PowerPoint Blog

The majority of the information presented in the three articles we read was common knowledge, yet I was reminded of a few tips that I had forgotten about, and even learned a few new things that I had formerly not considered significant in the PowerPoint development process. I was most impressed by Seth Godins article, "Really Bad PowerPoint" because he included some valuable information concerning the emotional engagement that each PowerPoint presentation should induce. I think that he makes a good point when he says that PowerPoints often become merely reports and fails to communicate the ideas which he defines as "getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are)". I think it was helpful to be reminded that communication is not simply presenting information and allowing the audience to respond, instead communication is igniting activity in both sides of the brain and interacting with the audience to convey your ideas. Godins says "You can use the screen to talk emotionally to the audience’s right brain (through their eyes), and your words can go through the audience’s ears to talk to their left brain" and I believe that with a well throughout PowerPoint this is completely feasible.

When creating a PowerPoint Presentation, whether it be for a school project, a business meeting, or a sales pitch, the following rules are great guidelines that will help anyone ensure that their PowerPoint is engaging and convincing.

1) Avoid at all costs including large chunks of text. Bullet points are a much better alternative, but remember that even bullet points are sometimes unnecessary. The information should be coming from your own spoken words and the PowerPoint is there to help support your claim with images and videos.

2) Don't go color crazy! Professional presentations typically use muted and coordinating colors with perhaps a few accent colors to add a little color. Too much color however takes away from the main focal point of the presentation and can tend to "cheapen" the show.

3) Limiting and coordinating colors does not mean however to make the slideshow boring. Often times, images and videos can be great enhancements to any presentation. Beware, however, don't use too many animations and wild transitions because, again, they detract from the vital information.

4) A good presentation is well-rehearsed and the presenter is prepared with note cards in case they should slip up. There is an option to print notes on the PowerPoint program and this might be a good ideas especially if the show is lengthy.

5) Along these same lines, remember to print out some sort of summary or notes for the audience to take with them after your presentation. While they may seem engaged and interested during the presentation, they will easily forget the moment they leave the office and printing them out your slides would be nearly useless (assuming you created a GOOD PowerPoint) without you to present. Thus, a sheet of notes and main points to hand out after is probably a good idea.

GOOD LUCK!