Vital Signs - OMERAD's Newsletter

Faculty Development

Making Lecture Slides Easier to Read

One of the reasons students complain about lectures is that the slides are too crowded, making them difficult to read. Here are some simple guidelines for making slides easier to read.

The basic principles of designing effective slides are: unclutter, enlarge and use color.

Unclutter
To unclutter a slide, first remove any irrelevant text or visuals. If you feel that everything on the slide is essential, divide the content to fit onto several slides. If you have a complex image that cannot be divided, consider showing a simplified version of the image first and explain that part. Then on the next slide show an overlay that adds to the complexity of the image and explain that part. Continue until the entire image is on the screen.

Use bullets to organize and unclutter text. Rather than putting complete sentences on the slide, use summary phrases with bullets in front of them. One way to do this is:

1. Put everything onto a slide that you want to say for that slide.
2. Copy that text into the PowerPoint Notes Page for that slide.
3. Revise the sentences on the slide into summaries.
4. Put bullets in front of each summary.

When presenting your lecture, refer to the Notes Page. In this way you will add content to the summarized text on the slide. This not only helps unclutter the slide, but does away with the perennial student complaint of faculty reading the slides word-for-word!

When uncluttering text on a slide, remember the "Principle of 7s":
- no more than 7 words per line
- no more than 7 lines per slide

Enlarge
When you unclutter a slide, you have room to enlarge the slide elements (text, images, tables and charts). Depending on the size of the lecture room, use as a minimum 24-point type for the body of the slide and 32-point for titles. Better is 32-point for the body text and 44-point for titles.

Use simple fonts such as a sans serif font (Arial, Calibri) for titles and serif fonts (Times New Roman) for body text. Script fonts may look good on your computer screen but are often illegible when enlarged onto a room screen.

Use Color
Font and background colors should contrast strongly with each other. If you are presenting in a dark room, light letters on a dark background are often easier to read. On the other hand, in rooms with some light, dark letters on a light background work better.

Do not use more than two or three colors per slide. Be consistent about the use of colors, such as using the same color on each slide for the title.

Use a simple background with few design elements in it. Design elements can be a photo in the corner, a line under the title, waves in the background. Sometimes design elements take up valuable slide real estate and end up cluttering the slide, or make it more difficult to read the text. On the other hand, visuals add interest to a slide, but if you include an image, use an image relevant to the topic.

If you follow the principles of Unclutter, Enlarge and Use Color your slides will be easier to read and there may be fewer complaints from your students. These are only guidelines. Do what works for you and your lecture topic. For more information on slide design, see:

10 Slide Design Tips for Producing Powerful and Effective Presentations, by Garr Reynolds.