How to Make Compelling Presentation Slides For Your Church

This is a guest post by Dan Martin. For more info on guest posting on Christian Web Trends see Be a Guest Blogger.

With technology accessible anytime, a PowerPoint presentation is one way for church leaders to share the gospel with many followers. It helps them stay organized when they’re preaching the message of God. If the sermon is clear and structured, the audience is encouraged to follow along. 

Here is why you should utilize presentation slides in your church.

Benefits of Using Presentation Slides

1. Presentation slides have a quick and comfortable design. The tools are simple to learn. You only have to know how to do basic editing such as; creating templates, add and move slides, add visuals, use standard templates, and more.  
2. There’s no need for handouts. The presentation slides look great visually, and It is easier for a large audience to see. You can present it on a projector or a large screen. The church pastor can move slides and still maintain eye contact with his audience. 
3. It is easy to access presentation slides from any location and on different devices. According to joyofandorid.com, pastors can share their sermon online through conference video calling applications such as Zoom, Skype, Messenger rooms, and more. 

Creating presentation slides comes with its challenges, especially for church leaders with little to no experience at all in creating one. 

So, here we provided some methods to create beautiful presentations for your audience. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to do these. 

How to Create Church Presentation Slides Your Audience Will Love

1. Focus on Readability

When creating a slideshow, your audience is your top priority. Making sure that everyone, including the people at the very back, can read your slides is a must. So, you have to ensure that your presentation is legible anywhere in the room. 

We usually find that a font size less than 24 is too small to be read in most presentation scenarios. Experienced presenters don’t use anything less than 28 or 32 point font size, with titles usually at 36 to 44 point size. 

A simple way to know what size to use is by sitting at the back and adjusting the font size from your computer until you can read it.

Also, choose the best font for presentations. Classical fonts that would look good in your PowerPoint presentation include; Garamond, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Palatino, etc. These fonts are easy to read for everyone.

To adjust the font size from Google Slides or Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation, go to format and then select text. Choose size to increase or decrease the font. 

2. Decide on a Consistent Design

Regardless of how great your content may be, a poor design can hurt your presentation. Having one style for one slide and a different style for another can distract your audience. An inconsistent design will make your slides feel disconnected.

So by picking a consistent style, your slides will look neat, allowing your audience to focus on the information you’re conveying. You’re content will flow much better. 

Take your time and pick a theme that you will stick to for your whole presentation. If you’re making a church presentation, you can use a branded template for your slides. If you don’t have, create one for your organization. 

Now: 

Creating a design for your presentation slides can be troublesome and time-consuming. Good thing there are free PowerPoint templates from websites like SlideHunter and FPPT you can use for this. These templates will save you time and effort.

To choose a design for your presentation, simply select the theme and pick the one that suits you. 

3. Utilize Media Files

One study discovered that after three days, people can retain 10-20 percent of spoken or written information but retain almost 60 percent of visual information. Looking at thousands of words will make your audience feel overwhelmed or worse lose interest. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Use more media files, such as images and videos in your slides. Using pictures will give your audience a clear visualization of what you are trying to explain. It helps them understand and connect with your message more. 

Finding images on the internet is pretty straightforward. But remember always to avoid watermark or copyright photos as it will infringe the copyright of the rights holder. You can find plenty of websites to look for free images. For instance, Unsplash and Pixabay are a good example. 

To insert a media file to your presentation slide, select insert. A drop-down menu should appear on your screen. Choose an image and either select to upload from the computer or search the web. 

Your media files will also become more meaningful if you can create personalized videos for your slides. Including videos make people pay more attention.

4. Maximize Speaker Notes

Let’s admit there are times that we have mental blocks during presentations when we are nervous. It is normal, and this can happen to anyone, even you. 

But, when giving out a sermon, having this issue can make your audience lose connection with the message you are trying to communicate. So, there is no harm in having speaker notes that can save you during times like this. 

The Speaker note is a feature of a slideshow that only you can see. You can input here keywords or sentences that will help you remember the things you want to say. These notes can also improve your flow while presenting.

Note: You see speaker notes at the bottom of your presentation slide. 

5. Adopt the rule of three 

Sometimes when we create presentation slides, we overwhelm our audience by explaining too much content. One way to solve this is by applying the rule of three. 

At times, you can’t fit the 3 rule method in your presentation, but it is an excellent way to start. Fiction writers use the three model structure to create a flowing narrative. 

Rule 1: Introduction. It is the part where you grab the audience’s attention by showing them what to expect from your presentation. 

Rule 2: Middle act. It is the part where you inform and educate. 

Rule 3: Final act/ resolution. It is where you provide a recap or summary of the presentation. 

You don’t have to be a pro to create a compelling presentation slide. The minimal, the better. It goes without saying that church organizations that have a website can embed PowerPoint presentations there. 

Presentations can be used as digital media for their site or can be a reference for churchgoers after service. 

How to Embed PowerPoint Presentation from Google Slides to WordPress

Embedding a PowerPoint presentation from Google Slides is very easy. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1. Open Google Slides to the presentation you want to embed. Select files and then click publish to the web. 

Step 2: You should see publish to the web pop up screen. From there, select embed. Adjust the presentation size and then click publish. 

Step 3: A code will appear on the pop-up screen. Copy the text and then open WordPress. 

Step 4: Now, log in your WordPress credentials to your website and then open the post you want to add the presentation. Select WordPress HTML text editor and paste the code.

Step 5: Finally, save the post as a draft to review it. It should look like this. 

The Key Take Away

Presentation slides help church leaders keep their sermon organized and easy to follow.

It is easy for anyone to access their presentation from many devices in different locations. 

Your presentation doesn’t have to look so professional. As long as you use a basic and minimal design, you’re good to go. 

Hopefully, you’ve learned a thing or two from this blog about how to make compelling church presentation slides.