Presentation and
PowerPoint Basics
Pre-Term Training for MBAs
Jones Graduate School of Management
Rice University
Based on Chapter 5, Leadership Communication.
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 2
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
The Three “P’s” of Oral Presentations
Plan
 Analyze
audience
 Organize and
establish
logical
structure
Prepare
 Develop
introduction,
body, and
conclusion
Present
 Deliver, using
PPT effectively
 Handle Q&A’s
 Create graphics
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Analyzing the Audience
1. Who is your primary audience and what do
they know, expect, and feel?
2. What is your objective and the key message
for this audience?
3. What do I expect the audience to do and to
feel based on my presentation?
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 3
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Chapter 5 - 4
Developing the Introduction, Body,
and Conclusion
“Tell them what you are
going to tell them,
tell them;
then, tell them what you
have told them.”
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Chapter 5 - 5
How to Present Visual Aids
 Check equipment and room in advance
 Introduce charts before you show them
 Walk your audience through them if necessary
 Avoid blocking the audience’s view
 Look at your audience, not back at the screen
or down at your laptop
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Guidelines on Colors and Fonts
Use:
 Dark background (dark blue to black)
 White, cream, yellow, or gold font
 Arial or similar sans serif font
 At least 24 point font size for text
 28+ font size for titles (depends on room)
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 6
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Guidelines on Colors and Fonts Continued
Don’t use:
 All caps in titles or text
 Initial caps except in titles
 Underlining
 Red font on blue backgrounds
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 7
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Chapter 5 - 8
Examples of Poor Font Design
Black on white background does not show up well
and should be avoided
as should a Serif font on any background.
Font too small: no one can read it.
ALL CAPS ARE HARD TO READ AND LOOK
AS IF YOU ARE YELLING!
Initial Caps are Distracting and Technically Incorrect
for Text within Charts.
Underlining cuts off the bottom of letters.
Red letters on blue backgrounds become fuzzy.
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Chapter 5 - 9
Other Design Violations
 Too many words on the slide
 Background too light or otherwise detracting
from the message
 Not enough contrast between font and
background
 Not using hanging indents for text lists of
more than one line
 Charts pulled in directly from Excel without
adjusting appearance for PPT projection
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Examples of Text Chart Demonstrating
How Not To and How To
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 10
Chapter 5 - 11
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Text Not Formatted Effectively
Widows
Key Current Quarter Priorities
Global Division:
Implement new global/local philosophy
Work with Area divisions to increase/monitor attach
rates
No hanging indent
Technical Division:
Use SWAT team and various Area projects such as ACE in So
America and Thrust in Europe to impact customer acceptance of
the New line 2000 and families and increase channel sales out on
Newline 2000, 2500, and 3300 families to achieve target market
share
Too many words
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Chapter 5 - 12
Text Formatted Effectively
Key Current Quarter Priorities
 Global Division
 Maintain consistent price pressure
 Execute toward lower alternative targets
 Implement new global/local philosophy
 Increase/monitor attach rates through Area divisions
 Technical Division:
 Improve customer acceptance of Newline 2000
 Achieve target market share by increasing Newline
2000 channel sales
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Chapter 5 - 13
Examples of Excel Charts Demonstrating
How Not To and How To
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 14
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Chart junk
(unneeded
zeroes)
Evaluation
(How not to do bar charts)
Two titles &
neither
with
meaning
Sales
$4,000
$3,000
Bars too narrow;
space between
too wide
$2,000
$1,000
$0
98
99
00
Year matrix implemented
01
02
03
04
Background not
consistent with rest
of presentation
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 15
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Sales Increase Since Matrix Implemented
(How to do bar charts)
$ in Billions
$4
3
2
1
0
98
99
00
01
Year
02
Matrix implemented
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
03
04
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Axis label
not rotated
for easy
reading
Financial Status
(How not to do a line graph)
Chapter
5 - 16&
Two
titles
neither
with
meaning
Revenue ($ MM)
Divisional Performance
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Background not
consistent with rest
of presentation
Legend
outside of
graph
99
00
01
02
03
Year
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
04
Division A
Division B
Chapter 5 - 17
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
Division B Out Performing A
(How to do a line graph)
Revenue
($mm)
7
Division B
6
5
4
3
2
Division A
1
0
1999
2000
2001 2002
2003
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
2004
Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett
EXAMPLE!
This slide demonstrates what not to do.
 The background is different from all the other slides and is
light instead of dark.
 The title is useless: Example of what?
 The checkerboard logo is distracting, to say the least.
 The font is too small and is a Serif font
 The text is too dense, requiring too much reading for the
audience.
<Oops, a widow word, too
 A little clip-art, animation, and sound added in for no
apparent reason, and you have a really bad chart.
Copyright McGraw-Hill/Irwin 2006. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5 - 18