Powerful Powerpoints

After having read the articles discussing the best and worst methods used in presenting powerpoint slides, I realized how important even the finest details are in ensuring effectiveness. I also discovered the reasons why some powerpoint presentations have been so easy to follow, while others have left me feeling slightly overwhelmed,confused or just simply unaffected. In my opinion, powerpoints that contain lengthy paragraphs with no bullet points or pictures are the most tedious to follow and will guarantee that little information will be learned! I also find that it's visually displeasing when a really well created background and body of text on a slide are destroyed by a cheesy, badly designed image that is inserted randomly onto the slide. Probably my top powerpoint pet-peeve is when the speaker fails to follow the order of supporting information on the slides in the presentation and talks ahead of the slides or backtracks to speak about information that was omitted. This becomes confusing and the meaning of the presentation becomes vague.

From color to layout to spacial proportions and even to fonts, there are so many factors to look out for when designing your powerpoint slides. Here are a few precautions that I felt were the most interesting to learn about and will create a good presentation.

1. Speaking with interesting examples that support the information on the slides and also using body language and varying tones in your voice.

2. Using professional images and good quality sounds to reinforce your topic. Make sure that the images are placed aesthetically in the slide.

3. Always ensure that the writing in your slides are visible in the lighting conditions- there's nothing worse than having to squint to see the presentation!

4. Never make the background too colourful or distinct as this will distract the audience from the speaker and also from the information on the slide.

5. Avoid using the default slides found on powerpoint so as to create interest of the audience by using a presentation format is presented that has never been seen before. Make the slide personal and relevant to the topi

I look forward to our class presentations on Thursday and seeing the variations in creativity and interests among us.