle of the screen so you can keep the middle of the screen simple and visual and the last option for you is to cheat. Why not? Sometimes you can cheat, which means that go ahead with your temple but then if every now and again you show something different, you show maybe a slide which is a full screen image with just a few words. Again I can tell you nobody's going to complain if on that slide there is no confidentiality notice or no logo or no page number. So here are some options for you. Now it's time for you to do an exercise which is the last exercise of this course an important one because this is about presentation design. So it's time for you now to design your slight and here is my recommendation. I've provided a template which is called storyboard. So if I were you before jumping straight into the presentation tool, I would sketch my visuals analog. This is for example how I sketched my visuals. You see you can use a blank sheet of paper or the template I've provided or a white board or flip chart. Remember what john Cleese told us. We don't know where we get our ideas from but what we do know is that we don't get them from our laptops. So if you want to be creative also in the illustration step of the presentation process, go analog. And then once you've sketched your visuals, then all you need to do is it's just a matter of implementing in the presentation software of your choice. It could be power point or keynote or google slide, whatever works for you. But it's just a matter of implementing in that presentation to a design concept that you already have in your mind and on paper and you don't have to design your slides yourself. For example, if you don't have time, I can tell you there are amazing sellers out there, you can use fiber. All you need to do is you go on Fiverr dot com and then you search for presentation design, you can look at the reviews and you can find the seller who seems to be the best partner for your project. But even if you don't design your slides yourself, at least now, you know what to expect and what effective presentation design is about. So the outcome, the output of this exercise should be the actual design, the slides of your presentation. And if there is one thing I would like you to remember from this chapter is that you need to keep it visual, keep it simple, keep it visual and remove all the unnecessary elements. So as always do the exercise, be creative, have fun. And then I'll see you in the next chapter where we're going to talk about presentation delivery. 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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Overcoming Corporate Templates

Overcoming Corporate Templates

Lesson Info

25. Overcoming Corporate Templates

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

Design Principle #3 Rule of Thirds

Before-After Slides

Handouts

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