Why Should You Focus on White Space in Presentation Slides

What is White Space?

White space, also called negative space, is the space we leave blank in a layout. It is also known as the breathing space. Most of the people are filling every space with visual elements and making the slide more complex. White space is a good thing to practice. It gives a minimalist look and more emphasis on the important contents. One more thing is that, as we call it white space, it doesn’t have to be white. It can be in any colour with a blank area that is free from the elements.

Why most people prefer Google as a search engine over Yahoo. Because, Google uses a lot of white space in its interface and the people can focus on what they are actually looking for.

Many luxury stores are also structuring their interior with a lot of empty spaces. This will create an elegant look and highlight it’s important products. Looking into white space in presentation slides, the popular real life example is Steve Jobs. He uses the advantage of white space in his presentations. Rather than filling all the content into a single slide, he split the contents into different slides and made them simple. It gives more emphasis to the contents.

Why should we care about White Space?

White Space helps in the following ways;

Create a crisp, clean, elegant and minimalistic look
Bring attention to what matters
Let the audience read what they need to read
Create balance and order
Separates and groups elements

5 techniques to improve the use of white space

#1 Increase the margin

Books and Magazines are great examples for this. There will be a good space (margin) between the text and edge of the page. This helps in readability. Sometimes, these margins in the presentation help the audience to make notes.

#2 Use images with empty spaces

If you add complex background images, the audience may find it difficult to read the text. Use images with empty spaces. This make the slide more simple and readable

#3 Leave empty space over a coloured background

If you want to add more emphasis on the text, use a solid coloured background and remove all other elements. Put the text on the half side only. By leaving empty space, the slide becomes more simple and the text gets its own attention.

#4 Use Keywords instead of sentences

If you add big sentences and read them again in your presentation, the audience will not hear you. Yous only the keywords in large, bold text that summarises your whole sentences.