Design Tips for PowerPoint

Business Writing and Tech

Design Tips for PowerPoint

• • • • • • 1 st –– Backgrounds – Templates Best fonts Bullets –– 6 is max Content is king!

Words on a slide –– 25 or less Images –– key

A picture is worth a thousand words

PowerPoint more

visual

than written

PowerPoint rules

Templates & c o lor sch emes

Pick a good template

• • • • • Match the mood Look professional Don’t get the blues medium blues navy blue OK

Bluesy templates –

yikes!

Azure Blue diagonal Lock & key Soaring

Use high contrast colors

GOOD

Bright on dark

EVIL GOOD EVIL GOOD

Dark on bright

EVIL

Why high-contrast?

• • • • Your PC screen is hi-res everything looks great don’t trust it!

big displays “wash out” colors always TEST on final equipment alter template’s defaults as needed

See for yourself

• • Which line is easier to read?

Which line is easier to read?

Which line is easier to read?

Which line is easier to read?

Be font savvy

• •

Sans serif

good Arial

Arial Black

• • Futura Tahoma •

Serif

bad

Times New Roman • • New York Courier

Which is easier to read?

Less visual complexity Stronger lines Once upon a time there lived a yellow bear named Pooh. He had a cat named Tigger and a law degree from Texas Tech. He was allergic to chocolate.

Don’t waste bullets

• • • • • • use no more than

6

in a list

Observe the limit

words per slide max

More looks busy

Avoid death by cheese…

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

Clip-art Hall of Shame

Content is King!

• • • • • • Single phrases Short lists Questions for students Quotes Photographs Video