PowerPoint -Top Eight Rules for making a PowerPoint Successful

By Beth Ziesenis

                                             Most of these are relevant to Overhead presentations also.

1) Remember that you are the presenter, not PowerPoint. Use your slides to emphasize a point, keep yourself on track, and illustrate a point with a graphic or photo. Don't just stand there and read the slides.

2) Keep text to a minimum. Think of your bullet points as headlines, not news articles. Ideally, each slide will contain no more than six to eight lines for a total of no more than 30 words.

3) Make sure your presentation is easy on the eyes. Make your font size 24 point or bigger. Use easy to read fonts. Stay away from weird colors and busy backgrounds.

4) Never include anything that prompts you to announce, "I don't know if everyone can read this, but." It's your job to make sure it's readable . Print all of your slides on standard paper and drop them to the floor. If you can easily make out the words while standing, the slides are probably readable.

5) Leave out the sound effects and background music unless they're related to the content you're presenting . If you have not made arrangements with the conference coordinator before your presentation, your audience members might not be able to hear your sound effects anyway.

6) Stick with simple animations if you use them at all. Remember that some of your audience may have a learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and swirling words can be a tough challenge. Even those who do not have reading problems may find them annoying.

7) Practice, practice, practice. The more you rehearse, the less you will have to rely on your slides for cues and the smoother your presentation will be.

8) Proofread, proofread, proofread. Wouldn't you hate to discover that you misspelled your institution's name during a presentation?