CREATING AN EFFECTIVE

POWERPOINT:
How to retain your audience’s
attention in an educational setting

Kyle K
EDUC 359
Theme Layout
•Minimalist Themes
•Plain color background
•Simple gradient
•Text color contrasts and
compliments the background
color
•Text font is traditional and bold
•Large enough for audience to read
What to Avoid?
•Poor color combinations
•Red and blue
•Black text and a dark background
•White text and a light background
•Picture backgrounds
•Text is often difficult to read
•Inconsistent themes
•Text Smaller than 24pt
•Too small to read
Length of Slides
•“The 5x5 Rule”
•Slides typically should contain about five bullet points or less
•Bullet points should be about five words each
•General guideline, not a hard rule
•This avoids overly wordy or dense slides with too much content
•NO PARAGRAPHS
•Unless citing a quote or something specific
Your Audience
•Know your audience!
•Grade level
•Subject
•Attention level
•Time of day
•Class type
•Note-taking ability
•“Seven +/- Two”
•Working Memory
Using the Slides
•DO NOT READ THE SLIDES!
•Use the slides as a support for your instruction
•Skill of your note-takers
•Will they copy the slides verbatim and not copy anything
• Decide if you print the slides for your students or have them copy it:
•This can determine how you present/ lecture
Using Visual Aids
•Graphs, Images, Media, Etc:
•Useful to grab attention
•Use as visual aids and talking
points
•Be careful to not overuse them
•If you don’t have something
relevant, don’t use anything
•Make sure its large enough to
see
•Don’t hesitate to dedicate a slide
to an image
Videos: YouTube and Hyperlinks
•Ensure the link is active
•Plan B: Copy the exact hyperlink in the notes section or somewhere
inconspicuous on the slide in case the hyperlink doesn’t work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=HUqy-OQvVtI
Final Thoughts
•Use your PowerPoint to AID your instruction
•Don’t let the PowerPoint BE your instruction
•Cater it to the specific class: DIFFERENTIATE!
•Don’t spend hours on fancy animations or dazzling visuals
•Focus on having good content
•Keep it simple!
•PROOFREAD!