Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations A FEW HELPFUL

TIPS

Research on Message Retention

• According to research done at the Wharton Research Centre:– Only 10% of the message is retained if the

presentation contains bullet points. – 50% of the message is retained if the presentation

uses visual slides. – That’s an increase of five times the retention rate.

Message retention increase when visuals are used

Bullets points Visual slides0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Wharton Research Centre

Visual images

increase retention

Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

• Hints for a successful presentation:– Plan carefully– Do your research– Know your audience– Time your presentation– Practice your presentation– Speak comfortably and clearly

{ Plan carefully Do your research Know your audience Time your presentation Speak comfortably and

clearly

Hints for a successful presentation:

Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation

A logo can be distracting and pointless if on every slide

Exclude distracting itemsThis is not good!

Exclude distracting itemsThis is good!

Promote readabilityThis is not good!

Promote readabilityThis is good!

Promote readabilityThis is good!

Rules about Font Selection

• Select a sans serif font such as Calibri, Arial, Trebuchet, or Verdana

• Limit your fonts to two, at most

Select a sans serif font

Calibri GaramondArial Times New RomanTrebuchet Century School

bookVerdana Courier New

Rules about Font Size• Always use fonts that are 24 pts. or larger• If you have a lot of information that you think is important and the audience just has to know!

– Include it in your handout– Display only the highlights in your presentation

Use fonts that are24 pts. or larger

The picture is funny and makes a point but the quality is horrible.

Avoid Clip Art…its garbage, dated, and unprofessional

Don’t have your image and text completely separated

Create a unified and visual message

Use high quality photos and incorporate your text

Note: The more hq photos on a slide will make ppt run slow

Tip: Google wallpaper, high resolution or HQ

When preparing the content of your slides, use phrases rather then full sentences, with the possible exception of short direct quotes.

Use phrases rather than full sentences

Rules about Bullet Points• Use bullet points sparingly. • If using bullet points, be sure they are less than six words long. • They are less then six sentences in your slide. • Your audience will try to read all the bullet points and not listen to you.• The more bullet points you add the more your slide starts to fill up and eventually

your font will start to decrease because your only allowed so much room. • And the more you add to your slide the more your audience will become

overwhelmed. • And I’m going to add another bullet just to make my point that you should use

bullet points sparingly. • Annnd try to keep your bullets simple like with a dot, dash, asterisk, or small

block. • No skulls or fingers or smiley faces. • At this point my font is at 20.

Use bullet points sparingly!

Rules about headers

• Eliminate headers when possible• Except if used to communicate the message

98% of headers are redundant

Redundant headers Useful headers0

0.5

1

Highlight or change chart format

1st Qtr14%

2nd Qtr6%3rd Qtr

2%4th Qtr

2%

5th Qtr11%

6th Qtr14%

7th Qtr26%

8th Qtr17%

9th Qtr5%

10th Qtr2%

Sales

Less cluttered and highlighted

1st Qtr

2nd Qtr

3rd Qtr

4th Qtr

5th Qtr

6th Qtr

7th Qtr

8th Qtr

9th Qtr

10th Qtr

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 168.2

3.2

1.4

1.2

6.5

7.9

15

10

2.8

1

Sales

Sales

BE PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR TOPIC

You control the message.

The audience should focus on your words.

The slides should enhance, not be the presentation.

Bullet points are not passionate.

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2.

3.

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