1 Basics of Presentation Design Kate MacDonald MCPHS 12/7/99

2 Designing a Presentation There are options –Go with the professionals: use the standard templates in PowerPoint –Do your own thing: learn to use the formatting and graphical tools to adapt a template design, or create your own look from scratch

3 Doing Your Own Thing This is great, but remember, there are standards (or your presentation may not communicate very well) Basics –Page Layout –Design Scheme –Type Style/Type Size -Color -Graphics -Special Effects

4 Page Layout Slide should be balanced between text areas, graphics, and blank or negative space Avoid common pitfall of crowding too much on one slide Plan slides ahead of time by reviewing content to eliminate extraneous, repetitive, or irrelevant material

5 Page Layout (continued) In reviewing material, look for frequent, logical breaks to the next slide Choose graphs and tables that will be easy to read and understand in a slide format Maintain flow over several related slides by repeating title with “continued”

6 Page Layout (continued) Don’t write a book! –Put only the major points of of key information on each slide Fill in the supporting information as you speak –Use notes if necessary –Physical “props” whenever you can To shift attention from the screen To add variety to your presentation

7 Design Scheme Overall “look”: background color and master graphical elements, text color and style Templates available in PowerPoint –designed by professionals –follow standard design rules for slide projection

8 Design Scheme (continued) Not all of the templates are appropriate models –avoid “jazzy” design schemes or vividly contrasting colors; can detract from the message –projection standards are reversed for printed copies of presentation dark background and light type will not print well for slide handouts or poster presentations

9 Type Style –Hundreds of type styles available: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 –Choose no more than 3 type styles per presentation for balanced design and consistency –Variations; use for emphasis or highlighting; do not over-use: Regular Bold Italic Underscore  Also called “Typeface” or “Font” »Shadow

10 Type Size Also called “point size” Should match the “weight” of the text levels –supporting points are indented and the type is smaller avoid making type smaller just to fit more text on one slide Balance the number of type sizes on a slide –not too small or too large –not too many (distracting) BIG

11 Color Note how colors are used in the templates (accomplished designers created them) General rule for slide projection is darker background color and lighter type; the original standard was medium blue background with white and/or yellow type (opposite of the print standard of black on white)

12 Color (continued) Limit different colors to 3 in one presentation Use different shades of one color to avoid an unbalanced or chaotic look Complimentary colors are always a good guide (the “color wheel” opposites and their related shades) Use color combinations that have associations to your topic when appropriate

13 Graphics Useful to Enhance the Message and Hold Attention Do not Over-use Limit to Same Style in Each Presentation –Cartoon –Illustration –Silouettes -Photos -Color vs Black/White

14 Use One Graphic Style

15 Graphics (continued) Copyright Laws –They do apply to use of copyrighted graphics in personal presentations –It’s a real risk –At minimum, be sure to cite the source on the same slide Copyright police

16 Sources for Graphics –Clip Art in PowerPoint –Your own Clip Art CD-ROM –Bitmap (.bmp) files you have on floppy –Graphic files you copy from the Internet/Web –Scanned images –Copyright issues may apply to the last three Graphics (continued)

17 Scanning Graphics Photos, Drawings, Cartoons –Originals should be high quality B/W contrast or sharp color –Text, charts, graphs, tables do not scan well –Consider copyright laws –Plan and schedule time with Media Office for scanning

18 Tables, Graphs, Charts Use Microsoft Excel –Spreadsheet program to create charts and graphs –Access automatically through PowerPoint Use Microsoft Word –Create tables –Access automatically through PowerPoint

19 Tables, Graphs, Charts (continued) Follow the same design/spacing rules for charts and tables as for text –Do not crowd a large, complex table or chart on one slide, using tiny type to make it fit –Try to divide the table or chart into smaller sections to place on separate slides If you must keep a complex table on one slide, have a handout for students to refer to

20 Special Effects These Work for Onscreen Presentations Include Transitions, Sound, Animation, Video Ask Kate, Emily, or a Computer Lab Assistant for Help if You Need It Be Consistent in the Use of Special Effects Do Not Over-Use

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