Guide for Preparing An Effective PowerPoint Presentation

LCD projectors and PC laptops for PowerPoint presentations will be available in all
Platform Presentation rooms. To be effective, slides must be clear and easy to read by the
entire audience. Keep in mind you may be in a large room.

Power Point Preparation:

Keep slides simple with plenty of open space and margins surrounding the text or
graphs.

Use high contrasting colors for background and text. For example, a blue
background with white or yellow font contrasts nicely, whereas, a blue
background with red font is difficult to discern. Convert to a white background
for print handouts.

Emphasize by using boldface, italics or different colors, rather than by

underlining.

Each slide should have a readily identifiable main idea with limited additional
information.

Do not use complete sentences because the audience will read rather than listen.

Slides containing more than a few words per line cannot be readily seen by the
audience.

Text should, at minimum, be single-spaced, with a maximum of 3 or 4 columns

and 5 or 6 lines and no more than 7 or 8 words per line. Font size should be 18 pt
or larger.

Limit tables/graphs to a maximum of 3 or 4 columns and 5 or 6 rows with axes

labeled in large lettering. Avoid more than two graphs on the same slide and
highlight different curves with contrasting colors.

On average, aim for 1 - 2 slides per minute of presentation.

Use duplicate slides if you refer to the same content more than once. Do not
backtrack to find the reference.

Give the audience time to become oriented with each slide before continuing.

Use the pointer slowly. Orient your audience to the spot on the slide, point and
then turn it off.

Speak clearly and slowly.

Be enthusiastic.
Do not read your presentation.