Facing the Dreaded PowerPoint Presentation

by Susan J. Black

Since PowerPoint was first introduced in 1987, it has become the norm for most presentations. But from simple one- or two-slide presentations, we have morphed into "PowerPoint Poisoning," according to Dilbert, with boring and unreadable presentations.

How can you get your message across? Before creating another presentation, think about how you can make it more understandable and more interesting. Focus on communicating a clear message and be "audience centric." What will interest your audience? What will they understand?

Looks count. Start with the background. Make it attractive without overpowering your message. Fonts need to be consistent throughout, both in style and size (make sure it's readable!), in a color scheme that contrasts with the background. Use an easy to read font such as Arial. Capitalization is difficult to read so use color for emphasis. Apply punctuation consistently; however, I generally recommend avoiding it.

Don't make your audience dizzy. Animation adds interest but use it sparingly so that is does not distract from your message. Presentations should be persuasive, not necessarily dazzling.

Build with 4 x 4s. Basic slide construction consists of a maximum of one title line and no more than two subtitle lines if needed. The body should be a maximum of four lines, four words each line. Yes! 4 x 4! Use key words to make your point. Your audience should be listening to you - not reading your slides as you read them. Visual aids are not meant to provide the complete content - that is your job.

Keep illustrations simple. The advantage of graphs is that they make it easy to visualize a point. But be sure to add a title, legend and labels. Simple charts are good, but all too often I see complicated, impossible-to-read charts that make your audience frustrated. If you need to show a busy chart, use handouts.

Talk at a moderate pace. People try to cover too much material by talking too fast. Target 120 words per minute, and aim to use 75 percent of your allotted time just to be safe.

Keep these points in mind and you will quickly master PowerPoint. Just remember - you are the presenter, not your slides.

Susan Black is a marketing consultant specializing in marketing communications and public relations.