Designing Effective

Power Point Presentations

Dinesh Chandra Shaha, PhD

Dept. of Fisheries Management
Power Point Presentation Guidelines
• Guidelines and suggestion for
• How to build your presentation
• How to engage your audience
• How to use fonts, colors and graphics for
power point slide

• This media (PPT) is designed to ENHANCE your

presentation, not BE the presentation.

• Remember, only you can prevent

“Death by PowerPoint”
Presentation killers -Looking constantly
down, at the computer, or at the projector
screen
Building your presentation

• A presentation - one of the ways of

influencing how others perceive your science.

• Think your audience -Identify your audience:

• are they expert researchers in your field?
Undergraduates?
• Non-scientists?
• When speaking to experts, you should focus less
on background and more on data.
 Building your presentation
• Start with an outline and stay focused
• Clarify from the start what you’ll cover
• if the audience remembers one or two points from
your presentation, what should they be?
 Building your presentation
• Use repeated slide templates
• remind the audience about the flow of your
presentation.

• Limit words; use visuals!

• Avoid Death by Power Point-reads off slide after slide
• Optimize your scientific delivery
• Hypothesis slides are a must.
 Engaging your audience
• Emphasize your two main points
• Built your presentation around one or two key points
• Never express uncertainty at the start your talk; rather,
maintain a positive tone
• Eyes up - must look up and engage the audience while presenting
• Use your laser pointer effectively
• Speak slowly and modulate your voice
• The star of the presentation is not your slides – it is YOU
 Designing Effective Power
Point Presentation

Big Progressive

Consistent Simple

Clear Summary
Power Point Slide

• Highlight key points or reinforce what the facilitator

is saying

• Should be short and to the point, include only KEY

WORDS and PHASES for visual, reinforcement

• Text and images should be placed within 95%

of the Power Point slide.
Power Point Layout

• Layout continuity from frame to frame conveys a

sense of completeness
• Headings, subheadings, and logos should show up
in the same spot on each frame
• Margins, fonts, font size, and colors should be
consistent with graphics on each frame
• Lines, boxes, borders, and open space also should be
consistent throughout
Make It Big- Fonts

• Font Style Should be Readable

– Recommended fonts:
Arial, Tahoma, Veranda
• Standardize the Font Throughout
– This presentation is in Tahoma

Do !
 Font Size
 The larger, the better. Remember, your slides must
be readable, even at the back of the room.

• This is a good title size

Verdana 40 point
• A good subtitle or bullet point size
Verdana 32 point
• Content text should be no smaller than
Verdana 24 point
• This font size is not recommended for content. Verdana 12 point. Too Small
 Font Size
 Combiningsmall font sizes with bold or italics is
not recommended:
 What does this say? Garamond Font, Italic, Bold
12pt.
• This is very difficult to read. Times Font, Bold, 12pt.
Don’t !
• This point could be lost. Century Gothic Font, Bold, Italic, 14pt.

• No one will be able to read this. Gill Sans Font, Condensed Bold, 12pt

Small fonts are okay for a footer, such as:

TIPS Presentation: 11/6/2020 Dawn Thomas, CRM

 Font Size (How to Estimate)

• Look at it from 2 metres away

2m
 Fonts Don’t !

• Don’t Sacrifice Readability for Style

• Don’t Sacrifice Readability for Style
•don’t Sacrifice readability
for Style
• Don’t Sacrifice Readability for Style
 Keep It Simple (Text)

• Write in point form, not complete sentences

• Avoid wordiness: use key words and
phrases only
• The 6 x 7 rule
– No more than 6 lines per slide
– No more than 7 words per line
 Don’t
Avoid the “All Word”

Another thing to avoid is the use of a large

block paragraph to introduce your information. Attendees
do not like to have what is on the screen, read to
them verbatim. So, please use short, bulleted
statements and avoid typing out your
whole presentation on to the slides. Also, it
is difficult for some to listen and read a
large amount of text at the same time.
 Keep It Simple (Text)

Instructional Technology:
A complex integrated process involving
people, procedures, ideas, devices, and
organization, for analyzing problems
and devising, implementing, evaluating,
Too detailed
and managing solutions to those!
problems in situations in which learning
is purposive and controlled
(HMRS 5th ed.)
 Keep It Simple (Text)

Instructional Technology:
A process
involving people, procedures & tools
Much Simpler
for solutions
to problems in learning
(HMRS 5th ed.)
Keep It Simple - Caps and Italics

• DO NOT USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

– Makes text hard to read
– Denies their use for EMPHASIS

• Italics
– Used for “quotes”
– Used to highlight thoughts or ideas
– Used for book, journal, or magazine titles
 Make It Clear (Numbers)

Use numbers for lists with sequence

For example:

How to put an elephant into a fridge?

1. Open the door of the fridge

2. Put the elephant in
3. Close the door
 Make It Clear (Numbers)

How to put a giraffe into a fridge?

1. Open the door of the fridge 1. Introduction

2. Take out the elephant 2. Methods

3. Put the giraffe in 3. Results
3.1
4. Close the door 3.2
4. Conclusion
 Use a Template
• Use a set font and color scheme.
• Different styles are disconcerting to the
audience.
• You want the audience to focus on what
you present, not the way you present.
Use the same background

Use the Same Background

on Each Slide

Do !!
 Don’tuse multiple backgrounds in
your presentation

 Changing the style is distracting

Don’t!
Make It Clear - Colors
• Reds and oranges are high-energy
but can be difficult to stay focused
on.
• Greens, blues, and browns are
mellower, but not as attention
grabbing.
• Reds and Greens can be difficult to
see for those who are color blind.
 Avoid These Combinations
• Examples:
–Green on Blue
–Dark Yellow on Green
–Purple on Blue Don’t !

–Orange on Green
–Red on Green
 Colors

Don’t
• Large Hall Events
–Avoid White Backgrounds
–The white screen can be blinding
in a dark room

–Dark Slides with Light Colored

Text Work Best Do
 The Color Wheel
• Colors separated by another
color are contrasting colors
(complementary)
• Adjacent colors harmonize
with one another (Green
and Yellow)
• Colors directly opposite one
another are said to CLASH
• Clashing colors provide
readability
– Orange oBlue
Do !
 Background Colors
Readability!
Remember: Readability! Readability!

This is a good mix of This is a bad mix of

colors. Readable! colors. Low contrast.
Unreadable!

This is a bad mix of

This is a good mix of colors. Avoid bright
colors. Readable! colors on white.
Unreadable!
Limit Each Slide to One Idea

• Use Bullet Points to Cover

Components of Each Idea
 Bullets
• Keep each bullet to 1 line, 2 at the most
• Limit the number of bullets in a screen to 6, 4
if there is a large title, logo, picture, etc.
– This is known as “cueing”
– You want to “cue” the audience on what
you’re going to say
• Cues are a a brief “preview”
• Gives the audience a “framework” to build upon
 Bullets (con.)

• If you crowd too much text, the audience

won’t read it
– Too much text looks busy and is hard to read
– Why read it, when you’re going to tell them
what it says?
– Our reading speed does not match our
listening speed; hence, they confuse instead
of reinforce
 Limit Animation!
• Use the same animation throughout
entire presentation
• Using more than one can be very
distracting
– The audience will only see the animation
and not the message you’re trying to get
across
Bam!
Don’t
Limit Animation!

2m

Too distracting !
Limit Animation!

2m

Simple & to the point

 Points to Remember
Do not do this!
Limit Bullet Points
To a few words
• Limit each slide to 1 idea
• Limit each bullet point to only a few words to
avoid long sentences that go on and on!
• Limit animation – Too much animation can be
distracting.
 Points to Remember

• Keep bullet points brief

• Use the same background for
Do ! each slide
• Use dark slides with light colored
text in large hall events
Graphs and Charts

Make sure the audience

can read them!
 Falling Leaves Observed

Delhi Mumbai Goa

January 11,532,234 14,123,654 3,034,564
February 1,078,456 12,345,567 16,128,234
March 17,234,778 6,567,123 16,034,786
April
May Too detailed !
16,098,897
8,036,897
10,870,954
10,345,394
7,940,096
14,856,456
 Use
June graphs rather than just678,095
16,184,345 charts 4,123,656

 Data in graphs8,890,345
July is easier to comprehend18,885,786
15,347,934
August 8,674,234 18,107,110
 Trends are easier to visualize in graph 17,230,095
form
September 4,032,045 18,923,239 9,950,498
October 2,608,096 9,945,890 5,596,096
November 5,864,034 478,023 6,678,125
December 12,234,123 9,532,111 3,045,654
Falling Leaves in Millions

In 106 Delhi Mumbai Goa

January 11 14 3
February 1 12 16
March 17 6 16
April 16 10 7
May 8 10 14
June Much Simpler
16 0 4
July 8 15 18
August 8 18 17
September 4 18 9
October 2 9 5
November 5 0 6
December 12 9 3
 Falling Leaves in Millions
Delhi Mumbai Goa
20
15
10
5
0

 Use graphs rather than just charts

 Data in graphs is easier to comprehend
 Trends are easier to visualize in graph form
 Graphics and Charts
Avoid using graphics that are difficult to read. In this example, the bright
colors on a white background and the small font make the graph hard to
read. It would be very difficult to see, especially in the back of a room.

Don’t !
 This graph contains too much information in an
unreadable format.

Don’t !
Good Graph

These are examples of

good graphs, with nice
line widths and good
colors.

Do !
Be Progressive - Understanding Technology

Mouse I/O Error

Main Storage CPU

Function key User interface

Too many & not focused
Software Debugger

Floppy disk Backup system

Be Progressive - Understanding Technology

Mouse I/O Error

Main Storage CPU

Progressive & thus

Function key User interface
focused
Software Debugger

Floppy disk Backup system

 Be Consistent

• Differences draw attention

• Differences may imply importance

• Use surprises to attract not distract

 Be Consistent

Differences draw attention

• Differences may imply importance
• Use surprises to attract not distract

This tick draws attention

 Be Consistent

Differences draw attention

 Differences may imply importance
o Use surprises to attract not distract

These differences distract!

 Be Consistent

• Differences draw attention

• Differences may imply importance
• Use surprises to attract not distract

This implies importance

 Be Consistent

• Differences draw attention

• Differences may imply importance
• Use surprises to attract not distract

Confusing differences!
 Be Consistent

• Differences draw attention

• Differences may imply importance
• Use surprises to attract not distract

This surprise attracts

 Be Consistent

• Differences draw attention

• Differences may imply importance
• Use surprises to attract not distract

These distract!
 YOU

• Do not use the media (ppt) to hide you

• The audience came to SEE you
• The media (ppt) should ENHANCE the
presentation, not BE the presentation
• If you’re only going to read from the slides,
then just send them the slides!
• Remember, only you can prevent
“Death by PowerPoint”
 In Summary

• Big
• Simple
• Clear
• Progressive
• Consistent
Some Final Words
 When Creating

• Text to support the communication

• Pictures to simplify complex concepts
• Animations for complex relationships
• Visuals to support, not to distract
• Sounds only when absolutely necessary
• Think about the people in the back of
the room when creating slides
 When Presenting

• Speak loudly and clearly with fluctuation

• Maintain eye contact with your audience
• Ask questions of your audience
– (if applicable)
• Don’t read the slides word-for-word,
use them for reference
 Closing Remarks

• Practice your presentation before a

neutral audience
– Ask for feedback
• Be particular about the time allotted
for presentation
• Leave time for questions