1. Making PowerPoint Slides
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides

2. Tips to be Covered Outlines Slide Structure Fonts Colour Background
Graphs
Spelling and Grammar
Conclusions
Questions

3. Outline Make your 1st or 2nd slide an outline of your presentation
Ex: previous slide
Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation
Only place main points on the outline slide
Ex: Use the titles of each slide as main points

4. Slide Structure – Good Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation
Write in point form, not complete sentences
Include 4-5 points per slide
Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases only

5. 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.

6. Slide Structure – Good Show one point at a time:
Will help audience concentrate on what you are saying
Will prevent audience from reading ahead
Will help you keep your presentation focused

7. Slide Structure - Bad Do not use distracting animation
Do not go overboard with the animation
Be consistent with the animation that you use

8. Fonts - Good Use at least an 18-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

9. Fonts - Bad CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ
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
Don’t use a complicated font

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

11. Colour - Bad
Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read
Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying.
Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary
Using a different colour for secondary points is also unnecessary
Trying to be creative can also be bad

12. 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

13. Background – Bad
Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from
Always be consistent with the background that you use

14. Graphs - Good Use graphs rather than just charts and words
Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data
Trends are easier to visualize in graph form
Always title your graphs

15. Graphs - Bad

16. Graphs - Good

17. Graphs - Bad

18. Graphs - Bad Minor gridlines are unnecessary Font is too small
Colours are illogical
Title is missing
Shading is distracting

19. Spelling and Grammar Proof your slides for:
speling mistakes
the use of of repeated words
grammatical errors you might have make
If English is not your first language, please have someone else check your presentation!

20. Conclusion Use an effective and strong closing
Your audience is likely to remember your last words
Use a conclusion slide to:
Summarize the main points of your presentation
Suggest future avenues of research

21. Animation
Put some animation to increase uptake of your presentation

22. Questions?? End your presentation with a simple question slide to:
Invite your audience to ask questions
Provide a visual aid during question period
Avoid ending a presentation abruptly

23. Introduction to PowerPoint 2007 (PPT)
Statement of Responsibility
(When, For Whom, By Whom)
Before creating a PPT, instructors should go over the basic layout.
This slide will be visible when users open the premade file. The word “Statement” is misspelled on the student version for spellchecking purposes.

24. Selecting, Adding & Deleting slides
To add a slide, click on the “New Slide” icon in Home tab.
To work on a slide, go to the slide column (left side of screen)-click on it.
To delete a slide- go to slide column- click on it- press “Backspace” button
Students’ second slide will be empty except for a text box that says “RESIZE ME.” They should practice resizing the text box, then they should delete that slide and add a new slide. Start the 2nd slide with this slide content.

25. Home Tab- slide layouts
To shrink/enlarge text box borders- click on a “sizing handle” and drag.
You can click on the Layout tool (next to New Slide) to change to another type of slide layout.
Different layouts give room for pics, charts, tables.
Have student try different layouts

26. Shortcuts and Right-clicking
Ctrl-Z to undo changes, Ctrl-Y to redo changes.
To select text, highlight with mouse or press Ctrl-A to select all text in a text box
To change font, color, & size, text and then right–click on it to get mini pop-up toolbar & menu
In this slide students should understand the process of selecting text, by using both the mouse to drag-highlight, and using the Ctrl-A function. Also the right-click formatting menu should be demo’d. Have students highlight and adjust text font, font color, and styles.

27. Home Tab- bullet Points
Automatic…click on Bullets icon in Home tab to turn off.
To start new bullet, press enter
To make a sub-point, press tab
To go back to a regular bullet pt, right-click and then click on the “Decrease Indent” icon (in mini pop-up menu or in Home tab).
Keep bullet pts. concise
Have students experiment with bullet points and sub-bullet points…the 6 x 6 or 7 x 7 rule could be covered (see PPT design and copyright handout)

28. Saving and Printing Check your text for errors by pressing F7.
To save, go to Office Button- Save As.
Good ideas- save as a 2003 compatible document
In pop-up window, give PPT show a simple file name
To print PPT, go to Office Button- Print. Under “Print What” choose “handouts” and choose the # of slides per page.
Have them save their file on the computer…explain the fact that Office 2003 is unable to open Office 2007 docs unless they are saved in a compatible version.

29. Insert Tab- adding Clip Art
First make room for pics!
Click on the Layout tool (Home Tab) to change layout.
Or shrink/move the text box.
Click on Insert Tab/Clip Art.
Type a search word- click on your choice
Adjust image by dragging it or using the “sizing handles”
Have them choose a layout w/room or move text box. Then add Clip Art, move the pic, and adjust the size. Emphasize the multimedia aspects of PPT and the importance of avoiding text-heavy presentations.

30. Insert Tab- add Pictures from file
First make room!
If you want to add a pic saved on computer or digital camera, go to Insert Tab/Picture.
In pop-up window, find the pic on your computer.
Double-click on it to add it.
Adjust size as needed
Have them choose a layout w/room or move text box. Then add Picture, move the pic, and adjust the size. If desired the instructor oculd also cover copying and pasting images from the Internet.

32. Design Tab- Themes
Choose a pre-made background- go to the Design Tab, choose a Theme.
Colors in the Theme can also be adjusted by clicking on the Colors tool.
You can also adjust the background color by clicking on Background style.
Affects all slides
Have students apply a theme to the slides, and experiment with colors and backgrounds. Emphasize that a properly designed PPT should look unified, i.e. the slides should be the same stylistically.

33. Slide Transitions
Affects the way slides appear on the screen- good finishing touch
Go to Animation Tab- Transition to This Slide group- click on a slide icon to preview it.
After choosing, click on “Apply to all slides”
Timed slide advance option on the far right under “Advance Slide.”
Students should apply an animation style to all slides.

34. Bullet Point Animations
The Animate command affects text in a PPT show (if you do not select an animation, all text will appear with slide).
Click on the text box- go to Animations Tab/ Animations group/Animate command (must be done for every slide).
Choose the animation style. “1st order paragraph” means bullet pts.
Have them animate bullet points within the presentation- emphasize that if they do not select this option, all text in a slide will appear

35. Presenting To start show, press F5
To start from a certain slide, click on slide, go to Slide Show Tab, and choose “From Current Slide.”
To advance a slide, press Enter (keyboard)
or click mouse
To go back a slide, press Backspace (keyboard)
To end the show press Escape (keyboard)
Keep presentations simple- remember that PPT is just a tool, not the presentation.
This is the point where instructors should emphasize the design tips that are in the PPT design and copyright handout.