View the whole deck from this presentation. Here, a lovely image from a slidedeck Aaron created about the redesign of TED.com. The point I was making was that a launch isnвЂ™t the end of a project-itвЂ™s the beginning of something new.

And below isВ another example of a photo I used in a deck to talk about the launch of the new TED.com. For example, I recently used the image above-a photo of a container ship about to tip over (it eventually sank)-to lead off a co-workerвЂ™s deck about failure preparation. Your photo could be a metaphor or something more literal, but it should be clear why the audience is looking at it, and why itвЂ™s paired with what youвЂ™re saying. Look for photos that (1) speak strongly to the concept youвЂ™re talking about and (2) arenвЂ™t compositionally complex. I love using simple, punchy photos in presentations, because they help what youвЂ™re saying resonate in your audienceвЂ™s mind without pulling their attention from your spoken words.

If you canвЂ™t avoid having text-y slides, try to progressively reveal text (like unveiling bullet points one by one) as you need it. ThatвЂ™s really hard for a brain to do, and it compromises the effectiveness of both your slide text and your spoken words. If there are a lot of words on your slide, youвЂ™re asking your audience to split their attention between what theyвЂ™re reading and what theyвЂ™re hearing. ItвЂ™s like if you give a paper handout in a meeting-everyoneвЂ™s head goes down and they read, rather than staying heads-up and listening. One thing to avoid-slides with a lot of text, especially if itвЂ™s a repeat of what youвЂ™re saying out loud. With text, less is almost always more.That way they feel like part of the same family, but the presentation has texture-and the audience gets a visual cue that weвЂ™re moving onto a new topic.

For example, if my general slides have a dark background with light text, IвЂ™ll try transition slides that have a light background with dark text. I like to create one style for the slides that are the meat of what IвЂ™m saying, and then another style for the transitions between topics. You donвЂ™t wantВ each slide to look exactly the same. It can be easy to go too far in the direction of consistency, though. I like to create a few slides to hold sample graphic elements and type, then copy what I need from those slides as I go. Using pre-built master slides can be a good way to do that, but it canВ feelВ restrictive and lead to me-too decks. That means usingВ the same or related typography, colors and imagery across all your slides. In a good slide deck, each slide feels like part of the same story. Too often, I see slide decks that feel more like presenter notes, but I think itвЂ™s far more effective when the slides are for the audience to give them a visual experience that adds to the words. The presentation needs to stand on its own the slides are just something you layer over it to enhance the listener experience. Think about your main message, structure its supporting points, practice it and time it-and then start thinking about your slides. Building your slides should be the tail end of developing your presentation. View the whole slidedeck from this presentation. He asked for permission to use the image, and credited the photographer, Blair Harkness. Aaron used this image of a New Zealand disaster to kick off a slide deck from TEDвЂ™s tech team - all about how they prepares for worst-case scenarios.

Make visuals great again tax