How To Brief And Feedback To A Presentation Designer
If you’re a creative or a visual person, you might be able to envision how you want a presentation design to look. If you’re not, you possibly have no idea what to expect.
Either way, we work from the information you give us. And in case you were wondering, ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ isn’t a valid design brief! Seriously though, as presentation designers, a defined brief helps us to create what you want or are visualising to your satisfaction.
Unless you really have no expectations and will be delighted with whatever we produce, the more information you can give us, the better. A poorly articulated design brief will result in your PowerPoint presentation designer giving you what they understand you want. And that might not be what you actually want. So, if in doubt, ask us!
Why we need feedback as well as an initial brief for your presentation design
It sometimes happens that clients give us briefs where they’ve missed out some vital information. We will always do our best to read between the lines and ask the questions we think are important. However, we’re not mind readers. If we create something that just ‘isn’t quite right’, with the proper feedback we can fix it for you. Again, we’ll need the right information to be able to do this, though.
There are times when clients are frustrated because they think we didn’t understand what they wanted – and therefore think we’re not up to the job they’ve asked us to do. In reality, it’s probably just a lack of communication that’s led the designer down a different route to the one the client was expecting.
When this happens, it’s easy for the client to think the designer doesn’t know what they’re doing so there’s no point asking them to make any changes. In fact, this is exactly when we need proper feedback. Too often clients take it upon themselves to ‘fix’ the design themselves. This is rarely a good idea. And not least because you’ve paid for a couple of rounds of edits anyway!
Developing a great relationship with your presentation designer
With the right input, before and during the design of a presentation or other assets, we can create something even better than you’d anticipated. We don’t just stick your logo and a few images on some slides. We convey your message in a succinct, impactful way. It’ll be consistent, look great, and designed to create the outcome you’re looking for.
When you want to win a lucrative contract or impart important information in a meaningful way for example, a presentation designer can give you a huge advantage. To do that properly, we need a certain amount of information. From that point of view it’s a collaborative process - even though we don’t expect you to help us with the design itself.
Ways you can communicate a brief with your presentation designer
With words
You can talk to us and describe what you think you need and give us all the background you have on your project. You can send us any written information that would help us too. This could range from something you’ve written to any written marketing collateral, briefing documents, competitor presentations, or other relevant information.
With images
Your past presentations will often give us a great idea of what you are trying to achieve. We’re masters at taking a concept and improving and enhancing it. You can send us Pinterest boards, screenshots, decks you have – whatever visual references you can give us to help bridge the gaps between your ideas and our understanding of them.
How to brief a presentation designer
These are some of the things we need to know to make the design process as productive as possible:
What’s the goal of your presentation?
Who is it for?
What’s the tone or style you’re aiming for?
Do you have brand guidelines you can share with us?
Are there presentations that you like you can share (yours or others)?
What content is already locked in, and what’s flexible?
Knowing these things – and anything else that could make a difference to the outcome – means we’re more likely to get it right first time.
What sort of feedback do presentation designers need?
Good feedback will improve our work. If we don’t know what is or isn’t working for you, or why, it’s very hard to change anything to get it right. If you’re unhappy with what we’ve produced, it’s important you tell us so we can fix it. The worst thing you can do is to start trying to edit it yourself. This will compound problems rather than solve them. And we need constructive feedback that tells us what’s needed, not to be shouted at.
Be specific
Saying you don’t like something is fine – but it’s not enough. We can’t fix something if we don’t know what’s broken. So, for example, if you don’t like a slide because it feels too ‘crowded’ or is too simplistic, tell us. If you can say why you think that matters to your audience, even better.
Reference something visual
If you can point us in the direction of something you do like, we can work with that. So, for example, if you don’t like some or all of the presentation we deliver, but you did like the layout of another one - or even a different part of the new one - show us.
Give us something to work with
Maybe you want a slide to be ‘more dynamic’ or ‘punchier’. This sort of feedback is open to interpretation. Maybe you mean it needs some animation, more contrast, some colour, larger fonts, more images, less text… Without any real context or direction, we can only guess – and that can lead to changes that don’t align with what you really mean.
Acknowledge what is working
We can learn a lot from understanding what you do like – so don’t be afraid to tell us. We can often work out what direction to take things in from that too. If you’re happy with the design but not the messaging, or vice versa, we can concentrate on the elements that need really editing.
Don’t pretend it’s fine when it’s not
If you’re unhappy with what we’ve produced, we want the option to make the necessary changes. You or another designing editing the slides will lead to all sorts of issues. No feedback leads to frustration on both sides.
Good feedback improves our work – and our relationship
We won’t take good, well-intentioned feedback personally. We are here to do the best possible job for you. Make sure you prioritise what matters and let us know what needs changing as soon as you can. You can give us feedback on a call, through in-document comments, or even a video walk-through: whatever’s best for how you work.
Getting the right feedback from outset of our relationship means we’ll be in tune with your needs and expectations more quickly. And that’s good news for both of us.
Help us deliver what you want
At power your point we take our clients’ needs and expectations very seriously. We aim to create a lasting relationship that helps you build your business – and great briefs and feedback are integral to this. As a presentation-design company based in London we’ve seen a lot! Let’s work together to make sure your presentation designs really are the best they can be. Please get in touch – we’d love to learn more about you and how we can help.