PowerPoint Translation: Tips and Best Practices for Maximum Impact

Learn about PowerPoint translation for global communication, including its benefits and the steps to make the translation process more efficient.

Topics covered in this article:

• The Power in PowerPoint Translation
• 8 Tips to Design with PowerPoint Translation in Mind
• Next Steps: Begin Translating Your PowerPoint

PowerPoint is one of the backbones for information communication deployed by businesses and organizations around the globe. In fact, it is estimated that over 500 million people use PowerPoint worldwide. Since information shared via PowerPoint has a global reach, PowerPoint translation is essential to ensure that information is understood clearly in the language of your audience. Let’s explore the benefits of PowerPoint, along with steps you can take to make the translation process more efficient.

The Power in PowerPoint Translation

PowerPoint lives up to its name. From its initial release in 1990 through today, it remains one of the most powerful and widely used presentation tools available. The main benefit of PowerPoint is that it guides its intended audience in an engaging way.

If you are targeting a global audience, you need to be able to re-create your English Powerpoint to be just as effective in other langauges. This includes translating and localizing:

• Powerful and attractive graphics
• Text formatting capabilities to highlight and reinforce key concepts
• Accessibility of presentations across multiple devices
• Personalized video and audio
• Quick and straightforward editing
• Support for multiple learning modalities

Mastering powerpoint translation of these elements can significantly enhance your results, whether you’re aiming to educate a global workforce or communicate effectively with a multilingual audience.

Companies and businesses that want to have the most accurate and engaging PowerPoint translations rely on experienced, turnkey translation companies like Interpro for guidance.

8 Tips to Design with PowerPoint Translation in Mind (it’s all about the details)

Working with translation professionals gives you an edge, and of course, we’re here to help. The best way to kick off an effective translation project begins much earlier than when you send files to be quoted on and translated. When you first sit down to create your PowerPoint deck, follow these steps to ensure that your design elements lend themselves to a successfully translated presentation.

1. Avoid text in graphics

Graphics are one of the most powerful attributes used in designing PowerPoint presentations. Not only do they provide support for visual learners, they also help the audience stay engaged and focused on the topic at hand. When creating your PowerPoint deck, use graphics strategically. Instead of placing text within or over the graphics, use bullets and captions surrounding them. This design tip speeds up the translation process and, as a bonus, keeps your audiences from becoming visually overwhelmed.

2. Allow for text expansion

No one wants to view a PowerPoint presentation that is all text from top to bottom. Adhering to this design principle also pays off when it comes to PowerPoint translation.

Depending on the language, text expansion often occurs during translation. Meaning: the language you want the text translated into (the target language) requires more space than the original language (the source language). This sometimes happens when translating languages having different alphabets or character sets. Or simply the target language just requires more words than the source language to accurately reflect the meaning.

Regardless, it’s advisable to take this into consideration when laying out your initial PowerPoint content. By leaving more space around the text, translators can easily preserve the original design. Slides will not feel crowded, and it’s less likely that additional slides will have to be added.

3. Opt for more slides and space

In addition to being strategic with the amount of text used, PowerPoint designers should also think about the number of slides and the amount of space utilized in their presentations. One effective strategy is to use two slides to cover the same amount of content as you might normally put on a single slide. That way, the presentation layout will be preserved during translation. Additionally, this strategy has benefits from a pedagogical standpoint. Audience members will know exactly what information to focus on, without being unnecessarily inundated with content.

4. Graphics and screen captures

Virtually all PowerPoint presentations contain graphics of some kind or another. If you are using text with your graphics that will require translation, it is important to provide source files, allowing for that text to be easily accessed.

More so, screen captures continue to be an increasingly common feature in presentations. Our skilled translation and desktop publishing teams can easily replace the source language screen shots with the localized equivalents. You just need to let us know this is what you want done, and provide us with the target-language screens.

5. Animation

Another aspect of PowerPoint that boosts audience engagement is animation. Animation helps to make your presentation more dynamic, and the information you are presenting more memorable to your audience. Syncing animation audio and visual with translated content may be a critical piece of the project scope.

If an audio voice-over is included along with translated content, re-syncing these elements may be necessary. By re-syncing, the target language audio will mirror the on-screen animation. Our teams of translation professionals and AV engineers are adept at making this happen seamlessly.

6. Notes

One of PowerPoint’s most useful features is speaker notes: talking points that are visible on the presenter’s monitor but aren’t visible to the audience. They might include reminders about timing, key points to cover, or other information that compliments the overall presentation. This is especially helpful if multiple speakers are presenting the same information.

If your PowerPoint deck includes notes, you need to decide whether or not to have them translated. If the speaker is presenting in a foreign language, having translated notes allows them to stay focused in one language rather than pivoting back and forth from one language to another.

7. Links

Especially in cases where PowerPoint presentations are shared electronically with audiences, giving some thought to linked information is important. Many times, on-screen text or speaker notes contains links to external content. You need to consider whether or not this information should be translated (if it is not already available in the target language of the PowerPoint presentation) or left as-is.

If the links are not translated, viewers and students can be supported in another way. Our team suggests translating the phrase “English Only” into the target language and adding that after each hyperlink. This way, viewers will know that when they click the link, the information will be in another language.

8. Handouts

Presentations traditionally take place in conference rooms, classrooms, and other similar settings. Handouts are the perfect way to extend learning beyond the session itself. If you are including handouts with your PowerPoint presentation, consider having them translated as well. That way, audience members have your information to consult after the event.

Next Steps: Begin Translating Your PowerPoint

PowerPoint enables you to get your ideas across visually and engage your audience successfully. Partnering with a professional translation company to make your PowerPoint content available in multiple languages will allow your organization to exponentially extend its global reach.

1. Decide which PowerPoints will need translated and the target languages. You can find a list of some of the languages Interpro commonly works with here.
2. Review your PowerPoints and review the list “Design with PowerPoint Translation In Mind”. You might be ready for translation, but is your PowerPoint ready too?
3. Select a translation agency experienced in PowerPoint translation and cultural nuances. Interpro offers complimentary localization consultations if you’re ready to start translating but don’t know where to begin.

Incorporating these suggestions during the initial design of your presentation will streamline the entire process, and provide your audience with heightened awareness of the message you are striving to convey.

Other blogs about PowerPoint Translation: