As owner and principle designer at Terberg Design, Julie Terberg (pictured to the left) develops custom presentation solutions — unique
for every client and purpose. She is a contributing editor to Presentations
magazine, and has recently co-authored a book on crafting medical
presentations. Perfect Medical Presentations, co-authored by Terry
Irwin, will be available later this year.
Julie also conducts training sessions for those who want to expand
their skills. To find out more about Terberg Design, visit www.terbergdesign.com
Geetesh:
Julie:
PowerPoint presentations are being prepared from canned
templates most of the time and some people talk about stuff
like 'Death by PowerPoint'. What's happened to the 'art'
in PowerPoint?
PowerPoint is readily available and relatively simple to
use. Walk into any office these days and more than likely,
everyone on the salesforce will have some version of PowerPoint
loaded on their computer. A lot of these hardworking people
are forced to develop presentations on their own, (usually
at the last minute) without the benefit of having seen a
well-developed presentation, let alone the assistance of
a presentation consultant or graphic designer. While they
may be very gifted in their chosen field, I think it's safe
to say that the majority of people developing PowerPoint
presentations are not artists nor experts in presentation
development. Canned templates are the quickest and easiest
route for them. Saves time and money. But is it a good business
decision? Would they approach a corporate brochure or company
web site the same way? Does a canned template really speak
to the quality of your business or service? Does it tell
your potential or existing client that you value their business?
"Death by PowerPoint" can be prevented with education, training and
outside resources. If you're faced with developing presentations on your own:
try to find examples of quality presentations, study them, and apply some of
the basic principles in your own work. Or if the budget allows, contract a presentation
consultant to train your staff, or hire a professional to do a presentation makeover.
Geetesh:
Julie:
Does usage of PowerPoint require any formal training
in design and color.
Usage of PowerPoint: no, it's pretty simple to find your
way through the basics of the program. Developing a successful
presentation: yes, it helps. I'm not sure that formal training
is necessary, but at least some exposure to basic design
concepts and color theory would help. Basic typography skills
can improve your work. Again, it helps to look at examples
of presentations that communicate well.
It is equally important to have an understanding of what works in a presentation
environment and what doesn't. Lighting, projectors, audience size and
screen legibility are a few of the things that should be considered before
presenting anything. Simulate the actual show environment and try out
your color scheme and template to see if you have enough contrast to
read everything, and that the design is working for you. Now sit in the
back of the room and look at everything all over again.
Geetesh:
Julie:
You have seen PowerPoint evolve across versions - what's your favorite
new PowerPoint feature?
By far, it's gotta be the animation tools. Some of the new
effects are terrific. I love having the ability to combine
effects, and have different objects animate at overlapping
points in time. Exit effects are a great new feature. Customizable
motion paths -- yeah! In conjunction with these tools, I
appreciate having the timeline available for editing.
Geetesh:
Julie:
Most of the design you do has a fresh, natural feel
to it. What inspires you?
I have many sources of inspiration. Nature itself is a big
one, so I'm glad you mentioned the "natural feel".
I love shooting digital photos outdoors and working those
shots into my designs. I look for new color palettes in nature.
I belong to a group of independent designers, and find a
lot of inspiration in these women and their design work.
My young daughter is always coloring and creating, and inspiring
me to be a bit more relaxed and free with my designs. Magazines,
web sites, and TV are great for inspiration. It helps to
say fresh by looking at graphic approaches in other media.
You may find a shape, or a color scheme, or a texture that
would translate well into a new presentation design.
A lot of my clients have terrific marketing materials already in place.
In these cases, I'm inspired by the designer(s) who developed the brochures
and other print material, or the web site, and I take key elements of
the design and rework them into the template and graphics. Good design
works well across media platforms. This is a great way for a company
to present a consistent brand to their audience.
Geetesh:
Julie:
How important is it to use good quality stock imagery in PowerPoint -
and can digital photography help.
Photos can enhance most presentations. Of course, it all
depends on the subject matter. If possible, digital photography
shot specifically for your company would be the best resource.
Shots of your products, your staff working, your products
being used, or your services being performed. I've set up
quite a few photo shoots for my clients. It doesn't take
that long to snap a library of "real" images to
work with.
Second best solution: good quality stock photos. There are a lot of great
resources for low-res photography online, even free photos on the Microsoft
Clip Gallery that can help. BizPresenter by Corbis is one of the best
sites - only $7.95 per image for PowerPoint use.
Digital cameras are so inexpensive these days that you can afford to
take your own shots. Experiment with lighting and cropping, and look
at some of the stock photo sites for inspiration.
Clipart choices are usually tough. A lot of people toss in clipart thinking
it will liven up their presentations, and in doing so they mix illustration
styles and color palettes, and it all starts to look like angry fruit
salad. Avoid clipart unless you have a great selection in the same design
style, and that style displays well on-screen.
Geetesh:
Julie:
Which programs other than PowerPoint do you use to
create your designs.
Photoshop and CorelDraw, primarily.
I'm an old CorelDraw user, and find it the easiest and best tool for
creating new vector shapes to import into PowerPoint. Photoshop is always
open on my system, it's my workhorse. I love to experiment with new ideas
in Photoshop. I don't know how I would design without it. (Canned templates,
perhaps?)
Geetesh:
Julie:
Many people take PowerPoint beyond its limits - with too much multimedia,
video clips on every second slide and haphazard animations announcing
themselves in the slide area. Has PowerPoint provided too much power
to be used as required.
I don't feel that PowerPoint has provided too much power.
It's a great program, and I appreciate having the new features
available. Animation and video clips can be a great addition
when used appropriately, and sparingly.
I think those people who take it "beyond" are just trying too
hard to create a presentation that will be memorable and not boring.
I don't think they have seen enough successful presentations to know
that less can be more effective. (Maybe some aspire to be animators or
in video production, who knows?)
In a presentation environment, multimedia overload can result in a lack
of communication. The main objective with ANY presentation is to effectively
communicate information. When you use motion and video, the audience's
attention will be focused on the movement onscreen, which can distract
them from listening to the spoken words.
