We’re preparing for our final corporate orientations of 2017, which means I’m handing out a lot PowerPoint tips. I become the proverbial broken record leading up to these events, reminding presenters and subject matter experts that simple and small changes to a presentation can yield big results. I thought these same simple ideas would make an excellent post here.
- If you haven’t done so, change the format of your PowerPoint to 16:9. Most devices are in widescreen format, and this will format your presentation to fill the screen. BONUS- you’ll have a bit more space to work with on your screen! (Check under the “Design” tab.)
- When your presentation is running in as a slide show, you may notice some icons near the lower, left corner of the screen- left arrow, pen, slide, and right arrow. Don’t forget this pen feature would be available to call attention to information on your slide or make other notations during your presentation.
- Consider using a dark background with light text. This format can prevent eye strain for your learners, especially during long presentations or extended days of learning. (It is easier for the human eye to focus on the dark background and light text.)
- Try your best to keep each slide’s word count to 10 or less. You see, if your slide is text heavy, there’s a possibility the learner is reading instead of listening to what you’re saying. The learner CANNOT read and listen to you at the same time! I do not mean that as an slight to your learner- it is simply the way the human brain works. This may mean you need to create more slides, but that’s a simple solution to text-heavy slides. Limited text with strong visuals allows you to present extemporaneously, and there’s a higher probability your learner will retain what has been said.
If you’re insistent on including text heavy slides, use the following tips to make the verbose portions of the presentation more engaging:
- Instead of revealing the information all at once, use a carefully selected animation to present the information in small pieces. (So many times I receive finalized presentations that show all the information on a cluttered slide at once versus slowly revealing it using animations or triggers.)
- The possibilities for reading comprehension activities are near endless, If you must use the text heavy slide, include some sort of extended group discussion. (You’re going to need to comfortable asking leading questions, facilitating learning with Socratic questioning to encourage critical thinking and problem solving during the conversation.)
- Present the information all at once, have the audience read the slide, and then each learner should complete some sort of action or gesture when he/she has finished reading. (Examples- raise his/her hand, stand up, bookmark but close their notebook/textbook, face the front of the room, etc.)
- Next, you can simply discuss the text. You could have the group as a whole involved in the discussion, or you could divide the group into smaller sections to discuss a specific section of the text. You can easily kick this off with simple questioning-What new idea did you learn? What are the pros/cons of this idea? How would you implement or apply this idea at your work location? What questions do you have about what you just read?
- There are many resources you can easily access to see other suggested improvements. Watch the webinar and online videos/presentations from the many, many skilled facilitators and PowerPoint gurus out there. Register for a design class. Ask for help- there’s probably someone within your organization with strong presentation skills that might be willing to help you polish your own presentation.
- Lastly, think of presentations where you were excited and engaged. Is there any method the subject matter expert or presenter used that you could apply to your own presentation? Don’t be afraid to try something new! If it doesn’t work you can keep practicing or make more changes until you find the solution that’s best fitting to you and your material.
