Transcript Advice from some professors on how students should NOT put

Advice from some professors on
how students should NOT put
together a PowerPoint™
presentation for use in classwork
at King’s College.
By CELT and the King’s Faculty
Spring 2004
Keep your title short.
Use consistent and clean
transitions between slides.
Don’t use distracting
backgrounds.
Do not put dark letters on a dark
background.
Or light letters on a light
background.
Make sure the typeface is large enough.
Students should be able to read it from the
back of the room.
But not too
large!
Don’t mix fonts.
Use simple, readable fonts.
Have text appear in a clear and
consistent fashion.
Use the
upper 2/3
of the
slide
space.
In many classrooms, students cannot see the
bottom 1/3.
Each slide should have only one
good point.
Don’t get fancy with bullets.
Bullets don’t always come out the same.
§ If you change points it can get confusing.
• Only use as many slides as you need.
Keep it simple.
Keep each slide to 2-3 lines.
More than that is too much information.
It can even be distracting.
Do not fill up the slide with text. The
whole point of powerpoint is to
highlight, provide key ideas, catch
the eye -- not to do the entire
presentation for you.
Your verbal presentation should fill in the
necessary information. Otherwise your
audience will not really listen, they will
be reading. If you want to give the
students your entire text, why not just
print it out and give it to them?
Do not “READ” your
presentation, either from the
computer or projection screens.
• Use printed out notes
• Don’t get stuck behind a podium either.
Face your audience.
Don’t block the
view of the screen.
Don’t use too many graphics.
One per page is usually enough.
Avoid sound effects.
Print out handouts
or Notes Pages.
Have a slide that concludes your presentation.