What structure do presentation slides have and how are they constructed? You will learn this in this step.

Presentation slides should not contain too much information at once. Therefore, slides are usually structured to accompany a single step in the argument. How the individual slide is structured depends on the specific content, i.e. whether it contains text such as bullet points or visual elements such as diagrams or images. A slide should not contain too much text at once or too many images. If possible, distribute content across multiple individual slides to individually accentuate your arguments.

With regard to the entire presentation, the structure of the slides follows the content of your presentation. And depending on the subject area, type of research, and specific requirements of the event, the structure can vary. Nevertheless, there are some elements that are usually structural cornerstones.

Title Slide

The title slide contains, in addition to the title of your presentation, your name, your institutional affiliation, as well as the date and occasion of the presentation (e.g. the name of the conference, seminar or lecture).

Outline

Depending on the length of your presentation, it may be useful to provide an overview of the content of the presentation at the beginning, similar to a table of contents with the main points of your presentation. To give the audience additional orientation, you can show the outline several times, e.g. when a new section begins, to mark where you are in the presentation.

Bibliography

Presentation slides often also contain a bibliography at the end. Limit yourself to the most important sources, it does not have to be a complete bibliography. Also pay attention to a uniform citation style.

Additional Information

Depending on the presentation and context, additional information can be placed on the closing slide. This includes, for example, your contact information for questions, acknowledgements for funding or a QR code or link to further materials and information.

In the next step, we will deal with the design principles that will help you present this content visually appealing and effectively.