PowerPoint Presentation Advice

Mike Splane –© March 2006

Structuring Your Talk:

Preparing a talk always takes far longer than you anticipate. Start early!

• Write a clear statement of the problem and its importance.
• Research. Collect material which may relate to the topic.
• Tell a story in a logical sequence.
• Stick to the key concepts. Avoid description of specifics and unnecessary details.
• If you are making a series of points, organize them from the most to the least important. The less important points can be skipped if you run short of time.
• Keep your sentences short, about 10-20 words each is ideal. This is the way people usually talk.
• Strive for clarity. Are these the best words for making your point? Are they unambiguous? Are you using unfamiliar jargon or acronyms?

Preparing Your Slides:

• Presentation Design
• Don’t overload your slides with too much text or data.
• FOCUS. In general, using a few powerful slides is the aim.
• Let the picture or graphic tell the story. Avoid text.
• Type key words in the PowerPoint Notes area listing what to say when displaying the slide. The notes are printable.
• Number your slides and give them a title.
• Use the “summary slide” feature in slide sorter view to prepare an Agenda or Table of Contents slide.
• Prepare a company logo slide for your presentation.
• You can add a logo and other graphics to every slide using the slide master feature.
• Proof read everything, including visuals and numbers.
• Keep “like” topics together
• Strive for similar line lengths for text.
• Visual elements
• A font size of 28 to 34 with a bold font is recommended for subtitles. The title default size is 44. Use a san serif font for titles.
• Use clear, simple visuals. Don’t confuse the audience.
• Use contrast: light on dark or dark on light.
• Graphics should make a key concept clearer.
• Place your graphics in a similar location within each screen.
• The drawing toolbar is extremely useful You can:
• Insert clip art
• Insert pictures
• Use Word Art
• Use text boxes
• Insert charts and diagrams
• Insert arrows, banners, and thought balloons.
• To temporarily clear the screen press W or B during the presentation. Press Enter to resume the presentation.
• Text
• Font size must be large enough to be easily read. Size 28 to 34 with a bold font is recommended.
• It is distracting if you use too wide a variety of fonts.
• Overuse of text is a common mistake.
• Too much text makes the slide unreadable. You may just as well show a blank slide. Stick to a few key words.
• If your audience is reading the slides they are not paying attention to you. If possible, make your point with graphics instead of text.
• You can use Word Art, or a clip art image of a sign, to convey text in a more interesting way.
• Numbers
• Numbers are usually confusing to the audience. Use as few as possible and allow extra time for the audience to do the math.
• Numbers should never be ultra precise:
• “Anticipated Revenues of $660,101.83” looks silly. Are your numbers that accurate? Just say $660 thousand.
• “The Break Even Point is 1048.17 units. Are you selling fractions of a unit?
• Don’t show pennies. Cost per unit is about the only time you would need to show pennies.
• If you have more than 12-15 numbers on a slide, that’s probably too many.
• Using only one number per sentence helps the audience absorb the data.
• Statistics
• Use the same scale for numbers on a slide. Don’t compare thousands to millions.
• When using sales data, stick to a single market in the presentation. Worldwide sales, domestic sales, industry sales, company sales, divisional sales, or sales to a specific market segment are all different scales. They should not be mixed.
• Cite your source on the same slide as the statistic, using a smaller size font.
• Charts
• Charts need to be clearly labeled. You can make more interesting charts by adding elements from the drawing toolbar.
• Numbers in tables are both hard to see and to understand. There is usually a better way to present your numerical data than with columns and rows of numbers. Get creative!
• PowerPoint deletes portions of charts and worksheets that are imported from Excel, keeping only the leftmost 5.5 inches. Plan ahead.
• Backgrounds
• Backgrounds should never distract from the presentation.
• Using the default white background is hard on the viewer’s eyes. You can easily add a design style or a color to the background.
• Backgrounds that are light colored with dark text, or vice versa, look good. A dark background with white font reduces glare.
• Colors appear lighter when projected. Pale colors often appear as white.
• Consistent backgrounds add to a professional appearance.
• For a long presentation, you may want to change background designs when shifting to a new topic.
• Excitement
• Slides for business presentations should be dull! You don’t want to distract the audience.
• Sounds and transition effects can be annoying. Use sparingly.
• Animation effects can be interesting when used in moderation.
• Too much animation is distracting.
• Consider using animated clip art
• Consider using custom animation
• You can insert video and audio clips into PowerPoint.
• You can also insert hyperlinks.

Hints for Efficient Practice:

• Timing - Practicing Your Presentation,
• Talk through your presentation to see how much time you use for each slide.
• Set the automatic slide transition to the amount of time you want to spend discussing each slide.
• Are you using the right amount of time per slide? Decide which slides or comments need alteration to make your presentation smoother.
• Change the automatic slide transition settings for individual slides to fit the amount of time needed for that slide and practice again. Are you still within the time limit?
• Decide if you want to remove the automatic slide transition feature before giving the presentation.

• Content
• Make a list of key words/concepts for each slide
• Read through the list before you begin.
• Don't attempt to memorize your text;
• Your words will probably be different each time you practice.
• Think about the ideas, and your words will follow naturally.

Delivering Your Talk:

• Pre-Talk Preparation
• Plan to get there a few minutes early to set up and test the equipment.
• Dress appropriately for your audience.
• Turn off your cell phone.
• Handouts:
• Edward Tufte, the leading expert on visual presentation techniques, advises speakers to always prepare a handout when giving a PowerPoint presentation.
• Make about 10% more handouts than you expect to use.
• Distribute handouts at the beginning of your talk.

• Opening:
• Jump right in and get to the point.
• Give your rehearsed opening statement; don't improvise at the last moment.
• Use the opening to catch the interest and attention of the audience.
• Briefly state the problem or topic you will be discussing.
• Briefly summarize your main theme for an idea or solution.
• Speaking
• Talk at a natural, moderate rate of speech
• Project your voice.
• Speak clearly and distinctly.
• Repeat critical information.
• Pause briefly to give your audience time to digest the information on each new slide.
• Don’t read the slides aloud. Your audience can read them far faster than you can talk.
• Body Language
• Keep your eyes on the audience
• Use natural gestures.
• Don’t turn your back to the audience.
• Don’t hide behind the lectern.
• Avoid looking at your notes. Only use them as reference points to keep you on track. Talk, don’t read.
• Questions
• Always leave time for a few questions at the end of the talk.
• If you allow questions during the talk, the presentation time will be about 25% more than the practice time.
• You can jump directly to a slide by typing its number or by right-clicking during the presentation and choosing from the slide titles.
• Relax. If you’ve done the research you can easily answer most questions.
• Some questions are too specific or personal. Politely refuse to answer.
• If you can’t answer a question, say so. Don’t apologize. “I don’t have that information. I’ll try to find out for you.”
• Length:
• To end on time, you must PRACTICE!
• When practicing, try to end early. You need to allow time for audience interruptions and questions.
• Demeanor:
• Show some enthusiasm. Nobody wants to listen to a dull presentation. On the other hand, don’t overdo it. Nobody talks and gestures like a maniac in real life. How would you explain your ideas to a friend?
• Involve your audience. Ask questions, make eye contact, use humor.
• Don’t get distracted by audience noises or movements.
• You’ll forget a minor point or two. Everybody does.
• If you temporarily lose your train of thought you can gain time to recover by asking if the audience has any questions.
• Conclusion:
• Close the sale.
• Concisely summarize your key concepts and the main ideas of your presentation.
• Resist the temptation to add a few last impromptu words.
• End your talk with the summary statement or question you have prepared. What do you want them to do? What do you want them to remember?
• Consider alternatives to “Questions?” for your closing slide. A summary of your key points, a cartoon, a team logo, or a company logo may be stronger.