I’ll preface my quick PowerPoint tip by sharing I’m a big fan of football. During autumn, many weekends revolve around when my favorite team plays. I often use the football “visual” when I explain PowerPoint screen ratios to other users or subject matter experts who are designing a new presentation, so it makes sense to share that same explanation here.
Simply stated, screen ratios are important. You may have flipped through the television channels to see an older television series or movie playing, and considering most of us now own wider screen televisions, the picture would have been a 4:3 ratio. Dark colors fill the left and right margins to direct your eye to the center of the screen, to the feature that is formatted in more of a square shape. It probably looks something like this:
Now imagine you are watching a football game in this format. (It was only a few years ago, before broadcasting was formatted to widescreen, that we DID watch in this ratio!) You’re only going to see a portion of the field. You may miss movement in the backfield, or you may not be able to see the entire defensive schematic.
Similar to what you see on an old television or when you watch older shows or movies on a newer, wider screen, why would you want to build your PowerPoint in a ratio (4:3) that doesn’t fit most modern screens?
After you have brainstormed and sketched out the design for your presentation (more on that at another time), take these few short steps to update the ratio:
- Open PowerPoint.
- Visit the DESIGN tab.
- Look to the far left for the button labeled PAGE SET UP.
- A pop-up/dialog will appear where you can edit how the presentation will appear on the screen- SLIDES SIZED FOR– and here you will select 16:9.
- When you click OKAY you will notice the slide is expanded, wider and fills more of your screen.
In addition to providing more space for your content, this simple change immediately makes your presentation look more modern (even when you’re still growing your visual design skills).
