What is a Presentation Designer?
Many of us who work in a corporate setting has dealt with creating a presentation sometime in our career. Some of us struggled with putting together content on a slide or using the actual software that creates our deck. But have you ever wondered what the role of a professional presentation designer is and how beneficial it is to hire one?
What is a presentation designer?
Presentation design is a specialized area of graphic design. A presentation designer focuses their skills on designing and developing visual layouts using images and typography and applying design principles. Their goal or purpose is to interpret information in a visually engaging manner that is easy to understand. They help the audience comprehend material so that they can remember and find it useful.
What skills and experience do presentation designers have?
Presentation designers may have various experiences and come from different working backgrounds. However, all presentation designers will likely have creative skills or an eye for design to craft compelling presentations. Having design experience helps with problem-solving such as understanding how to turn complex ideas and data into more simplified digestible visuals on a slide. Previous marketing or copywriting experience is also beneficial as it helps curate the content on each slide.
As part of the design process using images, icons, graphs, charts and typography to create design layouts for slide decks, they may also incorporate animation at the end of the process to provide a more entertaining aspect to the entire presentation. They have an abundance of knowledge of where to source photos, and icons and how to create complex infographics to match the style of the presentation.
Presentation designers have developed the technical skills to use applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides and Keynote, which makes them experts or specialists in that software. More skilled presentation designers will utilize other graphic design software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to draw or alter images and then later import them back into the presentation software.
Both design skills and technical know-how are qualities that presentation designers possess and exercise regularly with the various projects that they take on for clients, making them valuable for busy business leaders and companies to consider hiring.
What are the responsibilities of a presentation designer?
Presentation designers take on a variety of responsibilities and here is a summary of what those include:
Collaborate and meet with stakeholders on presentation content to understand the outline and the overall goal
Create master slides and edit master settings for entire teams and departments to use the same templates
Streamline presentation to match brand standard guides
Curate visuals such as images, icons and videos to match the overall brand and look
Organize content and slide order to make presentation information flow easier to comprehend
Project manage the timeline and deliverables aimed for a specific event date
Adhere to good design practices and possess strong graphic design fundamentals
Expert knowledge of presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides or Keynote.
Additional knowledge of graphic design software such as Adobe Creative Suite
Creates compelling data visualization, charts, infographics, and illustrations to support key messages
Understand complex concepts and ideas and be able to simplify them
Work on multiple revisions with stakeholders to ensure key messages are being delivered and objective is met
What services do they offer?
Some of the deliverables that a presentation designer may offer include:
Pitch decks
Sales presentations
RFP Responses
Financial Reports
Training Decks
Education Lecturers
Speech Presentations
Special Occasion Events
Why are presentation designers beneficial for your business?
While you could spend countless hours fidgeting with your deck and thinking up content for each slide, hiring a presentation designer can significantly save you time and effort instead.
A presentation designer can give you that professional edge that sets you apart from others including your competition. Potential clients and investors will take you more seriously and perceive you as an industry leader if you have a polished and professional presentation that looks cohesive with the rest of your branding and marketing collateral.
It’s important that key messages get delivered effectively and that your ideas are translated and understood by your audience. That’s where presentation designers can come in and help you with this. They are visual thinkers, visual problem-solvers and visual storytellers. If you don’t look professional, your prospects can quickly dismiss you despite having an incredible idea with backup facts. It doesn’t matter, first impressions matter.
So instead of wasting hours on crafting a stunning presentation, focus on your content and business goals instead.
How I have helped my clients with my presentation design services?
Most of my clients have a working knowledge of PowerPoint but by no means do they have any creative problem-solving or design skills. Not only do I design and develop a presentation from scratch or a rough draft, but I also help them with the organization of their actual content which has been a game changer.
You see, my clients are experts in their field, whether it’s the medical field, executive coaching or food and beverage, but they don’t know how to communicate their key messages visually on slides for an audience to follow along. Through my process, I’ll provide solutions and options by designing a couple of slides to present to them, so they get a taste of the creative direction and the style I think works. After any necessary tweaks, I’ll get approval to move ahead with the rest of the deck.
Since I have nine years of prior marketing experience, for clients who require help with their pitches and sales presentations, I often help with marketing strategy and messaging. I look at their presentations from the perspective of an audience and provide my feedback.
Presentation design is a passion of mine. It combines editorial design and creative problem-solving which I thoroughly enjoy. If you have a presentation coming up that you need either polishing or a complete revamp, contact me to learn more about how I can help you.
