Bad slides are a crime, let’s fix them

Before writing this blog, I set myself a challenge: create the ugliest and most ineffective slide possible. And voila, here it is:

I’ve never actually come across a slide that was this bad. But I’ve seen slides that come pretty close. The worst slides I’ve seen have too much text, use poorly formatted images, add dot points out of nowhere, change text colours randomly, have a colourful background, make spelling errors, and use more than two sizes of font.

I’ll put my hand up and say I’ve been guilty of making some bad slides in the past. I think we all have. But here at GOAT Department, we don’t dwell on the past. Let’s talk about how you can make your slides shine before your next presentation or class.

Here are my top three beginner tips for making your slides stand out (in a good way):

1. If you’re unsure, keep it simple

The problem with a lot of presentation slides (like my awful example) is that they are too complicated. There’s too much going on. My feeling is that people often do this because they think it looks better, or they’re unsure what better actually looks like. Some of the best slides I’ve seen are really simple – a white slide background with black text, four dot points, and nothing smaller than size 24 font. Give it a go!

2. Always add personal flair

When people are watching you present, they are watching you. You are bringing the presentation content to life, not the other way around. So give the audience what they want. Add some personal anecdotes about your research, include a photo on one slide of you doing your favourite hobby, talk about your own personal challenges in grappling with a concept. Trust me, people will love it.

3. Try out some different design tools

If you really want to make your presentation stand out, try getting familiar with Canva. It’s one of the best tools for non-designers to dip their toe in the water. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you understand it, you can turn your presentations from simple to special in no time. And if that’s a step too far, try using the AI design tool in Microsoft PowerPoint. It’s not perfect, but can really make a difference.

There you have it, three ways you can up your slides for your next presentation. Making your slides sparkle isn’t easy but it also shouldn’t be that hard. Here’s hoping that if we can all up our slide game a bit, our messages will come across better, and that’s a nice aim.