Designing PowerPoint Slides to support your Presentations Pauline Simpson on behalf of the IODE GE-MIM Committee Ocean Teacher Academy Ocean Teacher Academy Communications & Outreach Communications & Outreach 7-11 November November 2011 (With acknowledgement to Dawn Thomas)

Talk Outline  Content  Planning the content of your presentation  Designing your Presentation Slides  Supporting your presentation with slides offering information and entertainment

No Technical Hints  Many tutorials on the web.  Paul Niewenhuysen ourses/chapters/present.pdf ourses/chapters/present.pdf

Presentations are important  To present or report activities or findings  To educate, train, teach people  To explain your ideas, work, activities, projects  To convince other people of the value of your ideas  To ask opinions  To ask for support, cooperation, contributions

The media (PPT) is designed to ENHANCE your presentation, not BE the presentation.  Remember, only you can prevent “Death by PowerPoint”

Presentation Skills Planning HANDOUT

Keep your Audience in Mind  What do they know?  What do you need to tell them?  What do they expect?  What will be interesting to them?  What can you teach them?  What will keep them focused?  Answer these questions and keep your slides down to the very essentials

Preparing Slides  Always takes far longer than you anticipate  Research – collect relevant material  Tell a story in logical sequence  Avoid making large conceptual jumps  Stick to Key concepts  Know your less important points – skip if no time  Clarity – unambiguous words

Re-Using Material  Always acknowledge if you have used someone-else’s material

Create your Outline  Take the time to outline your presentation before you create your slides  Create your outline by typing a slide title and bullet points for your main topics on each slide.  One topic per slide  Six bullet points per slide

Organization of Slides  Number of slides to length of your talk  Average to 1 per minute (20 minutes = 20 slides)  At least one talk outline  Periodic through talk if long  Clear introduction  Build a unifying thread  Have a good ‘conclusion’ slide (last one)

Last Slide  Use the last slide well:  Repeat an important message  Thank the audience  Ask for something (participation or comment)  Do NOT show an empty or meaningless, confusing or distracting screen

Software "Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely." Edward Tufte  Apple Keynote  LibreOffice/OpenOffice/NeoOffice Impress  Corel Presentations  Lotus Freelance Graphics  Lotus Symphony Presentations  SoftMaker Presentations  GoBe Productive  Kpresenter  etc etc  Latex only for slides with formulas

Software Versions Remember  Interoperability/ Compatibility  Can sabotage your slide presentation  Keep the mechanics simple (but not boring!)  Dynamic content particularly risky  Use your own laptop but setup BEFORE your presentation

Design Template  Use your Company’s template slide  Use official logo as is – do not change the colour  Many designs and themes offered as templates in MS PowerPoint  Or you can design your own.  Restrict the room your design takes up

I started with this almost blank template

Slide Area To fit on most screens:  Text and images should be placed within 95% of the PowerPoint slide area

Layout Consistency  Layout continuity conveys a sense of completeness  Headings, subheadings and logos in the same spot  Margins, fonts, font size and colours consistent  Graphics located in same general position  Lines, line spaces, boxes, borders should be consistent

Use a Slide Master  Gain experience with the Slide Master – it will save you time  Use a set colour scheme and font.  Different styles are disconcerting to the audience.  You want the audience to focus on what you present, not the way you present.

Background Use the Same Background on Each Slide Do !!

Don’t!  Don’t use multiple backgrounds in your presentation  Changing the style is distracting

 To make a slide stand out, change the font, background Or add animation. Or add animation.

ColoursColoursColoursColours  Use a maximum of three colours  Reds and oranges are high-energy but can be difficult to stay focused on.  Greens, blues, and browns are mellower, but not as attention grabbing.  Reds and Greens can be difficult to see for those who are color blind.

Avoid These Combinations  Examples:  Green on Blue  Dark Yellow on green  Purple on Blue  Orange on Green  Red on Green Don’t !

ColoursColoursColoursColours  White on dark background should not be used if audience is more than 20 ft away.  This set of slides is a good example.  You can read the slides up close.  The further away you get, the harder it is to read.  This is a good colour combination if viewed on a computer.  A dark background on a computer screen reduces glare.

The Colour Wheel  Colours separated by another color are contrasting colors (complementary)  Adjacent colours harmonize with one another (Green and Yellow)  Colours directly opposite one another are said to CLASH  Clashing colours provide readability  OrangeBlue  Orange on Blue Do !

This is a good mix of colours. Readable! This is a bad mix of colours. Low contrast. Unreadable! This is a good mix of colours. Readable! This is a bad mix of colours. Avoid bright colours on white. Unreadable! Remember: Readability! Readability! Readability Background Colours

ColoursColoursColoursColours  Large Hall Events White  Avoid White Backgrounds  The white screen can be blinding in a dark room  Dark SlidesLight Colored  Dark Slides with Light Colored Text Text Work Best Don’t

Fonts  Font Style should be readable  Sans Serif is the best (definitely for titles)  Recommended fonts: Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, Verdana  Standardize the font throughout Tahoma  This presentation is in Tahoma Do !

Fonts  Don’t Sacrifice Readability for Style Don’t !

This is a good title size Tahoma A good subtitle or bullet point size Tahoma 32 point Content text should be no smaller than Tahoma 24 point This font size is not recommended for content. Tahoma 12 point. Font Size  The larger, the better. Remember, your slides must be readable, even at the back of the room.

Don’t ! Font Size  What does this say? Garamond Font, Italic, Bold 12pt.  This is very difficult to read. Times Font, Bold, 12pt.  This point could be lost. Century Gothic Font, Bold, Italic, 14pt.  No one will be able to read this. Gill Sans Font, Condensed Bold, 12pt Combining small font sizes with bold or italics is not recommended:  Small fonts are okay for a footer, such as: Pauline Simpson OTA Communication & Outreach

Caps and Italics  DO NOT USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS  Makes text hard to read  Conceals acronyms  Denies their use for EMPHASIS  Italics  Used for “quotes”  Used to highlight thoughts or ideas  Used for book, journal, or magazine titles

Limit Each Slide to One Idea  Use Bullet Points to cover components of each idea  Use a maximum of six bullet points per slide  Use key phrases and include only essential information

Bullet Levels  Use maximum 3 levels of headings per slide  Level 1  Level 2  Level 3  People hate reading long texts and listening at the same time

Bullets  Keep each bullet to 1 line, 2 at the most  Limit the number of bullets in a screen to 6, 4 if there is a large title, logo, picture, etc.  This is known as “cueing”  You want to “cue” the audience on what you’re going to say  Cues are a a brief “preview”  Gives the audience a “framework” to build upon

Bullet Points Transition  Audience will read ahead of you

Bullet Points Transition  Audience will read ahead of you  Will not listen to what you are saying

Bullet Points Transition  Audience will read ahead of you  Will not listen to what you are saying  Fidget to get to the next slide

Bullets (cont.)  If you crowd too much text, the audience won’t read it  Our reading speed does not match our listening speed; hence, they confuse instead of reinforce  Too much text looks busy and is hard to read

Visualize  Instead of writing - try to visualize your ideas and message as much as possible. Use images and photos instead of text or together with text Particularly if you are presenting in a foreign language

Visualize  Non-verbal signals are so influential in communication  Impact of visuals on memory retention Retention After 3 Hours After 3 Days  Tell Only 70% 10%  Show Only 72% 20%  Show and Tell 85% 65%

Images  Have more images in your slides than text, if possible  But do not use images to decorate!  Images can reinforce or complement your message  Use images to visualize and explain  ‘A picture can say more than a thousand words’

Don’t !

Graphs and Charts Make sure the audience can read them! Keep them simple Mark the essential points with

Avoid using graphics that are difficult to read. Here: Bright colors on a white background and the small font. Don’t ! Graphs and Charts

This graph contains too much information in an unreadable format. 10 Don’t !

Nice line widths and good colours. Good Graph Do !

Charts and Graphs Don’t

Charts and Graphs North America Europe Austra lia Mode A Mode B Mode C Do !

Charts  Use 2- dimensional charts instead of more complicated 3-dimensional charts if possible

This is a good, readable table. Tables, especially large ones, should be placed on a separate slide. 4/19 Fri109NICMOS restarted, Ne-loop control continues 4/22 Mon112Change to mounting cup control 4/23 Tue134Return to Ne control, Filter wheel test begins 4/24 Wed155Increase control temperature to allow for +2 K variations 4/25 Thur165Begin darks every 3 rd orbit 4/26 Fri174DQE test visit 1; Control temp +0.5 K Do !

Graphics versus text Simple graphic replaces much of the text and makes a much stronger point.

Animations  Animation - comic or professional?  Powerful – explain & visualize complicated matters  Use to clarify a model or emphasize an effect  Can improve understanding  Use sparingly  Use to draw attention for example to your message  8. D ON ’ T B E S ILLY  U SE ANIMATIONS AND MEDIA SPARINGLY.  U SE ANIMATIONS TO DRAW ATTENTION, FOR EXAMPLE TO YOUR T AKE H OME M ESSAGE.  U SE ANIMATIONS TO CLARIFY A MODEL OR EMPHASIZE AN EFFECT.

Limit Animation  Use the same animation throughout the entire presentation  Using more than one can be very distracting  The audience will only see the animation and not the message you’re trying to get across ! Bam! Don’t

Limit Animation  Use the same animation throughout the entire presentation  Using more than one can be very distracting  The audience will only see the animation and not the message you’re trying to get across ! Do !

Transitions  Use the same transition throughout your presentation  Text, images coming from all directions - distracting  PowerPoint 2010 adds several new three- dimensional slide transitions with stunning visual effects, such as the gallery transition

Automatic Transition  To end on time you must PRACTICE  Automatic Transition can help you determine the amount of time per slide  Are you still within your time limit?  Decide if you want to switch off AT  Never over run your allocated time.

Points to Remember  Limit each slide to 1 idea  Keep Bullet points short  Use the same background for each slide  Use dark background with light coloured text in large halls  Limit animation – distracting. Be consistent with animation and transition.

PowerPoint is a Visual Aid  Simple, informative - but not boring  Colourful, but don't let it upstage you  Plenty of images to enhance your message  Justified by the content -- not too many or too few slides

You  Do not use the media to hide you  The audience came to SEE you  The media should ENHANCE the presentation, not BE the presentation  Proof read everything  Remember, only you can prevent “Death by PowerPoint”

Take Home Message  Plan your presentation content  Design your presentation slides  Practice, practice practice

Take Home Message  Plan your presentation content  Design your presentation slides  Practice, practice practice  Never, never over run your allocated time

Take Home Message  Plan your presentation content  Design your presentation slides  Practice, practice practice  Never, never over run your allocated time  NEVER, NEVER OVER RUN YOUR ALLOCATED TIME!

Questions?