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How To Make Your Next Slide Show More Entertaining & Interesting

Scott Bourne 04/20/2010 1

We’ve all seen one – a slide show that is uninspiring – even boring. The truth is, that even if you’re a great photographer, it doesn’t mean you’re great at building slideshows. Slideshow building is an art in and of itself.

Here are a few tricks that you can use to make your next slide show better.

1. Stay Focused

Pick a topic and stick with it. Don’t just do a “wildlife” slideshow. Build a wolf, bear, lion, tiger, moose, etc., slideshow. The more focused you are the more interested your audience will be.

2. Remember The Audience

Be sure that you pick a slideshow topic that your audience is interested in seeing. It might seem to you that everyone will like your photos, but it helps when the audience is interested in the topic. I do lots of slideshows featuring my bird photography. But when I show to birding groups, I get the biggest response.

3. Keep It Short

Better to show too few slides than too many. Leave the audience wanting more. You don’t need to show every photo you’ve ever taken with your brand new camera. Pick only your VERY best shots.

4. Tell A Story

Order your slides so that they tell a story. Randomly selecting images and dropping them into a slideshow will never be as compelling as a show built to tell a story or illustrate a point.

5. Add The Right Music

If you are telling a story, music can help set the mood. Have a light happy subject like songbirds? Then ominous pipe organ music might not be a good fit. Make sure to use legal music (Try Triple Scoop Music) and also err on the side of too little audio, rather than too much. Avoid gimmicks. Keep it simple. The audience will respond.

Slideshows are a compelling way to show off your work. Put some thought into your next show. Your audience will be glad you did.

_______________________________________

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Scott Bourne

Founder at Photofocus
Founder of Photofocus.com. Professional photographer. Author. Speaker.
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Categories: Shooting Tutorials Tags: slideshow

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  1. Selected from the web – May 6th | Neil Alexander, Manchester based outdoor, travel & landscape photographer says:
    May 5, 2010 at 8:56 pm

    […] Menschel – Tips from His Career in Photojournalismdiscount software | Adobe special offersHow To Make Your Next Slide Show More Entertaining & Interesting /**/ Related Posts:Selected from the web – April 21stSelected from the web – April 14th […]

     

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