Studies show that the most popular presentations have 37 or more images throughout them, and visually engaging presentations increase your audience’s information retention by 42%. With statistics like this, it’s obvious that any presenter needs to put an emphasis on captivating presentation design and visuals. A clean design will bring your content to life and separate your presentation from the competition. Since design is key, it’s vital that your design feels consistent and is easy to follow along. With all the elements available in presentation software, it can be easy for the consistency to get out of whack, ultimately hindering the presentation rather than elevating it.
With such an emphasis on consistent design, the team at Ethos3 has put together 3 keys to developing a consistent design scheme.
Keep the COLOR scheme consistent.
There are endless opportunities when it comes to color selection. While it may be tempting to use different colors on different slides, we warn against that. Consistent colors help your audience follow along with your story line and keep your presentation feeling like one cohesive thought. An easy way to ensure you keep your colors consistent is by choosing a color palate and sticking to it. If you want to learn more about selecting the right color palate, check out this recent post.
Keep the FONTS consistent.
The beauty of modern fonts is the large amount of font weights and types within the same family. This allows you to use fonts of the same family while still getting a variety of options. By sticking to one family of fonts, your presentation will feel consistent and clean throughout. Along with consistency within the font family, we recommend keeping the weight and style consistent for each piece of your design. For example, if you use Museo Sans 700 for your title on one slide, you should continue using Museo Sans 700 for the title font of every slide. This will allow your audience to catch on and follow your design quickly rather than having to re-adjust each time a new slide is presented.
Keep the IMAGES consistent.
At Ethos3, we believe in bold imagery with text and icon overlays. While the image may not be the center of your design, it’s still important that these images are consistent. Your imagery tells your story visually, and one wrong selection can derail your audience’s ability to follow that story. There are a number of stock photography websites where you can pick up these images, and they often show other images within that same look and feel. Use these suggested images throughout your presentation as an easy way to maintain a cohesive look. Pro tip: Specific things to look for when deciding if an image is consistent is the color temperature, point of view, and subject focus. If these pieces flow together and complement each other across your images, you’ll know your design is cohesive and stylish.
Consistency in design is a vital piece of a powerful presentation. In a world where presentation software has thousands of options at your disposal, it’s the small attention to detail that will set your presentation apart from your competition.
At Ethos3, we believe in more than just a cool design. We want to empower you to develop your content and deliver with excellence. If you want to learn more about how our team can help, contact us today.
