Planning a Presentation University of North Carolina Wilmington A Collection of Do’s and Don’ts C. R. Ward, P. J. Seaton, J. D. Willey

Issues to Consider: n Background and text colors n Font styles and sizes n Uppercase vs. lowercase n Quantity of material n Animation effects n Other technical issues n Some thoughts on organization

Background and Text Colors n Light text on a dark background is easy to read. n Pictures and clipart are hard to blend on a dark background. n Keep contrast between text and background high (not like this).

Background and Text Colors n For maximum contrast, use complementary colors. n Pastels are usually a better choice than primary colors n Avoid overly bright colors

This is an example of the sort of color combination that does not work well on a Power Point slide. One of the reasons is that the part of the macula that responds to blue light is at the opposite end of the macula that responds to red. Therefore, this particular combination of colors can set up a vaso vagal response. The vaso vagal response is part of the primitive nervous system that still remains. It is the equivalent of the “fight or flight” response. It can lead to feeling faint or light-headed, which could lead to vomiting, and fainting. Ask your ophthalmologist for details!

Font Style and Sizes n Sans serif fonts are easier to read when projected than serif fonts. Times New Roman Arial (serif font) (sans serif) serif n Minimum text size should be 24 points, titles should be larger.

Font Style and Sizes This is 12 point Arial This is 14 point Arial This is 18 point Times New Roman This is 24 point Times New Roman This is 24 point Times New Roman bold This is 32 point Arial This is 36 point Arial This is 44 point Arial

Uppercase vs. Lowercase n THIS TEXT HAS BEEN TYPED IN ALL UPPERCASE AND IS CONSIDERED BY MOST PEOPLE TO BE HARD TO READ. n This text has been typed in a combination of upper and lower case letters. It is considered by most people to be easier to read.

Quantity of Material n Plan for approximately 1 slide for every minute of your presentation. n Have three or four information points per slide, six is a maximum, depending on the complexity of the ideas n Have no more than 14 lines of text per page. n Use only one “graphic” image per page.

Too much data! /20/ na /1/ nd na /22/ nd na /31/ na /4/ na /7/ na /1/ /17/ /19/ na na /24/ /9/ /10/

SF 6 Fe Chl NO 3 pCO Day Lots of data – spend lots of time!

Animation Effects n Go easy on the animation effects. Animations can seem gimmicky and unprofessional. n If you use animations, keep them simple. n Don’t do this!

Other Issues n Reproduce tables instead of scanning them. n Use graphs instead of tables whenever possible. n Have an ending slide containing acknowledgements. n Include photographs if they clearly support your presentation.

Sometimes scanned documents look fuzzy

Organization n Title page n Outline of Presentation –introduction (including why someone should be interested in this) –experimental method (if appropriate) –results (if appropriate) –discussion –conclusion n Acknowledgements

References n Place the reference on the page that pertains to the data, figure or picture. n Abbreviate the reference so that it is easy for the audience to copy. n Include all your references in a list at the end of the talk.