The image above is the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation I’m making. It’s meant to guide during my lecture about Batteries in the Chemistry class.
I fear that this design is boring. I fear that it wouldn’t engage my students as much as I’d like it. (I’m aware Chemistry isn’t much of a engaging subject for most by default, but i want to give a great impression.) It’s meant to be presented during daytime.
I feel that it’s lacking a lot of elements that would contribute, but I really don’t know what they are, nor how to position them without looking too incongruous.
I don’t like the vibe it’s passing either. I choose this abstract background from Freepix (or whatever it’s called now)
Looking for feedback on how to improve this.
(Note: I should probably clarify I’m not a “teacher”, I’m just a student and my “studants” ! call are actually just my classmates.)
Making presentation slides interesting is usually more about clarity and visual storytelling than adding lots of design elements.
A few things that can help:
Keep each slide focused on one main idea.
Use short headlines instead of paragraphs of text.
Add relevant images, icons, charts, or diagrams where they actually support the message.
Maintain consistent fonts, spacing, and colors throughout the presentation.
Use high-quality images and resize/crop them properly so they fit the slide without looking stretched.
Highlight important numbers or key points instead of making everything equally prominent.
Leave enough white space so the slides don’t feel crowded.
Use simple transitions rather than excessive animations.
I also find it useful to prepare images before adding them to a presentation. Resizing or compressing large images can make the presentation easier to manage while keeping the visuals clean.
The main goal should be to make the audience understand the point quickly rather than trying to fit everything onto one slide.
Speaking as a Chemist who also does website work with a smattering of graphic design tossed in, it looks more like a sales pitch for batteries than anything educational.
Toss in some classic Chemistry imagery like maybe a Bohr model of the atom depicting electrons exchanging between two ions or something else to show the Sciencey side of batteries.
And for Gosh’s sake change the name on the batteries! It’s a GREAT opportunity to grab attention, maybe even do something sarcastic and start them off with a chuckle. I tutored every Chemistry course I took in College and assure you humor worked extremely well in getting the less motivated students interested in the topic. Is this for a college or a high school? That matters greatly! I could never have taught my “Pervertiotic Table Of The Elements” in HS, but a few of my College Professors said they were jealous that they couldn’t teach it that way! Not saying go Naughty with it, but the idea of humor still applies.
Other than humor, the design is very static. Electricity is anything but! Do something dynamic with it. Even if it’s as basic as a battery being inserted into something like a flashlight or a calculator. Or show more than one kind of battery like the ancient Baghdad Battery or a car battery (with cables?) along with the one type in use. But if using the Baghdad Battery you have a starting point for the discussion. And if the course didn’t mention the Baghdad Battery, then you should definitely lead with it! Not only are they far more graphically interesting if shown in either a cut-away view or a partially assembled view with all the bits showing, but they would give a sense of the history behind the technology.
Your Duracell image is, as you said, boring. It needs to show more of the variety and background if it is for a Science class (and that name really should be changed!). Your image looks more like a Marketing effort than an Educational one.
That might sound counterintuitive, but it’s meant to help us break out of our usual ways of thinking.
The question is: How do we make your lecture interesting?
First of all, we don’t distract from what you’re saying.
Also, we don’t repeat what’s been said in the slides—except maybe a single word to emphasize or dramatize a point.
In my opinion, the most important thing is to have a good story.
Visually, show only surprises, highlights, and dramatic moments—or things that are very difficult to describe and where an image helps move the story along better.
How do you make a presentation slide or a design interesting? Well, this is an easy question with a hard answer. The solution lies in mastering colours, shapes, fonts, images, and other design elements.
The best approach is to conduct research about the product or subject. You need to understand how to make the product appealing to people: what to include, what to avoid, and what message you intend to convey. This is not an easy task; therefore, doing your research is crucial.
