PowerPoint
®
isapresentationsoftwarethat
comeswithMicro softOffice
®
.Whilethereare
severalbrandsof presentationsoftwareonthe
market,PowerPo int
®
isthemostwidely
known. Thisisaveryeffectivemethodfor
creatingpresentations.Mu ltimediasuchas
audio,video,textandpicturescanbe
incorporatedintot hepresentation. Itisa great
toolfororganizingapresentationandbringing
ittolive.Itcanbeusedinplaceofpostersor
othervisualaid s. PowerPoint
®
isnotyour
presentationinandofitself.PowerPoint
®
isa
tooltohelpyo upresentyourideastoan
audience.
Beforeyoustart selectingbackgroundsand
transitions youneedtohavea clearideaof
whatyouwanttopresent.Planyourproject
beforeyoubegin.Herear esomethingsyou
shouldkeepinmindasyoucreateyour
presentation.
Uselistsandbulletstoaccentuateyourpoints.
Remember666!Nomorethansixwordsper
item,sixbulleteditemsperpageandnomore
thansixtextpagesinarow.
Background
Usesimplebackgrounds:asolidcolor,or
perhapsablendoftwocolors.
Theeasiestcombinationfo rtheaudienceto
readisalightbackgroundcolorwithdarktext.
However,iftheroomisbright,adark
backgroundwithlighterletterswill bemore
readable.It isalsowisetopreviewyour
presentationinthescheduledroom.Likeall
projectedpresentations,thequalityofthe
imageinaPowerPoint
®
slidemaybeaffected
bytheamountofsunlightstreamingintothe
room,thetypeofoverheadlights,andyour
abilitytocontroltheselights.
Traditionally,darkbackgroundsareusedfor
onscreenpresentations( comparedtooverhead
transparencies)becauselightcolorsaretoo
bright andmakeyouraudienceu ncomfor table.
However,mediumbackgroundscanalsowork
whenyouwantasofterimpact.Justmakesure
thatt hetextisclearlyvisible.
Fonts
Thefontstyleyouchoosewillaffecthowyour
messageisreceived.
Pickfo ntsfromfamilies
Usevariationswithinonefont.Theitalicized
versionorlargesizeforaheadingwilldraw
attention.Trytousenomorethan3to4
differentfontsinapresentation.
Using PowerPoint
®
in 4H Presentations
Avoidornatefonts
Textwritteninornatefontsisdifficulttoread,
especiallyfromthebackr ow. Whendesigning
foronlineorslideviewing,usefontsthatlook
goodonline.TheVerdana,Tahoma,and
Geor giafontsaredesignedspecificallyfor
onlinevie wing.ArialandTimesNewRoman
alsoworkwell.
Color
Accordingtotheresearch,colorcommunicates
moreeffectivelythanblackandwhite.How
muchmore effectively?Here’swhatthe
researchsays:
·
Color visualsincreasewillingnessto
readbyupto80%.
·
Usingcolorcanincreasemotivation
andparticipationbyupt o80%(Green,
1984).
·
Color enhanceslearningandimproves
retentionbymorethan75%(Walker,
1991).
·
Color canalso exhibit“moods”:green
istyp icallymorerelaxing,redand
yellow areurgentcolors,bluecanbe
sadorr elaxingdependingonthehue,
blackcanbeapowercolor.
·
Avoidcertaincolorcombinationswhich
maybedifficulttolookator which
somepeoplecannotdistinguish:
red/green,brown/green,blue/black,and
blue/purple.
WarmorCool:
Warmcolor s (reds,oranges,
yellows)comeforwardandcommand
attention.Coolcolors(blues,green,andsome
purples)recedefromoureyes.Backgroundsin
cool colo rsareeasiertogetawaywithbecause
theyprovidecontrastwit htext.Ifyouput ina
war mcolorbackgroundyour textmaybelost
oroverpower ed.Thismeanspeoplewillpay
attentiontothecolornotthemessage.
Contrast
isthekeytousingcoloreffectively.
Tokeep fromlosingthetextintheba ckground
coloryouhavetohavecontrast.
Experimenttofindthecolor schemethat works
bestforyouandyourpresentation.Choosea
colorschemeandstickwithit.
Images/Graphics
Avarietyofstillformatscanbedisplayedin
PowerPoint
®
includingGIF,JPG,PNG,BMP,
PCT,andothers.Stillimageshelpcreatean
awarenessintheaudience’smind.Remember
thatpicturesshouldbekepttoa minimumper
pagewhileusingPowerPoint
®
.Thestandard
guidelineisthat 50%ofyourslidesshould
havesomegraphicelement.
Animation
Animationcanbeapowerfultool.That’s
becauseanimationhelpsusbreakour
informationdownandpresentittoour
audiencevisuallyaswedeliveritverbally.
And, whetheritsbullet slides, barchartsor
illustrations,thegradualintroduction of
informationhelpstheaudiencetorememberit.
Pickonetypeoftextanimation,anduse
iteverytime.
A gradualintroductionof text
keepsyouraudiencetrackingwiththe
presenter.Pickoneprimarytransitionandstick
withit.Subduingthepreviousbulletwhenthe
newonecomesoncanallow anevenstronger
focus.Ifyou’reusingadarkbackground,select
asubduedcolorforthepreviousbulletafew
shadeslighterthan thebackground.Usinga
totallydifferentcolorwillhavetheexact
oppositeeffectbydrawingattentiontothetext
you’retryingt odeemphasize.
Animategraphicimages whentelling
complexstories.
Becausewethinkinterms
ofcommunicatingw ithwords, ourfirstchoice
fordisplayinginformationisoftentext.The
problemismostaudiencesremembermore
whencontentisgraphicallypresented. An
animatedprogressionofobjectsthat
graphicallytellthestorywhilethepresenter
fillsinthedet ailscan bemoreeffectivethan
textbyitself. 
Ifyouuseanimations,usenatural
transitions.
Themostnatural,istextt hat
movesfromrighttoleftbecausethatishowwe
read.Toomanythingsflyingaroundonthe
screendetr actsfromthemessageandslo ws
down thepresentation.Anoccasionalburstof
musicorsoundduringatransitionoranimation
canfocustheaudienceontheslideshow.You
canalsoplayvideosthat mightenha ncethe
story.Butremembernottooverdoit–frequent
useofspecialeffectscan drawattentionaway
fromthecontentofyourpresentation.Not
everyslideneedstobeanimated.
PresentationTechniques
·
Donotreadyourpresentationfromthe
screen.Usemovement,gesturesand
eyecontacttoemphasizepointsinyour
presentation.
·
ArrangetheLCDprojectorandscreen
so youarenotstandingdirectlyinfront
ofthescreenandblockingtheview.
·
Standtotheleftofthescreen.
·
Haveablankslideortwoatthe
beginningandtheend.Ifyouendyour
presentationbyclickingoutofslide
show,youwillshowtheaudiencethe
“backstage”viewofyourpresentation.
It’sbettertohaveaslideattheendthat
says“ThankYou”oraduplicateof
yourtitleslide.(T henputoneblank
slideattheend,anywa y,soyoudon’t
mistakenlyclickoutofyourslide
show.)
·
Bringanextracopyofyour
presentationonadiskforemergencies.
Tolearnmoreabouthowtocreatea
PowerPoint
®
presentatio ngotothisWebsit e:
http://www.actden.com/pp/
ReferenceSources:
Green,R.(1984).ThePersuasivepropertiesofcolor.
MarketingCommunications.
“MicrofsoftOfficeMicrosoft PowerPoint”Website
(Microsoft,http://www.microsoft.com)
Walker,M.(1991).Thepowerofcolor.AveryPublishing
Group.
______________________________________
Additional4HCommunicationsresourcesinclude:
· TheVersatile4HPresentation
· TheFourP’sofPlanningAPresentation
· GettingReadytoGi vea4HPresentation
· PresentationVisuals
· UsingPo werPoint
®
in4HPresentations
· Evaluatinga4HPresentation
· HowtoPrepareaMultimediaPresentation
· HowtoPreparea4HRadioPublicServiceAnnouncement
VisittheNebraska4HWebsiteforadditionalresources
(http:4h.unl .edu).
______________________________________
Writtenby:
SandraStockall
4HYouthDevelopmentSpecialist
UniversityofNebraska–LincolnExtension