1. PowerPoint is a
Powerful Tool
Tips for Effective Design and
Increased Interactivity
Luisa F. Castro
Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Management
2. Why PowerPoint?
To hold interest
To focus attention
To guide discussions/overviews
To tell a story
To support the message being delivered
To create a poster for a conference
3. Tip #1 for Oral Presentations
Have only the minimum required text on
each slide.
4. Text on Slide: Too Much
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
5. Text on Slide: Better
We hold these truths to be self-evident
• that all men are created equal,
• that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are:
• life,
• liberty
• the pursuit of happiness
6. Tip #2
Be consistent and sparing in your use of
transitions and animations.
7. Moving Text
• When text appears, we don’t
want the audience to be watching
the animation.
• Use the
“Appear effect”
Not
“FANCY EFFECTS”
8. Tip #3
Be consistent in your choice of bullets,
font, and colors.
9. COMPOST QUALITY and FOOD SAFETY CONCERNS
A recent survey of ‘finished’ compost products produced at 30
California commercial facilities
Found large variation in many characteristics
Indicates highly variable feedstocks and
process management
Poor process management, curing conditions, and cross-contamination
of equipment are most common cause
10. Font Sizes
This is a good title size.
Verdana 40 point = sans serif.
This is a good subtitle or bullet point size.
Times 36 point = serif.
This is about as small as you want to
go for content at 24 points.
This font size is not recommended for content. Verdana 12 point.
Editor's Notes
One of the best reasons to use PowerPoint is the ability it gives you to present content in a qualitatively different way through the use of graphics, charts, animation, and even video or audio.
We all learn differently and a presentation using PowerPoint can help those who are Visual as well as Auditory learners
Too much text distracts your audience and can be difficult to read.
Say you were discussing the Declaration of Independence and wanted your audience to follow along with you.
Wouldn’t it be easier for them if you broke down the text to the most basic points?
A simple rule of thumb to follow is writing by the number 6
6 words per bullet item
6 bullets per slide
6 word slides in a row
Have each bullet point start with a verb or noun, if verbs use all the same tense, use capitalization
The rule of thumb is one method of transition and one type of animation for the whole slideshow.
Do not have some text flying in, some spiraling, etc.
Move from slide to slide with one transition, rather than trying out several.
I can tell that you all aren’t focusing on me but are totally fixed on what is on the screen.
If you want to use an effect to add a little animation to your text but keep it simple, use the APPEAR effect, which just makes the text appear and is the easiest for your audience to read.
This is from a presentation at a conference I went to. The entire PowerPoint was like this and made it difficult to read.
FONTS: The larger, the better. Remember, you want your points to be readable even at the back of the venue.
As with print documents, using a combination of serif and sans serif fonts--one for headings, the other for body text because it provides contrast and interest to your slides.
Sans serif fonts are Verdana, Arial and Helvetica. They have even lines and no appendages
Serif fonts are Times and Times New Roman.