Slide Show Presentation Tips

Common Problems

One of the most common problems with presentations is legibility. This can happen when colors in font and background are too similar or font that is too small.  This will make the presentation hard to read.

Audience and Topic

Two things that are very important and that you always want to keep in mind when creating a presentation is your audience and the topic of your presentation. For example, your presentation will have a different look and feel if it’s for children then it would for a group of college professors.  What is your topic? Is it about the migration of whales or are you trying to raise money for a club.

 Text

Headings should be at least a size 36 font and bulleted text at least a size 24 font. Keep the font style simple. Use fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, and Century Schoolbook.  Stay away from any script type of font they are too hard to read.

Color

Colors can influence the mood of your presentation and the colors you choose should also be appropriate for your audience. For example, if your presentation is for young children using a bright, bold background and changing the color on each slide will keep their interest. Keep in mind that other then for young children, changing the color of every slide can be annoying. You might want to just change the background color when the topic changes.

Colors can also influence the mood and feel of your presentation. Consider the color guide below when creating your document for the mood you want to project on your presentation.

Warm Colors

• Red – excitement, alert, attention-getting, passion, fire, energy, aggression
• Orange – action, optimism, warmth, health
• Yellow – confidence, warmth, sunshine, wisdom, hope, light, energy, cowardice

 Cool Colors

• Green – growth, wealth, health, renewal, fertility, jealousy
• Blue – truth, trust, justice, calm, intelligence, reassurance, depression
• Purple – dignity, sophistication, creativity, spiritual, mysterious

Neutral Colors

• Black – authority, strength, power, elegance, sophistication, death
• White – professionalism, new, innocence, cleanliness, life
• Grey – integrity, maturity, conservative, security, reliability, gloominess
• Brown – friendliness, warmth, credibility, stability, earth

 Also use colors that go along with your theme or topic. For instance, if your presentation is about a school using the school colors would be appropriate.  If your topic is about the ocean using the color blue would work.

Ending your slide show

Don’t forget to end the slide show.  It is not necessary to put up a slide that says “The End.”  Your last slide can just be blank or have your name or contact information, or if you are doing questions and answers it could simply say Q & A.

Printing

Keep in mind, if you will be printing your presentation in color most likely the color you see on the screen will not be what is printed.  Think before you print; is it really necessary to print in color?  Grayscale will most likely be fine for you and your audience.

Preview

Remember to preview your presentation.  Don’t be disappointed or surprised at the last minute or while doing the presenting in front of your audience.  When creating a presentation view it on your screen in presentation mode and step about 10 feet away from your computer.  If you can read it and everything appears clear, most likely it will be fine for your audience on a big screen or TV.