Business Olympics Power Point Instructions

Make Your Presentations

SuccinctWell reasonedCompelling

Basic Power Point Guidelines

1Basic Power Point Guidelines

PART IWhat is an effective presentation?

1. Story telling

2. Directed to a particular audience

3. With a purpose

4. With solid analysis and facts to make the story compelling

2Basic Power Point Guidelines

Storytelling

•Background/Situation/Context•Problem/Barrier/Central Question•Answer/Recommendation •Conclusion

Effective presentations tell a persuasive story.

•Source: wikipedia.com 3Basic Power Point Guidelines

Audience and Purpose

• Who is the audience?

• What are his/her top priorities?

• What questions will he/she ask?

• What does he/she already know about the subject?

• Why is this presentation happening?

• What decisions/outcome would you like?

• Are the next steps clearly defined?

Great presentations are written with theaudience and purpose in mind!

4Basic Power Point Guidelines

Horizontal logic

Verify that the horizontal logic…

• Tells a compelling narrative• Addresses the audience &

purpose• Demonstrates strong

deductive reasoning• Finishes with a clear set of

next steps• …..Are you ready for the

“elevator test”?

•With every presentation, you should check the horizontal logic

•With every presentation, you should check the horizontal logic

5Basic Power Point Guidelines

With every presentation, you should check the horizontal logic.

Horizontal logic should prevail not only on the

individual slides, but from one

slide to the next throughout the presentation.

For example, the headlines from slide to slide

should flow and tell the story.

Vertical logic

Each headline should be well supported by the content on the page (aka “vertical logic”)

The main point of the slide, the headline, should be clearly highlighted in the details

You should test the vertical logic of every page in your deck (PowerPoint slides)

Don’t drown your audience – move details into the appendix

Each headline should be well supported by the content on the page (aka “vertical logic”)

The main point of the slide, the headline, should be clearly highlighted in the details

You should test the vertical logic of every page in your deck (PowerPoint slides)

Don’t drown your audience – move details into the appendix

6Basic Power Point Guidelines

Vertical Logic – “So What” test

• Are you telling me anything new?

• Why is this important? Should I care?

• What conclusions should I draw?

• Are the findings clearly stated?

•So What? Review each page in your presentation. Wear the hat of your target audience…

7Basic Power Point Guidelines

Elevator test

• You are in the elevator with your target audience member

• You have about 30 seconds until you reach your floor

• Can you present your story?– Succinct– Well reasoned– Compelling

8Basic Power Point Guidelines

The writing process

DEVELOP YOUR

HYPOTHESES

DO

ANALYSES

REFINE

OUTLINE HORIZONTA

L LOGIC

DRAFT

VERTICAL•LOGIC

TEST & REFINE

Writing is an iterative process. Develop hypotheses and outlines

early. Make lots of revisions!

Writing is an iterative process. Develop hypotheses and outlines

early. Make lots of revisions!

9Basic Power Point Guidelines

SummaryThe Presentation

• Tell a story• Remember your audience and their agenda• Have a purpose and a desired meeting

outcome in mind

The Process for writing the presentation• Create outlines and hypotheses as soon as

possible• Test your horizontal logic• Prepare for the elevator test• Test your vertical logic• Force every page to pass the “so what?” test• Have fun & be creative

What is an effective executive presentation?

How do we write one?

10Basic Power Point Guidelines

Summarize the key elements of your presentation

STORYSTORY

AUDIENCEAUDIENCE

Top 6-8 points of your story ( e.g. the elevator version)

AttendeesTop Issues/Concerns

– –

Purpose/Desired Outcome– – – –

PURPOSEPURPOSE

11Basic Power Point Guidelines

What Did We Learn?

Basic Power Point Guidelines 12

PART 2Basic Rules for Presentations

• Contrast is important.

• For paper…– Dark text on a light background.

• For slides….– Light text with dark background.

13Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules for Presentations

• For projection…– Light text on a semi-dark

background.– The eye is attracted to the light

on the screen.

14Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules for Presentations

• Stick with a single background.

– The background is the stage for your information.

– Set the stage and leave it alone!

15Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules for Presentations

• Don’t try to dazzle the audience with flying text and sounds.

• Use graphics to emphasize your points.

• Keep you text limited to the

4 X 4 rule.

4 lines of text; 4 words per line.

16Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules for Presentations

Balance

• Do not center bullet points.

• It makes the text ragged.

• And hard to read and follow with your eyes.

17Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules for Presentations

Balance

• Generally, left-justify bullets.

• This keeps things neat..

• and easy to follow.

18Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules for Presentations

Balance

Centered graphics leave little room for text.

19Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules for Presentations

Balance •Place graphics off-center.

•More room for text.

•Better balance.

•More pleasing to the eye.

•Left placement leads the eye to the text.

20Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules- Capitalization

•AVOID ALL CAPS – VERY HARD TO READ.

•First Cap - More Formal.

•Harder To Type And More Decisions.

•This is an example of capitalizing the first word.

•Less formal.

•Easier to type and fewer decisions.

21Basic Power Point Guidelines

Use Restraint With Fonts

• Employ only a few..stick to familiar fonts

• Stay away from gimmicky fonts unless for a theme.

• Keep type sizes consistent.• Serif vs. San Serif.• DON’T USE ALL CAPS.

22Basic Power Point Guidelines

Choose Fonts Wisely

• Italics are more difficult to read.

• Use bold when you want some words to stand out.

• Font size– Easy to read (18 pt)

– Easy to read (24 pt)

– Easy to read (32 pt)

–Easy to read (48 pt)23Basic Power Point Guidelines

Avoid Text Overload

Having too much text on the screen can defeat the purpose of using PowerPoint. The slides begin to look like a jumble of text, making slides difficult to read and unrecognizable from each other. People will either try to read everything or copy everything down or they will lose interest. List only the key points. If you have more info to include use more slides or create handouts.

24Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules That You Must Have to Have a Good

Presentation.•One of the most common mistakes in creating a presentation is to place too much information on the screen. This can cause the reader to become distracted from the speaker…just like you are now. Audiences are much more receptive to the spoken word. 25Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Presentation Mistakes

•Too much information.

• Reader gets distracted

• Audiences are much more receptive to the spoken word.

26Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Rules

Keep it simple..

• Make bulleted points easy to read.

• Keep text easy to understand.

• Use concise wording.

• Bullets are focal points.

• Presenter provides elaboration.

• Keep font size large.

27Basic Power Point Guidelines

Basic Power Point Guidelines

• Use builds…don’t give them too much info at once

• Use the same slide transition

• 4 X 4 Rule

• Number your slides

• Brand your slides

28Basic Power Point Guidelines

Choosing a Color Scheme

• Stick with power point defaults.

• What may look good on your computer may be unreadable in the classroom.

• Remember to use strong, contrasting colors.

29Basic Power Point Guidelines

Use Contrasting Colors

• Light colors on dark background.

• Dark colors on light background.

30Basic Power Point Guidelines

Clip Art & Graphics

• A few excellent graphics are better than many poor ones.

• Photographs can be powerful.

• Don’t allow text

to creep on to a

picture.

• Use sparingly!

31Basic Power Point Guidelines

Printing Your Presentation

When printing your presentation for distribution to the judges, please:– Choose “Handouts”– Print several slides per page such as 4– Make sure the font size is readable in the print

out– Choose “pure black and white”

Basic Power Point Guidelines 32

•Religious leader

•Civil rights activist

•Author/poet

•Labor activist

•Minister

•Antiwar activist

33Basic Power Point Guidelines

Is this a good slide?

Martin Luther King Jr.

•Religious leader

•Civil rights activist

•Author/poet

•Labor activist

•Minister

•Antiwar activist34Basic Power Point Guidelines

What Did We Learn?

Basic Power Point Guidelines 35