PowerPoint Presentation Tips & Tricks USD 261 Leadership Academy 2006-07 Lisa Cundiff

Getting Started Start with the end in mind Use the ‘slide master’ feature for consistency (View>Master>Slide Master) What do you want to accomplish? What are the main points you wish to make? View>Master>Slide Master

Assume 72 point fonts are 1" high Font size: Before you start to prepare your presentation, determine (guess) how far your audience will be from your screen, then choose the best font size. Use the “sign painter's” rule of thumb: 1" letter is readable from 10 ft. 2" letter from 20 ft. 3" letter from 30 ft. Assume 72 point fonts are 1" high Font sizes: 18, 28, 72 Use the "floor test" for readability. Print out a slide containing text, then place the page on the floor. Can you read the slide from a standing position? If yes, then your audience can likely read it from their seats.

Color Selection DON'T use dark fonts on dark backgrounds or light fonts on light backgrounds. DON'T use dark backgrounds in a poorly-lit room or light backgrounds in a well-lit room. It's hard to read off such backgrounds. Be careful about using reds and greens because they can be difficult to see--especially if you are colorblind! Reds and greens. Ambient light affects contrast by turning rich, deep burgundys and hunter greens into pastels. There's also the colorblindness issue, about 10% have difficulty with reds and greens. 1 in 10 men are colorblind

Text Use text sparingly Use a maximum of six points per slide and six words per point. Remember, if your audience is concentrating on written text, they are most likely not giving you their complete attention. Your audience will try to read the slide Don’t forget to read the small print. There might be some important information. Never mind what the speaker is saying. Maybe the text is redundant, but you won’t know unless you read it. Forget this; when is lunch? On the other hand, if I type everything, I won’t have to memorize anything, so I can just glance up here and read it blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc…and so on and so forth……….

Minimize or avoid animated texts, sounds, and fancy transitions. Too Much! Minimize or avoid animated texts, sounds, and fancy transitions. These can be effective in certain situations, but often distract your audience from the main points you are making.

FOCUS – PLAN – PRACTICE FOCUS on the main point(s) you want to make. PLAN  the layout of your presentation. Does everything fit together? PRACTICE  your entire presentation at least once before you present it to your audience. Most helpful is projecting your presentation onto a screen, in order to see exactly how your audience will view it.  If possible, have someone watch and listen, then ask questions about anything that they find unclear--rather face a difficult question from one person than in front of an audience!

Give Credit Where Credit is Due! http://www.anandnatrajan.com/FAQs/powerpoint.html http://www.microsoft.com/office/previous/xp/columns/column08.asp http://people.csp.edu/saylor/effective_powerpoint.htm http://www.roadtools.com/tips.html http://landmark-project.com/permission1.php

The Total Communicator 10 of the Most Common Mistakes Presenters Make http://totalcommunicator.com/

PowerPoint Presenter Tools

Other Presentation Resources Presentation Tips: http://www.garrreynolds.com/Presentation/index.html

Other Presentation Resources Hundreds of K-12 PowerPoint presentations and interactive games organized… by grade level: http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-la.html and by subject area: http://jc-schools.net/ppt.html

PowerPoint Templates: Other Presentation Resources PowerPoint Templates: http://www.soniacoleman.com/templates.htm

Please call or e-mail me with any questions you may have! Thank You… ….for your time and attention! Please call or e-mail me with any questions you may have! lcundiff@usd261.com 316-554-2205