How to create a proper PowerPoint

***Pet peeve alert!!***

I am currently working on a group project entitled "Revisiting History" for my film class (much worse than it sounds, believe me). And, though I could make a post about how much I dislike the class and how boring it is, that is not the point of this post. This point of this particular post is that for this project, I am working with (for the most part) one other person (and I use the term "working with" loosely because she is not exactly working in a cooperative fashion -- another post in itself) to research historical films, both "period films" and documentary style films. As a part of this, we are to give a presentation and put together some form of visual aide to help while giving this presentation. Because our schedules are very opposite, we were working through email and I was the one who put the starting PowerPoint presentation together and sent it to her to see what she thought. She thought it "looked great!" My presentation made "points" and would allow us to expand upon them during the actual presentation. She took it and then added long phrases and sentences and compressed the words so tightly that all that you can see on the screen are words. Upon explaining to her the my concerns with the revisions she made to the PowerPoint, her response was "well, that's what all the other groups have done."

As my mother always told my brother (I was the good child): "just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should do it." (Or, her favorite: "just because someone jumps off a bridge doesn't mean you should.")

So, here are some of the key things to keep in mind when making a PowerPoint presentation (or any visual presentation):

1. This is a way to support your oral presentation. Don't let it overpower it and become a distraction to what you have to say.
2. Use consistency is colors, fonts, sizes.
3. Make it easy on the eyes. Keep in mind the size of the room in which you will be presenting, the age of the audience (or the age of their eyes) -- remember to make the size of the text easy to read and be sure the colors are easy to read as well. Don't make it a struggle to them.
4. KISS -- Keep It Straight and Simple -- that says it all. Be straight and to the point. Don't use sentences to get your point across. Use keywords and short bullet points. Anything else, you can elaborate on in your oral presentation. (I didn't come up with that acronym. I saw that acronym somewhere but don't remember where and unfortunately can't give appropriate credit.)
5. Add pictures or other images to add interest and to help your audience to understand your point. Not only does it break up the monotony of words but can help communicate the more difficult concepts that you are trying to explain.
6. Keep your audience in mind. While there are points that you need to explain to every audience about your product or idea, you may need to tailor your presentation depending on who you are speaking to. Keep this in mind as you prepare to give each oral presentation and make sure that your visual presentation reflects this as well.
7. Use animations sparingly. If you start to use them too much, they become silly and unprofessional. Using subtle slide transitions softens the harshness of moving from one slide to the next without any transition. However, use a consistent transition throughout the presentation to help maintain professionalism. The time to boldly use animations is to draw attention to a specific point (not every point) or your take home message.
8. And though this does not pertain directly to creating the PowerPoint, it is an essential part to a presentation being completed properly: PRACTICE! Practice your presentation. Practice, practice, practice. Practice in front of a mirror. Practice facing the wall (that was a new one for me until Jon's public speaking professor made him do it before his last speech). Practice in the shower. Practice while you're cooking. Practice without the PowerPoint. And practice with it. Ensure that you follow it but that you do not lean on it and that you do not read from it. Your audience can read whatever you put up there (but, then again, you shouldn't put anything up there except the highlights -- you should be there to explain things to them, otherwise there would be no reason for either of you to be there). Practice, practice, practice.

Hopefully this will help you to create a better, more professional PowerPoint presentation.