The individual elements depicted on a slide are usually related to each other. This is important because the distance or proximity of the objects to each other makes it immediately clear to the reader what belongs together when they look at the slide. A successful presentation combines good content with a good visual composition. This makes it easier for the audience to grasp all the information quickly.
In another blog article, you learned about aligning objects in a presentation. Related to this is today’s theme of proximity between individual foil elements. As already touched upon in the article on placement of slide elements, you should take every opportunity to make it as easy as possible for the audience to understand the sildes by professionally arranging the individual slide elements.
Tip 1: Establish spatial relationship with elements
Establish a spatial relationship with elements that belong together thematically. This makes it easier for the viewer to grasp connections. For example, if you want to show the image of an engine on a slide and also include detailed images, you should compose the images so that all the images are clearly related to each other. For example, you could place a larger overall image of the engine in the center of your slide and arrange the smaller format detail images around it. This makes it easier to grasp the contents of the slide.
Tip 2: Make targeted use of empty spaces
Use empty spaces consciously as an element of order. Some presentations exploit every corner of a slide to display content. Often, elements are unnecessarily expanded in the process. The slides then quickly appear cluttered and untidy. Blank spaces, or white spaces as the printer calls them, can be used to visually connect elements. Instead of writing text all over the slide, make better use of white space to better relate information to each other.
The professional use of structure and spacing should always reinforce and clarify the content of your presentation. The more tidy, structured and logically placed all objects are, the easier it is for viewers to grasp and understand the slide content. Your presentation can be bursting with genius, but if the audience has to concentrate on reading the individual slides, they will only pay half an ear to your explanations. If the arrangement of the slide content is logical, the messages can be grasped in a few moments. Your audience can then concentrate on your presentation and receive the quintessence or additional information without being distracted by concentrated reading.
If you pay attention to the stylistic devices presented in our blog articles – contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity/distance – in your slide content, you will greatly improve the comprehensibility of your presentation.
Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Informatiker Matthias Garten as the expert for multimedia presentations and professional PowerPoint presentations knows about the art of professional slide design. He is an entrepreneur, speaker (TOP 100 Speaker), trainer (TOP 100 Excellence Trainer), multiple book author, presentation coach (presentation training), member of the GSA and Club 55, organizer of the Presentation Conference, Presentation Bootcamp and Presentation Rocket Days. In addition to PowerPoint and presentation training, he inspires and advises companies to present themselves even more effectively and thus stand out from competitors. He is the business owner of the presentation and PowerPoint agency smavicon Best Business Presentations and with his team has created over 15,000 professional PowerPoint presentations for over 150 industries since 1993.
