Slide design tips: Black slides can help the audience focus their attention on you, the speaker.
To engage your audience add a black slide, or blank the screen. This allows you to step forward and speak to the audience without the light from the projector shining on your face and body. When we plan our presentation and arrange our deck effectively it gives is prompts and opportunities to engage the audience without them having to look at the screen all the time.
You should be the speaker, not the screen.
Either inserting a black slide, or blanking the screen, helps engage your audience and stops them from focussing primarily on the presentation, instead of the message. It can change the entire mood of the presentation when the speaker stops referring to the scree and steps forward to engage us directly. This type of slide design also helps us manage question and answer sessions more effectively. It is easier for the audience to engage with us when there is not a light show o the screen.
Ways to Black/blank the screen:
- Insert a black slide (a blank slide coloured black)
- Push “B” on the keyboard – this will turn the screen black. (Pushing “W” will turn the screen white – this is not recommended unless you plan to do a puppet show)
- Click the blank screen button on your presenters remote
Black slide power- tip for slide design
Richard Riche
Latest posts by Richard Riche (see all)
- Harnessing the power of psychological safety at work - 2 January 2019
- 5 keys to creating sustainable continuous improvement - 19 November 2018
- Using organisational voice to support Change Communication - 28 September 2018
