PowerPoint 101
McNair Scholars Program
December 2004
7/1/2016
1
Why PowerPoint?
• Help the audience focus
– Visual outline
– Audience can focus on what is being said
• Visual content
– Graphics, charts, animation, video
– Audience won’t focus solely on you
• Allows for audience interaction
– Discussion questions or problems
Basics
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Be conservative and simple
Plan on 2-3 minutes per slide
Keep text simple and concise
Avoid full sentences (or paragraphs)
About 1 concept per slide
Not too fancy!
• Limit the following:
– Animated text or graphics
– Inappropriate clip art
– Sound effects
– Screen transitions
– Wild color schemes
– Fancy/weird/hard-to-read fonts
Type
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Larger is better (at least 24 point)
Stick to 1 or 2 fonts
Avoid using all uppercase
Keep bulleted lines smaller than the title
Presenting Techniques
• Know your stuff
• Use slides as an outline for yourself
– Present the bullet and then elaborate
– “Use” notes, but don’t read from them
• Use a laser pointer, if needed
• Clear slide after discussing it
• Leave some lights on for note-taking
Extras
• Handouts
• Back-up plan
– Test the equipment beforehand
– Bring overheads just in case
– Check sound if applicable