Ideas don’t come fully baked. They usually come in pieces, or partially formed, or as concepts that aren’t quite connected. It’s hard to create slides until we settle on an order because the act of creating slides forces us to finalize the order. So we should create the order first. This is the least visual thing of all. It’s how we organize an idea into a clear order.
Just create a basic order. Don’t think of the design. Think of the order. Think of the flow. What does someone need to understand before the next thing? Write down a few words for each step. Then we have an order for our slides. As an exercise, practice by trying to explain something you already know about in just 4 or 5 simple stages. If the order isn’t clear, the idea isn’t clear enough to design yet.
Each slide should take the conversation forward. Too often we repeat the same idea again and again on multiple slides and add no new information. This makes the presentation slow and confusing. Instead, make sure each slide adds new information. If you have two slides that are nearly the same, merge them into one or cut one out. Then the presentation flows and adds information. Once we have a clear order, we should start designing each slide. Avoid the temptation to start decorating until the order is clear and the content is organized. Just focus on the order of the content on the slide, and the way the eye should travel across it.
Put the key point in a place where the eye will land first, then support it with a few other things. See if you can design a slide using just one sentence and one visual element. This helps clarify what’s important and what you can eliminate. If you get stuck, go back to your order and try reading it out loud without looking at any slides. If it’s confusing, then the order needs to be fixed. Slides should help clarify the flow, not fix a broken flow. Often simply reordering things will solve problems that designing alone won’t fix.
I find it helpful to devote a small amount of time on a regular basis to creating simple orders rather than designing beautiful slides. Every day spend just 15 minutes creating a 5 step order for an idea. Do it without opening any design software. Then pick one step and design a simple slide for that step. This helps you practice thinking in orders first, which will make the design process easier. After some time, you’ll find this helps you avoid indecision and speeds up your process. Rather than staring blankly at a slide wondering what should go on it, you have your order to guide you. The end result is a presentation that feels natural to look at, where each slide clearly has a purpose, and the overall message is easy to understand.