It is very common to run into situations where a presentation is created by combining ideas from a group of people, each person bringing in different writing and presentation styles. Although the individual slides may be really good, they may not present a continuous flow when put together.
The first thing to remember is to ‘always’ plan for a PPT fine-tuning activity ahead of the deadline. This activity is likely to take between 2 to 4 feedback-review-rework cycles.
Here is a checklist to help you get started:
1. Re-create instead of overwrite
Redo the presentation by inserting new slides instead of overwriting each author’s slides. To do this, choose your favorite templates, slide master and background images.
2. Storyline
Get all authors together and get the storyline right. This helps to arrange the slides in the most logical manner. This can also help and identify slides that need to be removed or combined.
3. Insert Slides
Use the slide insert feature to insert slides into the blank presentation. Remember not to click ‘Keep source formatting’. This takes care of uniformity of alignments, fonts and slide colors. Choose the colors and background that align with the theme, and keep the fonts to a minimum.
4. Format
Go through each slide in sequence. If the original slide did not follow the template style, you may notice titles or text that is different from the flow. Simply delete the item and copy-paste into the correct template element (Remember to single-click to remove and double-click to copy and paste).
5. Fine-tune
Now that the basic presentation is in place, fine-tune each slide for better visual appeal. Here are some tips:
Shortcuts
For faster and more accurate fine-tuning, learn the shortcuts
Illustrations
If the original illustrations were custom created, ungroup them, and change the fonts or colors to suit the final presentation. Ensure that all the illustrations are grouped and aligned.
- Grouping illustrations allows you to make changes or move all pieces of the illustrations at the same time.
- Aligning illustrations makes your illustrations neater.
Legibility
Check if your illustrations are legible, and either re-create or resize them
Transitions:
Play the presentation in delivery mode and check that animations, slide transitions, videos and sounds work as you designed them.
Last, but not the least, run a spell check on the presentation, and verify the text in any pictures you have included.
Fine-tuning is a ‘fine’ skill that gets better with practice.
Read more Tips on PPT Presentations:
- Is it Possible to Combine Diagrams Created in Visio with PowerPoint Presentations?
- How to Custom-Create Shapes in PowerPoint?
