5 types of presenters - updated

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5 types of presenters

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Understanding Slide Layout In A Presentation

Have you ever seen a presentation which has content all over the place, and you wonder, which part to look at first?  The slide may have charts on one side, text on another side and pictures on another side. They presenter assumes that since they are explaining what is written, the audience will ‘get it’.

Such slides typically happen when presenters use presentation templates provided along with their presentation software. While such complex presentation templates make the presenter look intelligent, they confuse the audience. 

The reason for such ppt slides confusing the audience is – the way we read. 

When we read, eyes typically travel in the following order: 

1.       From left to right

2.       Top to down and

3.       Clockwise

Given this order of reading slides, can you imagine how confused the audience becomes trying to read the slides with a lot of content?

A good presentation template should have content placed in a way that audience can read without feeling confused. The presenter’s aim is to always keep the audience focused on his content and not on reading tough to understand slides.

How much content on the slide is too much? Here are 2 simple rules to determine if there is too much content on the slide. 

1.       Follow the eye movement: Using the order in which eyes move, read the slide and see if your eye movements are smooth. If the eyes move in a zigzag way, then the ppt template is too complex and needs to be simplified.

For example if the slide requires the reader to move his eyes from left to right, it is simple enough. If it requires the audience to read from left to right and up to down and left to right again, it is too complex. 

2.       Two is company, three is a crowd: This common saying holds good for slides as well. If there are more than 2 types of elements on the slide, it is probably too complex. By elements, I mean a text box or graph or an image. For example, when a presentation template has text box, image and a table, it counts as 3 elements. It is probably too complex and needs to be simplified. 

Remember, that adding a new slide does not cost anything. It is better to add another slide than to confuse your audience. When you confuse your audience, they stop paying attention to what you are saying. 

So, whether you are selecting a ppt template, a presentation background or a readily available presentation template, remember to use 2 elements or less in a slide. We have seen a number of templates on offer that use strong colours as well as too many elements on a slide. If you are looking to make your message stand in a clear and simple way, do check the site BuyAPresentation. 

Remember to keep your audience focused on your message.