Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides Making PowerPoint Slides 杜佩璇 Vanessa Tu National Chang-kung University
Outline 1.Outline 2.Slide Structure (amount; how it looks like) 3.Fonts / Color / Background 4.Graphs 5.Spelling and Grammar 6.Conclusion / Questions
1. Outline Make your 2 nd slide an outline of your presentation – Ex: previous slide Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation Only place main points on the outline slide – Ex: Use the titles of each slide as main points
2. Slide Structure – Principles (1/2) Show one point at a time: – Help audience concentrate – Prevent audience from reading ahead – Help to keep yourself focused
2. Slide Structure – Principles (2/2) Word form: – Write in bullet points – Avoid wordiness – No more than 6 words per bullet points – Specialized terminology ( 專有名詞 ) Amount of slides: – 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation; – No more than 6 bullets per slide.
Slide Structure - Bad First, long introductions at the beginning are a complete waste of time, just get to the point, spending too much time on it is unnecessary. Also, never apologize for being unclear, skipping points, having difficult-to-read visuals, etc. in the end of your presentation. You should prepare well. No excuses! Third, it’s a mistake to get too involved in the details; You should put those in the handout, but not on your slides. Furthermore, quoting figures is not as effective as telling anecdotes and stories to illustrate your point; capturing your audience’s interest and letting them understand you is the most important thing. Last, if your want to build rapport with your audience, make it like a conversation, not presentation.
The Five Golden Rules You Must Follow to be Effective in Presentations Long introductions at the beginning are a complete waste of time – get to the point! Never apologize for being unclear, skipping points, having difficult-to-read visuals, etc. It’s a mistake to get too involved in the details – put those in the handout. Quoting figures is not as effective as telling anecdotes and stories to illustrate your point/ Conversation, not presentation – that’s how to build rapport with your audience.
Get to the point Never apologize Save the details for the handouts Tell stories Think conversation, not presentation 5 Golden Rules
GOLDEN RULES 5 Intros Apologies Details Stories Conversation
5 steps to make your own words. 1.Circle key words 2.Write down all the words on a blank paper 3.Use the words as clues to make your own complete sentences 4.Ensure the logic link between your main points. 5.Done!
3. Fonts - Good Use at least an 18 -point font Use different size fonts – this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point, and the title font is 36-point Use a standard and clear font like – Arial, Calibri, Trebuchet, Tahoma. – Not: Times New Roman, Sylfaen
Fonts - Bad If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written (Size: 12) CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ Don’t use a complicated font. Don’t use a complicated font. Don’t use a complicated font. ’
4. Color - Good Use a color of font that – contrasts sharply with the background Ex: black font on white background – reinforce the logic of your structure Ex: brown title and black text – emphasize a point, but only occasionally
Color - Bad Using a font color that does not contrast with the background color is hard to read Using color for decoration is distracting and annoying. Using a different color for each point is unnecessary – Using a different color for secondary points is also unnecessary Trying to be creative can also be bad
5. Background - Good Attractive but simple Contrast color with words Use consistently throughout your presentation
Background – Bad Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from Always be consistent with the background that you use
6. Graphs Use graphs, not just charts and words – Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data – Trends are easier to visualize in graph form Always title your graphs
Graphs - Bad
Minor gridlines are unnecessary Font is too small Colors are illogical Title is missing Shading is distracting
Graphs - Good
1.increase 2.rise 3.grow 4.go up 1.fall 2.shrink 3.decline 4.decrease 5.go down 1.soar 2.rocket 3.take off 4.go up dramatically/ drastically enormously/ rapidly 1.plummet 2.plunge 3.slump 4.go down dramatically/ drastically/ enormously/ rapidly 1.fluctuate 1.recover 2.pick up 1.stabilize 2.level off 3.level out 1.remain steady 2.maintain largely unchanged 1.peak (+ at) 2.reach a peak 1.hit a low 2.bottom out
Describing a Pie Chart
Describing a Line Graph
7. Spelling and Grammar Proof your slides for: – speling mistakes – the use of of repeated words – grammatical errors you might have make Check, check and check!
8. Conclusion Use an effective and strong closing – Your audience is likely to remember your last words. 3 ways/purposes: – Summarize – Give advice – Suggest future avenues of research 4 closing techniques
9. Questions? How to deal with Q & A session: – Invite your audience to ask questions (“Any questions?”) ; – Prepare strips of questions – Ask questions according to your presentation content to reinforce important concepts ( 可以用 a, b, c 等選項讓觀 眾選, 增加互動 ; 觀眾選完後, 公布答案或是表達自己的意見 ); Remember: – Don’t end your presentation abruptly – Provide a visual aid (p.27 or p.28) during question periodp.27p.28
Q & A (Sample) What is the main purpose of today’s lecture? a) How to make effective Powerpoint slides; b) How to convert Word to PDF; c) How to like yourself; d) How to learn English efficiently.
Q & AQ & A
Q & A session – How to respond? 1.Off-topic questions: I think that raises a slightly different issue. Sorry, I don’t quite see the connection. 2.Unnecessary questions: Ah, perhaps I didn’t make that clear. Well, as I might have mentioned / as I mentioned earlier,… 3.Multiple questions: I think there are several questions there. OK, let’s take those one at a time. OK, so I think your main question there is… 4.Hostile questions: I don’t have that information to hand. To be quite honest with you, I really don’t know.
Q & A session – How to respond? 5.Difficult questions: I’m afraid I don’t know that off the top of my head. To be quite honest with you, I really don’t know. I’m afraid I don’t have that information with me. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to your question, but I’ll try to find out for you. What are your thoughts on the matter? Hmm, I wonder what other people think? I’m afraid I’m not in a position to answer this question. / I’m afraid that’s not my field. I’ll find out. Can I get back to you on that? So, if I understood you correctly, you would like to know whether …. I’m sorry, could you repeat your question, please?
Q & A session – How to respond? 6.Good questions: Good point. That’s a very good question. I’m glad you ask me that. Ah, yes, thank you for reminding me.
Thank You! “This is the end of my presentation. I hope all of you enjoy my speech, thank you!”