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PowerPoint – A Force for Good
or Evil?
  We've
all seen PowerPoint, and often shudder when we do. Many presentations
are so dreadful...the colours clash, the backgrounds obliterate
the words written over them, the fonts are illegible, silly and
irrelevant clipart is scattered about, and animations and sounds
run rampant. It's enough to bring on a migraine!
Recently, I read an article
called "PowerPoint is Evil". Is that how you feel? Or,
maybe you're on the "I Love PowerPoint" team? Whatever
your viewpoint, the potential of PowerPoint as a communication
tool is enormous. It can be a huge benefit to the presenter and
the audience, if used properly. Here are a few basic points to
keep in mind:
- Communication is the key.
- Choose simple, clean fonts (san serif
preferably, such as Tahoma, Franklin Gothic or Arial) that are
legible in various sizes. You can add variety/emphasis by using
the bold and italic options.
- While background graphics can LOOK
fabulous from a design standpoint, they can be very distracting
and make the slides difficult to read.
- The slides should highlight key points,
not give your topic word for word. Try to use 5 or 6 lines per
slide, 6-8 words per line. You are the focus of the presentation,
not PowerPoint. Use the slides for emphasis.
- Make sure the colours you use don't
wash out on the big screen. Often this occurs with red and green.
Yellow on a dark background, or plain old black words on a white
background are most readable.
- Keep animations and sounds to a minimum,
if you use them at all. They do have their usefulness when emphasizing
a key point or calling attention to an important element of
your presentation. However, when used on every slide, they are
just distracting and annoying.
- When using clipart or photos, keep
them relevant to the information being presented. Photos are
always best, but if using clipart, try to have them all the
same style or theme, for continuity and polish.
It's sometimes hard to
exercise restraint when PowerPoint can do so many cool things!
But, please, have pity on the audience! Use PowerPoint to enhance
your presentation and communicate your message. Please, only use
it for good, not for evil.
 Giving
a Presentation?
If you have to give a
presentation, these tips could make it easier:
- Prepare thoroughly (one hour prep per
minute of presentation)
- Ask your future audience members for
their expectations or needs of the presentation and plan your
words accordingly
- Rehearse out loud
- Practice in front of a mirror to be
aware of your body language
- Smile at the audience
- Put yourself and the audience at ease
with some tasteful humour
- When all else fails, picture the audience
naked…just kidding, that could be scary!
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Quote
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Happiness is often the result
of being too busy too be miserable.
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