EmpoweringPowerPointCreating Effective Presentations

Most presentations

STINK

PowerPoint is NOT the problem

But….

NOT the paint’s fault

NOT the car’s fault

NOT PowerPoint’s fault

DesignGuidelines

PowerPoint should serve to illustrate yourverbal presentation

(Not replace or overwhelm it)

in short, use

BIG imagesand few words

Civil War (1861- 1865)

United States of Americavs.

Confederate States of America

In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln, 11 southern

slave states declared their secession from the United

States and formed the Confederate States of America; the other 25 states supported

the federal government.

Large, high quality imagesare dynamic

Pixelated, low quality imagesare not.

Never stretch or distort an image

So, where can you get High Quality images?

An image that is 1024 x 768 (or larger) will fill the entire slide.

Minimizing it to fill a portion of theslide should not affect the quality

(adorable)

www.Flickr.com allows you to search for images with no copyright restrictions

www.MorgueFile.com

Contains free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use

Keep your slides simple & clean

Don’t Use complicated

charts and graphs

(and PowerPoint’s built-in charts are actually pretty nice)

StuffThings

JunkWidgets

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5

Percentage

Percentage

20 Point Font

30 Point Font, Minimum

40 Point Font50 Point Font

Don’t use Illegible Fonts!

Don’t use Illegible Fonts!

Don’t use Illegible Fonts!

Word “Art” is unacceptable.(and the same goes for animations)

…and whatever this is

Don’t use complex backgrounds.

Remember, less is MORE

Pick a

color scheme & stick with it

PresentationGuidelines

Know your audience

Are they going to need to read your presentation later (like this one)?

Just speaking live? Use minimal writing

Know your medium

Thought

per slide1

Your slides are not your

presentation You are!

Stand up Straight

SMILESpeak louder than normal

Scan the room with your eyes

Wha

t do

you

do w

ith y

our

HA

ND

S?

Skip the joke

don’t rely on

notes

Don’t read your

slides

If you do, either you or your slides are unnecessary

*

*

Don’t go long

But don’t be checking your watch

PRACTICEPRACTICEPRACTICEPRACTICEPRACTICEPRACTICEPRACTICEPRACTICE

Handling Questions• Smile while they are talking; be attentive• Complement them and their question• If you don’t have the answer, admit it• It’s okay to refer back to your slides• Consider having back up Q and A slides

Back up your presentation

Twice.