Tips from an experienced designer: how to make the perfect presentation. Five services that will help you quickly make a cool presentation

First of all, it is worth remembering why you are making a presentation. I guess it's to convey a certain idea. In this case, the presentation should be simple and understandable, the information from it should be easy to read, and the visuals should help convey the main idea.

First of all, you need abandon the standard design of PowerPoint presentations. Like standard fonts like Calibri or Times New Roman, they are already blurry. If in doubt, take a look at this group, where .

What about templates? Learn Zen style. Large text, simple colors, minimum images, no text canvases (it won’t be read anyway)

Use new readable fonts. I advise everyone to Verdana and Intro, you can still search.

Pro visual range. Pictures of a small resolution (less than 1024x768) will be blurry and spoil the impression of the presentation. Let them be on the entire slide, and put the text on top. Stylish photos will suit you, usually I use one, flat style pictures. Feel free to use beautiful gifs, for example, from the artist section on or in the relevant groups on .

Observe internal dynamics in slides. This is reminiscent of a book layout: if you have one slide with a full-screen picture, then let the next one have only text or two small images on the slide.

• 1 idea - 1 slide;
• Information must be structured;
• The title contains the main idea of ​​the slide;
• Use 1 font, 1 primary background color, 1 text highlight type (bold/oblique/underscore)
• Everything should be visible from the other end of the audience;

Where can I make presentations other than PowerPoint:,

I also advise you to familiarize yourself with the presentation of Alexei Kapterev "" or his book "Presentation Mastery".

Quick way:

1. Use a white background and black letters
2. Use simple Arial/Verdana/Calibri font
3. Each slide must have 4 lines
1. header
2. And three points
3. Four
4. Do not use standard templates, WordArt, pictures, icons

Long and professional way:

1. Read Alexey Kapterev's book "Presentation Mastery"
2. Read the book "Design for non-designers"
3. Understand the basics of type design, color design, and how attention is focused
4. Learn the functionality of presentation programs, hotkeys
5. Try to copy the presentation design of the masters: Jobs, Jeff Bezos or presentations from Xiaomi

Read "Slideology" and "Resonate" by Nancy Duarte to do it beautifully;
Speak Chart Language by Gene Zelazny to learn how to present data clearly on slides;
and Minto's Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto to learn how to keep a story line and present the verbal component of information intelligibly.

Worked on a slide show, from experience the top main mistakes:

Arrive 15-20 minutes early for the meeting. There will be no speakers and listeners yet, but the demonstration technique may already be in operation. Throw the presentation on the laptop and "run" it on the screen, check if everything is in order, if the fonts have fallen off. It seems logical, but no one does this and the same mistake is repeated again and again: you can puff on the design as much as you like, but what will you do if the presentation doesn’t stupidly open and the meeting starts in 3 minutes?

Save your presentation on 2 flash drives and in different formats. Let there be nothing on the flash drive other than the presentation - it will be easier and faster to find it. Name the presentation by the name of the speaker, so it will not be confused.

Let the background be white, and the font be contrasting and large. Use 3-4 colors and 2-3 fonts throughout your presentation. Keep the design logic in all slides.

Make a presentation yourself and rehearse. It is bad when the speaker instructs someone to make a presentation, does not rehearse, but "floats" in his slides on the report. For the same reason, be careful with the animation: it looks good only when he reports, he rehearses how to show it.

Buy and always carry a laser pointer with you, and even better a presenter (aka clicker))). When pointing with a pointer, do not keep the beam in one place - your hands are shaking, but circle the objects on the slide with ovals.

Practice using the microphone. Many do not know how to speak into it and cannot be heard. I'm serious.

Be interested in people's opinions about the presentation, because it is done for them. Is everything visible? Is everything clear and unambiguous? If you follow this rule, then you can score on the study of designs. If people understand, then what difference does it make whether pictures are located along the golden ratio or not? In fact, the main thing in the report is the speaker, his knowledge, his voice, confidence, mood, presentation of the material. I've seen terrible slides on brilliant presentations and nothing terrible has happened. And I saw wonderful slides with a speaker babbling for 20 minutes without a microphone, and no one ever listens to such, even despite the wonderful slides.

Another point: if it is assumed that someone will copy your slides, then you should make sure that they speak for you, because you will not be around when they are watched, you will not be able to explain anything about them or leave your contacts. Maybe for this option to make another presentation, bigger and richer? On the paper?

Old ppt format if the receiving party has an ancient Office package.

Pdf is still possible, Power Point seems to be able to save to this format. You can also try an extreme option - jpeg pictures, also saved from Power Point, it will certainly open everywhere, but it will look strange.

To answer

Principle one: "1 = 40"

You know well that if there is too much information on one slide, then it is not perceived at all. In other words, the participants in the presentation see the words, but do not read them. In front of them is a solid canvas of numbers. Kinda pattern. And the audience should not read the entire slide. After all, you are always interfering with this by constantly talking. At this point, either listen to you, or read the slide. By the way, as you know, visual information always wins over auditory information. Don't force participants to shush you while they read what you wrote for them. The slide is intended only to capture key points, to illustrate, and not to duplicate what you are saying. Make it a rule to write no more than forty words on one slide. For the Russian language, this is the limit. If you are preparing slides in English, twenty-five is enough.

Principle Two: “Everything that can be replaced by symbols should be replaced”

As you know, images are easier to perceive and penetrate into the subconscious through fewer filters. Everything that can be displayed with symbols, reflect with symbols. Do not be afraid that the presentation will look frivolous: your colleagues will show insipid crackers instead of slides in a few minutes, and the balance will be restored. Refrain from showing banal and vulgar clipart drawings. Look for unused images. Draw yourself.

Principle three: "20 = 7"

Don't overwhelm your audience with frequent slide changes. In such a race, it is impossible to count on attention and memorization. This principle will remind you that there should be no more than seven slides per twenty minutes of presentation. Anything you do beyond that will immediately go to the trash. For your peace of mind, if new information gradually appears on the main slide, then this is not considered a separate slide.

Principle Four: "3 + 3"

You can't use more than three fonts on one slide. Note that italic and bold are separate fonts in this case. You have probably seen advertisements in cheap newspapers that are full of various fonts. Well, how is it perceived? The same applies to color - it is unacceptable to use more than three colors. Blue and cyan are considered different colors. It's not just about taste or aesthetics. It is about the perception of information. And color is also information. For peace of mind, I’ll say that design elements that are common to all slides do not count. I mean logos and other corporate identity elements.

Principle Five: “If the font is sans-serif”

A sans-serif font is easier to read on a screen. Serifs are elements of decoration, transverse dashes at the top and bottom of the letters. To be clear, Times New Roman is serif and Arial is sans serif.

Principle six: "Do not duplicate information"

The presenter enters the stage and says: “Hello, colleagues!” An inscription appears on the screen: "Hello, colleagues!" “My name is Mikhail Vershkov, I am the head of the marketing department of the EuroEur company,” he continues. A slide appears: "Mikhail Vershkov, head of the marketing department of the EuroEur company." Etc. Mikhail's last words: "Thank you for your attention!" It is not difficult to guess that the last slide will have the inscription: “Thank you for your attention!” If Mikhail Vershkov prepared a speech at the Society of the Deaf, then his principles for preparing slides are clear. But if there are hearing people in the hall, why write “Hello”? Why, if Mikhail pronounces the text: “We met the coming year with the following indicators ...” - write the same thing on a slide? Isn't it enough just to label these indicators? And that's not all, but only the key ones. Irrelevant things can just be said. Thus, everything that is already obvious should be removed from the slides; everything that is enough to hear and that it is not necessary to see at all. Do not duplicate information coming through two channels. Otherwise, you will interfere with reading with your voice or the image will interfere with listening. After all, the reading speed of the audience is much higher than the speech speed of the presenter.

A complete guide to creating, designing and filling presentations. There are examples, advice from Guy Kawasaki, one of the first Apple marketers, and patterns that are not ashamed to speak even at the international level.

But if you don’t have such a person under your command, but you still need to make a presentation, this article will help you, where we have collected almost all the necessary information. Templates, ingenious examples and professional advice will help you make, if not a masterpiece, then certainly something outstanding!

Presentation (from lat. praesento - I transfer, hand over) - a way of presenting information both with the help of technical means and without them; oral presentation, which may be accompanied by visual images, aimed at conveying information to the public, persuading it to perform certain actions.

Depending on what you want to tell in your presentation, its type will depend. It can be informational, persuasive, image-building, motivating, questioning and multi-purpose.

Guy Kawasaki, one of the first Apple marketers, advises following the 10/20/30 rule: 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30th font. 10 slides is the optimal amount that the audience can fully absorb. If you have done much more, then you have failed to highlight the main theses. 20 minutes is the time that viewers can concentrate without interruption. Font size 30 will allow you to put on the slide only the most necessary and important information.

Components of a presentation

To achieve the desired effect, you need to clearly understand what and when to say and show. The classic presentation structure looks like this:

• Title slide (topic, contacts, information about the speaker, product, service).
• Table of contents (optional).
• Introduction (what is the presentation about, goals, objectives. Interest the listener why he needs to spend time on your report).
• The main part (all necessary information: may contain several sections, at the request of the author).
• Conclusion.
• Application (optional).
• Thank you for your attention (don't forget the final thank you slide).

Presentation rules

Now you won’t surprise anyone even with an interactive Prezi presentation. Therefore, others need to "take". First of all, excellent stylish design. And if your company does not have a single corporate template for presentations, this gives you a huge field for creativity. Just don't overdo it.

1. Decorate everything in the same style. Do not "jump" from one background to another. Watch out for the compatibility of colors, backgrounds and fonts. The font compatibility table is .

2. Don't use standard PowerPoint design templates. They are boring and boring. It is better to choose your own color palette. For example, on Piknik all the basic colors are collected, and on Color Lovers you can find both ready-made selections of shades, and make them yourself.

Check out infographic color tips from a professional designer.

3. As few words as possible. No one will read huge test blocks for the entire slide. Minimum - 25-30th kegel, font - readable. Change the font to highlight quotes or notes. Use headers.

Source: Cossa

4. Do not use animation and music when changing slides. Leave it to the students.

5. More pictures.

6. Replace tables and lists with infographics and charts.

7. Many presentation services have the ability to add video. True, this requires access to the Internet during the demonstration to the audience.

Developer and startup advisor Zach Holman has been working with presentations for various projects for a long time. On his website, he shares tips on how to design them.

Color

Choose contrasting colors. This makes it possible to vary fonts, backgrounds, and other presentation elements. I have about 4 colors that I use all the time, and 8-10 with their shades.

Size

Make your text huge, get rid of half of the words on the slide and make the remaining most important text even bigger.

Usually my text is at least 90 pt, sometimes I use 150 pt and even 300 pt.

Words as forms

The letters themselves can be part of the design. The easiest way to make a slide more interesting is to play with the physical side of the letters that make up the words, i.e. the size.

The text (font) on almost every new slide in my presentations differs in size. This is how I separate one thought from another. It turns out much more interesting than just bulleted lists.

Illustrations in presentation

Images are the basis of a presentation. A presentation in general is a visual thing, so it is important not only to choose good illustrations, but also to place them correctly on the slides.

What do we have to do:

1. If you find a picture in a search engine, make sure that there is no watermark on it. And if you work at a serious level - also for a license to use!

2. Remember that your presentation can be viewed from both a small screen (tablet or mobile phone) and a large one (computer screen, projector). Choose high resolution photos.

3. Use photos as a background. Of course, for this you will need to slightly correct the image: reduce brightness, contrast or darken the picture.

4. Pay attention to hand-drawn illustrations. They will definitely make your presentation unique.

5. Choose an unusual, eye-catching image for the first slide. Don't forget about the picture for the last slide ("Thank you for your attention").

What not to do:

1. Do not use standard pictures and illustrations, especially from PowerPoint. They can be replaced by vectors.

2. Don't use too many images on one slide. The audience will not have time to see everything. In addition, to fit everything on the screen, they will have to be greatly reduced.

3. Don't place the image to the edge or corner.

4. Don't overlap one image with another.

Presentation Software

In addition to the standard PowerPoint, there are many other excellent programs for creating presentations.

The main competitor of PowerPoint, close to him in interface. A large selection of chic templates that are a sin not to try. Available on all Apple devices.

An excellent tool for creating business presentations from a company with more than 40 years of history. You can not only create presentations and share them with colleagues, but also arrange online meetings, work offline and online and on various devices, add video and audio, upload slides from PowerPoint, change settings in accordance with brand requirements.

Program for lovers of minimalism. The main rule is the minimum amount of information in the warehouse. One slide - one idea - one visual accompaniment (image, infographic, chart).

Great for making simple presentations. At the same time, editing templates is limited: developers are trying to maintain the high quality of work in this way so that the user does not turn the template into a “silent horror”.

It's not a pure presentation editor. You can't make your own slides, but you can put everything you want into a single presentation: a presentation from PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, a PDF file, a video, an audio file, a web page. No more switching between different programs.

Online services for creating presentations

One of the most popular services after PowerPoint. The entire presentation is one field, each part of which is zoomed in by pressing a key. The ability to see the full presentation from above, which immediately gives insight and structure.

The tool is interesting and original, but not very suitable for serious business presentations. There is a free version with limited features. The paid one starts at $4.92 per month. There is a mobile application and a separate program for PC.

2. Google Slides

Very similar to PowerPoint with slightly reduced features. Allows you to make simple presentations for basic purposes. Although, if you try hard, you can make a cool Google presentation.

One of the coolest resources for creating presentations. All presentations are saved in HTML format, which means they can be read on any device. Wide range of tools, however, not the easiest interface. The ability to create non-linear slides, access to a large database of user presentations.

The ability to insert almost any interactive content from the Internet, Google maps, online surveys, YouTube videos, SoundCloud music. As with Slides, you can create non-linear slides as well as import PowerPoint and PDF files.

Cool Presentation Examples

Proven by time and many presentations. There is something to see.

One of the best presentations of 2013

A presentation on how to make a great presentation. Prezi in all its glory.

Interactive presentation about the theory of relativity.

Presentation Templates

Check out great presentation templates. We are sure that you will want to use one of them.

Free

A dedicated resource with a huge selection of templates for PowerPoint presentations. Templates with charts and infographics are especially good.

Ready-made slides with various cards.

To make a good presentation, you need to turn it from a report into an interesting story, focus on the significance of the problem, and only then offer a solution. The main thing is that the presentation should not be boring. And yet, preparing a good presentation is unlikely to take less than 90 working hours.

A good presentation might look like this:

Tell a story

Pretty much the only way to keep people's attention is to tell them a story. A story must have a beginning, a middle and an end. If the story has no beginning or no end, it will be a bad story and a bad presentation.

Start planning your presentation with how it could be interesting to tell. In general, treat the presentation more like a script for a small production.

If any part of the presentation does not fit into the story, remove this part altogether. Or come up with a better story.

Determine the key idea of ​​the presentation

If you wanted your listener to take away only one idea from a presentation, what would that idea be? Focus on selling the benefits behind the product.

Communicate this idea to the listener with maximum clarity, repeat it at least twice during the conversation or speech. Eliminate empty words and professional jargon to improve the clarity of your message.

Choose 3 additional arguments

Create a list of key points you want to communicate to your audience regarding your product, service, company, or initiative.

Structure this list until there are three key points left. This will be the basis and outline of your presentation.

For each of the three key points, prepare rhetorical devices that increase impact. These can be personal stories, facts, examples, analogies, metaphors, third party testimonies.

Frame your ideas like twitter-style headlines

The most effective headlines are short (140 characters maximum), specific, and offer value.

Remember that your headline is a message that offers your audience a vision for a better future. This is not about you. This is about them.

Headlines should be such that listeners talk with their friends, and journalists and bloggers use them in their articles.

Suggest positioning

Any person in his head puts everything into categories and determines the place of things in these categories. Help him - offer him your vision of suitable categories and the place of your product in them.

Make the audience feel your "pain"

Spend considerable time describing the problem in detail. Make it tangible. The listener should feel how this is a serious problem for him personally. Only in this way will he become interested in your decision.

Imagine a common enemy

Always disclose the problem before talking about the solution. This can be done with a bright picture depicting the pain points of your customers.

Even better, if the enemy is personalized - some kind of object, product, symbol, brand, character.

Imagine a Hero

Once you've identified the enemy pain point for your customers, describe in clear language how your company, product, or service can heal that pain.

Feel free to show your attitude and emotions towards the hero - infect people with your enthusiasm.

Bring your presentation to life

• Write effective and compelling headlines
• Show your passion for the presentation object in words
• Submit the material in triplets of objects - 3 news, 3 stages, 3 main features...
• Use metaphors and analogies
• Demonstrate
• Involve partners
• Bring testimonials from clients and third parties
• Insert video clips
• Use props

Make your slides easy to read

Avoid lists with bullet points. Such lists are acceptable on pages to be read - books, documents, letters. They organize the text really well. But in presentations it is better to use images.

Rule: one slide - one topic (+ photo or picture).

Learn how to create aesthetic slides. You don't have to be a great artist to saturate your slides with graphics.

Make the numbers understandable and compelling

Use data to support the main theme of your presentation. At the same time, carefully select the numbers that you want to present. There shouldn't be too many numbers.

Make your data specific, meaningful, and place it in a context that listeners can try it on for themselves. Use analogies to make the numbers clearer.

If the numbers cannot be made clear at first glance, remove them altogether.

Use living words

Avoid empty words, buzzwords and jargon. Any phrase that looks like a marketing cliché should be killed. Edit, edit and edit again.

Enjoy your words. Express your enthusiasm for your product with descriptive additions. “The icons on the Macintosh look so delicious that you want to lick them” - Steve Jobs can say this because he is confident in his products.

Follow the ten minute rule

Let your listeners' brains rest with videos, scene changes, etc. The brain loves variety.

Share the scene

When a new product or service is released, make sure you already have customers who have tested it and can talk about it. Press reviews are also quite helpful. especially in reputable publications and popular blogs.

Insert customer testimonials into your presentation. The easiest way is to film a consumer talking about your product and edit the recording so that it does not exceed two minutes in length.

Thank employees, partners, and consumers publicly. And do it often.

Include a demonstration in your talk

Design your product demo as early as the talk planning stage. The demo should be short, focused, and meaningful. If you can get someone from your team to demonstrate, do so.

Believe in your demonstration. If your product has any entertainment value, use it - make the demo fun.

Introduce something for each type of listener in your audience: visual, auditory, kinesthetic.

Improve and rehearse

Learn to perform on stage

Pay attention to your body language. Maintain eye contact, open posture, and use gestures. Don't be afraid to use your hands. Research shows that gestures reflect the process of thinking and give listeners confidence in the speaker.

Change the way you speak by modulating your voice, changing its volume and tempo. Give "breath" to your text. Take breaks. This is the best way to add drama to text.

Record yourself. Learn your body language, listen to your voice. Watching your notes is a great way to improve your speaking skills.

Get at ease

Practice, practice and practice again. Don't take anything for granted. Check every slide, every demo, every key message. You must know exactly what you want to say, when you will say it, and how you will say it.

Use the basket method to prepare for difficult questions. You will see that most of the questions fall into one of seven categories - so you just need to select them in advance and prepare one detailed answer for each topic.

Drop the script

Don't read notes. The exception is special cases when you need to accurately reproduce some process, for example, during a demonstration.

When you are forced to read notes, write nothing but three or four bullet points in large print on one card. Make a separate card for each slide. If you use speaker notes in a presentation program, limit yourself to three or four bullet points per slide. And even better - one.

Use the image on the slide as a clue to the key topic associated with that slide. One slide - one topic.

Enjoy

Treat your presentation as an infotainment. Your audience wants to both learn and have fun. Enjoy your own performance. This show!

Never apologize. You won't gain anything if you draw attention to the problem. If a problem arises, acknowledge its existence, smile, and move on. If it wasn't obvious to anyone but you, don't draw attention to it.

Change your point of reference. If something doesn't go exactly as planned, it doesn't become wrong until you let the performance go off the rails. Keep the big picture in mind and enjoy interacting with your audience.

Basic Presentation Structure

Introduction(~ 10% of attention and time) - who are you and why exactly are you here now, you will talk about all this

Problem(~60% attention and time) - the audience must understand and feel the problem for themselves

Solution(~25% attention and time)

Part 1

• Subproblem
• Solution
• Proof

Part 2

• Subproblem
• Solution
• Proof

Part 3

• Subproblem
• Solution
• Proof

Completion(~5% attention and time)

• Summary: 3-4 points, starting with the problem (who is fighting with whom and for what)
• Call to action
• In the name of what

This isn't the only possible presentation structure, but it's likely to work well with this structure.

Checklist for checking the presentation

What are we talking about?

• What is the goal, what do we want from people?
• What is the main idea?
• What thoughts support her?
• What values ​​are at stake? What do they need?
• What is the problem?

What is our problem / antithesis / enemy?

• What is the problem with the audience?
• Is the problem concrete, tangible?
• What are our shortcomings? Is the choice real?
• What is missing?

Introduction-Problem-Solution-Completion?

• Is the solution convincing?
• Completion: Summary, Action, Values?
• What can be thrown away?

And further

The presentation script is written from the end.

When preparing a presentation, do not turn on the computer. Board, paper, mind maps.

Every presentation is a show! Otherwise, why the presentation? Just send a letter.

Cut off the excess. If something does not fit into the structure - throw it out!

Related materials

The real immersion in the topic came after Aleksey Kapterev's LiveJournal, his books and seminars.

Most of all I gave work on presentations with Alexei Burba. Here's what we got. And then more.

P.S. Add examples of good presentations in the comments.

Evgenia Dychko, Crello Marketing Manager, tells you what to do if you need to put together a cool presentation for investors, but there is almost no time for it (and the Internet too).

Let's imagine a situation: you have been assigned a personal meeting with top market players in another country. It's morning now, meeting in the afternoon, you're on your way. There won't be another chance like this. The stakes are high, the people are serious, the prospects are cosmic.

But you don’t have a slide presentation, and without it, you can’t talk about the product as you need. And still there is no access to working Keynote and PowerPoint. The internet keeps dropping out. On the plane, where you will spend two or three hours, it will not be at all.

It would be possible to put an end to the presentation, but not all is lost. Save simple web designers. Three minutes to panic, the other two hours to exhale and put together a decent presentation with the resources that we have.

Stock up on material. Download everything that can be used in a presentation to your laptop and phone - save links, photos, screenshots, numbers. Take all the old presentations.

Think of a concept. While still in the taxi, highlight the main idea and structure of the presentation. Make a text template on your phone.

Share with colleagues. When a more or less stable Internet appears, share a link to the concept and a draft presentation with the team - a fresh look and comments will not hurt.

If all this is there, you can start.

Here is a list of five basic online presentation services that personally help me a lot when they are on fire.

1. Google Slides

There are only three themes in the Google Slides Builder - Personal, Education, Business - with 20+ templates and different themes. If you don't like any of the templates, you can create a presentation from scratch. Slides has simple animations and the ability to add graphs, charts, and videos. The project can be downloaded in the main formats - .pdf, .ppt, .jpg and others - for free.

Screenshot from Your big idea presentation template page on Google Slides

Advantages: Google Slides is included in the cloud office suite, it is used by millions, there are no bugs. Here you can create and edit a presentation in full offline - when the Internet appears, the content is synchronized.

Minuses: global popularity (read: worn out) Slides. Templates and themes are boring, you can’t change the colors in them, you won’t be able to quickly be original on a clean slate either. If you want a custom presentation, this is not the place for you.

Important to remember: add a video for the presentation to Google Drive or in advance. Google Slides does not work with other services.

2. Zoho

Zoho Show is a presentation tool in the Zoho Office Suite that shares many similarities with Google Slides. At the initial level, it is also free, and this is usually enough.

There are about 20 templates, but you can change the color scheme. There are a lot of animations and opportunities to customize graphic elements. But even with some tweaks, Zoho's presentations are minimalist.

Screenshot from the Zoho Show page with a selection of templates

Advantages: In Zoho, you can search for pictures on Picasa and Flickr right from the interface. This will not help much if there is no Internet, but as soon as it appears, you can quickly close this task. You can also create presentations with wide and standard slides.

Minuses: the visual part of the template in Zoho Show needs to be significantly improved so that it doesn’t turn out too bland.

Important to remember: without the Internet, the functionality of the tool is sharply limited. For example, it's not possible to add a new slide offline, so make the presentation wireframe before the plane.

3. Emaze

Emaze makes dynamic presentations - slides beautifully replace each other, fragments jump and spin, the project breathes. There are few templates, only 12 for each area - business, art and education - but enough for basic tasks.

There is a lot of motion in Emaze, if not a lot. For each of the animated elements, you can change the type of movement. All work on adapting the template comes down to adding text and setting up graphics. Photos can be taken from your own, or Picasa.

You can edit the template and add new pages offline. The only thing is that when you try to save, it will constantly issue an alert that there is no connection.

Screenshot from the Emaze page with one of the templates

Advantages: Emaze turns graphic projects into microfilm, and presentations like these are never forgotten.

Minuses: Emaze allows you to create only three presentations for free, and even then they cannot be downloaded - you can only watch online. But even in this format, they look great. Subscription for $12.5/month - and you forget about these restrictions.

Important to remember: Emaze has so many animation options in slides that you can get carried away with embellishment and forget about the main thing.

4. Crello

Crello has a section with multi-page templates that can be used as presentations. Each such template has five pages, but pages can be duplicated.

Slides are configured in the same way as any other graphics in Crello - you can change backgrounds, frames, shapes, icons, stickers and labels.

There are many Cyrillic fonts in the service, but you can add your own from the brand book.

A slide from one of Crello's multi-page projects

Advantages: there are many designer multi-page templates with interesting architecture on the platform. The section is new, visual solutions are not boring. There are new designs coming out all the time, so there's always plenty to choose from. At any stage, the project can be uploaded to .jpg, .png or .pdf. Everything is free.

Minuses: projects in Crello can be edited without the Internet, but then only basic functions are available, mainly for working with text. There will be no access to shapes and photos.

Important to remember: in Crello, you can independently create a multi-page project - in fact, a presentation - from a template of any format: publications, business cards, posters, covers, and others. Just copy the picture on the edit page.

5.Swipe

In Swipe, slides are designed using markdown markup - it acts as a text editor. There are no presentation templates, only page templates, and they have color and font, no graphics.

To customize the appearance of the slide, you need to enter the shade code and font name. Pictures are linked. Videos, gifs, polls cannot be added to a page with text, but they can take a separate slide.

Screenshot from the Emaze page with page templates

Advantages: The main feature of Swipe is maximum simplicity, you can't think of anything more elementary. Here it is convenient to create concise slides with an emphasis on the essence.

Minuses: only five presentations are free, then you need to pay $20/month or $15/month if paid annually. Working without the Internet in Swipe will not work - to go to the next slide, you need to save the current one.

Important to remember: before going into Swipe, review everything you know about markdown. This will save time.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, web, Android and iOS.
Price: free trial or subscription from 269 rubles per month.

The most popular presentation software has a fairly simple interface and is supported on different devices. Multiplatform is perhaps the main advantage of the program from Microsoft. As for the visual component, the templates do not always correspond to the trends in the field of design.

PowerPoint allows you to edit slide backgrounds and templates, use different fonts (many of them are in Russian), and insert multimedia.

• Platforms: web, chrome, android and ios.
• Price: is free.

The service is suitable if you need to quickly assemble a standard-looking presentation with a modern design, but without a big . Designs are divided into three groups: "Personal", "Education", "Business". In total, about 20 different templates are available - optimally, to choose the right one and not get stuck, sorting through the options. For those who prefer their own design, there is an option to create slides from scratch.

You can add charts, graphs and videos (Google Drive and YouTube only). It is convenient that you can edit the presentation both online and offline: when the Internet is connected, the content is automatically synchronized. The finished presentation can be downloaded in popular formats: PDF, PPT, JPG and others.

3. Canva

• Platforms: web, ios.
• Price: free or from $12.95 per month.

One of the most popular online presentation creation services offers a variety of slide templates. There are both free and paid ones (it is not clear why, because you can almost always pick up a free analogue). It is convenient that each of them is easy to customize, changing beyond recognition. You can customize everything: add or remove objects, choose colors, icons and fonts. You can change the size of slides in the paid version by subscription.

Canva supports Russian fonts, but there aren't many of them. The finished presentation can be downloaded in PDF, PNG or JPG.

• Platforms: web.
• Price: is free.

An analogue of Canva with an even friendlier interface and full support for Russian fonts.

There are many design multi-page templates available, each of which can be customized in its own way: change colors, add or remove elements, inscriptions, images. The gallery is constantly updated, so you can always find something new.

Images can be searched directly in Crello: there is a search for paid and free ones and the ability to upload your own.

By default, the service supports many Russian fonts. It is also possible to add your own. You just need to load it once, and the font will appear in the drop-down list.

5. Tilda

• Platforms: web.
• Price: free of charge or from 500 rubles per month.

Initially, the service is designed for quick and easy layout of websites and landing pages, but it can also be used for presentations.

The main feature is an intuitive Russian-language interface and the ability to work without knowing the code. All actions are performed in the visual editor by adding new blocks. All templates were developed by professionals, taking into account trends in design.

Tilda supports beautiful Russian fonts, so there will be no problems with this.

When the presentation in the form of a one-page site is ready, it must be saved to PDF page by page and edited in any computer (if necessary).

6 Visme

• Platforms: web.
• Price: free or from $12 per month.

Nice English-language interface still takes a little time to figure it out. However, after that, it will be possible to collect presentations quickly.

The service is suitable for creating presentations with beautiful infographics - you can do it here. At your disposal - more than 100 free fonts (Russian is not very much), a lot of free images and icons. You can also add video and audio.

There are not many slide templates in the free version, but this is enough for ordinary tasks.

A feature of Visme is the ability to animate content. The finished presentation can be saved in JPG, PNG, PDF or HTML5 format.

7. Prezi

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.
• Price: from $5 per month.

This service allows you to abandon the standard slide format and make a presentation in the form of a large map. You can simply switch between topics, rather than flipping pages.

The map is created in high resolution, so that when you zoom in, the content is easy to perceive. Available templates from designers, you can download and use your multimedia materials (audio, video, animation, PowerPoint slides). It is convenient that several people can edit the presentation at once. It also has the ability to edit offline.

There are few Russian fonts, but all the main ones are there.

Prezi is a paid program, but you can test it for free. The finished presentation can be stored in the cloud or saved to a computer in the desired format.

• Platforms: web, macOS, iOS.
• Price: is free.

One of the most popular services among owners of "apple" devices. When there is such a regular tool, you can not look for anything else. Many users agree that Keynote has a simpler interface than the legendary PowerPoint.

The web version of Keynote is available to owners of any device (you will need to enter or register an Apple ID by opening the site in a browser).

The library has many beautiful and concise templates that can be optimized for content and tasks. Synchronization with iCloud allows multiple users to simultaneously edit a presentation in real time.

It is convenient that you can download a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint format (PPTX and PPT), make changes, and then save it in the desired format, which is read not only on Apple gadgets (PDF).

What to include in a presentation

1. Tell a story

Listening to history is much more interesting than a dry enumeration of facts, excerpts from books and statistics. Turn your presentation into a captivating, imaginative story. So the necessary information will be remembered by listeners.

2. Consider the structure

You need to understand what your presentation will be about and how exactly you will convey information to the audience before you start collecting a document in one of the services. No matter how attractive the design is, if the structure is lame and the facts are presented chaotically, it is unlikely to work.

3. Prioritize images

Today, not everyone likes to read. If text can be replaced with images, do so. Use icons, beautiful photos, high-quality schemes and diagrams. Looking at them is more interesting than reading a large array of text.

4. Remove everything unnecessary

If you can refuse something without compromising the meaning, feel free to do it. Cutting off everything unnecessary, shortening the text, removing distracting effects, you formulate your thoughts more accurately. The clearer your message, the easier it is for the audience to perceive it.

How to make a presentation

1. Forget Outdated PowerPoint Templates

While a PowerPoint presentation used to look fine, with the advent of more winning templates, it looks outdated. If you plan to use and edit the presentation in the future, it is better to assemble a “skeleton” once from templates in one of the above services or create your own. Then you will only need to change the content in them - this will not take much time, but it will allow you to beautifully present the material.

2. Use 3-5 colors

This is a rule that allows you to avoid too colorful design that distracts from the content of the presentation.

There are three base colors and two additional (shades of the primary colors, they are used if necessary). The first color is allocated for the background, the second and third for the text. The colors that are used for text should be contrasting so that the content is easy to read.

As a rule, among the main colors there are corporate colors of your company. If there are none, you can use one of the sites for the selection of flowers.

3. Add line and flat icons

Volumetric low-quality icons seem to say: "The person who made this presentation is stuck in the 2000s."

Flat minimalistic icons will make your presentation more modern and concise, allowing you to visualize information. This site has thousands of stylish icon options that you can download for free.

4. Use sans-serif fonts

If you are not a professional designer, it is better to choose simple and readable sans-serif fonts. This is a versatile option that is suitable for any presentation. Here are a few examples to consider:

• Arial;
• Arial Narrow;
• Arial Black (for headings);
• Calibri
• Bebas (for headers);
• roboto;
• Helvetica;
• open Sans.

In one presentation, it is better to use one group of fonts and change only the style.

5. Choose only high-quality images

By what images you choose for your presentation, people will judge your taste. Today, when there are so many open sources, it is not always possible to properly manage them. Here's what to avoid:

• pictures from search engines;
• images with forced smiles of people and a white background from stocks;
• low-resolution pictures (less than 1,000 pixels on the long side).

Look for photos on free photo stocks. There are many of them, you can find the right picture in most cases.

6. Insert beautiful tables and charts

All the rules described above apply to this item as well. When making a diagram, choose the right colors, get rid of unnecessary content and save the result in high resolution. Any table or chart in your presentation should be simple, clear, and concise. The background should be left white.

How to make a presentation

1. Rehearse

Rehearsal is a good way to deal with anxiety and reorganize the information for yourself. Speak in front of a mirror or colleagues - this will help you stay more confident. If possible, use Presenter View (like Keynote has one). In this mode, slide notes, timing, next slide, and other useful information will be displayed on your computer screen during your presentation.

2. Talk to the audience

A successful presentation is a dialogue, not a monologue. Ask the audience what they think about this or that matter, whether they agree with you, or if they have a different opinion. Interactive will make the presentation not only more memorable, but also more productive - both for the speaker and for the audience.

3. Be aware of the timing

As a rule, the time required for a presentation is calculated from the ratio 1 minute = 1 slide. So, if you have 20 slides, the presentation will take at least 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the time, because too fast presentation of the material will not be effective, and a prolonged presentation will not please the audience.