Senior Project
How to make a good
Power-point presentation.
Purpose

The purpose of your power-point is to
enhance your presentation and to
help give you cues for your speech

You want the presentation to be:
Professional
 Simple
 Helpful

Pitfalls

Students (and professionals!) make
many mistakes with power- point.

A bad power-point can hurt your
presentation more than help it.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Too much content on your slide
 Poor colour choices
 Poor font choices
 Inconsistency
 Too many pictures
 Too many distracting transitions
 Spelling / Grammar errors
 Reading verbatim off the slides the
whole time

Content
You don’t want to put too many words
on a slide.
 Choose one font size (30-35) and
stick with it.
 Once the slide is full at that font size
start with a new slide. Do not keep
writing on the same slide as the font
gets smaller and smaller.

Example

Way too much text on
this slide. Also, it’s all in
one paragraph instead
of nice small points.
Marine sea turtles are caught worldwide, although it is illegal to
hunt most species in many countries. A great deal of intentional
marine sea turtle harvests worldwide are for food. Many parts of the
world have long considered sea turtles to be fine dining. Ancient
Chinese texts dating to the fifth century B.C.E. describe sea turtles
as exotic delicacies.Many coastal communities around the world
depend on sea turtles as a source of protein, often harvesting
several sea turtles at once and keeping them alive on their backs
until needed. Coastal peoples gather sea turtle eggs for
consumption.To a much lesser extent, specific species of marine
sea turtles are targeted not for their flesh, but for their
shells. Tortoiseshell, a traditional decorative ornamental material
used in Japan and China, comes from the carapace scutes of
the hawksbill sea turtle.Ancient Greeks and ancient
Romans processed sea turtle scutes (primarily from the hawksbill)
for various articles and ornaments used by their elites, such as
combs and brushes.The skin of the flippers is prized for use as
shoes and assorted leather goods. The Moche people of
ancient Peru worshipped the sea and its animals. They often
depicted sea turtles in their art. Leatherback sea turtles enjoy
immunity from the sting of the deadly box jellyfish and regularly eat
them, helping keep tropical beaches safe for humans.
Colour
If you randomly change the colour of
the text, it is very hard on the eyes.
 This means that people will not be
paying attention to the content but the
context.
 Use only one other colour for
emphasis.

Background Colour
You want a simple background that
will not be a distraction to your points.
 You want high contrast between your
words and your background.
 You want a background that matches
the theme of your presentation nicely.

Background
• A white background, while
focusing attention, can sometimes
be boring.
• If you choose to go with a
coloured background, pick a
stylish, uncluttered background.
Background
• Don’t choose a theme that doesn’t
match your content.
• This theme is cute, but would really
only be suitable if you’re talking
about young children.
Background
• Picture backgrounds should apply to the
topic.
• This is not a good background for a Rain
Forest presentation.
Background
Make sure the contrast is good between
your font and your background.
 Otherwise no one will be able to read your
points!

Backgrounds

The easiest way to create a sharp
presentation is to use prepared
formats.
Go to Format.
 Choose Slide Design.
 Pick from the selection

Poor Font Choices
Use the same font (or at most maybe
two fonts) throughout your whole
presentation.
 Choose a font that is clear, crisp and
easy to read.

Poor Font Choices
Good Fonts
Ariel
Times New Roman
Calibri
Veranda
Bad Fonts
Blackadder ITC
Pristina
Edwardian Script
French Script
Inconsistency
In general, try to make your whole
power-point consistent.
 Use the same slide design, colour
scheme, fonts, font-size, etc.
throughout your whole presentation.
 Resist the urge to ‘change it up’ from
slide to slide – that looks
unprofessional.

Pictures
Pictures can be great, but make sure
you choose the right pictures.
 Quality is more important than
quantity

Pictures
Too many pictures?
The slide will be confusing.
 Your audience will not know to
concentrate on.
 An explanation is needed to explain
why the picture is important.


A better slide would be…
New York City

The most beautiful city in the world.
Transitions & Animations

You can use slide transitions or
animations within your presentation,
but as with everything, try to make
them consistent and make sure they
won’t be a distraction.
Some of KM’s Favourite
Books
LIFE OF PI (Yann Martel)
 A FINE BALANCE (Rohinton Mistry )
 THE HANDMAID’S TALE (Margarat
Atwood)
 THE POISONWOOD BIBLE (Barbara
Kingsolver )
 LORD OF THE RINGS (Arthur
Herman)

Some of PB’s Favourite
Books
LIFE OF PI
 A FINE BALANCE
 THE HANDMAID’S TALE
 THE POISONWOOD BIBLE
 LORD OF THE RINGS

Reading off the Slides

You are the expert. Use your slides to
aid you, but do not read straight off
them the entire time. That is boring
for an audience.
A few more words of advice..
When making your presentation, view
it as a slideshow often, and get
someone to proof read it for you.
 Practice saying it out loud.
 Brainstorm a list of questions people
might ask you (or get someone to help
you do that) and prepare some
answers ahead of time to typical
questions.
