How to Effectively Use Power Point

By eHow Computers Editor

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PowerPoint has quickly become a staple of business and educational presentations; it can combine text, images, and media in a professional, organized manner. PowerPoint is sometimes misused when users focus on all of its bells and whistles, rather than focusing on their message. When it is used effectively, Microsoft's PowerPoint can add great value to presentations. Read on to learn how.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Begin using the outline view. The most important part of any presentation is content. In structuring content in a way that best communicates those messages to your audience, the outline view is key. Set up the structure of your presentation in outline view before doing anything else. By using the Outline View first, you ensure that the content of your presentation is solid before you move on with the visual elements.

Step2

Use contrasting colors for texts, backgrounds and other elements. For views to read your slides, there must be a lot of contrast between the text color and the background color. Dark background with light text seems to be the most readible combination. Be sure to test your presentation on a projector before using, since most projectors make colors duller than they appear on a screen.

Step3

Use large enough fonts. In many cases, when being read from a distance on a large screen, any font size less than 24 point is too small to be reasonably read in most presentation situations. Titles should be 36 to 44 point size. If you are using a small screen in a large room, your font will look smaller, because the image will not be as big as it should be. If you can't get a larger screen, use a wall instead of a screen to project on, move the chairs closer to the screen or remove the last few rows of chairs.

Step4

Don't animate text too much. You want your audience to read the text, then rely on the presenter to give the message. Text that is flying in, spiral or zooming makes it harder for the audience members to read. It also shifts their focus away from the message and presenter.

Step5

Turn off the pointer. During a presentation, it's very annoying to have the pointer (the little arrow) come onto the screen. It causes movement on the screen that distracts the audience. To prevent this from happening, after the Slide Show view has started, press the Ctrl-H key combination. Doing so prevents mouse movement from showing the pointer.