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January 24, 2022Introduction
A PowerPoint presentation is an effective visual aid that is quick to create and convenient to update. These presentations are made by injecting slideshows in varying numbers, and themes. They serve as a basic tool to teach, share, and learn. A PowerPoint presentation is beneficial when presenting at a conference, teaching a lesson, displaying statistical data, or training in corporations.
Without the proper knowledge, your presentation can visually distract the audience. To prevent yourself from falling into a disaster, we are sharing a few tips to help you craft a good PowerPoint presentation.
Rule No 1: One story in one slide
To make your presentation effective, you need to keep your slides simple. It will help viewers grasp the content easily. The less complex you make a slide, the more impact it will create. Regardless of the number of slides you make, make sure you show only one story in each slide.
Rule No.2: Reveal A Single Bullet At A Time
Bullets are a good addition to slides. However, do not burden your viewers by revealing all the bullets on the slide at once. This is a quick way for your audience to lose interest. The key to using bullets is to reveal them one by one. Let your audience focus on one point fully before they move on to the next one. In-built PowerPoint animation can help you to execute this rule.
Right-click on the text box, choose Custom Animation, -> Add Entrance Effect. You may see a lot list of animation effects. Choose the one that you want. Now click Animate -> “Build in”-> and select the type of effect you wish to animate your slide.
Rule No. 3 Avoid Fireworks
Unless it is a presentation for small children, choose not to add any fireworks in your slides. Turning text into fireworks, making images spin, etc. can easily distract your audience. They will quickly lose focus from the slide. If you are creating a professional-level presentation then avoid using them. Go for simple transitions, readable fonts, enticing high-quality graphics, the right colour contrast between foreground and background. These ingredients are all needed in an impactful presentation.
Rule No. 4 Follow The 2-4-8 Rule.
Switch to a new slide after every 2 minutes. Restrict to only four bullets on each slide, and not over eight words per bullet.
Rule No. 5: Use best-quality graphics
Images help in building a connection with the audience on an emotional level. well, People are more attracted by images than text. This requires that you include relevant graphics in your slides. However, make sure that you only use high-quality graphics. Such images will give a professional touch to your presentation.
There are several places online where you can find high-quality photos. Do not use PowerPoint ClipArt. Such cartoonish art looks unprofessional and unimpressive. Also, do not stretch a low-resolution, or small-size photo to fit your layout. This will reduce its clarity even more.
Rule No. 6: Make correct use of Fonts
For an influential PowerPoint Presentation, choose sans-serif fonts such as Helvetica, and Arial. Serif font like Times New Roman etc. is not a good choice as it makes it harder to read the content on the slide.
To make the content easily readable to the backbenchers, make sure the font size is not less than 24 points.
Maintain the consistency of fonts throughout all slides.
Use fonts in different sizes for headings, subheadings, and body text to make it easier for the audience to understand.
Restrict the number of fonts to a maximum of four in one presentation.
You can choose a larger size of font to indicate the significance of the text in any slide. Avoid Italics font style as it is tough to comprehend quickly.
Rule No 7: Slide Content
- The maximum word count in a sentence should not be more than ten words.
- Do not write long sentences, acronyms, and abbreviations in a slide.
- Instead of complete sentences, mention only key phrases. Include only important information.
- Limit the use of punctuation.
- Avoid writing in capital letters.
- Empty spaces or white spaces in the content improve readability.
Rule No 8: Use the right charts in the right way
If you want to show graphics in your content, then do it in the right way. Here is a guideline to use different charts in your presentation.
Pie Charts
Use this chart to display percentages. Limit the content to four to six slices. Use colour contrast to show important slices.
Vertical Bar Charts
Use them to display alterations in quantity with passing time. Limit the use of bars between four to eight times.
Horizontal Bar Charts
Use these charts to perform a comparison of quantities.
Line Charts
This is an ideal chart to show trends.
Tables are a good way to show side-by-side evaluations of quantitative data, but they lack an effect on an instinctive level. It is advised to choose bar charts in their place.
Rule No 9: Make the right colour selection
Different colours invoke different emotions in the audience. The right colour will motivate your audience. It has the potential to increase interest as well as the ability to learn, comprehend, and retain knowledge.
Cool colours like green and blue are ideal for backgrounds. On the other hand, warm colours like red and orange are best suited for text. If you are presenting the presentation in a dark room then a dark background with white text is appropriate. If you are showing the presentation at a properly lit place then a white background with black text works best.
Tips to give a PowerPoint Presentation
- Do proper research
- Learn about your audience
- Time your presentation
- Rehearse with your friend to get honest reviews about the content, font, colour, graphics, content delivery, etc.
- Start with a short introduction in the beginning and then continue with the presentation.
- Speak clearly and confidently
- Ensure no grammar and spelling mistakes are there
- Reading content ruins a presentation. Don’t read the entire presentation facing the screen. Speak on your own from bullet points. Look at people while you discuss the content.
- Have a wireless mouse so you cover the stage while you speak.
- If you are using sound effects in your slides, then wait till they are complete before you start to speak.
- In place of using inbuilt presentation templates, create your own. You get the freedom to customize in the way you want.
- Avoid quotations, paragraphs, and complete sentences.
A well-crafted PowerPoint serves its purpose effectively. It helps you put across your views, ideas, sales pitch, etc. properly to your audience. Such presentations are successful in capturing the attention of the audience and maintaining their interest through the delivery. By using the above tips, your presentation will serve as a source of information, encouragement, persuasion, and entertainment to your audience.