Stop blaming PowerPoint. Learn how to kick some arse with it
Posted by Celia Walter | 10 Jul, 2008Good Presentations Kick Butt
Good Visuals Don’t Make A Speech, They Complement A Speaker
Here are two popular and compelling presentations from SlideShare
How To Present More Effectively
- Cliff Atkinson, who wrote Beyond Bullet Points. I’d highly recommend either this interview with him or checking out a free webinar called “How to Create a 15-Minute Presentation (with Graphics!) in One Hour”
- Craig Ball, who is perhaps the best known speaker on the topics of PowerPoint and electronic evidence in the courtroom
- Kathy Sierra, who has always been an incredible role model in all things to do with presenting information. On her blog she discussed when to use PowerPoint and how to incorporate graphics into presentations
A Few Tips To Get Started
- Keep fonts 18pt or larger (so people can read them)
- Avoid sentences when possible. Avoid paragraphs 99% of the time
- If you don’t know a lot about animation or transitions, don’t bother with them–it’ll do more harm than good (no one will notice it missing, but everyone will notice if you’re trying out “fancy new stuff”)
- Avoid clipart. Try Flickr or iStockPhoto
- Use full screen images to drive points home
My advice
If you present regularly, visit the references above (as well as Presentation Zen) for insight into professional and compelling presentation design. (Oh, and my company designs PowerPoint templates. Go figure…
From Technotheory