Ask HN: What background to use for online presentation?

2 points by 2rsf 5y ago ↗ HN

As part of a "community day" I am going to do a short presentation, it's going to be online due to Corona and voice only due to bandwidth limitations (big company, terrible VPN, useless security regulations).

My company have a few suggested, but not compulsory, presentation templates but I feel that they are too cluttered for this case.

How wrong will I be to use black text on white background with no patterned or colored background ?

6 comments

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probably_wrong 5y ago ↗

You can rarely go wrong with black text on white.

For an example of how to make a simple presentation look good, the "Death by Powerpoint" slides [1] show how to do a good job.

[1] https://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint

brudgers 5y ago ↗

Is there something that makes this a battle worth fighting? Good luck.

partisan 5y ago ↗

This was my reaction as well. If you have company-provided presentation materials then use those. What benefit is there in not doing so?

2rsf 5y ago ↗

The templates are too busy and makes adding content difficult, especially when some will see them in lower quality over poor lines. It's not really a battle since no one is really objecting.

Jtsummers 5y ago ↗

Consider at least keeping a logo in a corner, or perhaps as part of a title bar on each slide or a few key slides (title, intro, outro, first in a section). It makes it seem more official (should be a minor thing, but can be impactful depending on the audience). When presenting to peers, my simple presentation slides were appreciated and accepted. When presenting to management or other teams, I had to make those additions or it was thought of as a draft or hastily assembled.

theswaagar 5y ago ↗

Its the details that matter. A small company logo on every slide, color scheme that matches the company colors, and not having things too crowded (a la Death by Powerpoint) tends to make things look more put together.