Welcome to the new Creative Slideware website launch and my first blog post! My name is Caitlin Klein (Joyner). I am writing to you from North Carolina, where I live with my husband, daughter, and dachshund, and I am so excited to share with you MORE of what Creative Slideware has to offer on the topic of Presentation Design! The amount of information and visual inspiration in my head is ready to get out there. I wanted to start by telling you why I created this blog, what you will learn about in my posts, and my overall experience of writing a book and developing a website.
Why I started my blog
Since I started my book two years ago, I thought, “why don’t I share some of this for free?” It seems like a win-win situation: people get design nuggets that they can’t find anywhere else, and I can market my book, Creative Slideware. It has been a hot moment since I’ve had social media (five years actually), and it has been quite the learning experience turning that all back on and learning how to market my ideas in a way that anyone could understand. Until a few days ago, I knew little about all of the features Instagram offers. I never made videos and stories. I never understood WHY people wrote blogs. Facebook was a thing of my college days. In summary, I thought social media was a wasteland of time and self-aggrandizement.
I WAS SO WRONG.
It is a powerful communication tool and perhaps the only proper way to market a book on your own. After doing A TON of research and making friends with other authors and mentors along the way, who were kind enough to offer much support and advice, I have finally gained the courage to start a blog for the Creative Slideware website and found even more courage to begin to record YouTube videos related to these blog posts.
What you will see in my Creative Slideware blog
Presentation design will be the centerpiece topic of my blog. I will be posting free content from my book, but what is unique about this space is you will see a lot more of the behind-the-scenes Caitlin (me) and a mixture of lifestyles, including my family and how I balance this, my deep thoughts on how I see design integrated into other aspects of my life, tips and tricks for utilizing PowerPoint and Google Slides, and other musings I have related to professional development. Writing a book (for me) was as difficult as it sounds.
More technical things I will post about from my book will include teachings on how to:
- Infuse design principles into your presentations
- Construct storyboards
- Develop templates
- Avoid common design mistakes
- Wear the hat of an editor
- Evaluate and assess an audience
- Deliver aesthetically pleasing presentations
I never thought writing to be a strength of mine… by trade, I tend to see visual design edits long before I know what I need to see for grammar. I may be a bit opinionated in design and have lots of thoughts to share, but these things are also fluid and dependent upon perspective. Writing a blog about design is no different – I want to hear your thoughts on design, even if creating presentations is not a big part of your life. Most people have a unique idea they need to get out there, and in such a way, storytelling and presentation design are similar skill sets. That all goes to say, please share your perspective and communicate with me along the way! I hope to you feel inspired and feel that creativity is for you.
The book-writing experience
After writing my book, I wanted to act fast with marketing. Writing a reference book is not a fast task! It took me two years, but after writing it, thinking through the marketing strategy and personal business, it could support was also WORK. Building a website, even with the help of an offshore team, is also WORK. However, that did not happen to me. None of this would have been possible without faith, refueling my spirit weekly at church, and the Lord answering my prayers along the way. I must also praise my husband, Stephen Joyner, for his patience in this process. He has been my rock through all the ups and downs of writing this book, every worry, and every bump in the road. My daughter, Giselle, has the brightest spirit and makes me purposeful in what I am doing with my work. I also must express my gratitude to all of the friends and family who had listened to me talk about when my book would almost be finished when they didn’t have to. My cup runs over, and I owe all my thanks to the grace of God!
While I say writing a book is as hard as it sounds, it is also as rewarding as it sounds.
Paying it forward
It is important to me that I can give back through all of this, and while it isn’t yet ever-apparent on the Amazon pre-order page, 10% of my royalties will be given to a home that supports victims of children of trauma called River Hill Refuge.
Next up… the case for good presentation design.
Why should you care about good presentation design? Suffering through learning art theory to create better-looking presentations might seem inconsequential. After all, who wants to spend hours slaving over object placement, choosing font styles, or debating about indistinguishable shades of gray?
In my next posts, I will start to share free content from my book. If you are not an avid presentation creator for work or other purposes, learn why good design matters.
Thanks for reading my first post! If you are interested in attending my book signing party, connect with me, and I will share more details. Until next time š
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