1. What’s Wrong with these Power Point Slides? Answer Key
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What’s Wrong with these Power Point Slides? Answer Key
aka: What NOT to do on your slides!

2. Once upon a time, in 1337, the English had control of parts of France (Atchley The French did not like this and wanted them out! Thus, the Hundred Years’ War began.
The Hundred Years’ War was a series of wars between the French and English kings.
Since there were numerous truces and treaties over the years, it was called the Hundred Years’ War, even though it really lasted a total of 116 years (Atchley
When Jehanne d'Arc (pronounced “Jan/Jun dark”) was 13, she began to hear the voices of angels, telling her she must save France (Kennedy
She went to see Charles VII and was tested by him and the church for several weeks. After proving herself, he gave her command of an army. On May 23, 1430 she was captured by French soldiers who were traitors and sold her to the English (Greenblatt & Lemmo 417).
She attempted to escape by jumping from a 60 foot tower, but was recaptured (Kennedy

3. What’s wrong?
DON’T put too much text on a slide! If you have too much information, add another slide so it’s not too crowded.
DO:
put 50% info on your slide, save 50% to verbalize
have a 1-2 smaller paragraphs per slide
use a larger font size (28-32 pt works well)
add a picture

4. Since there were numerous truces and treaties over the years, it was called the Hundred Years’ War, even though it really lasted a total of 116 years (Atchley When Jehanne d'Arc (pronounced “Jan/Jun dark”) was 13, she began to hear the voices of angels, telling her she must save France (Kennedy

5. What’s wrong?
DON’T:
make bad color choices...the purple is very difficult to see on the red background
graphic has no citation
DO:
select colors that make the text easy to read
make sure every image has a citation

6. Since there were numerous truces and treaties over the years, it was called the Hundred Years’ War, even though it really lasted a total of 116 years (John Atchley p. 59).
Microsoft Clipart

7. What’s wrong?
DON’T:
use too many pictures! They distract the audience from the information
pictures don’t really match well with the text
use an author’s 1st name or ‘p’/’page’ in an in-text citation
DO:
use one or two pictures/graphics per slide at most
match image with text
ensure all your in-text citations are correctly formatted

8. The Hundred Years’ War
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Once upon a time, in 1337, the English had control of parts of France (Atchley The French did not like this and wanted them out! Thus, the Hundred Years’ War began.
Since there were numerous truces and treaties over the years, it was called the Hundred Years’ War, even though it really lasted a total of 116 years (Atchley

9. What’s wrong? DON’T: use too much animation! DO:
Limit it to one animation per slide (at most)

10. Joan of Arc
Once upon a time, in 1337, the English had control of parts of France (Atchley The French did not like this and wanted them out! Thus, the Hundred Years’ War began.
Since there were numerous truces and treaties over the years, it was called the Hundred Years’ War, even though it really lasted a total of 116 years (Atchley

11. What’s wrong? DO: DON’T: make your slide “busy”
(honestly, what’s NOT wrong with that slide!?! Ugh! It’ll make your audience want to flee!)
DON’T:
make your slide “busy”
busy, rainbow background
bad font choice (pick one that’s easy to read)
rainbow font colors
DO:
choose fonts that are easy to read
match your title with the information on the slide
choose backgrounds that are solid or subtle

12. Presentation Tips Be prepared! Practice your
presentation and slide show in
advance until it is smooth.
Double check spelling/grammar
and sentence structure
Always have your presentation saved in multiple places, just in case (usb, it to me, save it in your personal drive at CMS, shared student drive in “McGann” folder, etc.)
Microsoft Clip art

13. Presentation Tips talk to the audience, not the slides
maintain eye contact
project your voice
have good posture, stand still
be prepared to answer questions
Microsoft Clip art