10 Tips on Making PowerPoint Presentations
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program that people often use to give graphic-filled presentations in meetings or at conferences. PowerPoint is a good tool to get your message across, but you can lose your audience if you don't use it effectively. Keep in mind these 10 tips if you want to get the most out of the software.
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Create an Outline
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Create a general outline for your presentation first, first on paper and then in the program. This helps you organize your thoughts and create a structure to your presentation that will allow people to follow it easily.
Use the Masters and Layouts
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Take advantage of the program's masters and layouts, which will save you time and give you a more professional look than you could get if you did it on your own.
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Choose a Theme
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Select a theme, which is a set of fonts, colors and graphics. A theme helps your presentation look visually more organized and polished.
Make Notes
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Put some notes in the presentation to help guide you along. PowerPoint has a "Notes" pane where you can write notes to yourself.
Limit the File Size
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Keep the size of the file small. Don't load it up with too much stuff or the presentation won't flow smoothly when you need it to.
Use Video and Audio
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Use video and audio to spice up your presentation a little. A bit of dynamic content can go a long way in waking up your audience and getting its attention.
Use Graphics
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Create graphics to illustrate your points. People don't want to look at some boring numbers, they want to see a colorful pie chart that lays out information simply.
Use Animations and Transitions Wisely
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Be careful how you use animations and transitions. Having text or graphics suddenly appear on the screen can help illustrate your point, but it may also distract if you do it too much.
Choose the Right Typeface
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Choose the right typeface. A sans serif typeface, like Arial or Helvetica, is a good choice, whereas a serif typeface like Times New Roman is tough to read. Make the font size at least 24 points.
Preview the Presentation
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Take a look at the presentation when you're finished to make sure that what your viewers will see is what you want them to see. Going through it a few times allows you to catch any errors.
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