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Presentation Tips
Top 7 PowerPoint presentation tips and hints that grab your audience and communicate your message
September 26, 2005
By: Alice Osborn
In order to make effective PowerPoint presentations, you
first need to outline the purpose of the presentation,
decide how large your audience is, and then design and
deliver the presentation. This article provides seven
specific tips on maximizing the design and delivery
effectiveness of your PowerPoint slide presentation for your
audience.
By studying these seven PowerPoint
presentation tips, you will be able to give a presentation
that is both focused and visually appealing.
Designing an effective slide presentation
- Keep your text concise
With PowerPoint presentations,
use no more than 7-10 lines of text per slide, so that the
words don’t overpower the slide and confuse the viewer.
Phrases and keywords are better than whole sentences,
since they are easily digested by the audience. Title
slides should be typed in 32-50 fonts and bulleted lists
are best read in 20-32 fonts.
- Choose the proper slide design
PowerPoint provides
numerous slide templates for you to use, but many are too
busy and distracting for a professional presentation. You
can design your own slides using a two-tone color pattern,
keeping in mind that if you deliver your presentation in a
darkened room, you should opt for a dark background with
white text, and if delivering a presentation in a
lightened room, the background should be white with dark
text.
- Develop a slide layout and determine the time you
spend per slide
Develop slides that boldly position your
title and purpose, that outline your key points with a
bulleted list structure, and that compare two sets of
information in a column layout. One tip is to spend 45
seconds to 5 minutes per slide since you want to engage
your audience and describe your keywords without rushing.
- Choose appropriate graphics and sounds
Err on the side
of restraint when it comes to slide animation and
graphics. Make sure the graphics fit the slide and don’t
distract the audience. Also, use animation to help
clarify, contribute or enhance your message. For example,
animation can help when words slide in from the left or
appear suddenly to make a point.
Delivering an effective slide presentation
- Prepare for set-up issues
Arrive at least 10-15
minutes early to arrange the room, set up the projector,
and load your PowerPoint presentation. Check the
equipment, and if it doesn’t work, use back-up handouts
that you prepared in case of an emergency.
- Coordinate gestures with your speaking position
Be
careful not to block the audience’s view and avoid walking
in front of the projection screen. Stand off to the side so
you can talk to the audience and see your slides at the same
time. If you use a remote mouse, you can change slides
without being close to the computer.
- Coordinate spoken words with your slides
Please keep
in mind that the slides should only contain keywords and
that during your presentation you clearly communicate their
importance to your audience. That said, slides shouldn’t
speak for themselves and they need to be referenced and
expanded upon. The slides are your framework, so if you have
a bulleted list, you should explain each item in complete
sentences and give examples.
If you prepare your PowerPoint presentation and slides
well, you will communicate effectively with your audience
and your information will make sense to them. Good luck!
About the Author
Alice Osborn is a successful freelance writer and
contributor to Web-Conferencing-Zone.com. Your
definitive guide to
web conferencing services,
online collaboration software and
web meetings for business.
Also See: [
Collaborative tools and work environments for online collaboration ]
[ Flash presentation
creation via PowerPoint to Flash conversion tools ]
[ Finding the
right PowerPoint presentation tool to fit your online presentation ]
Home Page:
[ Web-Conferencing-Zone.com ]
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