EFFECTIVE POWERPOINTS

Madeleine Abood
 FUNCTION OF THE POWERPOINT

• Purpose of a PowerPoint
• A PowerPoint should be treated as a tool for instruction.
• Its function is NOT to hold all the information an audience should obtain, but rather:
• Guide the presenter with points on which he or she elaborates
• Reinforce key information from the lecture
• Maintain the engagement of the audience
 CLEAN & SIMPLE FORMAT

• Formatting
• Avoid “overdesigning”
• One theme throughout PPT
• Allows the presentation to
flow
• One font
• Less information on more slides is • Primary Idea
• “Less is more” is true for an effective PowerPoint

prefereable
• Ways to maintain simplicity
• Maintain one theme for the entire PowerPoint
• Example: This presentation has the consistent
grey and white theme with same Gill Sans font
• Keep transitions to a minimum
• Example: do not have each line come “flying
in”
 CONTENT: TEXT

• Primary Idea
• Keep the “outline” mentality
• PowerPoint is a support for relaying content
• PowerPoint is a “rundown” for your presentation
• Provides cues to jog presenters brain for the various topics to be discussed
 CONTENT: TEXT (CONT).

• “Six-by-Six” Rule
• Try to have no more than six lines of words per slide with no more than six words!
• Allows for reinforcement of main points
• Key Point #2: The audience should be primarily listening, not reading
 TRANSITIONS

• Use transitions in moderation! Too many can be overstimulating

• Purpose:
• Engage audience
• Signify the arrival of new content
• Example: Advancing Slides
 IMAGERY & ANIMATIONS

• Purpose
• Put your ideas in context
• Strengthen primary messages
• Caution
• Too many images distract from verbal presentation
• Dubbed “photo clutter”
• Subtle Visuals
• Effective visuals reinforce presenter’s main points but keep
focus on presenter’s ideas Above: Example from The Noun Project: “A Guide to Using
Images and Photos for PowerPoint”