Making PowerPoint Work Keys to effective PowerPoint slides Making PowerPoint Work

We’ll Cover … Presentation structure Style Colors Text Images Syntax Start and end with summaries Just enough detail in the middle Style Colors Text Images Syntax Spelling

Presentation Structure Start and end with summaries Tell them what your going to tell them Tell them Tell them what you told them Just enough detail in the middle Avoid reading slides Key points Reminders

Why Summarize? A good listener typically gets 70% and will probably forgets most of that Daydreams, distractions, noise Motivated listeners perform better Explain why they should care in opening Explain the importance in closing

Style Colors Text Images Syntax and Spelling When/where to use bright/dark colors Text Size is important Less is more Images Adding interest Adding information Syntax and Spelling Fragments are ok Break some rules Why spelling is important

Color Color adds visual interest Room lighting (windows, sunlight, night) plays a role. Use high contrast in general Dark text on light background (best for bright rooms) Light text on dark background (best for dark rooms) Projector lumens plays a role With enough lumens it doesn’t matter

Color Too much color The right colors Simple choices Don’t make color a distraction The right colors Like music notes, some colors don’t play well together Find good blends Simple choices Built in schemes are good

Text Less is more No one wants to read your presentation Limit your self 7 words per line is usually enough 7 lines per page Rules are meant to be broken Have a reason for breaking it

Text Size matters Use as large a font as possible Back of the room viewing Rules can vary with the size of the room sizes 18-24 may be too small for large rooms Bonus: large font means less text

Images Images add visual interest Include relevant image Clip art Graphs Aim for every slide Give the audience something to focus on

Images People process images faster than text An outstanding graphic transmits more information Is more memorable Carries more weight

We Covered … Style Presentation structure Colors Text Images Syntax Spelling Presentation structure Start and end with summaries Just enough detail in the middle