Extreme Makeover: PowerPoint Edition – Season 2

Extreme Makeover: PowerPoint Edition – Season 2 AIR Forum, May 2013 Mary Harrington, University of Mississippi Rebecca Carr, AAU Data Exchange Mona Levine, University of Maryland UsingtherealityTVshowasourinspiration,MaryandRebeccadecidedtoseekoutIRcolleagueswhoarefacinghardshipsandareinneedofhopeaswellasamakeoverofaPowerPointpresentation.WeultimatelyselectedMonaLevinefromtheUniversityofMaryland,andapresentationshehasgivenatconferencesaboutthebenefitsofchoosingorseekingoutnon‐traditionalrolesforanInstitutionalResearchofficeThesearethefirstfiveslidesinthepresentation.

Thefirstthingtorememberisthatit’sallaboutcommunication.Wepresentinordertoprovideinformationtoanaudience.Wewantthataudiencetolearnfromus,tounderstandsomethingnewordifferent.Iftheaudiencedoesn’tknoworcareaboutourtopicwhenthepresentationends,thenwehavenotcommunicatedanditwasnotasuccessfulpresentation.Thus,weshouldwanttodotakeeveryadvantagetomaximizethechancesforsuccessfulcommunication.Yourjobaspresenteristosell,tomakeapoint,togetpeopleexcitedaboutyourideas.SethGodinsays“ifallyouwanttodoiscreateafileoffactsandfigures,thencancelthepresentationandsendinareport.”Notonlydoesourcontenthavetobeinteresting,itshouldhaveanemotionalcomponent.Ourbrainshavetwosides.Therightsideisemotionalandcreative;theleftsideisanalytical.Themosteffectivepresentationswillengagebothsidesofaperson’sbraintoprovideinformation,aswellasinspirationandentertainment.

Note:Throughtherestofthishandout,thisiconindicatestheslideisanexampleofbaddesign,evenifthecontentisgood.

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Lay a Firm Foundation

1. Answer the questions: What’s my point? Why does it matter? Beforeyoucreatethefirstslide,youshouldidentifythemainpointofyourpresentation.Whatisthesinglemostimportantmessageyouwantyouraudiencetotakeaway?Thenasyoucreatethecontentforyourpresentation,stepbackandaskyourself,“doesthisslidereallycontributetomymainpoint?”Ifnot,considerrevisingandremovingit.

Thesecondquestionis“Whydoesitmatter?”Notwhydoesitmattertoyou,butwhydoesitmattertoyouraudience?Toomanypresenterssimplytellthestoryofwhattheydidontheircampus.Andwhilethatmaybeinteresting,it’snotveryeffectiveingettingyouraudienceinvolvedemotionally.Itismuchmoreeffectivetodescribehowyourexperiencecanbeadaptedbyyouraudiencetoimpacttheirinstitution.Tellthestoryinawaythatmakesitmattertotheaudience.

Select an “Architectural Style”

2. Use an appropriate template. AvoidPowerPointtemplates.Mosttemplatescontaindistractingelementssuchasbordersorshadingthatcandetractfromyourmessage.Striveforsimplicityandreadability.Excludeallnon‐essentialitems.Besurethatyourslidesdon’thavelogosorothernon‐essentialitemssuchasfootersanddates.It’sbesttocreateatemplatethatconsistsonlyofasolidbackground.Keepthefocusonwhatyouwanttocommunicateandnotonhowthatmessageisdecorated.Whencreatingyourtemplate,keepinmindtheadviceofFrenchwriterAntoinedeSaint‐Exupéry,“Adesignerknowshehasachievedperfectionnotwhenthereisnothinglefttoadd,butwhenthereisnothinglefttotakeaway”Choosecolorcombinationspromotereadability.Ifyouraudienceisunabletoreadyourslides,thenyourmessagehasbeencompromised.Ifyouwillbepresentinginadarkenedroom,thenlighttextonadarkbackgroundworkswell.Butifyouwillbeinaroomwiththelightsonorwithambientlight,thendarktextonalightbackgroundworksbetter.Selectasansseriffont.Sansseriffonts(translatedas“withoutserifs”),suchasCalibri,ArialandTrebuchet,produceacleaner,lesscluttered,easiertoreadlook.Seriffonts,suchasGaramond,TimesNewRomanorCenturySchoolbook,haveprotruding“feet”(calledserifs)thatextendbeyondthemainshapeoftheletters.Theserifsarebeneficialinprinteddocumentswithalotoftext,buttheywillbeblurredonthescreen.(Besuretoselectstandardfontsorembedfontsinyourpresentation.Ifthefontsyouusearenotinstalledonthepresentationmachine,itwilluseasubstitutefont,whichcanchangethelookofyourpresentation.)Usefontsthatare24pointorlarger.Displayingtextthatistoosmalltoreadwillcompromiseyourmessageandfrustrateyouraudience.Ifyouhavemoretextthancanreasonablyfitonascreenusingatleast24pointfonts,theneither:createanotherslideorshortenyourtext.Thefollowingarebefore,duringandaftertitleslidesfromtheMarylandpresentation.Themostvisuallyinterestingthingsonthe“before”pagearenotrelatedtothecontentofherpresentation.Theyellowdrawsoureyesdowntothebottomofthepageandawayfromthetitleofthe

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presentation.Ifcommunicationisthetransferofemotion,thenthere’snotalotofemotionhere.Thefontsizesarebigenough,butthetitlefontinblackisaseriffontthatisahardertoreadthanthesansseriffontinred.Mona’sstaffrevisedtheslide.Therevisionismorememorableandinterestingandonlyusessansseriffonts,butitstillhasacoupleofnon‐essentialelements.Whenyoulookatthispage,theturtleshellandthetitledrawalltheattentionandblockthepictureinthebackground.The“after”revisionretainstheinterestwiththepicture,butmakesitthemostprominentelementbyusingapartiallytransparentbackgroundcolor.Andbyremovingthenon‐essentialitems,thephotoandthetitle,whichhaveanobviousconnection,arewhatkeepyourattention.Thoughtheturtleshellisnon‐essentialbydesignstandards,itisimportanttoMonathattheschoollogobeshown.Whilebestpracticeswouldtellustoremoveit,therearetimeswhenyoumakeexceptionstotherules.

Before Revised After

Design a Framework

3. Use effective visual images. Researchhasshownthatcommunicationisenhancedwhenaverbalmessageiscombinedwithapowerfulimageonthescreen.Ifyouwantpeopletolistentoyouandrememberwhatyousaid,findvisualimagesthatemotionallyconnectwiththeaudience.Usehighqualityphotos.Manyfreefilesareareavailableon‐line(butpayattentiontocopyrights)andaplethoraofprofessionalphotosareavailableatveryreasonablecosts(suchasatiStockphoto.com).Avoidclipart,sinceitcanmakeyourpresentationlookdatedandunprofessional.Incorporatingyourtextintothephotopresentsamoreunifiedandvisuallypleasingmessagethanhavingthemcompletelyseparate.

ThefollowingarebeforeandafterslidesfromtheMarylandpresentation:

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Before After

4. For charts and graphs: Simplify, simplify, simplify. Peopleoftenwanttousegraphicsand3‐Dimagestomaketheirchartsandgraphslookfancy.“decorate”theirdata,wheninfactthosetechniquesactuallyobscurethemessage.Thisaloneisabigtopic.Thebasicthingtorememberisthatyoushouldsimplifyyourchartssotheyareclearandfocusonthedatayouwantyouraudiencetounderstand.

5. Minimize use of text. Rather,keepnarrativeinyouroralpresentationandoffthescreen.It’snearlyimpossibleforapresenter–eventhemostexperiencedpresenter–tonotreadaslidethatcontainscompletesentences.Peoplecannotlistenandreadatthesametime,whichmeansthatcommunicationisinhibitedwhenthesamewordsarespokenanddisplayedonscreen,especiallysincewereadfasterthanwespeak(Paivio,2007).Mostpeoplespeakat150wordsperminuteandreadat250wordsperminute,whichmeansifyouhavelotsofwordsonyourslides,peoplecanreadfasterthanyoucanspeak.Inadditiontothegeneralruleofminimizingtheuseoftext,youshouldalsousebulletpointssparingly.GarrReynoldssaid“Yourpresentationisforthebenefitoftheaudience.Butboringanaudiencewithbulletpointafterbulletpointisoflittlebenefittothem.”Ifyouwanttouseanoutlinetoorganizeyourtalk,keepitonpaperratherthanputtingitonscreen.Manytimesbulletpointsserveaspromptstothepresenter,sonothavingthemmakesthingsmorechallenging,butnothavingthemwillbemoreeffectiveincommunicatingwiththeaudience.

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ThefollowingarebeforeandafterslidesfromtheMarylandpresentation.Theoriginalsimplyusesbulletpoints,whicharefairlydry,topresenttheinformation.Therevisedversionintroducestheideaofnon‐traditionalmanagementinthefirstslideandthedistinctionbetweenformalandinformalloansinthesecond.

Before After

6. Eliminate the use of headings or titles unless they communicate the main message. Headingsshouldnotbeusedtointroduceoridentifythetopicoftheslide,thoughtheymaybeusefultocallattentiontothemainfindinginachartorgraph.Otherwise,theytendtoberedundantandshouldbedeleted.

98% of headers are redundant

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Redundant headers Useful headers

ThefollowingarebeforeandafterslidesfromtheMarylandpresentation:

Before After

7. Use animation, slide transitions, audio, and video sparingly. ..andifused,dosoonlytoreinforceakeyconcept.Noexamplesareprovidedbecausetheywouldbedifficulttoillustrateinthiswrittenformat.Researchhasshownthatwhenthereismovementonthescreen,theaudience’sattentionisimmediatelydrawntothemovement,thusbreakingtheirconcentrationonthepresentationcontent.Audiencesjudgepresentationsontheirinterestinthecontent,notonhowmanyfancyfeaturesareusedintheslides.Becauseitisextremelydifficulttoportraymovementinastaticdocumentlikethis,wecannotprovideexamplesofthebeforeandafterslidesassociatedwiththistip.

8. Highlight the most important information. Byhighlightingthemostimportantinformationandpresentingonlyasmuchdataascanbereadilyunderstood,theaudiencewilleasilybeabletodiscernthemainmessage.Slidetransitionscanbeusedto“build”yourcontentincrementallyandfocusyouraudience’sattention.SeeParadi(2009)foranexampleofusingbuildstopresentachartinPowerPoint.

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Amorefundamentalwaytohighlightinformationanddrawattentiontothatinformationisbytheuseofcolor,largerfonts,orboldface.Sincecoloristhemostcomplicated,thefollowingisabriefintroduction.Colorhasthreebasicproperties.Hueisthenameofthecolor.Valuereferstohowlightordarkthehueisandintensityreferstohowbrightordullthehueis.Thesequalitiesareindependentofeachother.Anyhuecanbelight,mid‐tone,ordark;anyhuecanbeintenseorneutral.WealllikelyrememberthecolorwheelfromgradeschoolandthattheprimarycolorsareRed,BlueandYellow,whichareorganizedinatriangleonthewheel.NestledbetweentheprimarycolorsarethesecondarycolorsofPurple,Green,andOrange.

Colorsthatappearonoppositesidesofthecolorwheelarecomplementarycolors.TheprimarycombinationsareRed/Green,Orange/Blue,andPurple/Yellow.Whenplacednexttoeachother,complementarycolorsappearbrighterandtheirintensityisheightened.Colorschemesbasedoncomplementarycolorcanresultin“vibrations” thataredistractinganddifficulttolookat.Asshownhere,themiddlesetismoredifficulttoreadthaneitheroftheothertwo.Thiscomplementarycombinationmakesthetexthardtoread.Analogouscolorsarenexttoeachotheronthecolorwheel.Generallyspeakinganalogouscolorstendtocreateharmonyorunity,butyoumayneedmorecontrast.Oneimportantthingtorememberisthatcoloriscontextualandweunderstanditinrelationtoitsenvironment(Bowers,1999).Inotherwords,anindividualcolorwillchangeasthecolorssurroundingitchange.Thesegreyboxesareallthesamecolor,butwhentheyaresurroundedbydifferentcolorstheyseemdifferent.Specifically,theoneontheleftlooksalotdarkerthantheoneontheright.Soacolormayberightinonecontextbutnotinanother.

Allcolorshavea“temperature”,whichreferstoitsrelativewarmthorcoolness.Thetemperatureofcolorscanaddanemotionalmessagetothegraphicandaffectshowtheyappearonthepage.

Coolcolorslikepurple,blueandgreentendtohaveacalmingeffect.Theyappearsmallerthanwarmcolorsandvisuallyrecedeonthepage.

Warmcolorsenergizeratherthancalmandappearmoreprominentthancoolcounterparts.So,aredcanvisuallyoverpowerablue,evenifusedinequalamounts.

Neutralcolorsofblack,white,silver,gray,andbrownputthefocusonothercolorsortonedowncolorsthatmightotherwisebeoverpoweringontheirown.

Tousecolortohighlightinformation,usebrightercolors,darkercolors,orcolorswithawarmerhue.

Curb Appeal Wechooseournewsstationsatleastpartlyforthepersonalityofandouremotionalattachmenttothepersonpresentingthenews,whetherthatpersonisDianeSawyer,BrianWilliams,ScottPelleyorJonStewart.The“personality”ofyourpresentationcanbeasimportantasthecontent.

9. Engage your audience. Regardlessofhowwelldesignedyourslidesare,thesuccessorfailureofyourpresentationwillhingeonhoweffectivelyyouengageyouraudience.Withinreasonandinawaythatfitsyourpersonality,bepassionateaboutyourtopic.Iftheaudiencecan’ttellthatthetopicyou’representingisinterestingtoyou,itwon’tbeinterestingtothem.Theslidesshouldservetoenhanceyouroralpresentation,letthemhelpyou.Bulletpointsarenotpassionate,notevenifthey’rehighlydecorated.

Complementary colors

Analogous colors

Not complementary colors

Complementary colors

Not complementary colors

Color is contextual

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Startyourpresentationwithabang.Didyouknowmostaudiencemembershavemadeuptheirmindaboutyourpresentationbythethirdslide?Ifyoubeginwithaheavilybullet‐pointedagendaandobjectives,you’vealreadylostmostoftheaudience.Instead,getthemengagedfromtheverybeginning.MonadidagoodjobofthisbystartingwithaquotefromRobertFrost–somethingratherunexpected.Itwasthought‐provokingandprovidedthethemefortheentirepresentation.

Besuretopractice,practice,practice.Youcan’tbepassionateandengagingunlessyouknowyourmaterial.Themoreyoupractice,thebetteryou’llget.This

approachtakespracticebecauseyoucannolongerdependuponyourslidestopromptyouwhattosaynext.Youneedtoknowyourmaterialwell.Plananactivementalbreakevery15‐20minutestokeepyouraudienceengaged.It’snearlyimpossibleforpeopletofocusforlongerthanthatwhenwearestrictlypassiveparticipants.Ifyourpresentationis20minutesorless,thenyoudon’tnecessarilyneedtoplanabreak.Ifit’smorethan20minutes,thenhaveyouraudiencedosomethingactive.Anactivementalbreakcan

besomethingverysimple,suchasaskingtheaudiencetowritedownananswertoaquestionorhavingthemtoturntothepersonnexttothemanddiscussaparticulartopicfortwominutes.

Createahandouttoaccompanyyourpresentation.Manypresenterstrytomaketheirslidesfunctionasbothahandoutandapresentationandendupfailingatbothattempts.Slidesshouldbedesignedtovisuallyenhance(notsummarize)yourpresentation.Handoutsshouldbewell‐writtencomprehensivereports,containingdetailedinformationsuchas(dependingonyourcontent)complexcharts,data,analyses,andreferences..Thisapproachtakestime,butyouraudiencewillbegratefultotakeawell‐writtendocumentwiththem,ratherthanjusttheirscribblednotes.

The Reveal Thefollowingarethemadeoverslidesalongwithnotesaboutwhatwouldbesaidwhileeachisonscreen.

WithapologiestoRobertFrost …

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“Tworoadsdivergedinawood,andI‐‐Itooktheonelesstraveledby,Andthathasmadeallthedifference.”AsItalkwithyoutodayaboutgoingdownthe“onelesstraveledby,”I’dlikeyoutothinkabout…

Whichpathwillyoutake?Hopefully,thispresentationwillhelpyouthinkaboutthatdecision,becauseitwillimpactbothyouasaprofessionalandyourinstitution.

Let’sassumewechosetotaketheRoadLessTraveled.Mile1onourjourneyisStrategicAlignment.

Is your institution revising its strategic plan? Is it considering moving to a new student information system or administrative suite? If you are a public institution, is there concern from the legislature about the level of faculty teaching? Think about how you might join or partner with the offices with primary responsibility for these initiatives. For example, our office built a dashboard of data for the strategic plan steering committee (which included external constituencies). Also we served as the functional lead for the development of both faculty activity reporting and instructional workload reporting systems, working in partnership with the Division of Information Technology.

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In a recent article, Gary Donhardt suggests the IR Office should expand beyond IPEDS and survey administration. Of course, you’ll still have to leave some resources behind to take care of those critical functions. But be brave and leap into new initiatives that align with your institution’s priorities. This can be scary and risky. Think about how you can adjust expectations so you can use resources to do what is expected AND what is important.

Three years ago, Maryland decided to join the KUALI consortium to develop an open source student system. I volunteered two staff members part-time to work on this. They started at 25% time and it eventually increased to 50% time. I first had to convince them that it had value for them as individuals, for our office, and for the university. They have become leaders nationally in functional development and business analysis. It has paid off big-time since the system is being built in ways that will enhance our data gathering and analysis abilities.

If you choose to take the road less traveled, it’s important to seek our strategic partnerships with other offices. We co-led the Provost’s Commission on Learning Outcomes with the Dean for Undergraduate Studies. We developed and manage the LO website and serve as half the Planning Committee. As a result we have become not only campus leaders, but national leaders in LOA.

We saw the need for more data on faculty productivity and were introduced to the Academic Analytics tool. But it was an expensive undertaking, so I worked with the Graduate School and the Division of Research, to gauge campus interest in purchasing a membership. We ended up sharing the cost….and ownership across the three offices.

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In this section, I would talk about sharing staff, inviting research staff from other units (Undergrad Admissions, Grad School, the Business School)into our office for support, entrepreneurial ventures (Stakeholders study), relinquishing day to day control, building on staff interests.

References and Recommended Reading Atkinson,C.(2008).BeyondBulletPoints.Redmond,WA:MicrosoftPress.

Few,S.(2004).ShowMetheNumbers:DesigningTablesandGraphstoEnlighten.Oakland,CA:AnalyticsPress.

Mayer,R.(2009).MultimediaLearning.NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Paivio,A.(2007).MindanditsEvolution:ADualCodingTheoreticalApproach.Mahwah,NJ:LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.

Paradi,D.(n.d.).ThinkOutsidetheSlide.Retrievedfromhttp://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com.

Paradi,D.(2009).SlideMakeoverVideoPodcast,3/29/2009.Retrievedfromhttp://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com/podcasts/Issue003609‐29‐2009.movon3/3/2011.

Reynolds,G.(2008).PresentationZen:SimpleIdeasonPresentationDesignandDelivery.Berkeley,CA:NewRiders.

Reynolds,G.(2010).PresentationZenDesign:SimpleDesignPrinciplesandTechniquestoEnhanceyourPresentations.Berkeley,CA:NewRiders.

Reynolds,G.(n.d.).TopTenSlideTips.Retrievedfromhttp://www.garrreynolds.com/Presentation/slides.htmlon2/26/2011.

Sanders,L.andFilkins,J(2009).EffectiveReporting(2nded.).Tallahassee,FL:AssociationforInstitutionalResearch.