Slide Design Mini Boot Camp

Elevate the aesthetic appeal and communicative force of your slide deck to make your message stand out.

Learning Objectives

By participating fully, you will:

• Visually engage your audience.
• Align your slide content with your intended message
• Enhance slide aesthetics

Program Description

Do you have a slide deck that needs some help, but you’re not sure what to do? Are you interested in learning how to make your ideas stand out so that your presentation can be more engaging and impactful? In this two half-day mini boot camp, you will learn strategies to enhance the visual appeal and communicative force of a presentation.

In the first session, we’ll look at slide communication principles and design approaches to bring your message into focus. You will have the opportunity to critique your own slides and exchange slide revision ideas with fellow boot campers to fuel your creativity and clarify your argument. In the second session, we’ll demo a few techniques in Powerpoint (and the Google Slide/Keynote equivalents, when applicable), such as cropping photos, customizing colors, and creating dynamic transitions to enhance visual storytelling. You’ll have time to work on your decks and share your before-and-after slides with a group. 

You will leave the boot camp with insight on how to transform a dull, visually monotonous or disorganized deck into a powerful display that helps audiences understand your message.

*Please bring a slide deck you are working on to each session.

Workshop is facilitated by Helen Lie, EdD, lecturer in the Oral Communication Program and Program in Writing and Rhetoric.

Details

Open to enrolled graduate students at any stage in any discipline or degree program. Priority given to doctoral students. Open to postdoctoral scholars if space is available.

Space is limited. Due to the workshop's interactive format, full participation in both sessions is required.

If you are accepted to this workshop, you must confirm your place by submitting a Student Participation Fee Agreement. The Fee Agreement is a deposit to ensure that participants fulfill their commitment to the program, especially since it is space-limited. It authorizes VPGE to charge $50 to your Stanford bill if you do not fully attend the program. Exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances that are communicated in a timely manner. Participants are not charged for absences caused by unforeseen emergencies. You will receive a link to the Agreement and instructions if you are offered a place.