POWERPOINT PRESENTATION MEMO
Task
Students are to prepare a PowerPoint presentation based on the topics covered in
the first term: British Traditionalism, American Diversity and European
Integration. Students are free to choose and formulate any issue they are going to
present to the class. This project work is an oral presentation complemented by
audio/visual/printed material aimed at developing presentation and communication
skills. All aspects of work (the quality of the information, the relevance of the
additional material, presentation skills and language accuracy) are to be considered
while assessing the presentation.
Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation
PowerPoint is a high-powered software tool used for presenting information in a
dynamic slide show format. Text, charts, graphs, sound effects and video are just
some of the elements PowerPoint can incorporate into your presentations with
ease. Whether it's a classroom lesson, a parents' group meeting, a teachers'
seminar, Board meetings, author presentations, sales conferences or an unattended
kiosk at the Science Fair - PowerPoint shows you how to make a powerful
impression on your audience. The problem is that most people using PowerPoint
have not received adequate training. In fact, most have received no training
whatsoever. As a result, too many people misuse the tool. This results in too many
slides, too many bullets, and too much copy. Consequently, the tool often becomes
a hindrance to communication rather than an aid.
I Hints for a successful presentation:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Plan carefully
Do your research
Know your audience
Time your presentation
Practice your presentation
Speak comfortably and clearly
Rule № 1: Don’t give PowerPoint center stage. This is the biggest mistake
speakers make. They forget that PowerPoint is a tool designed to augment their
presentation not be their presentation. You are the presenter. You are the focus.
Not your slides. Not your props. And not your handouts. You are in the lead role
and you need to retain that role. No amount of “razzle dazzle” can overcome a
weak presentation. If you don't do your job, PowerPoint can't save you. It only
makes a bad presentation worse.
Rule № 2: Create a logical flow to your presentation. Better yet, tell a story.
The absolute last thing you want to do is turn your presentation into a random
assortment of bulleted lists, which is what often happens when PowerPoint is
involved. There must be a flow. Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell
them, then tell them what you told them. If people understand where you are going
to take them, they can relax and enjoy the ride. If they don’t, they will be distracted
and frustrated.
1. Make your 1st or 2nd slide an outline of your presentation
2. Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation
3. Only place main points on the outline slide
4. Use an effective and strong closing - Your audience is likely to remember your
last words. Use a conclusion slide to:
 Summarize the main points of your presentation
 Suggest future avenues of research
5. End your presentation with a simple question slide to:
 Invite your audience to ask questions
 Provide a visual aid during question period
 Avoid ending a presentation abruptly
II Effective PowerPoint Slides
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Use design templates
Standardize position, colors and styles
Include only necessary information
Limit the information to essentials
Content should be self-evident
Use colors that contrast
Be consistent with effects, transitions and animation
Too many slides can lose your audience
Rule № 3: Remember, less is more. Fancy slide transitions and fly-ins get old
quickly. I strongly recommend that you keep things simple. A basic dissolve from
one slide to another is sufficient. Have all your bullets appear at once rather than
one at a time. Avoid sound effects—they serve no other purpose than annoying the
audience and distracting them from your presentation. And finally, cut down the
number of slides. You don’t need a transcript of your speech with every point and
sub-point! People are only going to remember the major points any way.
1. Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation
2. Include 4-5 points per slide
3. Show one point at a time:
 to help the audience concentrate on what you are saying
 to prevent the audience from reading ahead
 to help you keep your presentation focused
III Text guidelines
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Generally no more than 6 words a line
Generally no more than 6 lines a slide
Avoid long sentences. Write in point form, not complete sentences.
Larger font indicates more important information
Font size generally ranges from 18 to 48 point
Be sure text contrasts with background
Fancy fonts can be hard to read
Words in all capital letters are hard to read
Avoid abbreviations and acronyms
Limit punctuation marks
Rule № 4: Make your presentation readable. I constantly ask myself, why is this
so difficult? Memorize this sentence: “If people can’t read my slides from the back
of the room, my type is too small.” Now repeat it over and over again while you
create your slides. If people are squinting during your presentation, trying to make
out what’s on the slide, you have lost your audience. In my experience you must
use at least 30-point type. Obviously, it depends on the size of the room, the size of
the screen, etc. This is precisely why you can’t afford to leave this to chance. You
must test your slides and make certain they are readable.
IV Clip Art and Graphics
o
o
o
Should balance the slide
Should enhance and complement the text, not overwhelm
No more than two graphics per slide
Rule № 5: Do not overdo it. Is a picture really worth 1,000 words? That depends
on the image. Some may be worth only 10 words, while others might be enough to
inspire an entire set of encyclopedias. In any case, if you add images to your
PowerPoint presentation, it's going to make your information more valuable and a
lot more interesting for your audience. Images not only add important visual info
to your presentation, they also give your audience a necessary break from looking
at big blocks of text.
1. Use graphs rather than just charts and words
 Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data
 Trends are easier to visualize in graph form
2. Always title your graphs