How to Effectively Use PowerPoint

By eHow Computers Editor

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Microsoft PowerPoint has become a standard for business and educational presentations; it can combine text, images and media in a slideshow and notes combination. But PowerPoint is sometimes misused when users focus on all of its bells and whistles, rather than focusing on their message. When you use PowerPoint effectively, you can make great presentations for work or school.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Start with the outline view to structure your content in a way that best communicates the message to your audience. When you start with the outline, you can make sure that your content is solid before you move on with the visual part of your presentation.

Step2

Use contrasting colors for text, backgrounds and other elements. For viewers to read your slides, you need to provide contrast between the text color and the background color. Dark background with light text seems to be the most readable combination. Be sure to test your presentation on a projector ahead of time, since most projectors make colors appear less vivid than they look on the computer screen.

Step3

Make sure your fonts are large enough. In many cases, a font size smaller than 24 point will appear too small on the screen for the audience to read. Titles should be 36 to 44 point.

Step4

Turn off the mouse pointer before proceeding with your slide show. It's distracting and annoying to the audience to see the pointer on the middle of the presentation screen. To turn off the pointer, simply press Ctrl+H.

Tips & Warnings

If you can't get a large enough screen, see if you can project your presentation on a wall instead of the screen. If not, move the audience as close to the screen as possible.
Don't animate the text too much. Text that's flying around is difficult for the audience to read. It also shifts the focus away from the message and presenter.