Using PowerPoint as a Presentation Tool

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Goals of the Workshop

• To familiarize the participants with the basic elements of PowerPoint

• To show them how PowerPoint can enhance a presentation

• To caution them against “overdoing” PowerPoint and overshadowing themselves

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Purpose for the Instructor

• PowerPoint is a tool – an effective and powerful tool

• PowerPoint presentations are quick to produce, easy to update and effective to inject visual interest

• PowerPoint use should make a presentation more effective and lead to the presenter's peace of mind

• PowerPoint presentations should lead to less concern about presentation quality and keep the instructor’s mind focused on the material

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Instructors’ Main Concern

• Instructors should be concerned with one thing – has the audience gone away with information that was in-line with the original point of the presentation?

• If people leave a presentation with confusion and wonder, the presentation has failed

• The worst of all is to have people walk away thinking that they’ve wasted their time

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Presenting the Presentation • Presentations do not usually have a problem with lack of

information – most of the time there is too much

• The biggest issue is the way the instructor presents the PowerPoint presentation

• Decide if your presentation is meant to entertain, inform, persuade or sell. Is a light-hearted approach or a more formal one most appropriate to the subject and your audience?

• PowerPoint can spell disaster even for experienced presenters. The key to success is to make certain your slide show is a visual aid and not a visual distraction.

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Purpose of a Power Point Presentation for the Students/Audience

• Effective PowerPoint presentations keep the audience attention focused on the subject material and away from distractions

• Effective PowerPoint presentations enhance the learning potential of the students

• And the ultimate goal should always be the student's comprehension –

that magic moment of "ah hah!”

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Match Design to Purpose

• Remember that the purpose of a presentation is to present information — not to overwhelm the audience with a demonstration of software bells and whistles

• Avoid the typical pitfalls of PowerPoint presentations by sticking with purpose, simplicity and consistency

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Content is the Most Important Part of Your Presentation

• The quality of the research:  The topic should be thoroughly researched, with a number of different sources

• Include only necessary information – limit the information to essentials

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Organization and Transition • There should be a logical flow from beginning to

end, like in written work

• Avoid jumping from one point to another, and be careful about adding information that is not directly related to the main theme

• Strongly consider drawing up an outline before you begin assembling the PowerPoint slides

• Keep colors, clip art and templates consistent with your main objective

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Grammar and spelling checks – The most important text characteristic!

• The most important text characteristic for effective PowerPoint presentations is correct spelling and grammar

• There is nothing more distracting than poor spelling and grammar in PowerPoint; even slang text should be kept to a minimum during PowerPoint presentations

• The message of the presentation will be lost when misspelled words and sloppy grammar ruin the content

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• The dilemma is easy to fix – initially perform a spell check on your presentation prior to delivering the material to the class

• Also have someone else preview what you have done – other people will often see clearly what you missed

• Avoid abbreviations, acronyms and slang

• Limit punctuation marks

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Font Type

• It is important to use a similar font throughout

• Changing fonts is incredibly distracting; the audience wonders what font will be used next instead of thinking about the current material

• Two font families is a good rule of thumb

• Select sans-serif fonts such as Arial

• Avoid serif fonts such as Times New Roman or Palatino as they are more difficult to read

• Avoid italicized fonts – they are hard to read quickly

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Font Size

• Font size generally ranges from 20 to 48 point

• Use no font size smaller than 20 point

• Use a larger font (35-45 points) for the title

• DO NOT USE ALL CAPS EXCEPT FOR TITLES – words in all capital letters are hard to read

• Larger font indicates more important

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Font and Background Color

• Be sure text contrasts with background

• Use dark text on light background or light text on dark background

• Generally, dark text on a light background looks more pronounced and is easier to read than light text on a dark background

• The combination that is easiest on the eyes to read is a black text color on a white background

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Font and Background Color

Dark backgrounds sometimes make it difficult for some people to read the text

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Font and Background Color

Avoid color combinations with colors on opposite sides of the color wheel such as red text on a green background

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Font and Background Color

Similar color clashes occur with blue text and a yellow background

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Utilize the Color Wheel

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Avoid pictures in the background if possible. A large, graphic picture in the background will steal the attention of the audience from the content material provided in the foreground

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Standard Rules for Each Slide

• As with any design, cut the clutter

• Remember the expression KISS: "Keep It Simple Students!"

• Keep the design clean and uncluttered

• Leave empty space around the text and graphics

• Keep unity of design from slide to slide

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Standard Rules for Each Slide

• Clearly label each screen – first slide should include presentation title

• Keep the total number of words per slide to a minimum

• Use the 666 rule for simplicity in design – generally, – No more than 6 words per bullet– No more than 6 bullets per image– No more than 6 word slides in a row

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No more than one graphic image or chart per slide is another good rule (excluding any corporate logo or other recurring element in the design)

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1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

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Standard Rules for Each Slide

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Use of Color

• Color can add spice to an otherwise dull section of text

• Color can also exhibit "moods" for the presenter – green is typically more relaxing, red and yellow are urgent, blue can be sad or relaxing depending on the hue, black can be a power color

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Slide Transitions and Sound Effects

A common mistake is the overuse of PowerPoint transitions and animations–

one in which the presenter animates each sentence so it flies in,

drops down

and explodes on the screen

with an accompanying sound effect.

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Transitions and Animations• Limit the number of transitions used.

It is often better to use only one so the audience knows what to expect

• Use a consistent transition throughout

• Transitions should be short and attention grabbing

• Do not use sound bites with transitions if possible

• Old text may be dimmed when new text arrives

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Graphics and Design PowerPoint is now so widely used the

clipart included with it has become a “visual cliché.” It shows a lack of creativity and a tired adherence to a standard form.

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Make certain that you need graphics to enhance your message. If you do, use your own scanned photographs or better-quality graphics from companies

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Graphics and Design• Use no more than two graphics per slide

• Use a chart or graph to present statistics

• Use quality clipart and use it sparingly; the graphics should relate to and enhance the topic of the slide

• Try to use the same style graphics throughout the presentation (e.g. cartoon, photographs)

• Check all graphics on a projection screen before the actual presentation

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Multimedia

• Pictures, movie clips, audio clips, etc. can enhance PowerPoint lectures, but use only one or two multimedia clips per presentation

• Text can be used to introduce the multimedia to the audience

• Never be satisfied with boring or inappropriate media - make your own if so inclined

In Conclusion….

Keep it Simple,

Students!