Diocese of Bristol | How to make an effective presentation How to make an effective presentation Press F5 to run this presentation Click the mouse to go through the slides Click to continue

This slideshow runs through a few simple ways to ensure that your presentations are clear and more effective. When PowerPoint became popular in the mid 90’s, people very rapidly got to grips with the potential. However, presentations tended to share ‘very PowerPoint’ issues such as overuse of clip art and text animations. When creating a modern presentation, it’s best to be aware of these common mistakes so you can avoid creating something which looks dated. Diocese of Bristol | How to make an effective presentation How to make an effective presentation | Introduction Click to continue

Diocese of Bristol | How to make an effective presentation Part 1 | Words -Use up to 40 words per slide -Bullet-point your information where appropriate -Be consistent with layout -Choose a few fonts/colours and stick to them Lining page contents up is simple to do and makes your information easier to digest. Your text doesn’t have to be left-aligned, but some form of ‘grid’ makes a big difference to readability

Part 1b | Words; things to avoid -Using a huge number of words is never necessary. If you go over 40 words ask yourself what’s so important to get in there because people will find it hard to absorb such a large body of information. I mean really, are you waffling? Perhaps you could do just as well to cut it down a bit. And if you find yourself standing in silence, expecting people to read a massive page of text, take a look around to witness just how bored people get when they have to read so much in a presentation. Have you read this far? Did you enjoy it? No. -Having no ‘grid’ system means your layout is all over the place. It may seem silly, but by simply lining things up they become much easier to read. -Using random fonts, colours and sizes to give emphasis always results in a complete lack of coherency. This page is a good example of how not to do it. Pick a few fonts (apart from Comic Sans, which should never be used!) and two colours and stick to them. There are too many errors on this page to begin to list... getting too close to the edge of the page, paying no attention to layout, fonts, colours, sizes... It all adds up. Diocese of Bristol | How to make an effective presentation

Part 2 | Animations -Animation can provide a subtle way to move between slides -Quick, understated animation won’t pull emphasis from your presentation -Play around with effects and timings to see what’s possible

Part 2b | Animations; things to avoid Nothing labels a presentation as ‘Powerpoint’ more than gratuitous animation Slow transitions with ‘special’ effects, clever word tricks and dodgy graphics don’t add to a presentation, it just draws emphasis from whatever you’re trying to get across And it’s annoying... isn’t it? Some token [and irrelevant ] clipart... Diocese of Bristol | How to make an effective presentation

Part 3 | Graphics -Photos and images are a great way to make your slides more interesting -Be aware of Copyright law – see for advice and tips on finding images Bristol Cathedral; Image created from 80 photos taken from a standing position, using free software called Hugin Diocese of Bristol | How to make an effective presentation

Part 3b | Graphics; things to avoid Clip art can be used effectively, but avoid ‘tacky’ images Animated GIFs or randomly scattered pictures won’t help you put across any particular point, and tend to be used more for novelty value: avoid like the plague Low quality photos don’t add anything to a presentation Background choice is important; if you can’t find a good background just leave it on white – that would be far better than this very dated, bordered example Diocese of Bristol | How to make an effective presentation

That’s it! Hopefully this slideshow has been useful; the templates and resources available at should provide a good starting point. A quick recap: Good idea - Use under 40 words per slide - Be consistent with layout - Use subtle animations - Use good quality graphics and photos for which you own the copyright! Bad idea - Clutter and inconsistency - Making people read pages of text - Comic Sans, multi colour words - Painfully slow or novel animations - Clipart from the mid 90’s © 2009 Diocese of Bristol