Making PowerPoint Slides Avoiding Bad Slides

What are we learning about? Lesson Objectives Presenting Skills PowerPoint Tips Questions

Presenting Skills Avoid reading the presentation -The text should be a cue for the presenter Give a brief overview first Present the information next Conclude by reviewing important points

Presenting Skills More Look presentable Project your voice Be energetic, walk around Make eye contact Involve your audience

PowerPoint Tips Outlines Slide Structure Fonts Color Background Spelling & Grammar Conclusions Questions

Outline Make your 2nd slide an outline of your presentation Ex: previous slide Only place main points on the outline slide Ex: Use your main points as the titles of each slide Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation

Slide Structure – Good Show one point at a time Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases Follow the 7 by 7 Rule Include an idea per slide Use visuals that represent your points

Slide Structure - Bad This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

Fonts - Good Use at least a 24-point font Use different size fonts for main points and secondary points this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point, and the title font is 36-point Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial

Fonts - Bad Don’t use a complicated font If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ

Color - Good Use a color of font that contrasts sharply with the background Ex: blue font on white background Use color to reinforce the logic of your structure Ex: light blue title and dark blue text Use color to emphasize a point But only use this occasionally

Color - Bad A font color that does not contrast with the background color is hard to read Color for decoration is distracting and annoying A different color for each point is unnecessary Trying to be creative can also be bad

Background - Good Use backgrounds such as this one that are attractive but simple Use backgrounds which are light Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation

Background – Bad Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from Avoid distracting animation

Spelling and Grammar Proof your slides for: speling mistakes the use of of repeated words grammatical errors you might have make

Conclusion Avoid ending a presentation abruptly Use a strong closing summarizing the main points

Questions? End your presentation with a question slide to invite your audience to ask questions For more tips on PowerPoint go on to www.office.microsoft.com 1-Click on the Help and How-To Tab 2-Choose Training for the left side 3-Select Office 2003 or 2007 PowerPoint 4-Take the training courses available online

References www.office.microsoft.com www.theteacherscorner.net http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/skills/oral.htm http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadpres.html Professor Teachers CD, Microsoft 2003 Mavis Beacon Teaches Microsoft Office CD-School Edition, 2005, Riverdeep Interactive Learning Technology Applications-Level 1, 2004, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Pearson Prentice Hall

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“Please never settle for less than you can be.” -- Anthony Robbins