Basic tips for developing a professional slide show

Zatni Arbi, Contributor/zatni@cbn.net.id

A colleague asked me recently when we were preparing a group presentation, "What point size do you use for the title?" I told her I did not know, and actually it did not really matter. It was then that I realized some people were still designing their PowerPoint slides in the same way they designed a page in a word processor.

That is actually a pity because PowerPoint has become so automated that creating a snazzy presentation is actually a no- brainer.

Use the templates

Unless you have to develop a new corporate slide design, it is not worth spending your time tinkering with the font and font sizes for the titles, the bullet lists, the text body, etc. Just use the templates that Microsoft has included in the suite. If you have a full Office installation, you should have dozens of such templates. You can also go to the Microsoft Office Online site (www.office.microsoft.com) and download more templates from there. If you cannot find a design that you really like, you can even download third-party templates.

Commercial presentation template factories are also plentiful on the Web. Powerback (http://powerbacks.com), for example, offers a collection of about 3,000 templates that you can buy. Not all of them are truly stylish or even professional-looking, of course. You can see samples of these templates before placing your order. Each CD costs between US$12 and $30, not including shipping.

In case you are not really familiar with the term "template", just remember that templates are reusable, blank files with predesigned formats and layouts. Templates are used to speed up and standardize the look of your faxes, official letters, memos, booklets, even e-mail messages.

As far as I am concerned, however, the standard templates included in Microsoft Office XP work fine for most purposes. My favorites are the ones with a blue background. They appear best when projected through my InFocus X1 onto the wall. I also prefer the templates with minimal background images, as the text remains highly readable on all parts of the slide.

Remember that if you use a projector, your slides will look better if they have a dark background and bright text. If you are using a computer monitor for your presentation, a bright background and black text is more suitable.

The steps

I usually prepare my rough outline before I start creating the slides, so I do not use the AutoContent Wizard. I begin with a blank slide and then I choose the background design from the collection that is available on my computer. To do this, I just click on the Format menu and then on Slide Design. PowerPoint will then show the template designs stored on my hard disk.

Once I find the one I want to use, I double-click on it. I can also click on the tiny arrow on the right side of the box and click on Apply to all slides in the drop-down menu. It is a good practice to consistently use the same design for all of your slides. Use a different design only if you have a strong reason for doing so.

The first slide in a presentation is usually the greeting slide. It should contain the title of your presentation, the name of the seminar or workshop to which you are delivering the presentation, the date and then the name of the person who has prepared the presentation as well as the name of the presenter.

The next slides basically follow your train of thought as you share your ideas with your audience. If you want to show a list, do not create it manually. Click on Format in PowerPoint's top menu list and then on Slide Layout. The collection of Slide Designs on the right hand panel will be replaced by Slide Layouts. Pick one of the Slide Layouts, click on the small arrow and then on Apply to this slide only.

Some basic tips

The first rule of thumb is do not waste your time by reinventing the wheel. Just use the designs that come with the program. These designs are professionally made and their color schemes are specifically chosen to give the best contrast between the content and the background.

If, for some reason, you have to alter the font size of a string of text, just select it and then use Ctrl-Shift and < to make the text smaller or Ctrl-Shift and

PowerPoint usually adds a blank, dark slide at the end of a presentation, unless you change the setting in Options. This particular slide is useful to protect your audience's eyes. After a series of slides with a dark background, a bright screen will only make your audience uncomfortable. If your PowerPoint does not automatically add the black slide, go to Option and turn on the End with a black slide option.

You can also hide the cursor when making a presentation. All you have to do is press Ctrl-H. To make it reappear, press Ctrl- A. Press A if you want to toggle the cursor pointer on and off. When the mouse pointer is hidden, you can still use the mouse to call up the drop-down menu. If you want to stop your slide show and turn the screen off momentarily, the easiest way to do this is by pressing the period. Press it again when you are ready to resume your presentation.