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Presentation Design vs Instructional Design: Everything You Need to Know!


Have you ever sat through a presentation that had you checking your watch every five minutes? Or worse still, have you ever been the one delivering a presentation that put everyone to sleep? We've all been there, and it's not a pleasant experience. However, the good news is that with the right design approach, you can create an engaging and impactful presentation that keeps your audience interested from start to finish.



Whether you're a teacher, facilitator, presenter, or speaker, this blog will provide you plenty of tips and tricks to make your next presentation a huge success!


In this blog post, we'll answer the following questions:


1. What is Presentation Design?




Presentation design is all about crafting a visually appealing and engaging slide deck to support your spoken content. This includes everything from choosing the right images and fonts to designing effective graphs and charts. The goal of presentation design is to help your audience understand and remember the key points of your presentation by presenting them in a clear, concise, and attractive way.



Some essential tips for effective presentation design include using high-quality images that support your message, limiting the amount of text on each slide, and creating a consistent design theme throughout your presentation. Don't forget to practice your delivery and timing to ensure that your spoken content complements your visuals, rather than competing with them.


2. What is Instructional Design?



Instructional design focuses more on the learning outcomes of your presentation, with the goal of creating an engaging and effective learning experience for your audience. This involves assessing the needs and learning styles of your learners, and designing your presentation to meet those needs. Instructional design often incorporates more interactive elements, such as quizzes, activities, and discussions to keep learners engaged and motivated.


Some of the key elements of instructional design include:


  1. Setting clear learning objectives

  2. Creating assessments that measure the effectiveness of your presentation

  3. Providing learners with feedback and support throughout the learning process.


When done right, instructional design can help learners retain information more effectively and apply it in real-world scenarios.


3. How to Combine Presentation Design and Instructional Design


The most effective presentations combine both presentation design and instructional design principles. This means creating a visually appealing slide deck that supports your spoken content while also incorporating interactive elements that engage your learners and reinforce key concepts.


To achieve this:


  1. Start by setting clear learning objectives and designing your presentation around those objectives.

  2. Create interactive activities and assessments that encourage learners to apply what they've learned, and use visuals and multimedia to reinforce key concepts.

  3. Use effective presentation design principles to make your presentation visually appealing and easy to follow.

  4. Practice your delivery to ensure that you're engaging and effective.


4. Tips for Creating Engaging Presentations.


No matter what your presentation goals are, there are some key tips and tricks that can help you create engaging, impactful presentations that engage your audience.


These include:


  1. Starting with a strong opening that grabs your audience's attention and sets the tone for your presentation.

  2. Using visuals and multimedia to break up text-heavy slides and reinforce key concepts.

  3. Speaking in a clear, engaging voice that conveys confidence and expertise.

  4. Using storytelling techniques to help your audience connect with your message on an emotional level.

  5. Keeping your presentation concise and focused, and practice your delivery to ensure you hit all the key points.



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5. How can Gamification be Incorporated into Presentations?


By leveraging the power of gamification, you can transform your presentations into interactive experiences that leave lasting impressions.


Here are five ideas for effectively useing gamification in your next presentation:


  1. Encourage Participation and Collaboration: One of the main benefits of gamification is its ability to foster interaction and collaboration among your audience members. Use gamification to encourage questions, discussions, and teamwork.

  2. Understand Your Audience: To create an engaging gamified experience, you need to know your audience's preferences, motivations, and pain points.

  3. Choose Appropriate Gamification Elements: Choose elements that align with your goals, objectives, and audience preferences. Remember, less is often more – focus on a few key gamification elements rather than overwhelming your audience with too many features.

  4. Integrate Gamification Seamlessly: Carefully integrate them into your slides, ensuring they don't distract from or clash with your main message. Additionally, make sure the gamification aspects are easy to understand and participate in, so your audience remains engaged and focused.

  5. Measure Success and Iterate: After your presentation, analyze the success of your gamification efforts by gathering feedback from your audience and assessing their engagement levels.


Creating an effective presentation takes time and effort, but with the right approach, it's possible to create presentations that educate, engage, and entertain your audience. Whether you're using presentation design principles to create a visually stunning slide deck or incorporating instructional design principles to create an effective learning experience, the key is to design your presentation around clear learning objectives and focus on creating engagement throughout. With the tips and tricks in this blog post, you're well on your way to creating presentations that leave a lasting impact on your audience.


Jeremy Triblett, Founder

info@jeremytriblett.com








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