Microsoft PowerPoint Successful Slide Presentations

Overview 1.Why we use slides ? 3. Readable Slides 2. Potential Pitfalls4. Memorable Slides

Why we use slides More convenient than transparencies or physical slides Reinforce key points Visualize important information Present visual arguments ?

Potential Pitfalls Projecting slides that no one will read Projecting slides that no one will remember Using good slides ineffectively

Readable Slides Typography Color Layout Style

Readable Slides Typography –Use a sans serif font –Boldface your font –Use type size of 18 points or greater for most text –AVOID USING ALL CAPS

Readable Slides Typography – Font Size Remember that your audience is far from the screen. Tahoma 32 pt 28 pt 24 pt 20 pt 18 pt 16 pt 14 pt 12 pt 10 pt TNR 32 pt 28 pt 24 pt 20 pt 18 pt 16 pt 14 pt 12 pt 10 pt Courier 32 pt 28 pt 24 pt 20 pt 18 pt 16 pt 14 pt 12 pt 10 pt Comic 32 pt 28 pt 24 pt 20 pt 18 pt 16 pt 14 pt 12 pt 10 pt Lucida Sans 32 pt 28 pt 24 pt 20 pt 18 pt 16 pt 14 pt 12 pt 10 pt

Readable Slides Color Use dark text on a light background Or use light text on a dark background Never use red text on a green background Never use green text on a red background Colors have emotional effects. This combination is known to cause agitation in audiences Blue and green backgrounds are more soothing Red backgrounds can have a similar effect.

The layout of readable slides Layout –Use sentence headlines on most slides –Keep text blocks to less than two lines –Lists Keep lists to under four items Use parallel structure for list items Avoid sub-lists if possible –Be generous with white space

The style of readable slides Include a relevant image on each slide Limit the number of items on each slide Limit the number of slides

Memorable Slides Presentation Structure Slide Content

Memorable Presentations Use organization slides for structure Introductory or mapping slides define the structure for the audience Transition slides signal shifts between each major section Summary slides reiterate key points

An example of a mapping slide Overview 1.Why we use slides ? 3. Readable Slides 2. Potential Pitfalls4. Memorable Slides

Memorable Slides Short statements are easier to remember than long statements Use grammatical parallelism to aid in the readers comprehension Images and graphs are more memorable than words or raw data

Memorable Slides Use short statements Edit for concision Use parallel constructions when possible Use graphics to present important points

Memorable Slides Graphs are more memorable than raw data Time (hour) midnight 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 noon 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 Normal (mg/dl*) Diabetic (mg/dl) Table 2. Blood glucose levels [Carlson, 1982]. * decaliters/milligram

Memorable Slides Overly complicated graphs might not be memorable

Memorable Slides Images are sometimes more memorable than words A tsunami is a big wave.

Using slides effectively Your presentation should be more than you slides. Don’t just read them. Use blank screens or placeholder screens to bring attention back to you.

Summary Use design elements to make your slides readable Use organization slides to give your presentation structure Use visuals for presenting important data and arguments Remember that the slides are only part of the presentation