---
title: "Presentations II: Designing"
course: "COMM 180 · Communicate at work"
unit: "Professional and digital communication"
lesson: 33 of 44
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/communicate-at-work/presentations-ii-designing
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Presentations II: Designing

Lesson 33 of 44 in **Communicate at work** (COMM 180), unit "Professional and digital communication". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Apply a high signal-to-noise ratio—minimal text, whitespace, and clear visual hierarchy—so each slide is easy to read using Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity (CRAP) Design Principles and the Pyramid Principle.
- Maintain consistency and coherence through a unified layout, fonts, and a limited color palette, for example in Google Slides.
- Improve slide accessibility using legible fonts, strong contrast, color-blind-safe combinations, and labeled or alt-texted visuals.
- Use AI to draft or rewrite slide text and generate images, such as Gemini in Google Slides, then verify readability, consistency, and accessibility before keeping the output.

## Teaching notes
Keep the focus on communication, not software menus. Have learners simplify a cluttered slide and check it for contrast, color-blind-safe color choices, and readable hierarchy. If learners use AI to draft text or generate images (for example, Gemini in Slides), have them verify readability, consistency, and accessibility before keeping it.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 33 complete: Presentations II: Designing."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Presentations III: Using visuals and data on slides" (lesson 34 of 44), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/communicate-at-work/presentations-iii-using-visuals-and-data-on-slides.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Presentations I: Planning
Next lesson: Presentations III: Using visuals and data on slides