PowerPoint Hints

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PowerPoint Hints from Will - What I have learned from good and bad presentations.

PowerPoint slides are not a content delivery mechanism. Slides are like the headings and illustrations in a book; they announce topics and illustrate points. Content should come from speaking and handouts. Slides are not for content delivery.
Never read your slides. This has a negative impact on learning and there is research to demonstrate this. Use the slide as a starting point for presenting your content verbally, or referring to a handout. Slides are not for content delivery.
A heading and three bullet points may be too much on a slide. Any slide with more than 25 words is suspect. Slides are not for content delivery.
Graphics really help, a lot. Finding the right photo, illustration, or graphic can help illustrate a point. Graphics can also keep audience interest focused. From a learning style frame, graphics help visual learners. Adding graphics can affect the slide layout and reduce text size, so make sure to have little text. You may need to change slide layouts if you include graphics. Use a google image search to find good images, but be aware of copyright issues in using graphics found on-line. Any image that you did not create or do not have a license for is copyrighted. The images that come with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint are free for you to use anywhere since you have a license for them that came with the software license. Using images in presentations made in classes or to professional groups for professional purposes falls under 'fair use guidelines' and is permissible. Graphics increases the file size of a PowerPoint dramatically so the graphics enhanced PowerPoint will not fit on a small disk.
Transitions within and between slides make for a visually interesting presentation. A visually boring presentation get an audience bored. Varying transitions (blinds, slide from different directions, etc.) can distract an audience. Having a consistent transition on all slides helps the viewer know what to expect visually on the next slide. Within slide transitions can be managed using View > Task Pane > Custom Animation. Graphics can be added to within slide animations to emphasize content headings.
Use a footer (View > Header and Footer) to add your name and presentation to the bottom of every slide.
Choose a Design Template to reflect content, but don't let it interfere with readability. Ariel and Times New Roman are the most readable fonts, and dark print on a light background is the most readable contrast.
Avoid red and green on slides, instead use blue and yellow for contrast and emphasis.
If you have too much for a single slide, and five points is too much, split the slide and use the same Slide Title on each slide so the audience knows what they are reading.
Re-write your presentation at least five times before you begin to practice with it.
Practice your presentation out loud at least five times to yourself before you give it publicly.
For a handout use File > Send to > Microsoft Word. This exports your text without graphics to Word in an outline form. In Word use Edit > Select All > and change the font to Times New Roman and the size to 12. You will have the text of your slides on a handout. You can add content to this material easily since slides are not for content delivery.
If you will be using someone else's computer make sure to have your presentation in several formats; zip disk, thumb/pen drive, CD, and saved to your web space so you can download it to the presentation computer. You may want to have saved it as html and have it stored in your web space to play if all else fails. You may also want to have a saved your presentation using Pack and Go, but that creates other problems.
Be aware that transitions and features in the most recent version of PowerPoint may not work on other peoples' computers that have older versions of PowerPoint installed.
Arrive at least ten (10) minutes early when you give a presentation to make sure that you can get the technology to work. Twenty minutes early is better.
There are lots of other perspectives on PowerPoint. These only reflect my bias and experience.
Slides are not for content delivery.

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