Effective PowerPoint Use

Tamara SwedbergInstructional Technology Specialist

Overview

• Preparation• Content• Design• Delivery

PREPARATION

The Audience

• Why should they care?• What will keep their interest?• How can you involve them?

Outline

• Make the slide headers first• Go back and fill in content• Rearrange slides if needed• Make final text edits

Tell a Story

• Personal stories are more interesting• Keep slides in chronological order

CONTENT

Text

• 6 x 7 rule• No more than six lines per slide• No more than seven words per line

Short Content

• Emphasize the BIG points• Use images• Use simple charts

Reflection and Questions

• Pause once in a while• Ask a question• Ask for reactions

Notes

• Use notes section to add narrative• Presenter view – Only if using laptop– Screen and Projection different– Cannot rely on this being available

Summary Slide

• Summarize your presentation at the end• Emphasize key points• What the audience will take away

Thank You Slide

• Thank the audience• Include contact information

DESIGN

Themes

• Choose a theme you like• Pick a color scheme• Try a different background• Use the slide master view– Repeating elements– Footer items, like slide numbers

Visuals

• Photos• Clip Art• WordArt• Smart Art• Charts• Graphs

Places to find art

• Microsoft clipart• Creative commons search– http://search.creativecommons.org/

• Vectorstock.com – $1 vector art

• Stock art websites– High price– Most variety

Extras

• Quotes• Cartoons• Multimedia

Fonts on Screen

• Serif fonts are difficult to read on screen• Sans serif fonts are clearer• Italics are difficult to read • Normal or bold fonts are clearer• ALL CAPS IS HARD TO READ• Use colors to emphasize text

Font size

• Think of the person in the back of the room• 12

• 24

• 36

• 48

•60

Animations

• Movement applies to text or objects• Subtle animations are nice– Draw attention to the screen– Help order elements– Hide/reveal text or objects

• Erratic animations are annoying• Too many animations are irritating

Transitions

• Animations between slides• Same rules as animations

Guides and Arranging

• Under View– Guides– Gridlines– Ruler

• Arrange– Align middle, right or left– Distribute multiple objects

DELIVERY

Presenting

• Practice your presentation• Don’t read the slides• Maintain eye contact• Walk around the room• Use a wireless presenter – smart phones apps

Other Slide Software

• Keynote - Mac• Google Presentations– Author with others– Share easily

• Prezi– Motion and zoom– Artistic– Time consuming

Don’t Forget Your Dongle

• Macs and iPads - proprietary dongles– $30– Different for each laptop

Backups

• Flash drive• Copy on web– Email– DropBox

• PDF version– Especially for mac users– Photo and video conversion problems– PowerPoint version problems

Handouts & Copies

• Use the print handouts function• Most prefer 3 per page with notes• Post presentation online – Add link to last slide– Use URL shortener if needed

Summary

• Prepare• Add Content• Design• Deliver

Thank You!

Thank you for coming

Tamara SwedbergInstructional Technology Specialist732-848-2947tamara.swedberg@rutgers.eduThis presentation: policy.rutgers.edu/its/documents/powerpoint/