The document provides 10 rules for effective PowerPoint presentations: 1. Write a script before creating slides 2. Only include one main point per slide 3. Avoid long paragraphs of text on slides 4. Pay attention to simple slide design with easy to read fonts and colors 5. Use images sparingly to reinforce points 6. Consider your presentation manner beyond just the slides 7. Open with an intriguing hook to engage the audience 8. Ask questions of the audience to encourage interaction 9. Modulate your voice to keep the presentation lively 10. Be willing to break rules when it enhances the presentation

1. 1. Write a script.
A little planning goes a long way. Most presentations
are written in PowerPoint (or some other
presentation package) without any sort of rhyme or
reason.
That‘s bass-ackwards. Since the point of your slides
is to illustrate and expand what you are going to say
to your audience. You should know what you intend
to say and then figure out how to visualize it. Unless
you are an expert at improvising, make sure you
write out or at least outline your presentation
before trying to put together slides.
And make sure your script follows good storytelling
conventions: give it a beginning, middle, and end;
have a clear arc that builds towards some sort of
climax; make your audience appreciate each slide
but be anxious to find out what‘s next; and when
possible, always leave ‗em wanting more.

2. 2. One thing at a time, please.
 At any given moment, what should be on the
screen is the thing you‘re talking about. Our
audience will almost instantly read every slide as
soon as it‘s displayed; if you have the next four
points you plan to make up there, they‘ll be three
steps ahead of you, waiting for you to catch up
rather than listening with interest to the point
you‘re making.
 Plan your presentation so just one new point is
displayed at any given moment. Bullet points can
be revealed one at a time as you reach them.
Charts can be put on the next slide to be
referenced when you get to the data the chart
displays. Your job as presenter is to control the
flow of information so that you and your audience
stay in sync.

3. 3. No paragraphs.
 Where most presentations fail is that their authors, convinced
they are producing some kind of stand-alone document, put
everything they want to say onto their slides, in great big
chunky blocks of text.
 Congratulations. You‘ve just killed a roomful of people. Cause
of death: terminal boredom poisoning.
 Your slides are the illustrations for your presentation, not the
presentation itself. They should underline and reinforce what
you‘re saying as you give your presentation — save the
paragraphs of text for your script. PowerPoint and other
presentation software have functions to display notes onto
the presenter‘s screen that do not get sent to the projector, or
you can use notecards, a separate word processor
document, or your memory. Just don‘t put it on the screen –
and for goodness‘ sake, if you do for some reason put it on
the screen, don‘t stand with your back to your audience
and read it from the screen!

4. 4. Pay attention to design.
 PowerPoint and other presentation packages offer all sorts of ways to add visual
―flash‖ to your slides: fades, swipes, flashing text, and other annoyances are all too
easy to insert with a few mouse clicks.
 Avoid the temptation to dress up your pages with cheesy effects and focus instead on
simple design basics:
 Use a sans serif font for body text. Sans serifs like Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri tend
to be the easiest to read on screens.
 Use decorative fonts only for slide headers, and then only if they’re easy to
read. Decorative fonts –calligraphy, German blackface, futuristic, psychotic
handwriting, flowers, art nouveau, etc. – are hard to read and should be reserved
only for large headlines at the top of the page. Better yet, stick to a classy serif font
like Georgia or Baskerville.
 Put dark text on a light background. Again, this is easiest to read. If you must use
a dark background – for instance, if your company uses a standard template with a
dark background – make sure your text is quite light (white, cream, light grey, or
pastels) and maybe bump the font size up two or three notches.
 Align text left or right. Centered text is harder to read and looks amateurish. Line
up all your text to a right-hand or left-hand baseline – it will look better and be easier
to follow.
 Avoid clutter. A headline, a few bullet points, maybe an image – anything more than
that and you risk losing your audience as they sort it all out.

5. 5. Use images sparingly
 There are two schools of thought about images in
presentations. Some say they add visual interest and keep
audiences engaged; others say images are an unnecessary
distraction.
 Both arguments have some merit, so in this case the best
option is to split the difference: use images only when they
add important information or make an abstract point more
concrete.
 While we‘re on the subject, absolutely do not use
PowerPoint‘s built-in clipart. Anything from Office 2003 and
earlier has been seen by everyone in your audience a
thousand times – they‘ve become tired, used-up clichés, and
I hopefully don‘t need to tell you to avoid tired, used-up
clichés in your presentations. Office 2007 and non-Office
programs have some clipart that isn‘t so familiar (though it will
be, and soon) but by now, the entire concept of clipart has
about run its course – it just doesn‘t feel fresh and new
anymore.

6. 6. Think outside the screen.
 Remember, the slides on the screen
are only part of the presentation – and
not the main part. Even though you‘re
liable to be presenting in a darkened
room, give some thought to your own
presentation manner – how you hold
yourself, what you wear, how you
move around the room. You are the
focus when you‘re presenting, no
matter how interesting your slides are.

7. 7. Have a hook.
 Like the best writing, the best presentation
shook their audiences early and then reel
them in. Open with something surprising or
intriguing, something that will get your
audience to sit up and take notice. The most
powerful hooks are often those that appeal
directly to your audience‘s emotions – offer
them something awesome or, if it‘s
appropriate, scare the pants off of them. The
rest of your presentation, then, will be
effectively your promise to make the
awesome thing happen, or the scary
thing nothappen.

8. 8. Ask questions.
 Questions arouse interest, pique
curiosity, and engage audiences. So
ask a lot of them. Build tension by
posing a question and letting your
audience stew a moment before
moving to the next slide with the
answer. Quiz their knowledge and
then show them how little they know. If
appropriate, engage in a little
question-and-answer with your
audience, with you asking the
questions.

9. 9.
Modulate, modulate, modulate.
 Especially when you‘ve done a presentation
before, it can be easy to fall into a drone,
going on and on and on and on and on with
only minimal changes to your inflection.
Always speak as if you were speaking to a
friend, not as if you are reading off of index
cards (even if you are). If keeping up a lively
and personable tone of voice is difficult for
you when presenting, do a couple of practice
run-throughs. If you still can‘t get it right and
presentations are a big part of your job, take
a public speaking course or join
Toastmasters.

10. 10. Break the rules.
 As with everything else, there are times
when each of these rules – or any other
rule you know – won‘t apply. If you know
there‘s a good reason to break a rule, go
ahead and do it. Rule breaking is
perfectly acceptable behavior – it‘s
ignoring the rules or breaking them
because you just don‘t know any better
that leads to shoddy boring
presentations that lead to boredom,
depression, psychopathic breaks, and
eventually death. And you don‘t want
that, do you?

11. Rules for the Effective Use of
PowerPoint Presentations
 Whether a user creates a PowerPoint
presentation to sell a product to a
customer, teach a concept, explain a budget to
a project team or display family photos set to
music, following some basic rules enhances
her ability to make effective use of this tool.
Rules for effective use of PowerPoint
presentations include establishing a clear
objective, gathering the right materials and
organizing a clear message. Creating a
checklist to make sure that a presentation
conforms to established guidelines helps
ensure a presentation (or set of presentations)
enable the intended impact.

12. Limit the Number of Slides
 Keeping the message simple usually results in an
effective presentation. By designing a
presentation that contains just the essential
information, it makes it easier for the audience to
listen, learn and act on the content. Effective
presentations contain an introduction, set of topic
slides and then a conclusion slide that
summarizes the main points of the presentation.
Engaging presentations contain
complete, accurate, timely and applicable
material. When presenting, effective presenter
spend no more than a minute or two presenting
each topic. Then, the presenter can engage the
audience in conversation for the best results.

13. Pick an Appropriate Theme
 Picking the right background, font (such as
Arial) and font size to meet the needs of the
audience enhances the success of pleasing
the viewers. For example, if the presentation
will be viewed from far away, increase the
font size. If the presentation will be part of a
series of presentations, all of the files should
rely on the same theme (from the "Design"
menu, by choosing one the available
themes). Keeping the background subtle
makes it easier for the viewer to see the slide
contents.

14. Use Lists and Tables to Organize
Information
 Effective presentation designers avoid
including long paragraphs of text. Using lists
consisting of short phrases that summarize
the message encourages the audience to
listen to the presentation rather than just look
at the slides. Inserting tables of information to
categorize the content helps the viewer
quickly see a summary. Using background
colors and block shapes can further focus
attention on the most important topic. When
the audience needs to interpret complex
information, such as operational
metrics, organizing the information into
blocks helps reinforce the important points.

15. Use Relevant Visuals
 Using pictures, photos and multimedia elements
to enhance the visual appeal typically makes a
presentation more effective. However, users
should ensure the graphics relate well. Adding
labels, arrows or captions on charts can further
call attention to the important elements.
Animation and screen builds help make
presentation slides effective because they add
details at the right time, without overwhelming
the user. Using a time line, for example, helps
viewers understand the deadlines and milestones
associated with a project. Chart types such as
bar, line and pie display data making it easy to
interpret.

16. Check Spelling and Grammar
 Using PowerPoint's "Spelling" function
from the "Review" menu helps ensure
the presentation contains no errors.
Users should read aloud their slides
while creating the presentation to ensure
there are no punctuation and grammar
problems either. The PowerPoint
"Thesaurus" and "Research" functions
also provide a way for users to ensure
the presentations contain relevant details
in order to tell a convincing story.

17. Presentation Technique
 Leave the lights on
 Blank the screen when not using the
presentation
 Face the students and don't block the
screen
 Print out large blocks of text, rather
than presenting them on the screen
 (more to be added)

18. Visual Design
 Use white space - don't crowd
 Use contrast - dark on light / light on
dark
 Use large print
 Use images
 (more to be added)

19. Popular Presentation Tools
 Software installed on a computer
 PowerPoint (Microsoft)
 Keynote (Apple - Macintosh only)
 OpenOffice Impress (open-source,
cross-platform)

20. Powerpoint
 Alternative Tools
 Low Tech
◦ Chalkboard or whiteboard
◦ Flip chart
 High Tech
 Image slide show
 Word processor
 Concept map
 Wiki
 Trackstar - save and present a sequence of
websites