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I think this is a great point. The more I'm reading about what should (or is appropriate) be on a slide for the best presentations, it is better to have less, than more.

Do you think the "after" is important? Is it better to pass it out after or before?

interesting point.At the presentation I attend Monday afternoon the speaker handed out a document before he started his talk. in a way I liked being able to dot notes or highlight an idea or concept I wanted to review more closely later, but on the other hand it was very distracting to be leafing through the document trying to find the page that matched up with what he was discussing. I guess I would say it is better to wait till after your talk is done.

This is something that we stress to our students, since based on what students will usually do is have many different text fonts and sizes. They tend to use whatever looks best for each slide, instead of having the presentation look more smooth and have a togetherness.

I like using two fonts on slides: one to convey the big idea (title) and another to convey the supporting ideas (text).

My rule of thumb is no more than two. One for headers, one for text (though I often use the same for each). I use a sans-serif font for my text, and either the same sans-serif font for my headers, or a designer font to communicate a special theme. I never use serif fonts.

Okay,Okay no more Comic Sans

This is so true. Many times the image used, is what immediately gets the audiences attention and interest. Images are very powerful. i.e. "A picture is worth a thousand words."

I like the idea of using text over images, but it has to be the right image! This creates one image for students to remember, rather than an idea and an image.

As goes with the statement, "Less is more." I completely understand that too much can be a distraction for the eye. Too much on a slide, take s away the meaning and I feel it also makes a person wonder what they should focus on, such as what is the most important point I'm supposed to be receiving from this slide?

Agreed!

Many of my slides in my presentations either look like this, or have started out like this. This is exactly what I need to work on! Eliminating some of the bullet points and a lot of text!

Here is what I'm going to work towards doing. Since learning about Zen, I realize I'm definitely adding too much to my slides, whether it be text or bullets. By using images, or at least less text and bullets, it appears presentations will be much more appealing and interesting to the audience. I really like the idea of using the images instead of any text at all. Then the presenter (me) will expand on the meaning of the image or what it stands for.

To remember that the audience wants to FEEL is key for me.  So the question - What am I presenting to elicit feelings and WHY should they care? - guides my work.  

So true.  Sometimes I want info in there because it's related, BUT, it gets in the way of my being able to TELL THE STORY! Key.  

Ha!  Exactly.  This made me giggle.  So true.  I want to strive for this - that my preparation will be so that if someone missed it, they really missed it.  

I do not underestimate the power of visuals, and color is huge - Saturation, combinations, tone, contrast...it can make or break the staying power of your message!

I agree.  Sans-serif feels more inviting, casual, playful, yet clear and less cluttered because the tails and frills are gone.  I've never read of anything suggesting fonts for certain types of written communication, so, this is great guidance for me!

I've never thought of this effect.  I'm going to try it.  

Great metaphor for this.  The GLANCE test.  We all can relate.  This reminds me of, when reading the first few lines of a book or essay or article, will the audience feel 'hooked'?  In other words, why should they bother reading/viewing/listening to me?!  Give them something to rile their curiosities, stir their emotions, connect with such human universal resonance to a problem or concern they have that it urges them to go deeper...

I have thought, in the past, that the audience needed ALL the information I could give.  Yet, now I can reframe that idea as it actually harms the audience.  It's counter-intuitive.  This reframe for me is priceless, because I want to be liked and considered the expert.  Yet, when I give too much, knowing it does the OPPOSITE of what I want really helps me commit to slimming and trimming down to the core essence, to make it easy and, in fact, MORE IMPACTFUL to and REMEMBERED by my audience.  

Difficult to strive for but so extremely critical for people to buy into my professionalism and expertise.  And it's simply more visually easy to digest.  If the audience is jarred, they're less likely to care about what I say.  Even these overlooked, small considerations are actually cornerstone to overall impact, I'm learning.  They're like the subconscious, responsible for 90-95% of what choices we make, and we don't even realize it!  It's the stuff that speaks to our instinctual and intuitive nature, to out 'subtle' bodies.  

I talk about this in my art classes, the principle of design called Movement.  I relate it to how your eyes travel or follow a path from one point to another, like connecting the dots.  

I love silhouettes. White over black or another dark color is my favorite with silhouettes.  

Yes, just because space is there doesn't mean we must fill it.  Spaciousness allows the audience to feel spacious.  Period.  Breatheability.  

Unity also helps to bring cohesiveness to the look of a brand. It all lends to the audience feeling you're competent, an expert, clear, and easy to work with.  

To remember that it's important for consistency THROUGHOUT THE SLIDE DECK, entirely.  This is why Slide Sorter view is so good.  Placement and composition is important here, too.  

Ahhhh!  Love this!  It's a new quotable for me.  :)

Ultimately, this is what we want.  Simplicity, relevant support of images to illustrate the INTENTION, spaciousness to make people feel free, easy, and cementing the info for recall and memory permanence...

Overwhelm can be remedied by remembering - Just because we CAN doesn't mean we should...

Like in teaching, it's advisable to become the student before you introduce a subject.  

I need to remember the very basics - don't I want my audience to actually ENJOY my presentation?!  Of course I do!  But I forget to lead with this, and I can't afford not to lead with this.  After all, they could be doing a million other things with their time but if they're with me, and I'm up front, I sure need to overdeliver with high value in a way that makes them feeling 1) they're better for having been with me, 2) that they grew or learned in a way that they can apply easily into their lives, and that it 3)was not only not a waste of time, but was an EXPERIENCE...and they'd even come again!

Brilliant!  Like visual bullet points instead.  Like cues or clues.  :)

I have been a sucker over the years to use generic clipart. I thought this was something we could do. Now I know we need to use human images to bring more personal aspects to the presentation.

:) You are not alone on this one.

I absolutely thought using templates were what you were supposed to do. Ooops.

When creating a presentation, so not mix these fonts. The articles stated to stay with Helvetia and Arial with only two colors per slide.

I look forward to trying this out and adding gradian to the picture.

If I had a photo that contained white space on the edges, I usually put a border around it. I did not realize we were to keep the white space open in order to create "open space" needed in a presentation.