Tips for a Great Presentation

Barbara Grimes, MSN, RN

November 29, 2000

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The Best Presentations...

are built on a clear message,

supported by well-organized facts
and enhanced by illustrations,
charts and graphics.

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 Basic Principles of Design

• Readability - legibility

• Content

• Consistency

The focus of this session is going to be on:

1. How to make PPT presentations readable to the
audience.

2. How to employ principles of good design in the

development of PPT presentations.

3. How much content should go into the presentation.

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 Slide Design Process

• Use consistent format

• Use multimedia-animation sparingly
• Use consistent animation
• Use a title slide--attention getting
• Title each slide clearly

Once you have selected a presentation design, use Slide Master (View
menu/Master).
Can select features want on slide and every slide will be the same.
For example, can select font, size, style and color for the slide title and
body text.
Always make changes on the slide master to ensure consistent slide
format.
If you use slide transition or text builds, these should be consistent--
follow a pattern to avoid visual chaos. Never use random!
Title slide will introduce the topic and set the mood of your
presentation with the layout and colors selected.

Each slide should be clearly titled--indicates focus of slide.

Titles should be a short line.
Usually best to have title in a contrasting color
Individual slide titles should capture a point or provoke interest--vary
title style-- topic, thematic or assertive.

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 Text Design Process

• Minimize content
• One major concept per slide
• 3-5 bullets per slide
• 6-8 words per bullet or line
• 1-2 lines per bullet
• Maximum of 7-8 lines

The one thing that is emphasized in everything that I have read about
presentations is this: Content is key!
Minimize the content and keep it simple! Less is more!
The slide message should be clean and easy to absorb.

All content should not be put on the slides--the audience will focus on
reading what’s on the slide, and tune the speaker out--won’t listen or
hear you! And the speaker should not just read the content that is on the
slide.
Only the important point or points should be on the slide.
It is suggested to outline the content--top level information and that is
what goes on the slides. Then expand in the commentary of the slide--
fill in the details with your narrative.

The presenter is the star of the show--the audience’s attention should be

on the speaker.

If have a second line to a bullet, it should be indented so the bullet

stands out--use consistent indents too!
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 Text Design

• Consistently capitalize words--

titles, first word of bullets, subheads
• Omit extraneous colons and periods
• Avoid abbreviations and jargon
• Start all bullets with verb, noun phrase
or adjective

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 Text Design

• Strive for parallel text construction

• Titles & subheads consistent on slides
• Left align text

Parallel text construction means that the points on the slide

are similar in rhythm and logic helps comprehend
information.

Text should always be left aligned--never centered as this

makes the reader keep readjusting to the left margin. No
columns either.

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 Body Text Font

• Use sans serif font type

• Use thick, heavy, headline style font

State difference between serif and sans serif typeface--

Serif typefaces have ascenders and descenders. These are
designed for printed material as easier to read. The serifs
help the eye run along the lines of text. Times New Roman
in an example that we commonly use and I see on slides!
Serifs are not good for projecting on the screen because the
little cap or foot on a dark background causes the eye to
stop which causes eyestrain. The lines will appear “jaggy,”
fuzzy or blurry when projected.
Sans serif fonts have no serifs and are:
more legible in large size
more legible at a distance
more legible in a dimly lit room
These slides are done in Comic sans, a sans serif font.

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 Examples of Sans Serif Fonts

• Common
Arial and Helvetica
• Distinctive
Abadi, Eras, Franklin Gothic, Futura,
Gill Sans, Goudy Sans, Kabel, Lucida
Sans, Optima, Shannon, Univers

These are typefaces that are usually found on Windows or Mac

computers.
Remember that typeface brings an emotional response to a
presentation and offers a wide range of images from imposing to
casual, authoritative to informal. Select a typeface appropriate to
audience and message to elicit desired emotional response--not just
visually appealing.
Comic Sans is an informal, fun font for a light informal
presentation.
One important thing: if you select a typeface and want to be sure
that it will be displayed when you take your show on the road is to
embed the font.
Go to File, Save as and select “Embed True Type” in the check
box.
Otherwise, you are risking if the computer you use for your show
has that typeface on it. Learned this the hard way! There is an
additional PPT feature that will save the selected font and that is the
“Pack and Go” option on the File menu.

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 Text Size

• Slide titles
Make sure are big enough
Use 40 points or larger
Use WordArt to spice up
• Body slide text
Use 32 points or larger

You will see some variation in recommendations for the

size of body text.
However, the size of the room is the key. Large rooms
require large typeface points no smaller than 28 or 30.
Text height should be one inch for every 10 feet of
distance from your audience.

Also, remember the age of your audience--to play it safe,

use the 24 karat rule--for golden presentations, don’t use
fonts smaller than 24 points!

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 What to Avoid in Text

• Avoid serif fonts

• Avoid fancy fonts with narrow lines
• Use no more than 2 font styles
• Never use shadow
• Avoid italics
• Avoid underlines
• Keep running text to a minimum

Most references recommended to use only one font --2 is

the max! Too many fonts can be distracting.

Fancy fonts, scripts, fonts with shadow effects and italics

are difficult to read when projected.
Underlines are seen as “links.”

Minimize text when projecting charts or graphs. Use only

enough text to clearly label.

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 Color Design

• Use high-contrast colors

Light text -- yellow or white
on
Dark background -- blue or black

Let’s talk about color…

Ten percent or 1 in 10 people can be color blind. Should
avoid red/green and blue/green combinations as some of
your audience will have difficulty reading or
understanding your presentation.
Although it is possible to change the slide’s color scheme
(Format, Slide Color Scheme), it is best to use the base
palette for the template--developed by design experts--
work best--take advantage of.

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 Background Color Design

• Best for projectors

Blue and purple is easiest to read
Black

Never use a white background in a dark room!

Remember that color evokes psychological responses.
Also, projectors can alter the appearance of the color from
what you saw on the computer monitor.

For education purposes, deep forest green, olive or teal

was suggested.
Red is stimulating--increases excitement, heightens
emotion, action and can cause problems.
Brown is a color to avoid.
Stick with the standard colors.

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 Accent Colors
• Light violet = expansive, open-minded
• Yellow to combine with blue and red
Excellent for foregrounds
Stimulating
On blue is easiest to read
• Gray = neutral, eliminates bias
Charcoal or dark gray best

One caveat to keep in mind…

Too many colors cause color overload.

Accent is an accent--which means it stands out.
Using too many colors prevents anything from standing
out.

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 Use of Clip Art

• Use restraint
• Must be relevant
• Simple and clear
• Clip Art Gallery

Use graphics when provide effective accent.

Graphic should emphasize a point or illustrate an idea.
Graphics should be suitable to the occasion.
Difficult to find appropriate graphics and time consuming.
Better none than a graphic that doesn’t relate to topic.
Lots of resources to find free graphics. One that is readily
accessible is MS ClipArt Gallery. Go to: Insert, Picture,
ClipArt; ClipArt Gallery opens; get online and select
“Clips Online.” can do a search for graphics, download
(will download into the “Downloaded Clips” category and
insert from there).
Best to use one graphic style, e.g. clipart, photos, scanned
images.

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 And Lastly...

• Run the spell checker

• Have another set of eyes look at your work
The End

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 Additional Resources
• http://www.uwf.edu/coe/tutorials/tech
nolo/powerpnt/powerpnt.htm#2
• http://www.presentersuniversity.com/co
urses
• http://www.son.washington.edu/cne/one
d/default.asp
• http://plato .acadiau.ca/sandbox/ppt/pp
t.htm
• http://www.microsoft.com/office/power
point/default.htm

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