2. Start by creating an outline
The most important part of any presentation is the content, not the graphical appeal. That
is why you should develop your presentation with the content first, before deciding on the
look (colours, graphics, etc.) Create a good structure for your presentation by reflecting on
the goal of the presentation, what your audience is thinking right now, and what points you
need to make in order to move the audience from where they are to where you want them
to be. Write an outline on paper or use sticky notes so you can move ideas around. By
creating an outline first, you ensure that the content of your presentation is solid before you
concern yourself with the visual elements.

3. Use Contrasting Colours
If you want your audience to be able to see what you have on the slide, there needs to be a
lot of contrast between the text colour and the background colour. I suggest a dark
background with light text – I usually use a medium to dark blue background and white or
yellow letters. Some prefer a light background and dark letters, which will also work well -
which you choose will depend on personal preference. Don’t think that just because the
text looks fine on your computer screen that it will look fine when projected. Most
projectors make colours duller than they appear on a screen, and you should check how
your colours look when projected to make sure there is still enough contrast. To check
that your colors have enough contrast, use the Color Contrast Calculator.

4. Use a big enough font
When deciding what font size to use in your presentation, make sure it is
big enough so that the audience can read it. I usually find that any font
size less than 24 point is too small to be reasonably read in most
presentation situations. I would prefer to see most text at a 28 or 32
point size, with titles being 36 to 44 point size. The only reason I would
use a font less than 24 point is when adding explanatory text to a graph
or diagram, where you could use a 20 point font size.

5. If you are given a small screen in a big room, your font will look
smaller because the image will not be as big as it should be. In
this case, see if you can get a larger screen, use a wall instead of a
screen to project on, move the chairs closer to the screen or
remove the last few rows of chairs. I've put together a chart that
lists how far away the last row of your audience should be based
on the size of screen, font size and visual acuity testing - use the
Font Size chart here.

6. Stop the moving text
When text comes on the screen, we want the audience to read the text, then focus back on
the presenter to hear the message. If the text moves onto the screen in any way – such as
flying in, spiral or zooming – it makes it harder for the audience members to read since
they have to wait until the text has stopped before they can read it. This makes the
presenter wait longer between each point and makes the audience members focus more on
the movement than on what is being said. I suggest the use of the "Appear" effect, which just
makes the text appear and is the easiest for the audience to read.

7. Turn the pointer off
During a presentation, it is very annoying to have the pointer (the little arrow) come on the
screen while the presenter is speaking. It causes movement on the screen and draws the
audience attention from the presenter to the screen. The pointer comes on when the
mouse is moved during the presentation. To prevent this from happening, after the Slide
Show view has started, press the Ctrl-H key combination. This prevents mouse movement
from showing the pointer. If you need to bring the pointer on screen after this, press the A
key. If the pointer does appear during your presentation, resist the urge to press the Escape
key – if you do, it will stop the presentation and drop you back into the program. Press the
A key or Ctrl-H to make the pointer disappear.

8. Use visuals instead of text slides
Every two years I ask audiences what annoys them about bad PowerPoint
presentations. The latest survey confirms that audiences are more fed up than ever with
the overload of text on slides (see the latest survey results here). Instead of using slides that
only contain text, use visuals such as graphs, diagrams, photos and media clips to engage
the audience. I've developed a five-step method for creating persuasive visuals in my book
The Visual Slide Revolution. Read the free chapter to see a summary of the process you
can use to create your own persuasive visuals. Looking for professional photos that don't
cost a lot? Check out istockphoto.com, where I go for great looking photos at reasonable
prices.

9. Have Slides at the End of Your Presentation
The last slide you speak to should not be the last slide in your presentation file. You should
have three identical copies of your last speaking slide so that if you accidentally advance
one too many times at the end of your presentation, your audience never knows because
you don’t drop into the program, the slide looks like it has not changed. After these slides,
you should include some slides that answer questions that you expect to be asked. These
slides will be useful during Q&A sessions after the presentation. The final slide should be a
blank slide so that if you go through all the other slides, you have a final backup from
dropping into the program.

10. Be able to Jump to Any Slide
PowerPoint has a feature that allows you to be able to move quickly and seamlessly to any
slide in your presentation. To do so, you need to know the slide numbers. The easiest way
to print a list of the slide numbers and associated slide titles is to go to the Outline View
and collapse the details for each slide (there is a button on the left side of the screen in this
view that will do this). Then print the view. To jump to any slide, just enter the slide
number on the keyboard and press the Enter key. This will move you directly to that slide.
This technique is very useful for moving to a prepared Q&A slide or for skipping parts of
your presentation if time becomes an issue.

11. Blank the screen
Sometimes we want the image on the screen to disappear so that the
audience is focused solely on the presenter. There are two ways to do this.
The first is if you want to blank the screen with a black image, similar to
shutting the projector off (we used to do this all the time with overhead
projectors by just shutting the projector off). Just press the B key on the
keyboard and the image is replaced with a black image. Press the B key
again and the image is restored. If you want to use a white image instead of
a black image, press the W key each time.

12. Draw on the screen during a presentation
Sometimes it can be valuable to be able to draw on the screen during your
presentation to illustrate a particular point or item. This can be done in
the following way. Press the Ctrl-P key combination to display a pen on
the screen. Then, using the left mouse button, draw on the slide as you
wish. To erase what you have drawn, press the E key. To hide the
pen, press the A key or the Ctrl-H key combination.

13. When you employ these secrets to use PowerPoint
effectively, you will greatly enhance your audience’s
understanding of your message and help to make your
presentation the best it can be. If you want more tips on
improving your PowerPoint presentation, check out my
book "102 Tips to Communicate More Effectively Using
PowerPoint"

14. One of the most common requests from presenters looking to
deliver more effective presentations is how to stop creating text
heavy slides and use more visual slides. My book "The Visual
Slide Revolution" shows you a five-step method for creating
persuasive visuals. Learn more and get your copy of The Visual
Slide Revolution.

15. Showing things to an audience during a speech is as old as public
speaking. In nearly all cases, showing an audience a physical
thing, an actual object, is the best way to engage an audience’s
attention. But when this isn’t possible, presentation software like
PowerPoint (or Apple’s Keynote software) allows the modern
public speaker to show things to an audience on a large screen.

16. What has been turned upside-down over the past decade’s spread of PowerPoint, for most
PowerPoint users, is that the ―speech‖ is now mostly what’s on the screen, rather than what
is spoken. In other words, the proper relation of the illustration tool to the speech has been
reversed. In the opinion of many people, this has tragically damaged the art of public
speaking. No one can imagine Abraham Lincoln nor Martin Luther King, Jr., needing
PowerPoint. But today many people who give oral presentations cannot imagine doing so
without PowerPoint.

17. PowerPoint, when displayed via a projector, is a useful tool for showing
audiences things that enhance what the speaker is saying. It is a useful
tool for illustrating the content of a speech, such as by showing photos,
graphs, charts, maps, etc., or by highlighting certain text from a speech,
such as quotations or major ideas. It should not be used as a slide-show
outline of what the speaker is telling the audience.

18. Slides used in a presentation should be spare, in terms of how much information is on each
slide, as well as how many slides are used. A rule of thumb is to put no more than eight
lines of text on a slide, and with no more than eight to ten words per line. In most cases,
less is more, so four lines of text is probably better. Don’t display charts or graphs with a lot
of information—if it’s useful for the audience to see such things, pass them out as handouts.

19. Unless you’re an experienced designer, don’t use the
transition and animation ―tricks‖ that are built into
PowerPoint, such as bouncing or flying text. By now,
most people roll their eyes when they see these things,
and these tricks add nothing of value to a presentation.

20. Above all, use high-contrast color schemes so that whatever is on your
slides is readable. Unless you are a talented graphic designer, use the
templates that come with PowerPoint or Keynote, and keep it simple—
high concept design in a slide presentation doesn’t help in most
circumstances, unless you’re in the fashion or design fields. If you use
graphics or photos, try to use the highest quality you can find or afford—
clip art and low-resolution graphics blown up on a screen usually detract
from a presentation.

21. Thank You
Submitted by: Mapindan, Ma. Merries V
Section: BM12103