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

Effective PowerPoint Slides

    • Use design templates
    • Standardize position, colors and styles
    • Include only necessary information
    • Limit the information to essentials
    • Content should be self-evident
    • Use colors that contrast
    • Be consistent with effects, transitions and animation
    • Too many slides can lose your audience

Text guidelines

    • Generally no more than 6 words a line
    • Generally no more than 6 lines a slide
    • Avoid long sentences
    • Larger font indicates more important information
    • Font size generally ranges from 18 to 48 point
    • Be sure text contrasts with background
    • Fancy fonts can be hard to read
    • Words in all capital letters are hard to read
    • Avoid abbreviations and acronyms
    • Limit punctuation marks

Clip Art and Graphics

    • Should balance the slide
    • Should enhance and complement the text, not overwhelm
    • No more than two graphics per slide

* PowerPoint presentations can also saved in HTML format and inserted in a Web page.