So, you’re interested in exploring the possibility of being a presentation designer. If you’re more interested in the WHY of become a presentation designer, please see my previous blog post.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Pre-Requisites
The only pre-requisite is that you have to have a good design eye. Some people have this naturally, others get it by working hard, but most attain it by a combination of the two. If you are already a graphic designer with experience working with clients, that will be a huge leg up for you.
What is definitely not pre-requisite, is having a good knowledge of the top presentation design programs. If you’ve learned the programs in the Adobe suite, you’ll have no problem learning PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides. Even if you haven’t learned Adobe but have learned other Microsoft Office programs, you will be more than fine. You’ll just have to put a little time into learning, but honestly, not a lot.
Starting
The best thing I did in starting off this journey was to find a presentation design mentor. I chose the stand-out presentation designer in the field- Adrienne Johnston. I can attribute almost all of my success to her and the program she developed.
Create Your Portfolio
If you don’t already have great slides to show, make them now. You can create a presentation for a friend’s company or non-profit, or even make up your own to start off with. You only need about 4 slides and 4 projects to present on your website to start off with, but they should be strong. You can add from there once you start getting clients.
Create Your Website
It’s important not to just add on a Presentation Design tab to your current graphic design website. You want people to know you are specifically a presentation designer so that you can be positioned as an expert in this one area. I suggest creating a whole new website featuring only your presentations. Get a new business name, url, pricing, etc. This will be every client’s first impression of you, so make sure it’s good. This doesn’t have to take a ton of time and money though- WordPress or Squarespace both work great.
Update Your Positioning
Next you’ll want to update or add your new positioning to social media. That will mean changing your LinkedIn headline and current role, and could mean creating a Facebook page and/or Instagram page for your new presentation design business.
And that’s it! You’re ready to get out there and find clients or apply to jobs now that you are an official presentation designer.
www.presentedbybri.com