Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most popular tools for creating presentations. However, creating an effective PowerPoint presentation can be daunting, especially if you are new to the software. In this tutorial, we will explore some tips and tricks to help you create engaging and impactful presentations in PowerPoint.
Microsoft PowerPoint has many features to help users create effective presentations. Here are some tips to help you leverage the software’s power to best convey your message to your audience.
Could PowerPoint present all the information? Sure, but instead of letting PowerPoint do all the work, you should see it as a tool to supplement your story. When creating PowerPoint slides, the less text, the better, and white space is your friend. Too much text on a slide causes your audience to read instead of listen. It distracts from you, the speaker. And, worst of all, excess text on the slide makes for a dull presentation.
A great way to put enough text on your slides without overloading your audience’s eyes is to use short bullet points that summarize what you’re about to say. This makes the information easier to digest and keeps the focus in the right place: on you. Some even go so far as to suggest avoiding full sentences altogether unless you’re quoting someone.
If you want something more specific to follow for determining how much content to put on each slide, follow the 6×6 rule: six bullet points per slide with six words per bullet. At the extreme end, some say you should limit content to six words per slide, though that can be difficult to achieve.
In short: don’t let your slides dominate the presentation. Also, avoid the common mistake of simply reading your slides. They should act as a guide, not a script.
Instead of trying to incorporate every color, font, chart, and the like available in PowerPoint into your presentation, aim for consistency. All your slides should have a similar look that creates cohesion and an air of professionalism throughout your presentation. This reflects positively on you as a speaker and makes it easier for your audience to follow and absorb your content.
Avoid the temptation to pick a creative font to embellish your slides. If the creative font you want isn’t installed on your computer, it will substitute it with a random one. A classic font, such as Calibri, Helvetica, or Verdana is a much better choice since it’s likely available on all devices. More importantly, some more elaborate fonts are hard to read and can frustrate your audience as they try to decipher what’s on screen.
Do you have to stick to just one font in your PowerPoint presentation? No. If you choose a maximum of three fonts, for example, make sure each font has a particular role in your presentation. Use the first font for headlines, the second for subheadings, and the third for body text to keep it cohesive, organized, and easy to follow and digest.
Another point to remember when dealing with font styling is not to overdo text styling. Although using italics and bold can help you emphasize certain parts of the presentation. Overdoing it can be distracting.
Your font’s style isn’t the only thing that matters since you also need to choose the correct size to get your point across. A font that’s too big might dominate your slides while one too small might not be read. Some suggest using a minimum font of 20 pt for headlines and 18 pt for body text. Others say a font size of 30 pt should be the minimum, as it allows everyone to see it and limits you to the amount of text you can put on a slide, forcing you to create more concise and impactful messages.
A good rule to follow when choosing font size or designing your slides in general is to create your presentations for the back of the room. In other words, can the person sitting in the last row see everything clearly? If not, adjust until everyone can read.
You might have superb and informative text on your slides but if your images don’t match in quality, you might lose points with your audience. Instead of picking the first result you see on Google Images, make sure your images correspond to the text and the message you’re trying to convey. The more high-quality images you use, the better.
In addition to ensuring your images are high-quality, here are some other characteristics they should have to visually strengthen your PowerPoint presentation, including supporting the content, inspiring readers to read more, and being more “human” to relate to:
- Supportive:Â images should support your content and further demonstrate your point without being so overpowering that they distract your audience.
- Inspiring: your presentation images should inspire the audience to want to learn more or ask questions about what you are presenting. The goal here is to spark engagement.
- Human and realistic: you can win over your audience by connecting with them on a human level. Choose presentation images .ppt that convey realism and humanity to achieve this. Your basic stock photos generally fail to connect with your viewers, so choosing the right images may take some time and a bit of effort before you find just the right fit.
Using visuals to convey your message is a simple way to avoid putting too much text on your slides and overwhelming your audience. PowerPoint has numerous charts that can convert complex, sometimes boring data into engaging and easy-to-digest information. Another reason to use images is that studies show that people tend to remember images better than words after a short exposure.
Charts can help you convey data in an organized way. Unfortunately, many make the common mistake of filling PowerPoint charts with unnecessary borders, colors, and outlines. Keep your charts minimalist and they will convey the desired information without confusing your audience.
Does your PowerPoint presentation feel boring? Avoid the temptation to add life by using several transitions as you move from one slide to the next. A standard fade effect is all that is needed for an effective PowerPoint presentation. Anything more might distract your audience or look unprofessional. As with other elements of your PowerPoint presentation, aim for cohesion and uniformity with your transitions. Once you find one that works, stick with it.
If you are presenting for a particular brand, use its primary and secondary colors. If the color choice is entirely up to you, avoid extremely bright colors that can cause eye fatigue or look tacky. You can stick to a simple light-and-dark color scheme, using light text on a dark background or vice versa to create contrast that is easy to read.
Pubblicato in Word & PowerPoint
Be the first to comment