Slide decks, the collections of slides you use to present, are the visual for your presentation. Each slide should contain the highlights of your findings with supporting visuals. The bulk of your content should be what you say while presenting, not what your audience reads on your slides. Do not just read what’s on your slides. Your audience will get bored if everything you say is also on the screen. Make sure your slide content consists of high-level points and visuals that serve as cues for you to to talk around..
This is a great way to put your synthesis matrix to work. Put only one main point or idea on each slide, and then cite the sources that talk about each main point on the one slide that talks about it. Avoid clutter on your slides.
An example from our synthesis matrix about positive reinforcement on dog behavior. The main idea covered here is Love. 3 of the sources included Love as a main idea. You can use the phraseology that you used in the matrix, since that is already in your own words. Don’t forget to include in-text citations.
| (Kay and Sylvia-Stasiewicz) | (China et al.) | (Pręgowski) | (Rosner) | (Tynes) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love | Dogs are living beings who feel pain just like humans. They deserve to be treated well (xi). | If you catch a dog in the act in the house, gently interrupt and move them outside (181). | Fear and anxiety might worsen in some dogs when punished harshly |
You won’t necessarily be able to cover everything you learn, so summarize the main points that are the most interesting. Less is more.
Use meaningful, simple, clear images to convey your point and make your slides nicer to look at. Consider finding a slide theme that enhances your topic instead of being just generic.
This rule isn’t hard and fast, just a guideline for the amount of text you should aim for. Still make your sentences clear and with enough text to understand your meaning.
Similarly, it’s a good idea to limit the amount of content at once through tactics like:
Typically used for photography, the rule of thirds is a way to break up the composition of your slides or images to make them more interesting.
Divide your slides into three sections horizontally and vertically, or a 9 box tic-tac-toe grid, and arrange your highlights where the lines intersect.
