The various merits of slideshows in the classroom have been debated for a while. Personally, I work with teachers who never use slideshows, always opting for a document camera or, depending on the day, the reliable whiteboard. I also know teachers (like myself) who rely on slideshows for every lesson, using them for the structure and clarity they can give to a class period. And of course there are teachers who simply use them when they need them. However, no matter where you may normally fall on that spectrum, a majority of teachers are now having to use slideshows daily for online instruction. Because of that—and for the sake of our students—I wanted to write down seven key elements of a quality slideshow (i.e. a slideshow your students will actually appreciate, even enjoy). Why seven, you might ask? Let’s look at the first element.
Seven by Seven: Visually, you don’t want more than seven bullet points on a single slide. (Even seven can be too many at times.) What’s more, you don’t want more than seven words for any single bullet point. Anything more can be overwhelming and, frankly, distracting. If it looks text heavy, scale back to six by six or five by five.
Don’t Image Dump: Just like too much text can be distracting, having too many images can also distract your students. If you can, don’t use more than one image per slide. This helps you ensure that your images are meaningful and relevant. Also, make sure to frame your images on the slide. Landscape photos are perfect “whole-slide” images while portraits are great against one side of your slide.
Align It All: Framing images (as well as text, bullet points, etc.) is appealing, even calming for students. Remember how you felt when the teacher failed to erase a line or mark on the whiteboard? That’s how your students feel when your text and images aren’t aligned well on a slide. Be courteous to your students and use the built-in visual guides and alignment tools when creating your next slideshow.
Create Visual Cues: Another way to be courteous to your students is by giving them familiar visual cues—section headers, main points, etc. Not only is this reassuring, it also helps organize and cement their learning. Some examples: key points in the same size and type of font, key terms in bold, similar colors or templates for similar topics and lessons.
Try Some Templates: Regarding templates, these can be a good way to keep students engaged. When used right, they also help make your points clearer and more straightforward. Trade busy, distracting templates for minimal, beautiful ones. Don’t be afraid to do a quick Google search for free templates, either. Websites like SlidesCarnival and SlidesGo have great free themes.
Abandon Animations: With animations as with templates, minimal is the key word. In fact, I would recommend abandoning animations completely. They’re distracting and, honestly, not as cool as they seem. (This goes for transitions, too.) Still want to incorporate something fun? Use a GIF or two in your presentation. This will connect with students far better than any animation anyway.
Keep Things Consistent: With the exception of alternating your theme occasionally (I typically change mine every unit), consistency is key if you want any of the previous six recommendations to work. Again, the goal of a good slideshow is to create a visually safe, comfortable, and recognizable place for students; this can help reduce their anxiety and provide visual and linguistic “hooks” on which they can hang their prior knowledge and experiences. Though it can require more dedication to create appealing slideshows, you’ll see its value if you can stick with it.
If you’re curious…
You can download my free dystopian literature introductory slideshow here to see some of these rules in action. I also have a great slideshow on 20 famous black authors that I use for all of my classes, and I have a Middle Ages slideshow template that I created when my students were discussing Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
Write with a Point 