PowerPoint Learn how to use it….. b u t d o n ’ t a b u s e i t ….. Remember - just because you can do something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should...

PowerPoint What can it do? Simplifies development of a presentation Makes organisation simple / quick / easy Easily modified Lead a presenter through a talk Provide Cues / Notes / Outlines Provide links to other software

PowerPoint’s Strengths Full Page Slides Speaker’s Notes Audience Handouts Outline Presentations Changing Orders Cue Cards Pictures / Images / Graphs

PowerPoint Dos and Don’ts Don’t Overcrowd(6x6) Do choose background carefully Green BrownBlue Purple Many of the design templates in PowerPoint are worse than useless...

So design own colour schemes Remember: Contrast Black on White Yellow / White on Blue Simple Clear Keep motifs, schemes and designs constant

Text in PowerPoint Don’t Overload Text (Golden Rule 6x6) Use brief phrases / bullet points Highlight key points Keep number of words small Use graphics if appropriate Use a sans serif font (Arial, Tahoma etc) rather than Times.

Text Effects and Animation Can be useful to reveal something important or draw attention to something What does the animation add…? Or does it actually detract from the message??? How irritating is this??? Or this???

Don’t read from the slides Use bullets as a guideline OK to read quotes etc. e.g. Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime PM Tony Blair (1998)

Graphics Images Graphs Charts Tables Movie Clips Sound Files Animations Links to WWW (Beware - only for experienced!!!!) Links to other software applications...

Images Use clear digitally scanned images Clipart Remember - reproduction of images often leads to quality reduction PowerPoint good for schematics and diagrams But…1) Not too much information 2) Labels appropriate size!!!

Superimposing text over pictures looks very fancy on your computer screen but what does it actually achieve? Does it add to the effectiveness of the slide? Is this an appropriate use of technology? or is this a better way to add text to the image???

Preferred fruit of group of 20 children

Graphs, Charts and Tables Legends Axes Lines Shading Fonts Too much information? Overcrowded tables? Parameter X Parameter YParameter Z Is it clear / concise / appropriate?

Golden Rules 1) Keep it clear and simple 2) Check it thoroughly!! 3) Ask “How has (insert fancy device here) improved my talk???” 4) Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean that you should 5) Text 6x6