"PowerPoint: Two Points of View"
- Why are twenty-page business plans obsolete? Time: our culture focuses on speed. We seem to value things that are either very large or very small, are noisy, and are fast. Twenty-page presentations require too much time to analyze.
- This presentation will help you create an effective PowerPoint presentation, introducing you to the rhetorical pitfalls and possibilities of PowerPoint.
"When to Use PowerPoint"
- PowerPoint is not always an ideal medium. For example, PowerPoint is not suitable for informal occasions, nor is it appropriate for places without the necessary technological support.
- Overhead projectors seem to be the most versatile of the media.
"Slide by Slide"
- Understand your purpose. Your purpose will be to inform, to persuade, or to move an audience to act. It may be a combination of the aforementioned. What is my purpose?
- Know your audience. Know the characteristics of your audience--focusing on size, gender, race, age, et cetera.
- Employ you-attitude. An example is this list.
- Use positive emphasis. You do not want to state something similar to this: MTC will be closed until January 5. Rather, you want to state that MTC will reopen January 5.
- Use Standard English. Standard English is the variety of English generally acknowledged as the model for the speech and writing of educated communicators.
- Proofread, proofread, proofread. To proofread is to find and correct errors. Ideally you want to do such at least several hours after the creation of the presentation.
"Common Mistakes"
- Lack of subtitles: create a title for each slide. Doing such will help you organize information and will guide the audience, for the title will act as a subthesis (similar to a topical sentence).
- Impressing, not expressing: special effects often distract audiences from primary information.
- Too many details: eliminate paragraphs by creating lists or charts.
- Lack of symmetry: you want to strive for graphic uniformity with respect to backgrounds, titles, fonts and images. Visual balance is important. PowerPoint has templates, and they are symmetrical.
- Ending without title slide: to create a sense of closure, end your presentation with the title slide, which will remind your audience of your thesis, your purpose, and your name. Some things you may want to include are: title of presentation, name(s) of presenter(s), title(s) of presenter(s), location of presentation, and date of presentation.
"The KISS Principle"
- KISS is the acronym for keep it short and simple.
- Use no more than one slide per minute of speech. That advice is for speeches 15 minutes or more in length. Of course, if your presentation is only five minutes long, you will spend about 20-30 seconds on each slide. Your goal is to have a fluid presentation. You do not want to spend 5 minutes on one slide and 30 seconds on the next slide.
- Break complex information into several slides.
- Follow the six-by-six or seven-by-seven guideline. Six-by-six is six words across and six words down.
"About Design"
- Use contrastive colors for background and text. A dark blue background and white text is effective in dark rooms. Is a white background and yellow text a good choice?
- Use no more than two fonts per slide. If you need to use two fonts, choose one with serifs and one without serifs.
- Use bullets to organize, numbers to prioritize.
- Use parallel constructions. An example is this list.
- Integrate images with text. You do not want images without text, without at least a subtitle.
- Do not overuse special effects. Those who spend time creating special effects do so either to divert attention from information or to update (or enhance) old presentations.
"About Charts"
- Use charts to help your audience understand your data. You do not want to use charts simply to make your presentation seem more professional.
- Keep the audience's attention on the data, not the chart itself. In other words, explain your chart (x-axis and y-axis); then, interpret the data. Do not allow the audience to interpret the data.
- Use the type of chart that best fits your data and your goals. Bar graphs (bar charts) compare relative sizes or amounts. Pie charts compare relative parts to a whole. Line graphs show changes in data over a period of time.
- Keep charts as simple as possible; remember the KISS principle.
"Rhetoric and PowerPoint"
- PowerPoint, rather than being a barrier to communication, can improve communication and enhance one's character. My citation appeals to the audience's sense of ethos.
- Remember, the most effective PowerPoint presentation resembles business writing. It is clear, concise and correct.
