PowerPoint^® Guidelines

Help convey the message – PowerPoint slides are not the message

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Not Good!

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Why?

• Too much unreadable text
• Poor design
• Reading from the screen
• Too much information

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PowerPoint Slides

• Highlight key points and reinforce what presenter is saying
• Short – key words and phases (not cue cards!)
• Easy to read – audience focus on presenter – not on wading through slide content

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PowerPoint

• People can read faster than you can talk
• Engage audience
• Eye contact
• Discussion
• Interaction

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One Topic per Slide

• Use Bullet Points to cover key components of each idea
• Limit each bullet to one (maybe two) lines

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One Topic per Slide

• Limit number of bullets on slide to six
• Use second slide if all won’t fit on one�(don’t shrink font to make it all fit)
• Too much text is hard to read

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Bullet Points

• Not sentences – no periods
• Keep brief
• Generally use bullets, not numbers
• Bullets imply no significant order
• Numbers imply a rank or sequence

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Layout

• Be consistent
• Headings, text and logos in same locations on each slide
• Same margins, fonts, font size, colors, bullets, line spacing and background
• White space is good

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Layout (cont)

• ALWAYS use layout from master template
• Consistency
• Easy to change

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Background

• Not fussy or busy – keep it simple
• Dark or light – not bright
• Avoid distracting images
• Avoid transitions
• Use same background on each slide

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Background

• Dark backgrounds:
• Good for slides viewed on computer
• Hard to read from further away

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Background

• Dark backgrounds:
• Good for slides viewed on computer
• Hard to read from further away
• Light backgrounds:
• Good for large rooms
• Don’t use if room is dark

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Alignment

• Choose one alignment and stick with it
• Left is generally best
• Left-justify slide titles so they don’t move about
• Watch vertical alignment (top, middle, or bottom) not just horizontal alignment

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Fonts

• Font must be readable
• Sans serif font (Calibri, Arial, Tahoma, Verdana) for body
• Serif font (Cambria, Times New Roman) for titles only (harder to read)
• Avoid cute or condensed fonts
• Standardize throughout

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Font Size

• Larger is better
• Readable from back of room �(this is 32 point)
• Body text no smaller than 24 point
• Titles no less than 40 point

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Text

• DO NOT USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
• Hard to read
• Conceals acronyms
• Then can’t use for EMPHASIS
• Italics – occasionally
• “quotes”
• Publication title
• Highlight key word

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Text (cont)

• Capitalize each word (except articles) in title
• Capitalize only first word in body text
• Do not underline – cuts through descenders (the p’s and q’s)
• Avoid abbreviations such as “&” in place of “and”

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Colors

• Reds and Greens can be difficult to see for those who are color blind
• Avoid low contrast combinations:
• Green on Blue
• Dark Yellow on Green
• Purple on Blue
• Orange on Green
• Red on Green

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Colors

• Use lots of contrast between background and foreground – make sure you can actually read text
• Limit the number of colors used
• Test presentation with projector – they tend to wash out colors

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Images

• Use to communicate – not to decorate
• Don’t use unless helpful to make your point
• Supporting charts and graphs
• Appropriate clip-art
• Relevant photos

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Images (cont)

• Do not distort to fill space�����
• Hold down Shift key while dragging handle to resize without distortion

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Images (cont)

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Not good!

Unless purpose is to show layout of Pub 17

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Charts/Graphs

• Must be readable – captions, legends, etc.

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Animation

• Lot’s of choices

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• Keep it simple

• Most are a distraction

• Be consistent

• Slide transitions – avoid

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• Title animation – don’t

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Handouts

• Don’t be concerned about audience reading ahead

OR

Force audience to take lots of notes

• Give them (and you) time to discuss and explain

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Handouts

• For black and white handouts, check that color combinations and objects print properly
• Switch to the Black and White view
• Page through each slide
• Right click on object, choose Black and White Setting, select choice that gives best result

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Bits and Pieces

• To draw horizontal or vertical line or perfect square or circle, hold down Shift key as you click and drag
• To select small objects
• ESC key twice
• Tab key to toggle through selection of each object

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Bits and Pieces (cont)

• Set the View to �“Fit to Window”

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While Presenting…

• To move to specific slide – enter slide number and hit Enter
• To temporarily blank screen – hit B or . Key (and hit again to reactivate)
• To advance to next slide – hit PgDn, down or right arrow or N key

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Remember…

• Slides help audience focus on what is important
• Use few words
• Don’t read the text
• Don’t show what you are telling them verbatim
• Otherwise why should they listen

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PowerPoint slides are not your message

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But…

These are guidelines, not rules

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PowerPoint Guidelines

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Questions…

Comments…

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