How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation Pop
A good PowerPoint presentation is an important means of capturing your audience's attention, and maintaining their interest throughout your speech. In contrast, a poor presentation can come across as boring, causing your audience to tune out, regardless of the quality of your content. There are a number of simple yet effective ways to make your PowerPoint presentation stand out.
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Instructions
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Choose an interesting theme and design for your slides by going to the "Design" tab in PowerPoint 2007. PowerPoint offers a number of preset designs from which to choose. You can also create your own, which gives you greater control over how your slides look. Choose a font, a color scheme, and then--using preset images within PowerPoint or your own graphics software--create any design features you wish to display.
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Write text on your slides in a font that is eye-catching, yet legible. Beware of using a range of different font types, as this can make your slides look messy. A font that is a break from the norm will stimulate interest in your audience, but you must make sure that it can easily be read. Fonts such as Matisse are different and eye-catching, yet still legible.
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Make use of images in your presentation, stretching them to the size you desire. Bear in mind that the more you stretch an image, the more the resolution suffers, which could cause the image to appear grainy. Ensure your images are relevant to the content of your speech. Your listeners could lose interest if they are simply viewing slides filled with text.
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Add video and audio clips to your presentation to lend an exciting dimension and captivate your audience. Limit video clip lengths to no longer than a minute, and audio clips to no longer than 30 seconds, as any longer runs the risk of causing your audience to lose focus. Use the "Insert" menu and select "Media Clips" (PowerPoint 2007) to add audio or video to your slideshow.
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Insert humorous or inspirational quotes into your presentation, but make sure they are relevant to what you are saying. Make sure that quotes are appropriate for the audience, as some humor can backfire and cause offense.
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Introduce text and images using animation by selecting the relevant transition from the "Insert" menu at the top of your screen. Animated transitions prevent a presentation from seeming static. In some presentations, images and text simply appear and disappear with each mouse click. Move from one slide to another using transitions, leading the audience through your slideshow with a little added visual interest.
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Use hyperlinks and action buttons in your presentation to link easily and quickly to outside sources without having to close PowerPoint. Create an action button by selecting an image or text box, then selecting "Action" from the "Insert" menu. Perform the same steps if you wish to insert a hyperlink. This will seem very professional--and impress your audience--because you won't waste time closing and opening programs.
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Tips & Warnings
Animations can be an exciting addition to your presentation, but take care to avoid those that seem repetitive or annoying.
References
- Photo Credit projector ready for presentation image by Dmitry Goygel-Sokol from Fotolia.com
