Preparing Effective PowerPoint Presentations

Why PowerPoint Presentations ?

Why PPP? People may better understand what you are trying to tell them, Later they can reach the content and rethink You can reach more people The audience may get less bored You may better get the audience’s interest NÇ

Outline Why PowerPoint Presentation? Planning Presentation Components of a Presentation Content Design Text Visuals General Guidelines Bu slayt ta sorunlar var, bunlara dikkat çekmek için bu şekilde yaptınız değil mi?

Why PowerPoint Presentation? It is easy to prepare a PowerPoint Presentation and PowerPoint provides lots of features to enrich the presentation. For example pictures, animations, sounds and slide transitions can be added. A PowerPoint presentation presents the content you are trying to present for you. Therefore your load is reduced. Bu slayt da sanırım sorunlara dikkati çekmek için hazırlandı.

How do you feel? What is your first impression about this presentation? What is your first impression? Do you think this presentation will turn out to be an effective one? As a presenter, none of us would like our audience to feel like this. None of us would like to irritate our audience. These two slides were intentionally poorly prepared. Now Let’s start over and see what to do and what not to do.

Outline Why PowerPoint Presentation? Planning Presentation Preparing Presentation Components of a Presentation Content Design Text Visuals General Guidelines

Why PowerPoint Presentation? Easy to prepare Allow various types of audiovisuals Alternative way to convey information Strengthen the presentation Help audience to follow the presenter Simplify the recall of key points

Planning Presentation Study the content Decide the goal Know the audience Study the content: you need to know your content and ready for the questions. If the audience feels that you are not a master of the subject they will not pay attention to what you say. Decide the goal: a presenter need to know where the presentation go. Otherwise you will get lost among different topics and loads of slides. In addition your goal sets your design. For example the presentation will be an informative one you cannot use too much entertaining visuals and you will prefer a more serious theme. Know the audience: Due to the characteristics of your audience you need to modify the content and language. Age and knowledge level about the subject changes the presentation.

Preparing Presentation Impressive beginning Satisfying content To the point closure Impressive beginning: Try to catch your audience at the beginning. Remember the first impression is really important. Start with a question, anecdote or a fascinating story. Satisfying content: None of us want your audience to think that the presentation is a waste of time. A presenter should meet the expectations. Use anecdotes to connect audience to the subject. Use statistics. Support your point with other sources of information and examples. Don’t apologize for anything- if possible solve the problem before presentation. To the point closure: Summarize the key points. Repeat the main ideas. Refer to the beginning. Don’t stop suddenly make a smooth closure.

Content Include essential information Keep it simple Keep 6x6 rule in mind: 6 words per line 6 lines per slide Check the spelling and grammar

Design Use design templates for consistency Be creative Leave empty space on each slide Consistency is a key rule of design. PowerPoint provides design templates which I guess we all are familiar. With the new version of Office, 2007 PowerPoint changed design templates. It is easy to user them but as we get familiar to a template, the first impression of a presentation is a bit boring. For example when I see a colorful pencils template, I think once again, how boring independent from the content. To make a difference you can search Internet for free templates or you can create your own template. It doesn’t have to be a complex design, you can just decide on a color scheme and use it, or you can add a picture to a corner using master slide options. Creating your own template gives freedom and advantage to be able to relate the template with your content.

“It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters “It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.” Marcia Wieder This template will be related to contents like time management or work load but if you are presenting a theory of engineering it will be destructing than being complementary. The design template should be related to the content and should not distract the audience.

Colors Use a theme with a set of colors Limit the number of different colors in a slide Check how projected colors are seen For consistency use a color scheme throughout your presentation. Use a color for titles, another for text, other for emphasis but stick to them. So that your audience get used to the colors and don’t work out the meanings of colors. Don’t make your audience think about why something is different than others. Colors seen different when projected than what you see in your computer screen. Before your presentation, check how your slides seen when they are projected, test each color you used.

Fonts Prefer Sans-Serif fonts: Arial Verdana Difficult to read Serif and fancy fonts: Times New Roman Palatino Bradley Hand ITC

Fonts Stick to one font For emphasis use colors and font styles Avoid using italic: hard to read Try not to use underline: seems like hyperlink DON’T USE ALL CAPS All CAPS için örnek verelim

Font Size Font size: 44 Font size: 40 Font size: 36 Font size: 32 Using fonts smaller than 18 are not recommended. As you see 18 is even a small size for a presentation. How big your fonts be depends on where the presentation is. In a smaller room 24-28 will be enough whereas in a larger room like ours, 32-36 will be better. Let’s try it. Which font size do you think is easier to read? The best way the decide on font size is to try it on the actual place if possible. While preparing your presentation, you can move away from your screen and try to check the readability or you can print a slide, put it on the floor and try to read it. If you can read easily than most probably your font size is suitable. But don’t forget that the best way is to check it on the actual place and from the back of the room.

Font Color Use contrasting colors Dark color on light background Light color on dark background Red text Green text Pink text Contrast make it readable. Top examples are poor. Bottom examples are better. Using dark color on light background is safer since when projected the appearance of a dark color can be disappointing. It’s suggested that in smaller rooms it’s better to prefer dark color on light background and in larger rooms like this one light color on dark background is better. Let’s try it. I’ll show you two examples. White text Yellow text Maroon text

Light color on dark background Font Color Light color on dark background

Dark color on light background Font Color Dark color on light background As an audience which one appealed you more than the other?

Visual Components Use quality pictures, clipart and cartoons Prefer content related visuals Try to use same style visuals Limit the number of visuals per slide Try to simplify charts Check the projected appearance If not neccessary don’t use images. They will be distracting. Be careful about the copyright of images. Add the reference.

Graph Usage Can you understand the information of the graph easily? I guess not. Here is another graph. Is this better? The second one is read easily. Why? First the second is simpler. The scale is divided to 10s insead of 5s. The background of the second one is clear. The titles are written so we can understand which axis refers to what. Fonts are bigger. The prisms are more common and easier to comprehend than cones. If the exact grades are not necessary than no need to write them on the graph.

Animations and Sound Effects Avoid sound effect if not essential If essential wait until it stops to speak Limit transitions and animations

Outline Serif font Three different fonts Why PowerPoint Presentation? Planning Presentation Components of a Presentation Content Design Text Visuals General Guidelines Can everyone read it easily? I guess not. The first problem is the font size. It would be better to use a bigger size. Let’s continue with the font problems. There are 3 different fonts types and they are not giving any message. They are not needed, all items has the same importance. In addition one of the fonts is a serif font and the other is written italic and both are decreasing the readability. Then the entrance animations are distracting than being motivating or attention taking. They are unnecessary. What about the images? Most important point is that they are not related to the content and they are not consistent: one is a clipart while the other is a photo. In addition the clipart is too big while the photo is too small. These are what we should avoid doing. Italic style Unrelated and inconsistent images

Why PowerPoint Presentation? It is easy to prepare a PowerPoint Presentation and PowerPoint provides lots of features to enrich the presentation. For example pictures, animations, sounds and slide transitions can be added. A PowerPoint presentation presents the content. Therefore your load is reduced. Here is the second slide. The basic problem is being crowded. There are lots of things to be read and while your audience is reading it, they cannot listen you. And by doing so, you are letting PowerPoint presentation to take your stage. Remember that these slides are only a tool to help you improve and enrich your presentation. They are not the presentation itself. Then the colors are meaningless and especially the last one is not readable. Then why to use them. 5 different colors Long sentences Small font size

Alternate Method No template Maximum of 6 words per slide Loaded with image Little or no animations Rely on presenter To present striking ideas and topics or to impress your audience you can use that kind of designs but they are not that much suitable for academic presentations.

What are YOU Doing to OUR World?

General Guidelines Don’t read the presentation Use a wireless mouse if possible Don’t turn your back on the audience Limit the number of slides Spare minimum one minute for each slide Practice your presentation beforehand Don’t read the presentation: If you read everything on the slide aloud, you are not presenting anything. Even the audience don’t need you since they can also read it. As we have mentioned include the keywords and connect them with your speech. Use a wireless mouse if possible: A traditional mouse with a wire restricts your movements. As you are presenting something it is not recommended you to sit and block your interaction and communication with audience. Therefore using a wireless mouse lets you move freely and control your presentation. Don’t turn your back on the audience: turning back blocks and interrupts your communication. You are talking to your audience and you need to face them. Try not to turn your back. Limit the number of slides: Imagine yourself as an audience, how long can you stay focused on a presentation? Not to lose the attention of audience limit your presentation. There is not a specific limit but you can find your limit as you check the presentation. Spare minimum one minute for each slide: Don’t change slides too often. Let your audience to understand what is written on the slide. Practice your presentation beforehand: Practicing the presentation shows how long it takes. In addition rehearsal will reduce your anxiety during presentation as you will get used to the slides and you know where to continue as well as where to say what. Practice your presentation beforehand. You can also ask your friends and family to listen you and give feedback. In addition if you have a handout, there are two standpoints on when to distribute them. Giving them at the beginning help audience to follow easier-providing another media to convey information- and let them take notes is one choice and this is generally accepted. The other way is giving them after the presentation to avoid audience to focus on handout instead of your presentation. Due to your aim you need to decide when to distribute handouts.

References Etkili bir sunu oluşturmak ve sunmak için ipuçları - PowerPoint - Microsoft Office Online: http://office.microsoft.com/tr-tr/powerpoint/HA102078641055.aspx 10 Font Tips for Presenters - Using Fonts in PowerPoint - PowerPoint Font Tips: http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointtipsandfaqs/tp/080119powerpoint_font_tips.htm?once=true& Presentation Tip: The Seven Deadly Sins of PowerPoint Presentations: http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/marketing/a/7sinsofppt.htm Creating An Effective PowerPoint Presentation: http://homepages.csp.edu/saylor/Documents/CREATING_AN_EFFECTIV.doc

References Tips for Effective PowerPoint Presentations: http://www.cheney268.com/training/PowerPoint/PowerPointTips.htm Creating an Effective PowerPoint: http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/powerpoint.html Tips for Making Effective PowerPoint Presentations: http://kinesiology.boisestate.edu/kines442/tips_for_making_effective_powerp.htm Designing Effective PowerPoint Presentations: http://revitalise.ncsa.uiuc.edu/workshops/sess6/resources/Effective_presentation.ppt Designing an Effective PowerPoint Presentation: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/686/01/ watersecretsblog.com

Thank you for your attention and time. Any Questions?

PAULO COELHO SİMYACI