PowerPoint Tips

People Remember: 20% of what they hear 30% of what the read 50% of what they hear and read Pictures are worth a thousand words

Font 72 Font 24 Font 32 (default) Font 36 Font 44 (title default) Font 60 Think about how big the room is, don’t use font smaller than 28

Serif Serif fontNon-serif font

Titles Use titles on each slide to keep audience on track

Keep it simple Make each bullet short Make the font large enough Phrases, not sentences Try to fill the slide –Do this using line spacing (under format) rather than returns

Bad color schemes Red type is hard to read So is green and… Approximately 10% of European males are color blind Use simple and primary colors – especially on graphs

Dark on Light Becoming more common

Light on Dark Standard style

Avoid Background Designs This can be distracting

Do not fit too much on a single slide, as this can be distracting You do not need to write complete sentences. You should summarize in short phrases to save space-concentrate on your key points If you try and fit too much on a slide, your key points can be lost Fitting too much on a slide tends to be a crutch for the presenter, who subsequently relies on reading the slides instead of engaging the audience If you need to break up the slide and turn it into 2 or 3 slides instead of cramming everything onto a single slide

Outline Can use this as way to orient audience for longer talks Introduction Methods Results As move section to section can repeat outline, highlighting what section you are one

Humor WwWw w “The diagnostic computer says it’s in your financial best interest to invest in the companies whose drugs you take.”

Animation Rely only as needed Can be distracting if used often Often useful instead of a pointer For key points

Word Art