PowerPoint tips

specialk84 · July 2012

I have to give a 40-minute PowerPoint presentation on Thursday. I have all my notes and stuff, and I'm putting together the presentation now. It does include 5-10 minutes of video.

Most of the PP presentations I've done before have been much shorter--5-10 minutes. I don't want to put people to sleep, and I'm going to be pissed if I see anyone playing around on their phones.

Please share examples of good and bad PPs. What makes PP presentations suck less for you? What makes them suck even more? Is there anything I should absolutely not do?

Mrs.B6302007 · July 2012

40 minutes? That's dang long!

One of my biggest complaints about PPs is that so many people tend to read them to their audience. PP slides should be a recap/bulleted items that support the presenter's comments. I think presenters use their PPs as crutches too frequently. Not that you would do any of that but that's my biggest gripe.

ErinG93 · July 2012

I really hate lame effects. Like, no funky ass swirl in slides. You probably know that. I guess design is what I care most about. What is your topic?

ErinG93 · July 2012

And like Mrs. B said, your PP slides shouldn't be novels. Keep the slides with as little text as possible.

Mrs.B6302007 · July 2012

Is it the type of presentation where you can do a review game?

specialk84 · July 2012

It's about Saddam Hussein's sons and their crimes. It's not really review-game worthy, unless people want to play "Guess who fed the prisoners to the tigers."

Flashy stuff annoys me, too, Erin.

specialk84 · July 2012

And yes, I nearly had a heart attack when I was told it had to be 40 minutes long.

misshart00 · July 2012

In Response to Re:PowerPoint tips:[QUOTE]40 minutes? That's dang long!One of my biggest complaints about PPs is that so many people tend to read them to their audience. PP slides should be a recap/bulleted items that support the presenter's comments. I think presenters use their PPs as crutches too frequently. Not that you would do any of that but that's my biggest gripe. Posted by Mrs.B6302007[/QUOTE]

All of this.

Also, I've alway heard about the 4x4 rule with power points. About 4 words per line and about 4 lines per slide.

specialk84 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_powerpoint-tips?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2dc9293f-f578-4844-b5cc-74865225351cPost:e6dfcb78-6c1b-4131-b903-6bca17f9ff13">Re:PowerPoint tips</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:PowerPoint tips: All of this. Also, I've alway heard about the 4x4 rule with power points. About 4 words per line and about 4 lines per slide.
Posted by misshart00[/QUOTE]

<div>Ooh, I hadn't heard that. That kind of makes it easier to stretch it out. </div>

brandichamberlain · July 2012

This link was given to us in one of my classes last semester:
https://www.microsoft.com/atwork/skills/presentations.aspx#fbid=7oUyb10bk-L

I used some of the tips from it. I took away some of the organizational tips (like doing a rough draft of how many points per slide before putting it together). It also has some good information on how to set up the layout.

pokepoke27 · July 2012

I kind of hate slides that are super cluttered. I had a teacher in HS that couldn't make a powerpoint slide without at least four little clipart pictures.

Also - you can add little sound effects to the slide. That doesn't mean you should.

If you must have a picture in the presentation, don't try to fit it onto a slide with a bunch of information on it. I like when there is the bullet points you're going over on a slide, then the next slide is the picture/graph/chart they want to show with maybe a little caption. It also helps break up the text slides a bit.

Those are just things I've noticed on other people's powerpoints.

ArynBaker · July 2012

Special, on a deep topic like that I would just practice before hand. Making the right pauses (essentially for dramatic effect) and be really helpful. Speak slowly so everyone is hanging on your words. I tend to tune out people who talk to quickly during presentations.

JessAndTrav · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_powerpoint-tips?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2dc9293f-f578-4844-b5cc-74865225351cPost:1bb5a711-c191-465f-8542-1f7ae67c4755">PowerPoint tips</a>:
[QUOTE]I have to give a 40-minute PowerPoint presentation on Thursday. I have all my notes and stuff, and I'm putting together the presentation now. It does include 5-10 minutes of video. Most of the PP presentations I've done before have been much shorter--5-10 minutes. I don't want to put people to sleep, and I'm going to be pissed if I see anyone playing around on their phones. Please share examples of good and bad PPs. What makes PP presentations suck less for you? What makes them suck even more? Is there anything I should absolutely not do?
Posted by specialk84[/QUOTE]

Use a simple, clean font. .No Comic Sans or Jokerman, ok? I usually pick something like Trebuchet MS or Century Gothic.

Approach each slide with a less-is-more attitude. I hate looking at PPs that have words from edge-edge of the screen.

Think about the colors you use. Depending on your audience, think about color-blindness. Stay away from reds and greens.

For me, I tend to check-out when there are ridiculous animations and clip art. That said, if you have bullet points that you are going to park on for a little while, I would add a simple animation to make the bullets appear as you cover them.

I always appreciate uniformity in a PP when it comes to the layout.

HTH! :)

ErinG93 · July 2012

Special, I thought of another thing. Will you be able to practice in your classroom beforehand? I took a communications class and we did a lot of powerpoints. Sometimes students would choose colors that looked great on the computer but looked absolutely TERRIBLE on the screen. You could barely seem them. I tend to stick to simple colors (black & white, grey, etc) so that you know you'll be able to see the text. If you get a chance to test out your slides before the presentation, I would.

specialk84 · July 2012

Jess, no one over the age of 12 should use Comic Sans. Ever.

I like your tip about having each bullet uncover as we get to it. I think it'll kind of hold people's attention, so they don't just scribble down notes then goof off. KWIM?

Brandi, that's a great link. I just upgraded to PP 2010, and I didn't even think about how the video features are different.

mica178 · July 2012

I have had to give a gazillion PP talks, some more than an hour. Yuck.

Only the main points should be on the slides. You can add extra detail to the talk, but don't read the slides to your audience.

Make sure the slides are legible -- anything smaller than 20pt font on PP is too small. Basically, if you make slide handouts for the students, they should still be able to read the small slides on the handout.

Don't just have text. If possible, have pictures or charts or graphs to break up the monotony.

In general, each slide should take about a minute, so you need about 40 slides for your talk. If you practice your talk and take more than 40 minutes for those 40 slides, you have too much on each slide. If you flash through the talk in less than 20-30 minutes, then you're probably reading directly from the slides, and you need to add more information to your talk (not necessarily to your slides). Also, when you practice, speak really slowly. Most of us speak quickly, and that makes us difficult to understand when we're talking into a microphone. If you are used to giving the talk slowly in practice, when you're in front of the crowd, your speed will probably be normal.

Apparently the reason why most traditional PP presentations are blue with yellow font is because that is most legible and attention grabbing. So even though it's boring, I usually use those traditional colors.

ErinG93 · July 2012

Comic sans should just die.

specialk84 · July 2012

Yeah, I can test it tomorrow night. My partner is...less than cooperative, so I feel like I'm doing this all on my own.

mica178 · July 2012

Oh, and make sure that the font is a san serif. Those are more legible.

specialk84 · July 2012

Thanks, Mica!

pokepoke27 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_powerpoint-tips?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2dc9293f-f578-4844-b5cc-74865225351cPost:79a1d742-0ab4-41e1-9969-fdc25724474c">Re: PowerPoint tips</a>:
[QUOTE]Yeah, I can test it tomorrow night. My partner is...less than cooperative, so I feel like I'm doing this all on my own.
Posted by specialk84[/QUOTE]

<div>I hate that. We did a a big group project in my Psych class. At the end, the professor handed out score card type things for each of our partners so that we could grade eachother. Our group actually did pretty well - as in everyone did what they were supposed to. But several students failed because they didn't pull their weight in their group. Hopefully you'll have the opportunity to do something like that. </div>

JessAndTrav · July 2012

I stay away from solid color backgrounds. PP2010 has some templates that are good, IMO.

For me, when a PP is like this:

I always assume the person was lazy or incompetent in PP.

But I'm really judgey about PPs, because I'm obsessive and try to make them look as non-PP as possible.

specialk84 · July 2012

What about a navy background with a white font? I generally think that's easy to read. Bright colors give me a headache, and the yellow/blue combination makes it hard to focus.

specialk84 · July 2012

I was going to pick one of the themes, plus a color theme. Less work.

ETA: Like "elemental." It's not too showy, but it's less boring than plain slides.

JessAndTrav · July 2012

I agree that you should do a darker color.

I like the Technic theme. (To see the name of the themes, just hover over it, and they're in alpha-order, so it should be toward the end of the designs)

Mrs.B6302007 · July 2012

Ha! I use Comic Sans when I type stuff for my kids at school. It's the most realistic handwriting font I have available.

specialk84 · July 2012

Heh. Flashytits is a great name for any PP containing sparkly shitt, annoying clip art, and spiral transitions.

specialk84 · July 2012

You teach little people, right? That makes sense.

Mrs.B6302007 · July 2012

Yeah, first graders.

Mrs.B6302007 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_powerpoint-tips?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2dc9293f-f578-4844-b5cc-74865225351cPost:446c1be3-6b9a-4d5f-b0eb-548fbc5adb84">Re: PowerPoint tips</a>:
[QUOTE]Heh. Flashytits is a great name for any PP containing sparkly shitt, annoying clip art, and spiral transitions.
Posted by specialk84[/QUOTE]
A spinning pole dancer CA would complete the package.

specialk84 · July 2012

I think Microsoft should make an example of what not to do.

PowerPoint tips

Re: PowerPoint tips

Choose Another Board

Search Boards