Misc. HTML
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS I
These tips are also applicable to most web
page design!
Include only necessary
information
•
Chose your "bullet" points carefully.
•
With each "bullet" point ask yourself:
- Is this an important point?
- Is this really something that
needs to be highlighted?
Slide contents should be self evident
•
Your slides/overheads should highlight important points.
•Do not duplicate your entire presentation.
Avoid "mega data" slides
•
If you put too much on a slide, you will lose your
audience. •Use numbers with only a few significant digits, round up if
necessary.
•
Seven words per line, seven lines per slide
About Graphics
Present
information
graphically
•
Is there a graphical way to present the
information?
•
If presented graphically, the audience will be more likely
to understand
information in the short period
of time that it is on the screen.
Clip art or scanned art can be useful in illustrating a point
•
Do not use art for the sake of art. •Art should serve a
direct purpose or function.
Graphic devises are helpful in separating elements or
directing attention
•
Borders, boxes, shadows, lines, arrows, symbols, and blank
spaces are helpful in separating elements or directing attention.
Graphs, Diagrams, and Tables
Graphs, diagrams, and tables show relationships, comparisons,
and changes
Graphs should not contain much detail and should be concise
•
Graphs should be used only to portray concepts.
Different graphs serve different purposes
•
A pie graph divides a whole into component parts. •Bar
graphs show relationships between two or more things. •Line graphs show
trends.
•Remember, lines need to be bold!
Diagrams are used to demonstrate
•
Diagrams demonstrate ideas, facts, plans, concepts,
processes, and sequences.
•
•Examples include:
•Organizational charts
•Flow charts
•Gantt charts
•Critical path networks
•Time lines
No more than two graphics or diagrams per slide
•
More than two per slide would be WAY too much
information and inundate your audience.
When using graphs and diagrams, remember the basics
•
Select appropriate type.
•
Illustrate abstract concepts rather than detailed facts.
•
If possible, read from left to right label directly to
avoid a legend.
•
Use scale values in rounded elements.
•
In bar graphs place time scales on the horizontal line and
other
information on the left.
Graphics need to be fairly big and bold to stand out and to
be seen
Thin lines and small graphics may be more distracting than
helpful.
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS II
Arrangement
The English language is read left to right,
•
The arrangement should generally read left to right.
•Eyes tend to land in the optical center of the screen
·
When a visual is first shown, the eyes tend to land in the
optical center of the screen.
·
The optical center is a spot slightly above and to the left
of center.
•Create a visual balance between all the text and graphic
components
•
Without this visual balance, the text and graphic
components may run together and make it difficult for the audience to comprehend
the point you are trying to make.
•Don’t crowd your
information too close to the edges
•
Information too close to the edge is a sure sign of too
much
information on a slide.
•
Some overhead systems may not show
information too close to the edge of a slide.
•Leave space between lines of type
•
Space between the lines of type ensures legibility.
Templates
Use a template for your slides
•
Templates create a theme or sense of unity throughout your
presentation.
•
The audience will "learn" the template, and thus not be
distracted by a changing environment.
Templates include a background design and color scheme
•
The background design may vary throughout the
presentation.
•
Only vary it to the extent of showing different concepts or
for graphics readability.
•
The color scheme should stay consistent throughout the
presentation.
Standardize positions, colors, and styles for common elements
•
Throughout the presentation, titles and subtitles should
appear in the:
•
same location;
•
same color; and
•
same font.
A logo or other identifying
information may be incorporated into the
template.
•
The template is a good place to advertise:
•
your institution;
•
your department; or
•
the conference at which you are presenting.
The bottom right corner is the best place for the logo
•
The eye travels to the bottom right corner as a visual is
being changed. This spot may be a good place for the logo or
information.
Color
Limit the use of color
•
Unless you are using a full-color photograph or picture,
you should use no more than three or four contrasting colors.
Use colors that contrast
•
Optimal color choices should complement the human vision
and perception physiology rather than just being your own favorite.
•
Stick with contrasting combinations of red, green, blue,
yellow, black, and white whenever possible.
Beware of certain combinations
•
Red letters on a blue background causes "stereopsis."
•
Red and green combinations don’t work because many people
are red/green colorblind.
Dark background with light text and images is best
•
Good background colors include dark blues and greens.
•
Good text colors are white and pale yellows.
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS III
Font Basics
The font size should communicate the relative importance of
the text content on the slide.
•
Heading should be larger than main body text entries
•
Main body text entries should be larger than any
sub-entries
•
Footers and graphics captions should be the smallest text
of all
Font sizes should range between 18 and 48 points
•
Main body text should generally be 24-32 pt.
•
When in doubt, use a bigger font size.
Illegible fonts detract from the message
•
While a legible font does nothing to add to the
presentation’s message, an illegible font detracts from the message by requiring
the observer to expend energy merely reading the text.
•
Legibility of font face is determined by two factors: the
thickness of the strokes which make up the characters and the "openness" of the
characters.
•
The best fonts have strokes of equal width. A variety of
widths within the strokes of characters may be artistically pleasing, but make
the characters more difficult to recognize.
If using a computer for the presentation, use "system" fonts
•
If using a computer to prepare and "show" the presentation,
it is best to use fonts that are "system" fonts.
•
This is especially important if the presentation is being
prepared on one computer but will be "shown" on another. The "show" computer may
not have the same fonts available as the computer used to prepare the
presentation.
•
Times New Roman and Arial for Windows-PCs and Times and
Helvetica for Macintosh are good choices.
Type Basics
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are hard to read.
•
Capital letters lack ascenders and descenders making them
less distinctive.
•
Over 95% of all printed material is lowercase letters.
•
Because of this, people tend to be slower readers when
words are in uppercase or capital letters.
Use uppercase letters for the first letter of all main
words
•
Use capital letters (uppercase) for the first letter of all
the main words (all but prepositions and conjunctions).
Avoid abbreviations
•
Abbreviations should be avoided unless you are sure that
the audience will be familiar with the material.
Punctuation marks can usually be omitted
·
Usually punctuation marks (especially commas and periods)
serve no function and can be omitted.
