Bruce Mayer, PE Licensed Electrical & Mechanical Engineer BMayer@ChabotCollege

[email protected] • ENGR-10_Lec-11_PowerPoint_Tips.ppt1

Bruce Mayer, PE Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering

Bruce Mayer, PELicensed Electrical & Mechanical Engineer

[email protected]

Engineering 10

PowerPoint

GuideLines



Student Presentations

During Meetings of 26Apr & 1May ANY Topic OK

• Engineering topic preferred if possible• Counts as BOTH HW10 and EXTRA Credit

– Worth a Total of 6 ptsAnd Do NOT have to do any more for HW10

HW10 alternative = Exercise 14.11• Write: Resume, Cvr Ltr, Thank You ltr



Student Presentation Logistics

Done Using POWERPOINT 10-15 Minutes

• 5-10 Slides

Inform Me of Your Intention by M/23Apr• eMail Presentation to the Instructor

– Will to load onto rm3902 presentation computer– Presentation accepted as eMail Attachment Until

The DAY BEFORE The PresentationCan also bring on USB Drive on Presentation Day

OnCampus PPT Prep Resource

• The Communications Studies Operation Maintains a COMMUNICATIONS LAB that is Available to ALL Students for FREE

• The “Comm Lab” Specializes in Helping Students with PowerPoint Presentations

• The Rm 803 CommLab Hours of Operation:

• Mon: 9a-3p• Tue: 9a-12n & 1-4p

• Wed: 9a-12n & 1-3p• Thur: 9a-12n & 1-2p

Chabot “Std” PPT Template

• The “Standard” Chabot College Template is OnLine at

http://www.chabotcollege.edu/photos/downloadpowerpoint.cfm?filename=chabot1

Presentation Training

• The BEST Presentation Training →

Giving Presentations• There is No Substitute for EXPERIENCE in

this Regards– PREPARE Carefully & Extensively– Do a POST-MORTEM Evaluation

• Ask YourSelf: What could I have done BETTER

Student Presentation ScoreCard



Some tips to make your presentations

presentable

Basic Power Point Guidelines



Basic Rules for Presentations

Contrast is important. For paper…

• Dark text on a light background.




For projection…• Light text on a semi-dark

background• The eye is attracted to the

light on the screen




Stick with a single background.• The background is the stage

for your information.• Set the stage and leave it

alone!




Don’t try to dazzle the audience with graphics or style…but with the information.

The medium is not the message.

The information is the message.




Balance.

Do not center bullet points. It makes the text ragged.

And hard to read and follow with your eyes.




Balance.

Generally, left-justify bullets. This keeps things neat.. and easy to follow.




Balance.

Centered graphics leave little room for text.




Balance. • Place graphics off-center.

• More room for text.

• Better balance.

• More pleasing to the eye.

• Left placement leads the eye to the text.



Basic Rules - Capitalization

• AVOID ALL CAPS – VERY HARD TO READ.

• First Cap –

• More Formal

• Harder To Type And More Decisions.

• This is an example of capitalizing the first word

• Less formal.

• Easier to type and fewer decisions



Use Restraint With Fonts

Employ only a few...stick to familiar fonts Stay away from gimmicky fonts unless

for a theme.

Keep type sizes consistent. Serif vs. Sans Serif.

• Serif Classic – Sans Serif Modern DON’T USE ALL CAPS.



Choose Fonts Wisely

Italics are more difficult to read. Use bold when you want some words

to stand out. Font size

• Easy to read (18 pt)



•Easy to read (48 pt)



Avoid Text Overload Having too much text on the screen can

defeat the purpose of using PowerPoint. The slides begin to look like a jumble of text, making slides difficult to read and unrecognizable from each other. People will either try to read everything or copy everything down or they will lose interest. List only the key points. If you have more info to include use more slides or create handouts.



Use Solid Colors instead of fill Patterns on Charts

Patterns on bars or pie slices cause confusion.

Solid colors convey a clear bold message 0

10

20

30

40

50

1st Qtr 2ndQtr

3rd Qtr4th Qtr

Blue Red Hatch Other



Use Simple Tables to Present Numbers

UseTables

For YourNumbers

But Nottoo Many

This row 10 90 100

This row 0.6 0.4 1

This row 1 2 3

That row 1 2 3

Try not to make footnotes too small



Basic Rules That You Must Have to Have a Good Presentation.

One of the most common mistakes in creating a presentation is to place too much information on the screen. This can cause the reader to become distracted from the speaker…just like you are now. Audiences are much more receptive to the spoken word.



Basic Presentation Mistakes.

• Too much information.

• Reader gets distracted

• Audiences are much more receptive to the spoken word.



Basic Rules

Keep it simple.. Make bulleted points easy to read. Keep text easy to understand. Use concise wording. Bullets are focal points. Presenter provides elaboration. Keep font size large.



Basic Power Point Guidelines Build the Story…don’t give

them too much info at once. Stick with the same transition. Be creative but leave some

color choices to professionals. Try Stick to the “6-6” Rule

• Six words per line • Six lines per page



Choosing a Color Scheme

Beginners Should Stick with Power Point defaults or company standard templates.

What may look good on your computer may be unreadable when projected.

Remember to use strong, contrasting colors for Text.



The Color Wheel

Colors separated by another color are contrasting colors (also known as complementary)• Good CONTRAST

Adjacent colors (next to each other) harmonize with one another. e.g. Green and Yellow• Good BLENDING



Use Contrasting Colors

Light colors on dark background.

• Dark colors on light background.



Background – Bad

Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from

Always be consistent with the background that you use • No More than two

Background forms



Clip Art & Graphics

A few excellent graphics are better than many poor ones.

Photographs can be powerful. Use sparingly!



• Religious leader• Civil rights activist• Author• Poet• Minister



Martin Luther King Jr.

Religious leader Civil rights activist Author Poet Minister



Good Chart Clear & Concise

Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

January February March April

Blue Balls

Red Balls



Bad Chart Busy & Unclear

20.4

27.4

90

20.4

30.6

38.6

34.631.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

January February March April

Blue Balls

Red Balls



Some Comments

The Previous Tips are Good for General Interest Presentations

6 Words per Line, 6 Lines per Slide is Easy to Follow, But• Builds a NON-Archival Slide

– If Handouts are Made, Audience MUST MAKE NOTESThis is at Least as Distracting as too Much Text

• Slide Set is not FREE STANDING



Comments cont.

You Don’t Want the Medium to Overwhelm the Message, But…

Presentation Should Show Respect for the Audience by• Being NEAT and Well ORGANIZED• Rehearsed Ahead of time if Needed• Made Available Either

– In HardCopy– OnLine



Comments cont.

Technical Presentations Tend to be Graphics-Heavy• c.f. Dr. Ozer’s, Mr. C Cassilas ’s

Presentations

The MOST Difficult Task in Slide Construction → Balancing• Information Overload

– The slides look “Busy”

• Insufficient Information



Summary

Need Careful Preparation Keep the Presentation Simple Avoid “Busy” Slides

• Too Much Text, Confusing Graphics

Keep Information Well Organized Do NOT read from your slides verbatim Remind the audience of key points at

the end of the presentation

Bruce Mayer, PE Licensed Electrical & Mechanical Engineer BMayer@ChabotCollege

Documents

Transcript of Bruce Mayer, PE Licensed Electrical & Mechanical Engineer BMayer@ChabotCollege