How to make great powerpoint / keynote slides for great presentations and talks

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Slides don't have to be dull - believe it or not they can actually add something to your presentations...

In my work as a professional speaker I use Apple Keynote slides most of the time and yet I realised many people doing presentations spend ages on their talk and very little time thinking about the content and design of their "slide ware". So here is a lens I am going to build as I gather up my bookmarks and expertise. I often speak about slide design too at workshops so this is a helpful link to send people to. Feel free to add your stuff. My philosophy of slideware (powerpoint and keynote) is keep 'em simple and keep 'em visual and bold.

In other words - chill out on the bullet point points and NO CHUFFING CLIPART :)

Me speaking about great slides 1/2...

Delivered to the professional speaking association here in the UK

How to kill death by powerpoint! Part 1 of 2
by leejacksonspeaker | video info

1 rating | 1,348 views
curated content from YouTube

Me speaking about great slides 2/2...

Me spDelivered to the professional speaking association here in the UK

How to kill death by powerpoint! Part 2 of 2
by leejacksonspeaker | video info

4 ratings | 756 views
curated content from YouTube

Some good slides with me explaining why and how - Just Press Play

A few good slides that I have made...

Examples of Good Slide Design by Lee Jackson by leejacksonuk

Here's a few slides to prove that powerpoint or keynote doesn't need to be over complicated and dull. Stick to these principles and people will remember your visuals and your presentation - at least that's what people say to me. Enjoy :)
 

The Worst Slide ever?

Keep it simple Keep it striking Surprise people

Some more help from Slideshare.net

Sample slides by Garr Reynolds by garr

This deck contains slides I have used in live talks that (more or less) are simple and contain quite a bit of empty space. The first set are some before/after examples, followed by a random sample. This deck is not meant to tell a story -- this is just a way to show some random examples. The meaning of the slides may not be at all clear without the narration that goes with the slides.
 

Brain Rules for Presenters by garr

One of the best books I have read this year is Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. The applications for presentation are many. This is a book review of sorts, though I do not highlight all aspects of the book. I focus on the three rules that relate most directly, though all the rules have lessons. Just a fantastic book.
 

Sample slides based on Food, Inc. by garr

This new documentary looks good: (Food, Inc. trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf4ZmfjyEvI ). So I went to the website and found a simple postcard with 10 points about what you can do. It's USA-centric but I though it had some good (though incomplete) points. I whipped these up very quickly just as an experiment. The slides were created in Keynote, saved as JPEGs, and put back into ppt (also as an experiment to see how the render in Slideshare). Aspect ratio is 16x9. I have no affiliation with the Movie whatsoever, just an interested 3rd party.
 

Four Steps For Better PowerPoint Presentations by brhughes

Special thanks to Lesley Edwards for providing much of the material used in this presentation.
 

My blog (with some great presentation / speaking resources)

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Helpful Links

Blogs, companies and resources to make your presentations even better...

Seth godin about Garr Reynolds
Seth points to Garr's new book
Eyeful
A UK based company that sexes up your powerpoint!
Garr Reynolds blog
Garr Reynolds blog on slide design and useage
Cut to the Chase - my speaking website
Blurb, resources and stuff about the kind of speaking I do.
Cornerstone Presentations - they take a scientific approach to powerpoint
They say...

You need to use proven, scientific methods to improve the results of your next presentation!

PowerPoint could (and should) be the most powerful tool you have at your disposal - but it's not. PowerPoint should communicate with your audience - but it doesn't.

Our report "Essential Guide to Creating Great PowerPoint Presentations" shows you how to use PowerPoint for what it was intended for! It explains some of the science behind how the brain absorbs information, why 'conventional' PowerPoint slides are not at all conducive to learning, and also shares a number of techniques and principles that you can employ to avoid the "death by PowerPoint" experience.

To request the report (it's free!), and to see some case studies and examples of the science in action, go to www.cornerstonepresentations.co.uk

Garr@Google

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YouTube videos about powerpoint

PowerPoint Extreme Makeover
by shareski | video info

234 ratings | 194,528 views
curated content from YouTube

Amazon related stuff...

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Links I've found...

Slideshare
Upload your slides for free...
some good advice here...
Great stuff
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Lee Jackson Schools Speaker, Education Speaker and Business Speaker. Aim Higher, raising aspirations, PSHCE, enterprise, transition, exams, presentation skills
lee jackson schools speaker education speaker trainer Aim higher raising aspirations motivational speaker PSHCE relationships transition teacher training Lee's presentation had the students more interested and engaged than I'd ever seen them before. The issues he talked about were relevan

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lee_jackson

Hi I'm Lee I'm a professional speaker...here's a bit of my blurb...
Lee is a creative communicator, with years of experience. Having spent his life a...
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