Do’s and Don’tsfor an effective PowerPoint

BY NATHALIE GEHA

PowerPoint

PowerPoint can be extremely effective

if you follow a few simple rules

Fonts

PowerPoint is a slideshow presentation program

Don’t use decorative fonts that are hard to read and small

Don’t use all caps

Fonts

Do choose simple and large fonts that are easier to read

New times romans

Calibri

Arial

Fonts

“Whether you need a few slides to share with colleagues, classmates, or friends or an award-winning presentation to persuade

an auditorium full of strangers, you need to maximize the impact of your message”.

Don’t use font smaller than 28 size

Underline

PowerPoint is a slideshow presentation program that's part of the Microsoft office suite of tools. PowerPoint makes it easy to create, collaborate, and present your ideas in dynamic, visually compelling ways.

Don’t underline words.

Audience might consider it a hyperlink and it is hard to read.

Fonts

Do vary font size, color and Style to draw attention

but avoid doing it all in one slide

TextWhether you need a few slides to share with colleagues, classmates, or friends or anaward-winning presentation to persuade an auditorium full of strangers, you need tomaximize the impact of your message. Don't know much about design? No problem!PowerPoint delivers the easy-to-use features you need to create great-lookingpresentations and express yourself with power—without having the skills of aprofessional designer. Save your presentation to OneDrive or SharePoint Online forOffice 365 and you can see how your presentation evolved over time and restore anolder version if you make a mistake. You can also work on a presentation at the sametime as your colleagues. If someone else views or works in the presentation, theirthumbnail picture appears in the top-right corner of the ribbon. If someone makeschanges in the presentation, you can easily choose the changes you want to keep.

Don’t use too much information

Text

Do use key points

Follow the 5 lines rule

Know that every slide represent 1 idea

Images

Don’t use too many images or shapes

that are not related to the subject

Images

Choose one or two images that match the messages

Do’s Don’ts

PowerPointPresentation

Graphics

32 32 28

12 1512 12 1221

28

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1/5/2002 1/6/2002 1/7/2002 1/8/2002 1/9/2002

Series 1 Series 2Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

0

1

2

3

4

5

Category 1Category 2

Category 3Category 4

0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5

Don’t use to many graphics that are hard to understand and confusing

Graphics

Do use appropriate graphics that are easy to understand

0

2

4

6

8

10

Animation & Transitions

Don’t go crazy with effects, sounds, and animations

Sounds can be distracting

Animation & Transitions

Animations should be used if it is necessary for the slide

Sounds are used to help deliver the message.

Background

Don’t use complex background

that compete with the message

Background

Use a simple

& effective

Background

Contrast & Color

Don’t use hard to read

or similar colors

Bullets • Do vary font size, color and Style to draw attention but avoid doing it all in one slide

• Don’t use hard to read or similar colors

• Don’t use complex background that compete with the message

• Don’t go crazy with effects, sounds, and animations

•Don’t use too many images or pictures that are not related to subject

•Don’t use font smaller than 28 size

•Don’t use decorative fonts that are hard to read and small

Avoid to many Bullets and wrong alignment

Bullets

Remember the 4 to 5 bullets rule per slide

Generally, Use “align left” bullets

Apx 5 words per line

Keep it simple

Consistency

Keep slides consistent

Same font

Same background/ design

Same animations

Same colors

ResourcesName websites, books and resources

Use Free images platforms with no copyrights

(Pixabay, Stocknap, Unsplash, Graphic stock, Royalty free images, etc..)

Spell check & Practice

Check your spelling in each slide

Make sure all information is correct

Practice ahead of time and know your slides

Don’t read your presentation

Do’s and Don’tsfor an effective PowerPoint

Thank you for your time

References• https://products.office.com/en-us/what-is-powerpoint

• PowerPoint Do’s and Don’ts: www.asha.org

•DO's and DON'Ts in making presentation more effective: https://youtu.be/X50StnWVh9I

• Simple rules for better PowerPoint presentations: https://www.gcflearnfree.org/searchresults?q=Simple+rules+for+better+PowerPoint+presentations

• Do’s and Don’ts of power point presentations : https://www.slideshare.net/MpumeleloMadlavu/mpumelelo-madlavu-dos-and-donts-of-power-point-presentations?qid=f4c54bae-e6d4-49e7-a786-2972571dfe3c&v=&b=&from_search=4