Improving Power Point Presentations

K.S. ChewSchool of Medical SciencesUniversiti Sains Malaysia

What’s The Problem With Most Power Point

Presentations?

Does this look familiar? What a torture by Power Point Presentation, or is it really?

Basically the problems can be

due to the Presenter or …

the Slides

Introduction

Speaker

Audience

Speaker

Encoding

Decoding

Audience

Communication Gap

✗

The Communication Gap

It is the difference between what:

• What I meant to say• What I actually said• What you think you heard• What you think I meant

Introduction

• According to various studies, we can effectively recall

20% of what we hear 30% of what we see 50% of what we hear and see 70% of what we do

THE SLIDES

Three Simple Rules In Preparing Your Slides

RULE #1 : KEEP IT SIMPLE, SWEET(K.I.S.S)

Rule #1

RULE #1: Keep It Short, Simple (K.I.S.S)• Power Point is a tool, not the center stage• Too many colours• TooToo Many Fonts and Styles• One slide, one concept• Use 6X6 rule as your guide:

– No more than 6 lines per slide– No more than 6 words per line

Use 6 * 6 RULE

6 LINES PER SLIDE

6 WORDS PER LINE

At the whole-body level, shock from any etiology initiates a sequence of stress responses that are intended to preserve flow to vital organs and to signal cells to expend internal energy stores ( Figure 4-2). The circulating “stress hormones” derive mainly from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenomedullary axis, which leads to secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla and corticosteroids from the adrenal cortex, renin from the kidney, and glucagon from the pancreas. These hormones signal the liver to break down glycogen to release glucose into the plasma and alert adipose tissue to release fatty acids via lipolysis. As a result, stress hormones increase the input of carbon substrates into the TCA throughout the body, often overwhelming the mitochondrial ability to oxidize them and leading to an increase in lactic acid production and release into the bloodstream.

Avoid Text Indigestion!!

Body Hormonal Response To Shock

But A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

Even For Figures and Charts, Simplify Them!

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Goa

Mumbai

Delhi

Too detailed !

Easier To Digest

0

10

20

30

40

50

January March May July September November

GoaMumbaiDelhi

Much Simpler

RULE #2 : LIMIT THE NUMBER OF SLIDES

Rule #2

RULE #2: Limit the Number of Slides

• Limit to about three major take home points• Audience attention span 20 – 40 minutes

Mills Persuasive Presentation Formula

• Preview (10-15% of time)– Attention grabber– Overview

• View/Points (80-85% of time)– Three points with evidence/illustration

• Review/Conclusion (5% of time)– Recap– Memorable conclusion– Call to action

RULE #3 : USE APPROPRIATE FONTS

Rule #3

RULE #3: Use appropriate fontsAppropriate in terms of:• Types

– Use either Sans Serif or Serif Fonts– Avoid fancy/display fonts

• Size• Color

Font Types

• Sans Serif• Arial• Calibri• Comic Sans MS

• No tails, less decorative

• Serif• Times New Roman

• Georgia• Courier New

• Has tails added to end of letter strokes as decoration

• May use more than one font but generally serif fonts are more difficult to read on screen and less formal

• San serif fonts are clearer• Italics are difficult to read on screen

• Use colours to emphasise

Fonts

Font Size

• Font size is measured in points• One inch = 72 points.

As a rule of thumb:

• Make titles at least 36 points.• Make text at least 24 points.

How To Estimate Font Size Visibility

• Look at it from 2 metres away2 m

Contrast

• Use contrasting colours

• Light on dark vs dark on light

• Use complementary colours

This is dark on light

Guidelines

• Use Contrasting Colors For Text and Background

Use• Light text on a dark background• Dark text on a light background• But avoid too many colors

Contrast

• Use contrasting colours

• Light on dark vs dark on light • Use complementary colours

These colours do not complement

Make It Clear (Complement)

• Use contrasting colours

• Light on dark vs dark on light • Use complementary colours

These colours complement

A Bonus Point To Remember

• Clip arts, animation and transition can be very annoying and distracting!

• Try using high quality photos rather than clip arts.

THE PRESENTER

Planning

• To avoid P.A.N.I.Cky situation, plan.

• P = define your PURPOSE of this presentation• A = know your AUDIENCE• N = detail your NEEDS• I = search for the information• C = Prepare your COMMUNICATION

Eye Contact

CONCLUSION

Main Points

• Keep it SIMPLE• Use Rule of 6*6 as a guide• Use appropriate font type, color and size

• And don’t just use bullet slides... Have a variety of slides…..

Please have Some Mercy On Your Audience… don’t use too many

bullets….

Enjoy Your CME!