Let’s start by saying Presented isn’t a bunch of freelance PowerPoint designers. We are a bunch of full time designers who specialise in PowerPoint. We work as a company, so you hire a team. That should mean that for future needs there is always someone available for you. That said, like any freelancer who’s good, we get booked up quickly!
It isn’t easy to find a good freelance PowerPoint designer. And funnily enough, we get approached often by other PowerPoint designers wanting to join our talented team. We ask for a portfolio in PowerPoint so we can see what they can do. Nine times out of ten what we receive is generally what I would label as “before slides”. Oh boy.
What we look for is a freelance PowerPoint designer who is simply a strong graphic designer first. Mastering PowerPoint is second. And that can be taught. Unfortunately it’s a minefield out there of people who can use PowerPoint, but who sadly aren’t strong in design.
Areas a freelance PowerPoint designer must master:
Indeed, being a good freelance PowerPoint designer isn’t simply using PowerPoint. Designers must be highly creative, technically expert and able to follow a brief. Following a brief is actually almost the most crucial trait to have!
We always test PowerPoint designers when we recruit. But many decide to go off piste and give us something that we haven’t actually asked for… their ability to not follow instructions doesn’t do them any favours! We understand they are trying to show something different… but we know our clients want what they have asked for. Listening to a brief and following guidelines in non-negotiable!
Here are some more areas to be mastered by any presentation designer:
Interactive slides:
Use triggers and hyperlinks for navigation-led and non-linear decks. Simple effects are PowerPoint Zoom summaries or basic hyperlinks. Advanced effects are trigger animations, custom slide shows, hidden menus, pop up content. Interactive features are ideal for engaging audiences and you’ll want a PowerPoint to know their way around interactive options.
Explainer videos:
Create perfectly timed animations in PowerPoint to produce quality videos. Video content increases conversion rates and is perfect for content marketing. We do advanced video level animations in PPT. It’s easy to DIY and save in .mp4 format. What’s even better, is that it’s all editable. See our PPT videos on Presented’s Vimeo page.
Live presenting:
Nothing beats the face to face engagement of presenting live to an audience. First, good designers should know some neuroscience techniques to help your message be remembered. How to reduce cognitive load. How to write effective headings and craft a call to action as well as key messages. Second, visual impact should be high to support learning and boost engagement. Third, visuals need to be in timing and thematic harmony with your content and narration. Simply put, communication science will massively improve the way you present.
Data visualisation:
Make sure data is communicated in a visually appealing and easy to understand way.
Get a good grip on infographics, dashboards, bespoke charts and diagrams.
Templates:
A well-created, user-friendly template will look good and encourage company-wide consistency. Plus it can save you hours (and hours) every week.
Printed PowerPoint material:
Create your printed material in PowerPoint or Word. In this way, everyone can edit the files, year after year. Annual reports, quarterly reports, brochures, posters, postcards, flyers etc. Everything can be laid out to a high spec and printed professionally from PowerPoint.
Follow the above to up your game as a freelance PowerPoint designer!
Our team has years of design and technical expertise. Drop us a line to see how we can improve your next presentation.
