Introduction to PowerPoint

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Introduction to PowerPoint
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What is PowerPoint?

• Presentation software that allows you to create
  slides, handouts, notes, and outlines

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Why Use Presentation Software?

• The audience is 43 more likely to be persuaded
• Same material can be covered in 25-40 less time
• Retention is improved up to 38
• David Peoples (1992), Presentations Plus, John
  Wiley and Sons.

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Why Use Presentation Software?

• The presenter is perceived as being
• More professional
• More persuasive
• More credible
• More interesting
• Better prepared

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Substance is important!
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Definitions

• Presentation The primary type of file PowerPoint
  is used to create. Presentations typically have
  the file extension .ppt however, you can also
  save PowerPoint presentations as Adobe Acrobat
  documents with the file extension .pdf. Finally,
  you can save your presentation as a web page,
  with the file extension .html or .htm.

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Definitions

• Slides Individual parts of a presentation.
  Slides are similar to the individual pages in a
  print document, and can contain text, graphics,
  and animation.

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Definitions

• Layout The specific arrangement of text and
  images on a slide. Layouts can be very simple,
  consisting of simple titles and text, or they can
  be more complex and include elaborate colors and
  images. You can also include animation, sounds,
  and other multimedia objects in your layout.
  PowerPoint has about 20 pre-designed layouts.

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Definitions

• View Microsoft PowerPoint has three main views
  normal view, slide sorter view, and slide show
  view.
• Normal view is the main editing view.
• Slide sorter view is an exclusive view of your
  slides in thumbnail form, helpful for rearranging
  the order of your slides.
• Slide show view takes up the full computer
  screen, like an actual slide show presentation.
  In this full-screen view, you see your
  presentation the way your audience will.

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Definitions

• Design Template The specific look of a slide
  or group of slides. A design template can be very
  basic - with black text on a white background -
  or it can be very colorful and complex.
  Typically, PowerPoint presentations have the same
  design template for all slides, although it is
  possible to select a different design template
  for each slide.

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Definitions

• Slide Show The way a presentation appears when
  you are presenting it. When you display your
  slides in a slide show, the slides typically take
  up the whole screen, and they appear in sequence.

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Definitions

• Placeholder Boxes with dotted or hatch-marked
  outlines that appear when you create a new slide.
  These boxes act as "placeholders" for objects
  such as the slide title, text, clip art, charts,
  and tables. Placeholders are sometimes called
  text boxes.

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Definitions

• Sizing handles Small circles that appear along
  the edges of the selection rectangle around an
  object on your slide. You drag a sizing handle to
  change the shape or size of an object. To
  maintain the proportions of an object while
  resizing, simply drag a corner handle.

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Creating a PowerPoint Presentation

• But first the PowerPoint Ballad
• See a Demonstration of PowerPoint

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So Where are We?

• We have just covered the Basic Mechanics of
  creating a PowerPoint presentation now we can
  create a BAD presentation or a GOOD
  presentation.
• So just what makes a presentation good?

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Principles of Good PPT Design
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Simplicity

• Simple slides, with no more than one concept per
  page, and no more than 25-30 words per page.

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Avoid death by cheese

• Weird sound effects
• Most transitions
• Flying text
• Strange animations
• Bad clip-art

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Spacing

• Text and images kept within a reasonable distance
  from the edges of the slide. This prevents the
  slide from looking over-crowded.

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Easy to Read

• Slides that are easy to read. Avoid flashy color
  schemes, fonts, and animation. These features
  should complement a presentation, and not be the
  presentation itself.

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A picture isworth athousand words
PowerPoint morevisual than written
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Color Schemes

• NOTE Choose "Slide Design - Color Schemes" from
  the task pane menu to see a variety of
  pre-designed schemes you can apply to your
  slides.
• This means you can change the color scheme on
  your template.

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Task Pane

• Another Note Clicking on the down triangle on
  the task pane (the pane on the right of the
  screen), gives one several other layout and
  formatting options.

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Use Slides as a Prompt

• A speaker should use the slides as prompts and
  not as a script to be read aloud. Sometimes
  audiences find it distracting to try to read
  and listen at the same time.

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Text

• Avoid using all upper case
• Eliminate unnecessary words
• Use consistent fonts, sizes and weights

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The 666 Rule

• Remember the 666 rule. No more than
• gtSix lines of text
• gtSix words per line
• gtSix slides in a row of the same type

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How big should the letters be?

• A transparency held up (no projector) should be
  readable at six feet.

A A A
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How big should the letters be?

• For computer generated presentations, use the
  pre-designed templates in the presentation
  program
• You should be able to see the letters on your
  monitor at 6 feet
• If electronic presentation on television, use a
  40 font, sans serif

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Two font families

• Serif has little feet and curlicues on the
  letters.
• Times New Roman
• Courier
• Rockwell

• Sans Serif does not have feet or curlicues on
  the letters.
• Arial
• Impact
• Tahoma

n
The majority of the time it is best to use Sans
Serif
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Background Colors

• What background color should one use in their
  presentation
• Depends upon desired effect

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Color Psychology - Red

• Can denote desire, passion, excitement and
  competitiveness
• Can also denote fear, danger, financial loss and
  stop
• Red can increase pulse and breathing rates
• Encourages risk-taking
• Use red with caution

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Color Psychology Blue

• Cool, calming and conservative
• Can slow breathing and pulse rate
• Blue is often overused in PowerPoint
  presentations which could equate to staleness and
  unoriginal thinking.
• If blue is used, combine with other design
  elements.

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Color Psychology - Green

• Stimulates interaction
• Good choice for educators, trainers
• Also associated with money

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Color Psychology - Black

• Denotes finality, authority

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Colors to Avoid

• Pure Brown
• Uneasiness and passivity
• Purple
• Immaturity
• Unimportant

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Color Problems

• Red and Green besides each other tend to
  vibrate
• Avoid blue on black (edges tend to look fuzzy)

Vibrate
Fuzzy Edges
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Color Blindness

• Research suggests 15-25 of men have some color
  differentiation deficiencies
• Therefore, avoid
• Red/Green combinations
• Brown/Green combinations
• Purple/Blue combinations

RED
BROWN
BLUE
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Color Order

• Use earth to sky scheme in displaying colors
• darker colors on the bottom
• If gradient colors are used
• Darker gradient on the bottom or left side

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The Fear of Presenting

• PUBLIC SPEAKING 41
• Height 22
• Insects and Bugs 11
• Financial Problems 10
• Deep Water 8
• DEATH 8

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Final Thoughts

• When youre making your presentation, create the
  content of your presentation first, and then get
  creative with colors and animation.
• Then we add graphics and sound. Then we will be
  using the Power of PowerPoint!