Raise your hand if you hate sitting through uninspiring powerpoint presentations. If you raised your hand you’re not alone because both of my hands are raised. There is nothing more disappointing than a lackluster presentation. As a visual artist I take pride in aesthetics and as an educator I take pride in effective teaching and learning. If you want to get better at designing presentations, keep reading.

Presentations should serve as an effective and engaging way to get your point across. As a college administrator and consultant who has facilitated hundreds of presentations over my 10 plus year career, I consider myself a presentation pro. Over the years I have developed some best practices that I am sure will impress your audiences no matter your industry. Here are five tips that will help you to design presentations that don’t suck.

Create an Outline

This may seem obvious but having a plan is essential. It‘s easy for you and your audience to lose focus during your presentation when you do not have an outline. Outlines allow you to make every word and image count. Some key elements of an outline include: setting a goal, analyzing the audience, and organizing the content.

Don’t Be Text Obsessed

Let’s face it, no one wants to read a million words per slide during your presentation. With that being said, keep the text minimal with no more than a title and three bullet points per slide. Let each slide breathe and I promise that your audience will be more engaged.

Design Matters

The way that your slideshow looks is just as important as its contents. To that end, be sure to add visual elements such as illustrations, photos, and videos to add more visual interest. There are several free resources such as Google images, Slides Mania, and Slide Carnival that provide beautiful imagery and slide themes for Power Point and Google Slides. Take the extra time to choose a non-standard slide theme as well as choosing images that capture the essence of your message.

Use Animations and Transitions

Movement is so exciting when you are stuck behind a screen watching a presentation so i highly suggest the careful placement of text animations and slide transitions throughout your presentation because when used correctly they create a visually appealing and creative touch to your presentation.

Make It Interactive

Anything that you can do to get the participants involved is a plus.Use audience polls and open ended prompts to keep your audience engaged, My favorite poll platforms are Slido and Poll Everywhere. Create engaging polls that relate to your main topic and your audience will become more active and present.

Lonnie Woods III is a student affairs practitioner specializing in career development within the visual and performing arts and art professions. Lonnie currently serves as Professional Development Coordinator for the Arts Administration program at Teacher's College, Columbia University, and he is a Teaching Artist for the Brooklyn Academy Of Music's Education Department while balancing a career as a freelance lifestyle blogger and content creator at his site: lonniewoodsthethird.com.