How to use Microsoft Powerpoint with your presentations.
Using Microsoft Powerpoint during your presentations can be a great aid to your presentation. When used properly, Powerpoint can truly enhance any presentation whether it be for a boardroom or a classroom.
The problem is that many people use Powerpoint in an ineffective way, the slides should accent and support your speaking points, not be your speaking points.
As a graduate student, I've done and continue to do countless presentations. I prefer to use Powerpoint whenever possible because to me it really rounds out a presentation.
Consider these following things when designing and presenting your slides to get the most out of Powerpoint.
Use the slides as an aid.
Many people get nervous when making a presentation. Powerpoint slides can help structure your presentation so that if you lose your speaking place or need to repeat key facts, the slides are there to back you up.
A lot of people will speak and then turn to their slide to point out the facts presented or to reiterate their point. This can be effective when used in moderation.
Don't read off the slides.
So many students tend to read directly off their Powerpoint slides. Not only can this be incredibly boring, but it can also present the image that the student just threw facts and statements on a slide.
You'll appear ill prepared and without adding anything of speaking value to the presentation, you are basically just saying what everyone in the room just read to themselves.
Use designs and images sparingly.
Choose your Powerpoint slide background and layout carefully. Professional presentations shouldn't include cheesy animations or images and the color schemes should in a way match the tone of the content.
More importantly, the color schemes and design shouldn't make the slides difficult to read. Distracting images, colors, or hard to read fonts take away from your presentation.
Graphs and photos in moderation are alright.
If you have relevant photos or graphs that accent what you are speaking about, by all means place them in the slides. Don't overdo it though and make sure what you include in terms of visual aids are actually something you'll be discussing while presenting.
Relevance is key here. Somehow dancing bunny rabbits or giant gleaming smiley faces don't strike most audiences as being relevant or professional when say presenting on business proposals or medical research.
Pre-load all links.
Many people put links to YouTube videos and websites in their Powerpoint presentations. These can be a great way to break up the monotony of just speaking about a topic and staring at text based slides.
But you'll want to make sure the videos or links are already opened in new browser windows before you present. This way you don't need to click on the links in the presentation and then deal with awkwardness while you all sit and wait for videos and sites to load.
Place key details on slides.
Obviously reading off your slides isn't the way to go. I tend to write my speaking points while I'm designing my slides. This way I can pull key facts, stats, or phrases from my speaking points and research and put them up on the slide.
A slide could simply be an introduction to your next speaking point or a small list of facts relevant to your topic.
By putting only small bits of text on the slide, you keep it from looking cluttered. Plus it allows you to put up the important facts without having to read them out loud. This allows you to focus on in depth discussion about what is being presented on the slides.
The less slides the better.
Unless you are presenting a lot of graphs or a large amount of statistics, you often can use a slide as the backdrop for quite a bit of information. I know some people who will present a 30 minute presentation and have maybe 3 or 4 slides.
Each slide introduces the next segment of the presentation or perhaps shows a key list of facts or graphs. The minimalist approach keeps Powerpoint in it's proper place as a visual presentation aid.
In the end your Powerpoint presentation will only enhance your presentation and speaking points if you keep the information on the slides simple, concise, and relevant to what you are talking about.
People need to be able to clearly read and see your slides, but it is important that your speaking remains the focus of the presentation. Distracting designs or cluttered slides will hurt your presentation. Always have more to say then just the text on your slides.