Planning a Presentation University of North Carolina Wilmington A Collection of Do’s and Don’ts C. R. Ward, P. J. Seaton, J. D. Willey
Jan 16, 2016
Planning a Presentation
University of North Carolina Wilmington
A Collection of Do’s and Don’ts
C. R. Ward, P. J. Seaton, J. D. Willey
Issues to Consider:
Background and text colors Font styles and sizes Uppercase vs. lowercase Quantity of material Animation effects Other technical issues Some thoughts on organization
Background and Text Colors
Light text on a dark background is easy to read.
Pictures and clipart are hard to blend on a dark background.
Keep contrast between text and background high (not like this).
NO2
Background and Text Colors
For maximum contrast, use complementary colors. Pastels are usually a better
choice than primary colors Avoid overly bright colors
This is an example of the sort of color combination This is an example of the sort of color combination that does not work well on a Power Point slide. One of that does not work well on a Power Point slide. One of the reasons is that the part of the macula that responds the reasons is that the part of the macula that responds to blue light is at the opposite end of the macula that to blue light is at the opposite end of the macula that responds to red. Therefore, this particular responds to red. Therefore, this particular combination of colors can set up a combination of colors can set up a vaso vagalvaso vagal response. response. The The vaso vagalvaso vagal response is part of the primitive response is part of the primitive nervous system that still remains. It is the equivalent nervous system that still remains. It is the equivalent of the “fight or flight” response. It can lead to feeling of the “fight or flight” response. It can lead to feeling faint or light-headed, which could lead to vomiting, faint or light-headed, which could lead to vomiting, and fainting. Ask your ophthalmologist for details!and fainting. Ask your ophthalmologist for details!
Font Style and Sizes
Sans serif fonts are easier to read when projected than serif fonts.
Times New Roman Arial (serif font) (sans serif)
serif
Minimum text size should be 24 points, titles should be larger.
Font Style and Sizes
This is 12 point Arial
This is 14 point Arial
This is 18 point Times New Roman
This is 24 point Times New RomanThis is 24 point Times New Roman bold
This is 32 point Arial
This is 36 point Arial
This is 44 point Arial
Uppercase vs. Lowercase
THIS TEXT HAS BEEN TYPED IN ALL UPPERCASE AND IS CONSIDERED BY MOST PEOPLE TO BE HARD TO READ.
This text has been typed in a combination of upper and lower case letters. It is considered by most people to be easier to read.
Quantity of Material
Plan for approximately 1 slide for every minute of your presentation.
Have three or four information points per slide, six is a maximum, depending on the complexity of the ideas
Have no more than 14 lines of text per page.
Use only one “graphic” image per page.
Too much data!
40212/20/200
2 15 19 1 4.84 4.84 11 11 na 64 127 14 22 4
403 1/1/2003 31 12 nd 5.94 5.94 5 5 na 17 56 5 8 3
404 1/22/2003 8 96 nd 4.14 4.14 4 4 na 267 23 54 29 18
405 1/31/2003 8 93 25 4.29 4.29 na na na 114 31 50 37 23
406 2/4/2003 7 58 32 4.61 4.61 22 22 na 267 43 31 36 15
407 2/7/2003 24 44 10 5.16 5.16 5 5 na 41 37 9 8 4
432 6/1/2002 46 32 62 4.26 5.63 22 20 20 469 12 18 28 62
435 6/17/2003 3 58 59 4.06 4.05 36 3 3 164 105 68 38 152
437 6/19/2003 12 16 na 4.43 4.40 33 7 na 64 21 15 13 2
447 7/24/2003 14 31 47 4.66 4.45 21 12 11 38 10 9 5 1
453 8/9/2003 8 19 19 4.75 4.42 2 13 11 42 40 10 9 3
461 9/10/2003 17 1 5 5.11 4.86 5 13 13 112 30 4 7 2
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ChlChl
NONO33
pCOpCO22
1 2 3 4 5 6Day
Lots of data – spend lots of time!
Animation Effects
Go easy on the animation effects. Animations can seem gimmicky and unprofessional.
If you use animations, keep them simple.
Don’t do this!NO2 NH2
Other Issues
Reproduce tables instead of scanning them.
Use graphs instead of tables whenever possible.
Have an ending slide containing acknowledgements.
Include photographs if they clearly support your presentation.
Sometimes scanned documents look fuzzy
Organization Title page Outline of Presentation
– introduction (including why someone should be interested in this)
– experimental method (if appropriate)– results (if appropriate)– discussion– conclusion
Acknowledgements
References Place the reference on the page that
pertains to the data, figure or picture. Abbreviate the reference so that it is
easy for the audience to copy. Include all your references in a list at
the end of the talk.