Greetings!
In my last newsletter, we covered five
principles that you could apply to your slide
text to improve your PowerPoint® (PP)
slides:
1. Create a story.
2. Organize your thoughts.
3. Show your organization.
4. Use six or fewer words in a bullet point.
5. Use simple words where appropriate.
In this issue, we'll look at five visual
principles that can help you further improve
your slides:
1. Select a template.
Perhaps
your company
has corporate templates; of course, you'll
use those. However, if you have free rein, be
careful to select a very simple template,
preferably one with a light background and
dark type. The opposite (dark background,
light type) is almost unreadable, and when
you print handouts, the dark background
leaves no place to write on the
slides. Don't be afraid to modify the
template through the Master view, as long as
you keep it simple.
2. Use sans serif typeface.
Sans serif typefaces do not
have strokes or lines on the letters, which
makes text much more readable onscreen. But
don't use Arial on slides, even if it may be
the default typeface in PP. Instead, use
Verdana or Tahoma, typefaces that were
commissioned by Microsoft® for best
readability. As for type size, the defaults
in PP are probably good for starters. Be sure
to test your slides in a room as large as the
one in which you'll be presenting: Can you
read the text easily from the back row?
3. Show the idea.
You may not
be a graphic artist, but experiment a bit to
create a visual representation of the ideas
you're trying to express on certain slides.
Photographs work well if they are high
quality and fit well on the slide. Perhaps a
simple bar chart could show comparisons.
Pictures and graphics are elements that carry
and evoke emotion, so if you're trying to
make a point, these will be the most effective
way to show your ideas.
4. Use no more than six bulleted lines per
slide.
Some experts suggest
limiting your words/bullet points to five
each (5x5=25 words); others insist upon 7x7,
for a total of 49 words. Limiting each slide
to no more
than six bullet points with six or fewer
words each seems like a good compromise. Do
you have more than six bullet points? Split
them between two or more slides.
5. Edit visually.
Step back
from your slides and look at visual and
verbal elements as a whole. If you're not
good at visual editing (I'm not), find a
colleague who can help you decide if your
visual elements are sized and placed
properly. Do your visual elements overwhelm
the text? Or do you have too much text in
proportion to the visual? Work toward
balancing these elements.
Again, practicing these verbal and visual
principles as you create your slide shows
will mean that you'll never have to apologize
to your viewers: "I know you can't see this,
but this is what it says."
