Presentation+Best+Practices

** PowerPoint Best Practices List **

**Technology** **Presentation Style** **Colors/Fonts** **Graphics** **Audience** **Slides** >
 * Become familiar with useful commands and shortcuts that can be used to enhance your effectiveness as a presenter when using PowerPoint (Wasu, March, 2010)
 * Use a remote slide advancement system so you can be free to move about the classroom (Nilson, 2010)
 * Take a "time-out" pause after every 5-7 slides. Consider using an all-black, blank slide to accomplish this (University of Minnesota, 2008).
 * Do not read the slides to your audience (Moellenberg & Aldridge, 2010)
 * Practice your presentation
 * Limit the lecture presentation to 1 major topic (Nilson, 2010).
 * Place a blank slide at the end of your presentation
 * Use “active breaks” to practice learning outcomes. Assess comprehension before moving on (Nilson, 2010).
 * Provide handouts that contain the key concepts or an outline instead of a copy of the power point slides (Wasu, 2010).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Consider providing handouts after the lecture to increase attention during the presentation (Nilson, 2010)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reinforce a concept with a slide with a question for reflection (Nilson, 2010, p 261)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ensure that the font color is able to be clearly read against the background (Portney & Watkins, 2009)
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Try to avoid cliched fonts, like Papyrus and Comic Sans in an attempt to be "flashy" or "entertaining"
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Use a minimum of 24 font for in slide text and 38-40 for titles (Lauridsen, n.d.).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Use cool, warm and tepid colors for background (Lauridsen, n.d.).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Avoid italicized fonts because they are difficult to read quickly
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Repackage the information visually – pictures, graphs, diagrams (Nilson, 2010)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Use images to represent or complement a concept, but do not use images for decoration (Sieber, 2009).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Know your audience (Starver & Shellenbarger, 2004)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Use stories or examples that engages, grabs attention, and evokes some emotion (Friedman, 2007).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Content should match audience needs
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"6x6" rule use 6 or fewer lines per slide with 6 or fewer words per line
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Limit bullet points (Portney & Watkins, 2009; Wasu, 2010)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One slide per concept
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Avoid wordiness, try to use key words and phrases not complete sentences (Friedman, 2007) (Nilson, 2010, p 261)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Avoid the use of capital letters except when writing the titles
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Make sure you check the spelling and grammar
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Keep the format consistent from slide to slide
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Focus on key points which will be expanded on during the verbal presentation (Portney & Watkins, 2009)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is better to have bulleted points appear one at a time to keep the audience from reading the screen instead of listening

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**References**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Friedman, K. (2007). Communication is key to effective power-point presentation. Design Firm Management & Administration Report, 7(10),1.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lauridsen, O. (n.d.). Learning styles and PowerPoint: A new and exciting approach. Microsoft.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Moellenberg, K., Aldridge, M. (2010). Sliding away from PowerPoint: the interactive lecture. //Nurse Educator, 36//(6), 268-272.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nilson, L. B. (2010). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CAN: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-0-470-40104-0

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Portney, L, Watkins, M. (2009). //Foundations of clinical research,// (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sieber, T. (2009). 10 powerpoint tips for preparing a professional presentation. Retrieved from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-tips-for-preparing-a-professional-presentation/

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starver, K., Shellenbarger, T. (2004) Professional presentations made simple. //Clinical Nurse Specialist, 18//(1), 16-20.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">University of Minnesota. (2008). //Twelve Active Learning Strategies.// Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wasu, S. (February 2010). Avoiding death by powerpoint. Retrieved from http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/avoiding-death-by-powerpoint/

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wasu, S. (March, 2010). //PowerPoint is my slave!// Retrieved from []