Presentation Software

***- 1
Presentation software
CONTENTS:
1. Presenting information is an important skill
2. Introduction and general guidelines for developers of
presentations
3. Creating charts
4. Specialized presentation software
(and Microsoft PowerPoint in particular)
5. Creating a scientific poster
6. Presentations through the WWW or through an intranet
***- 2
Presenting information is an important skill

***- 3
Some types of presentations

in science
Live presentations supported by a series of projected

slides
Series of slides made available through an intranet or
through the WWW
Live presentation and discussion with a printed poster as
starting point
***- 4
Why are presentations and

presentation skills important?
To present / report activities or findings or suggestions

to superiors or colleagues
To educate / train / teach people (for instance in science,
use of information, applications of computers)
To explain your ideas / work / activities / projects
To convince other people of the value of your ideas
To ask for opinions
To ask for support / co-operation / contributions /
***- 5
Introduction and general guidelines for

developers of presentations
***- 6
Media for presentation:

overview
Overhead projection of transparencies
Slide shows (using classical, hard copy 35 mm slides)
Direct computer-controlled projection
...
***- 7
Media for presentation:

transparencies
There are various types of plastic transparencies for

overhead projection:
For writing with suitable pencils
For Xerox machines (can resist the heat in the machine)
For laser printers (can resist the heat in the machine)
For ink-jet printers
(ink sticks well on the rough side;
see that the printer prints on the suitable, rough side!)
Price goes up!

***- 8
?? Question ??
Which types of transparencies do you know?

Can you distinguish them?
How much do they cost in comparison with each other?
***- 9
Planning an oral presentation:

a brief check list (Part 1)
What is the aim of the presentation?

What are my main points?
What are my sub-points?
What is my conclusion?
What is the summary?
Which questions from the audience can I expect
and which answers should I give?
***- 10

Who will be my audience?

What size will be my audience?
Which kind of visual aids will be useful?
What handouts will be useful?
Which is the appropriate language and terminology for
my audience?
Where will I do the presentation?
***- 11

Will the following be available in the room:

a whiteboard,
a flipchart,
an overhead projector,
a slide projector,
equipment for projection directly from a computer ?
Can the room be darkened well enough for projection?

***- 12

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse,

Be totally familiar with your introduction.
Test also on the pc + projector that you will actually use
in the real presentation to avoid
lost images
wrong fonts (in particular symbol and icon fonts)
a video included in a slide is not projected

**** 13
?? Question ??
Which is the most common, classical structure

of papers and presentations in a scientific environment?
ANSWER:
Introduction
Problem statement
etcetera
**** 14
?? Question ??
Which structure will YOU use in your

dissertation
presentation slides
***- 15
Live presentations:
some tips (Part 1)
Show confidence.
Know that to feel nervous is to be human.
Channel your adrenaline into positive energy.
Breathe deeply before you start your presentation.
Look at the audience and pause before you start to speak
***- 16
Live presentations:
some tips (Part 2)
Concentrate on your message, not on yourself.

Stand erect.
Begin with a powerful introduction
to catch the attention of your audience; for instance:
Present an agenda/summary slide that lists the key-points
of your presentation
Ask a question
Excite
Tell a story
OR: present your conclusion to start with
***- 17
Live presentations:
some tips (Part 3)
Apologies are NOT needed.

S p e a k c l e a r l y.
Speak with authority.
Use some silent pauses.
Look at everyone.
Deliver the message with dynamism;
use movement to maintain attention.
***- 18
Live presentations:
some tips (Part 4)
Do NOT look at the projection screen.

Use humor if possible.
End with
a powerful conclusion, challenge or appeal.
*--- 19
!! Task - Assignment !!
Use suitable and cheap transparencies

with suitable colour pens
and prepare 1 transparency
for a short live presentation.
(No computer involved.)
Tips: write readable text and exploit colour ink pens.
**-- 20
Read
Lee, I.
Presentation tips for public speaking. [online]
In
A research guide for students.
Available from: http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html
***- 21
Software packages that are useful for

presentations
To create transparencies:
(Word processing programs)
Presentation software packages!
To create hard-copy slides:
For direct computer-controlled projections:
(Word processing programs)
(Hypertext editors + WWW browsers)
***- 22
Some tips for developers of

presentation slides: readability (1)
Keep texts short.

Use less than 10 lines of texts on a slide,
because people hate reading long texts and listening
at the same time.
Use maximum 3 levels of headings per slide.
Like this heading at level 2 for instance
And like this and the next heading
at level 3
This is just another example of level 3
***- 23

presentation slides: readability (2)
Create your slides so that they are well readable even

when printed or copied
smaller and
in black and white only
This is important for instance for printed handouts.
***- 24

presentation slides: bullet points
Use bullets or numbers to start each item in a text list.

Use a contrasting colour for the bullets if possible.
Do NOT use bullets as well as numbers on the same line,
like in
1 blablabla
2 more blablabla
3 even more blablabla
Do NOT start a title with a bullet
**-- 25
?? Question ??
Black text with red bullets

on a white background
is a classical combination.
Why?
***- 26

presentation slides: typography (1)
Use fonts that are present on most computers, so that the

slides can also be shown with the right, appropriate,
correct fonts, using the fonts on almost any computer.
Use large characters, so that the people in the back

of the room can also read your message.
***- 27

presentation slides: typography (2)
Bold text is better readable in slides

than normal text.
(This is certainly so in the case of
light characters or lines
on a dark background.)
Avoid a lot of italic text,

because it is less well readable.
Use maximum 2 fonts per slide.

***- 28

presentation slides: contrast
Foreground and background colours need high contrast for

visibility.
***-Examples 29

presentation slides: contrast demo
Dark characters on a very light background

Dark, bold characters on a very light background
Light characters on a very dark background

Light, bold characters on a very dark background
Light characters on a light background

Light, bold characters on a light background
***- 30
?? Question ??
What are
the advantages and disadvantages of using
-- light characters on a dark background
-- dark characters on a light background
***- 31

presentation slides: tables
Use tables whenever possible, for instance when

comparing systems.
Use small tables;

avoid detailed, big tables with small characters and
numbers, because nobody will be able to read them.
***- 32

presentation slides: enhancements
Instead of text, try to use whenever possible:

flow charts,
schemes,
charts (pie charts or others),
pictograms
such as arrows to indicate a sequence,
and J L
***- 33

presentation slides: visualize
Instead of writing, try to visualize your ideas and messages.

***- 34

presentation slides: titles
Make the title stand out clearly from the body text lines.
Do not use the same title on several slides, because this
may confuse your audience.
Instead, use
variations
or subtitles
or insert terms like
continued or cont.
or part 1 / part 2 /
***- 35

presentation slides: the mouse
Try NOT to use the mouse during your presentation,

because it may be distracting from your message.
Instead,
use simply the keyboard to show the next slide or to go to
a slide with a specific number
use your arm and hand or a long stick to point to some
items on your slide
***- 36

presentation slides: interaction
Avoid a long introduction without slides.

Interact with your slides.
Point to a relevant element on a slide when speaking.
See that your speaking correlates well with what you
show on the projected slide.
***- 37

Make clear to your audience the relevance of your

research or in general the contents of your presentation,
in particular in
your introduction
again in your conclusion
In other words:
Make a clear distinction between
scientific research results and
the relevance of those results and the conclusion(s)
***- 38

Make sure that the audience knows you.

Avoid reading from slides.
Avoid speaking to slides.
No apologies.
Learn to navigate through slides (arrows etc)
***- 39

presentation slides: the final slide
Use the last slide well, for example:

To repeat an important message or address
To thank the audience
To ask for something
(for instance: a participation or a contribution or an
approval or a comment)
In other words: do NOT show an empty or meaningless
or confusing or distracting screen during the final part of
your presentation.
***-Example 40
Thank you for

your attention
Any questions?
**-- 41
?? Question ??
How should you set up

a program for word processing
in order to use it rather well for presentations
directly from a computer with a projector?
This can be useful for example
to report clearly a text
that is the result of a workshop/meeting.
**-- 42
If YOU have to prepare

a workshop or tutorial with slide presentations,
then you can learn how to do this better
for instance by having a look at
a set of concrete, practical documents
in the form of computer files
that form a manual that is available free of charge.
***- 43
Read the following article:

Bourne, P.E.
Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations
[online]
Available from: doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077
http://compbiol.plosjournals.org/ [cited 2007]
***- 44
Creating charts
**-- 45
!! Read !!
Read
Freeman, Jenny V., Walters, Stephen J., and Campbell, Michael J.

How to display data.
Blackwell, BMJ Books, 2008.
1. Introduction to data display
2. How to display data badly
3. Displaying univariate categorical data
4. Displaying quantitative data
5. Displaying the relationship between two continuous variables
**-- 46
!! Read !!
Read
Matthews, Jane R. and Matthews Robert W.

Successful scientific writing. (Third edition)
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008, 239 pp.
3. Visual support for the written word
4. Visual support for the spoken word
***- 47
Charts and data display

are important
Charts are in many cases needed in a

Printed report / document / paper
Printed poster
Digital report / document / paper, offline on a computer or
distributed by e-mail or on the WWW
Presentation (series of slides)
***- 48
Charts and data display:

keep it simple
Simplify.
Simplify again.
Mark the essential point(s):

***- 49
Tips for developers of charts:

programs to create charts
A new chart can be inserted and further created

for instance
in a document created with Microsoft Word,
using Insert | Object |
in a slide created with Microsoft PowerPoint,
using Insert | Chart
***- 50

type of chart
Use a well suited type of chart to show your numerical

data.
For instance:
Use pie charts to show proportion, such as market share.
**-- 51
?? Question ??
Which chart do you prefer, to show the same data?

***- 52

2 versus 3 dimensions
Use simple 2-dimensional charts instead of more

complicated 3-dimensional charts, if possible.
***- 53

bar chart or line chart?
Make a good choice between line and bar charts,

when you want to represent a change over time.
100
90
90
80
80
70
70
60
East 60 East
50
40 West
or 50 West
40 North
30 North ? 30
20
20
10
10
0
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr 0
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
***- 54
Prepare the creation of a slide,

using a simple sheet of paper and colour pens or pencils:
the slide should present 1 chart/graph that shows both
the average temperature at noon
and the average rainfall/precipitation
for the 12 months of the year,
for the place where you live.
(In this exercise, not the exact data are important,
but the way they are presented.)
***- 55
Create a slide
using some computer program,
with 1 chart/graph that shows both
the average temperature at noon
and the rainfall/precipitation
for the 12 months of the year,
for the place where you live.
(In this exercise, not the exact data are important,
but the way they are presented.)
***- 56
Improve the readability and impact of a chart that you make,

for instance
by choosing appropriate colours for lines or bars and characters,
by choosing related colours for related lines or bars and characters,
by choosing appropriate colours for the background,
by adding symbolic icons,
in the case of a line chart: by showing or not showing data points with bullets,
in the case of a bar chart: by adjusting the space between the bars
by smoothing line charts (when the individual data points are not important while
they may make your message less direct and strong)
***- 57

importing a chart in a document
Chart created in program 1 Document created in program 2
Example:
chart in spreadsheet program poster created in a program 2
90
80
70
60
50 East
40 West
30 North
20
10
0
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
?
***- 58


Method 1:
Copy in program 1 and Paste special
in document in program 2
as object still linked to program 1 so that efficient editing is
still possible
Advantages:
Easy, fast
Further editing within the chart is efficient
Disadvantage: Formatting is not always preserved well.
***- 59


Method 2:
Copy in program 1 and Paste special
in document in program 2
as bitmap (in ping file format)
Advantage: Easy, fast
Disadvantages:
Formatting is not always preserved well.
Further editing within the chart cannot be done in program 2.
***- 60


Method 3:
Use operating system with a print screen in program 1 and
paste in document in program 2.
Advantage: Formatting is preserved well.
Disadvantages:
Resolution is limited by the number of pixels on the computer
screen during the print screen procedure.
Further editing within the chart cannot be done in program 2.
***- 61
Assume that you have a number of outcomes/results
of observations or experiments
and that you make a partition of these in 3 parts:
Part Q 12, Part D 39, Part P 23
Assume also that the sequence of the parts has no meaning.
To display these results visually, create 1 chart that you can use well
in a poster,
in a slide and
in an article that is printed with black ink on white paper.
Make 2 printouts on white paper of the chart,
one with black ink only and one with colours.
***- 62
Specialized presentation software

***- Examples 63
Presentation software packages

for Windows
Presentation software strictu sensu:

(Harvard Graphics)
Lotus Freelance (part of the Lotus Office software suite)
Microsoft PowerPoint 95, 97, 2000, XP=2002, 2003
(part of the Microsoft Office 95, 97, 2000, XP=2002, 2003
software suites)
the module for presentations in Open Office,
a freeware office software suite

**-- 64
?? Question ??
What are the differences

between a word processing program
and a presentation program?
***- 65
When you prepare a slide show,

move to slide sorter view
and copy a slide
to another place in the show
as the basis for an additional slide.
***- 66
Presentation software packages:

learning to use them (Part 1)
Ways to learn using presentation software:

computer-assisted introduction / tutorial / instruction
coming with the software package!!
in-context hypertext help built into the software package!
books or chapters of books, about the software package
manual and documentation for the software package

***- 67
Presentation software packages:

learning to use them (Part 2)
computer-assisted introduction / tutorial / instruction

available online
Usenet groups about the program:
for instance, about Microsoft PowerPoint:
news:microsoft.public.powerpoint
***- 68
Have a look at the computer-based tutorial

for the presentation software that you will use.
For instance
a tutorial about PowerPoint is available from
http://www.vub.ac.be/BIBLIO/nieuwenhuysen/courses/overview.pps
(in the form of a PowerPoint show file),

***- 69
If you are not satisfied

with other methods to learn PowerPoint,
you can have a look at a tutorial about PowerPoint
that is available free of charge
through the WWW:
http://www.uwec.edu/Help/
***- 70
If you are not satisfied

with other methods to learn PowerPoint,
you can study a book such as
How to use Microsoft PowerPoint 2000.
(Visually in full colour)
by Daffron, Susan C.
Indianapolis : SAMS, 1999, 290 pp.
***- 71
Tips for developers of

presentation slides: icons
Try to insert a small image (icon) or a border

on each of your slides, that symbolizes / summarizes the
contents of the presentation.
Note: in most cases the result will be better when the logo
is placed IN the corner
and not NEAR the corner.
***- 72
Tips for developers of

presentation slides: logos
In your title slide, insert a logo or a few logos that refer to

the organizations / institutes / universities /...
that you are associated with.
Use an existing, official logo as it is;
in other words:
do not change its colours, shape
***- 73
Learn to select clip art

and to insert it in a slide.
***- 74
Tips for developers of slides:

frames
Avoid unnecessary frames/borders on the slide, even

when these are suggested by the program that you use,
because the border of the slide already serves as a frame
for your message.
***- 75

frames demo
This slide shows/demonstrates that a frame on a

slide eats up space
that cannot be used anymore to show your
message and text.
***- 76

images
Use images or photos instead of text, or together with text,

whenever possible.
***-Example 77

image example
Example of a photo + text in a suitable colour,

inserted in a slide:
Fishes on the market

**-- 78
Make or find relevant photographs or images.

If they are not yet in digital format,
then digitize them.
Save the data to files
without loss of information.
**-- 79
Select a digital photograph.

Crop it.
Improve its quality.
Save it as a file
from which we can derive photos
to insert in a presentation afterwards.
**-- 80
Select a big, detailed photo that is already made usable,

and resize it
to use it as a background covering a whole slide.
TIP: Work for the number of picture elements
that will be used normally to view the slides: crop to a ratio 4/3.
Then resize.
Insert the resulting file in your presentation file.
(Do not use your presentation program for resizing,
because this may decrease the sharpness.)
Put some text on top of this photo background.
**-- 81
If Microsoft PowerPoint XP (2002)

or a more recent version is available to you,
then check that you can save a presentation file
that contains a picture with
Save as | Tools | Compress picture
to compress the file resulting in a file
with an appropriate quality and size.
***- 82

templates for slides = slide masters
Try to avoid modifying the formatting of each individual

slide in a presentation.
Better: improve the template slide = slide master, on
which your presentation is based
Advantages:
Less work for you
More uniform / consistent formatting
***- 83

working with a slide master
Improve the layout of the

slide master if required in Edit the contents of your
View | Master | slides in View | Normal.
(Do NOT edit the contents (Avoid editing the layout
of your slides in this view.) of your slides in this view.)
Slide show !
***- 84
Get some experience with

switching from normal slide view
to viewing the master slide.
***- 85
Get some experience with editing the master slide.

***- 86
When you prepare a slide show,

switch to slide view
and try to find or create a better
template = master slide,
for your presentation.
***- 87

motion and transitions
Effects are possible:

Motions / animations can be added to the contents of a
slide.
Transitions from one slide to the next can be animated.
A sound can be added to slide transition.
Keep all these effects to a minimum;
use them efficiently and effectively only.
***- 88

motion and transitions
The differences among the many programs and hardware

set-ups that may be used to show your slides,
make that a completely perfect show with complicated
animations is unlikely.
Therefore, consider to use a simple sequence of slides that
give the impression of a motion or building-up,
instead of a real animation in 1 slide.
***-Example 89
Example of a poor-design-
slide
The slide title is not placed well.
A colour background may result in too much gray when printed.
There is not enough space in front of the text on this slide.
There is no margin on 1 side of this slide, so that text falls off this slid
There is no logo on this slide.
Animation effects can be distracting!
***-Example 90
Another example of poor-design-
slide
This following lines can be improved:
This line is in a different colour, without reason.
This line does not end with a full stop, but all other lines do
The size of the characters in this line is different.
The character font in this line is different, without reason.
Italic text is not well readable in this line.
*--- 91
Use a program for word processing

or presentation software to prepare and
to print 1 black on white master
and use this to make 1 transparency
to support a presentation,
using a Xerox photocopy machine.
*--- 92
Create 1 colour transparency

using a presentation program
and a colour inkjet
with suitable (expensive) transparencies.
**-- 93
!! Task - Assignment - Exercise !!
Create a new presentation or choose an existing one.

Choose a movie/video file,
for instance from the WWW site http://www.reefvid.org/ ;
save this movie/video file to your computer
in the same folder as the one where you keep your presentation files
and insert this movie/video in a slide of your presentation,
so that a frame of the movie/video is visible on the slide
and so that the video can be started in the slide by clicking.
With most software packages, such as Microsoft PowerPoint 2003,
the video information is not really inserted into the presentation file, but only a link is made.
Therefore keep the movie/video file always together with the presentation file.
**-- 94
Try to find
an animation or video file
that is interesting, relevant, suitable
for your presentation;
insert this in a slide of your presentation.
**-- 95
Create a slide show

for direct projection from a computer,
using a presentation program.
**-- 96
When you have created a slide show,

print an audience handout for every person
in your audience.
**-- 97
?? Question ??
What is the difference between

the file formats created by Microsoft PowerPoint,
that have the file name extensions
.PPT and .PPS?
**-- 98
Activate a .PPT file directly from the operating system

(NOT using the program Microsoft PowerPoint)
Do the same for a .PPS file.
Observe the difference.
**-- 99
Practice using a .PPS file for your presentation.

(That is better than
starting your presentation in editing mode
with a .PPT file.)
***- 100
Learn to navigate in your presentation slides

with the program that you will use
during the projection:
moving forward AND backward
moving to a the slide with number N
moving back to the starting slide at the end
***- 101
Test the projection from the computer

that you will use for your presentation.
Match the resolution on your computer
with that of the projector.
In case of a notebook pc:
learn about the key combinations
that trigger the projection in the particular pc that you use.
***- 102
Practice your live presentation

with the slides that you have prepared.
See that there is a clear correspondence
between
what you explain
and
what is shown on the slide that is projected at the same time.
***- 103

Williams, Simon
Perfect presentations. (PowerPoint tips.)
Personal Computer World UK, November 2003, pp. 102-105.
***- 104
Wall, Terry
PowerPoint pitfalls that can kill an audiences will to stay awake.
[online]
Available from:
http://www.presentations.com/presentations/
[cited 2005]
***- 105
Paradi, David
When technology fails, be ready.
Available from:
http://www.presentations.com/presentations/ [cited 2005]
***- 106
Read:
Stein, Karen
The dos and donts of PowerPoint presentations.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2006, pp. 1745-1748.
***- 107
Read:
Lagendijk, Ad
Survival guide for scientists: writing presentation email.
Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2008, 260 pp.
Part 1: Writing guide for scientists
Part 2: Presentation guide for scientists
***- 108
Creating a scientific poster

***- 109
Tips for developers of a poster:

follow guidelines
Follow many of the guidelines for

writing a scientific paper
and
developing slides to support a presentation
***- 110

follow the instructions
Follow the instructions of the organisers of the

event/conference, mainly regarding
the orientation of the poster (portrait or landscape )
the dimensions of the poster
***- 111

the title
Consider using the title of a poster to state the conclusion

of the investigation/work/research/study,
rather than the process of what was done.
***- 112

mention the purpose
After using your poster in a poster presentation at a

conference, you may want to show the poster also in
another place (such as the wall of your laboratory or
office).
Therefore consider to mention the original purpose of the
poster ON the poster.
For instance:
name, place and date of the conference where the poster was
used.
***- 113

avoid long lines
Avoid long lines of text that are hard to read;

for instance, like newspapers do:
Avoid long lines by using 2 or 3 or 4 short columns.
Insert frames, boxes.
***- 114

frames / boxes
You can give each box a different pastel colour

background.
You can choose the colors so that they follow a well-
known sequence, such as the rainbow.
In this way you indicate in subtle way also a sequence,
for instance from Introduction to Conclusion.
You can link boxes with arrows,
again to indicate a sequence or a flow or work.
***- 115

shadows
Let each box throw a (virtual) grey shadow on the

underlying paper, to create a 3-dimensional effect.
Watch out:
combining fills of frames that are partly transparent
with shadows does not work well, as the shadows under
characters and frames that should be invisible become partly
visible due to the partial transparency.
***- 116

readability on paper of small size
In some cases, posters are printed by the conference

organisers at a smaller size (A4 or letter format) and only
black on white (that is without colours) in conference
proceedings.
Therefore, try to create your poster
in a program that can create a file suitable for the editor
and printer of such a type of proceedings
in portrait, not in landscape
in such a way that is still readable, usable and attractive in
the reduced format
**-- 117

computer programs
To prepare a poster, you can use a computer software

package for
Word processing
Desktop-publishing
Presentations !
Graphics

***- 118

prints
Prepare and print 1 big poster with an expensive, special printer,

or prepare and print several smaller pages (for instance A3 format
with a more affordable printer) and assemble these pages to a poster.
A0 = 2 x A1 = 4 x A2 = 8 x A3 = 16 x A4
A4 = 210 mm x 297 mm
A3 = 2xA4 = 2x210 mm x 297 = 420 x 297 mm
A2 = 2xA3 = 4xA4 = 420 mm x 2x297 mm = 420 mm x 594 mm
A1 = 2xA2 = 4xA3 = 8xA4 = 2x420 mm x 594 mm = 840 mm x 594 mm
A0 = 2xA1 = 8xA3 = 840 mm x 2x594 mm = 840 mm x 1188 mm
**-- 119

software page-setup
If you use software to prepare the poster, then go first to

File | Page Setup (in most cases)
and fill in the size of the paper and margins that you will
use.
**-- 120

templates
For big 1-page posters, some PowerPoint templates can be

downloaded free of charge from
http://www.postersession.com/templates.html
[accessed 2005]
**-- 121

working on the screen
Realize that the poster will be much bigger than your

computer screen.
Therefore:
Avoid using low resolution pictures (for instance copied
from the WWW) that will be printed large.
Look at your work on the screen at a high magnification
once in a while.
Realize that in most cases a display size of 100 % as
indicated in your program does not correspond strictly to
the size that will be printed.
**-- 122

printing
Some print services prefer that your file is converted to

a PDF file and that this is used to realize the printout.
Warnings:
1. Not all programs convert to PDF well.
For instance: PowerPoint 2003 may not convert PPT to
PDF well,
while PowerPoint 2007 does convert the same file well
to PDF.
2. A file that is displayed well on the computer screen is
not always printed out well, even when the same
program is used.
**-- 123
!! Task - Assignment - Exercise !!
Test the meaning of 100 % size in your program

by comparing it to the size of a printout.
For instance, choose a page setup for A4 paper
and a display size of 100 %;
then compare the size of the virtual paper on your display
with the size of a real A4 sheet of paper.
**-- 124
!! Read !!
Read
Wolcott, Thomas G.
Mortal Sins in Poster Presentations
or How to Give the Poster No One Remembers.
[online]
Available from:
http://www.sicb.org/newsletters/fa97nl/sicb/poster.html
[accessed 2007]
**-- 125
!! Read !!
Read
Erren, Thomas C., and Bourne, Philip E.
Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation.
[online]
Available from:
http://compbiol.plosjournals.org/
[accessed 2007]
**-- 126
!! Read !!
Read
Davis, Martha
Scientific papers and presentations.
Academic Press, 2005, 356 pp.
14. Communication without words
15. Visual aids to communication
16. The oral presentation
17. Poster presentations
Appendix 13. Sample slides and slide set
Appendix 14. Oral presentations at meetings
**-- 127
Read
Matthews, Jane R. and Matthews Robert W.
Successful scientific writing. (Third edition)
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008, 239 pp.
3. Visual support for the written word
4. Visual support for the spoken word
***- 128
Presentations through the WWW

or through an intranet
***- 129
Making presentations available

through a web: introduction
A presentation in the form of a series of slides made by a

presentation software package like Microsoft PowerPoint
can be made available (can be published)
through a local web (an intranet) or
through the WWW
***- 130
Making presentations available

through a web: how does it work?
The software package allows you to save (convert) a

presentation file in a more suitable format for this
method of publishing:
HTML files + linked graphics files + linked multimedia
files +
**- 131
Save a presentation in a web version.

Then look at that presentation,
using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5
(or a more recent version)
as a viewer/browser
(and NOT PowerPoint or another presentation program).
**-- 132

with PowerPoint 97: how?
Microsoft PowerPoint 97
allows saving a presentation as an HTML file,
with each complete slide in the form of an image that is
stored as a GIF or as a JPG file, with a high fidelity.
**-- 133

with PowerPoint 97: advantages
J
The user does not need the full PowerPoint
program or a program to view a PowerPoint
file, but can view the presentation with any
web browser!
A table of contents is provided automatically
in a frame to the web browser.
Graphical user interface elements are offered
to the user automatically such as a button for:
Show next slide.
**-- 134
with PowerPoint 97: far from perfect
(1)
L
When users save slides as JPG file, the
characters become less sharp.
Slides with PowerPoint animations can NOT
be saved and hinder saving of slides further in
the presentation file.
The resulting presentation takes more disk
space than the original presentation, as text is
converted to images in GIF or JPG format.
**-- 135
(2)
L
Images or parts of the text on a slide can NOT
be copied and pasted from the web browser
window to another document.
The full text of the slides is available for
indexing by search engines.
When a search engine has indexed the text of
a presentation, the slides can be retrieved by
using that search engine, even through the
WWW, BUT ONLY in a text version without
graphics, which can be confusing.
**-- 136
(3)
L
The saved web version can NOT be saved
back in the original PowerPoint file format.
Working hyperlinks can NOT be
incorporated in the slides.

***- 137

with PowerPoint 2000, : how?
Microsoft PowerPoint 2000

and more recent versions
allow saving a presentation as a set of HTML/XML files,
using one of various methods, to be selected in the
program.
***- 138
Presentations through the WWW with

PowerPoint 2000, : options
A screen capture of the various options for

saving/converting/publishing:
***- 139

with PowerPoint 2000, : advantages
J
The user does not need the full PowerPoint
program or a program to view a PowerPoint
file, but can view the presentation with a web
browser!
The resulting slides are resized together with
the window of the web browser!
(if the appropriate option has been chosen before
saving the slides in HTML/XML format)
***- 140

J
The slide show can be seen with a browser in
full screen mode, that is without distracting
window frame and buttons of the browser!
A table of contents is provided automatically
in a frame to the web browser.
Graphical user interface elements are offered
to the user automatically for
Show next slide,
Show full screen,
***- 141

J
Viewing a large presentation with slides in
HTML/XML format is less difficult than
downloading the corresponding file in the
classical PowerPoint file format, when a small
network bandwidth is a problem.
The reason is that the HTML version consists of
many files that are each smaller than the single
corresponding file in PowerPoint format.
***- 142

J
Notes added to slides by the author of the
presentation can be shown in the web browser
window under each slide.
Parts of the text or images on a slide can be

copied and pasted from the web browser
window to another document.
***- 143

J
Working, active hyperlinks can be
incorporated in the slides.
+ Broken links can be detected with Microsoft
FrontPage working with the slides that form
part of a FrontPage web.
***- 144

J
The full text of the slides is available for
indexing by search engines that index html
files.
So when a search engine has indexed the text
of a presentation, each slide can be retrieved
by using that search engine, even through the
WWW!
***- 145

J
Summarized:
When you work in this way, you use
PowerPoint as an advanced program for the
creation of web documents.
***- 146

with PowerPoint 2000, : limitations
L
In our experience, making a presentation
available through the WWW or an intranet
offers a high and acceptable fidelity, when the
option is chosen to save in a format that is only
suitable for the Internet browsers
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or higher.
***- 147

L
Saving for other browsers than
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or higher,
for instance for Netscape browsers,
results in slides that can indeed be viewed with
Netscape, but in which text and pictures are
placed in a different way in comparison to the
original PowerPoint presentation.
This should be avoided in most cases.
***- 148

L
Even when an acceptable method is used, the
result is not ideal.
For instance:
When the window occupied by the browser is
small, the characters take too much space and
they are not well integrated in the slide.
The relative sizes of characters can be distorted
(for instance the size of the characters in the
title can show up smaller than those in the body
of the slide).
***- 149

L
A computer works slower with the web
version of a presentation than with the
proprietary, normal, classical Microsoft
PowerPoint PPT or PPS file formats.
Not all users are able to download the web
version to their local, personal computer
system.
For downloading, file formats like the more
classical PowerPoint or PDF work better.
***- 150

L
At least up to PowerPoint version 2003, in
the case that presentation is made in the
proprietary, specialised PowerPoint file
format and converted to an HTML-version,
then the transitions from one slide to the
next do not work in the same way as in the
original presentation and not as nicely.
For instance: smooth fades are not smooth
anymore.
**-- 151

L
At least up to PowerPoint version 2003, in
the case that presentation is made in the
proprietary, specialised PowerPoint file
format and converted to an HTML-version,
and if background music was present, then
this can be lost.
**-- 152

L
A presentation in PPT or PPS file format can
be contained in only 1 file.
However, in HTML/XML format the
presentation data are spread over many files.
This makes storage, management and
transfer to a web server more complicated
and slower.
**-- 153
Now that you have learned more

about slides coded as HTML/XML,
look closer at a presentation
created with PowerPoint 2000 or a more recent version,
using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5
or a more recent version as a viewer/browser
(and NOT using PowerPoint).
Check that you can look at the table of contents and at the slides full screen.
**-- 154
When you have created a slide show,

use your presentation program
to publish a version to your web site
in the form of a collection of files,
including files in HTML/XML format.
Warning:
Do not confuse this with editing and saving XML files.
**-- 155
?? Question ??
What are the advantages of

making a series of presentation slides available
through the WWW or an intranet
as a number of HTML/XML pages, plus images,
and not simply as one file
in a PowerPoint file format.
***- 156
Presentations through the WWW:

conclusions
Powerful method
J
to make series of presentation slides available
to create web pages that are adapted well to the limited
size of a video display
Not simple to achieve acceptable results;
not yet perfect. L
***- 157
?? Question ??
Which file formats can be used

to make a series of slides available
through the Internet and the WWW
or through an intranet?
***- 158

alternatives
Directly as PPT or PPS or similar single file

(and simply create a link to that single file)
Save for web site as a set of many smaller files
(and make link to basic start-HTML/XML-file)
Print or Save as PDF file
(and simply create a link to that single file)
Check setting of quality of the conversion to PDF;
higher quality gives also a larger file;
make a compromise.
***- 159

tip on file sizes
When images, sounds, videos are part of the

presentation, then keep their file size small, so that
downloads through the Internet / WWW are fast.
More concretely for images:
use appropriate file formats like
GIF
JPG with an appropriate degree of compression, taking
into account that more compression gives lower quality
(This is less important in a live presentation directly from
a computer without download from a server.)
***- 160
Convert a presentation that you have created

to a PDF file.
Check the conversion settings in the program that you use.
Check the size of the resulting file and the display quality.
**** 161
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***- 1

Presenting information is an important skill

Some types of presentations

Live presentations supported by a series of projected

Why are presentations and

To present / report activities or findings or suggestions

Introduction and general guidelines for

Media for presentation:

Overhead projection of transparencies

Slide shows (using classical, hard copy 35 mm slides)

Direct computer-controlled projection

Media for presentation:

There are various types of plastic transparencies for

Price goes up!

Which types of transparencies do you know?

Planning an oral presentation:

What is the aim of the presentation?

Planning an oral presentation:

Who will be my audience?

Planning an oral presentation:

Will the following be available in the room:

Can the room be darkened well enough for projection?

Planning an oral presentation:

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse,

Which is the most common, classical structure

Which structure will YOU use in your

Concentrate on your message, not on yourself.

Apologies are NOT needed.

Do NOT look at the projection screen.

Use suitable and cheap transparencies

Software packages that are useful for

Some tips for developers of

Keep texts short.

Some tips for developers of

Create your slides so that they are well readable even

Some tips for developers of

Use bullets or numbers to start each item in a text list.

Black text with red bullets

Some tips for developers of

Use fonts that are present on most computers, so that the

Use large characters, so that the people in the back

Some tips for developers of

Bold text is better readable in slides

Avoid a lot of italic text,

Use maximum 2 fonts per slide.

Some tips for developers of

Foreground and background colours need high contrast for

Some tips for developers of

Dark characters on a very light background

Light characters on a very dark background

Light characters on a light background

Some tips for developers of

Use tables whenever possible, for instance when

Use small tables;

Some tips for developers of

Instead of text, try to use whenever possible:

Some tips for developers of

Instead of writing, try to visualize your ideas and messages.

Some tips for developers of

Some tips for developers of

Try NOT to use the mouse during your presentation,

Some tips for developers of

Avoid a long introduction without slides.