Whether you are looking to spruce up a slide deck for your next lab meeting, or you want to share your science with a group of elementary school students, these 3 easy tips for creating great presentations can help you improve your science communication.
Tip #1: Avoid Too Much Text
Have you ever sat in a room staring at a wall of text on a PowerPoint slide as the presenter stands there and reads off the screen word-for-word? I know I have, and it is so boring! The purpose of having slides is to complement what you are saying as a presenter. Visuals should enhance the quality and comprehension of the knowledge you share, not distract people from your main points. By using less text on each slide, you can provide a clear and concise message. You can include cues or reminders for yourself, but avoid reading each slide word for word. The notes section of your presentation (i.e. the section that your audience doesn’t have to see) is a great place to write down any text you think you’ll need to help you remember key points. Using bullet points and avoiding full sentences can also help to reduce the amount of text you include. In addition, increasing your font size to a minimum of 18-24pt can help to ensure that you are not overwhelming your audience and it makes your presentation more visually accessible. For more tips on making accessible presentations, check out this resource.
Tip #2: Use Pictures & Icons
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to giving great presentations, this old adage is true. Including visuals such as photos, icons, videos, or memes can make your presentation memorable and engaging. Visuals help to capture your audiences’ attention and can provide depth to the story you are trying to tell. Storytelling is a really important part of science communication! However, you want to be critical in deciding which visuals to include in your presentation. Using visuals that are too small, blurry, or irrelevant may distract from your main message. Choosing visuals that compliment your content, evoke emotions, and are formatted properly (i.e. cropped, coloured, and positioned in a visually appealing way) will make your presentation stand out! A great resource for learning about different types of visuals to include in your presentation can be found in this blog post from Dr. Echo Rivera.
If you are looking for a place to start finding stock photos, check out:
If you are looking for a place to start finding icons or illustrations, check out:
*Please note that while some images/icons on these sites are free to use, there are often rules about crediting artists and licence restrictions that must be followed to adhere to copyright laws.
Tip #3: Use Inspiration from Templates
Opening up PowerPoint and staring at a black slide can be quite daunting! It can also take a lot of time to create a great presentation from scratch. That’s why there are so many programs online that offer free presentation templates that are beautiful and easy to customize. I love using Canva for presentations, social media posts, and more! There are a variety of pre-designed templates to choose from and it's free to create an account. If you’ve never used Canva before, there are also tons of videos on YouTube to teach you about all of its cool features.
Another program I used a lot for school when I wasn’t feeling inspired by Canva, is a website called SlidesGo. SlidesGo is a great free resource that integrates well with Google Slides and PowerPoint.
So, there you have it! Even if you think you don’t have an eye for design, the resources I’ve recommended provide a starting point for you to create beautiful presentations to share your science! I’m well aware that there are tons of other great resources out there, but I haven't used them as much as the ones I mention in this post. I’m curious, what do you use to make beautiful presentations? Do you have any other recommendations to add to this list?
Stay kind and curious,
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