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

Engineering 10 PowerPointGuideLines Bruce Mayer, PE Licensed Electrical & Mechanical EngineerBMayer@ChabotCollege.edu

Student Presentations • During Meeting of 2&4 Nov09 • ANY Topic OK • Counts as BOTH HW08 and EXTRA Credit • Worth a Total of 6 pts • And Do NOT have to do any more for HW8 • HW08 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 Sa/31Oct • eMail Presentation to the Instructor • Will to load onto my laptop • Presentation accepted as eMail Attachment Until Sa/31Oct6p On to PowerPoint Tips

Basic Power Point Guidelines Some tips to make your presentations presentable

Basic Rules for Presentations • Contrast is important. • For paper… • Dark text on a light background.

Basic Rules for Presentations • For projection… • Light text on a semi-dark background • The eye is attracted to the light on the screen

Basic Rules for Presentations • Stick with a single background. • The background is the stage for your information. • Set the stage and leave it alone!

Basic Rules for Presentations • 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.

Basic Rules for Presentations Balance. • Do not center bullet points. • It makes the text ragged. • And hard to read and follow with your eyes.

Basic Rules for Presentations Balance. • Generally, left-justify bullets. • This keeps things neat.. • and easy to follow.

Basic Rules for Presentations Balance. Centered graphics leave little room for text.

Basic Rules for Presentations 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. • Keeptypesizesconsistent. • 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 (24 pt) • Easy to read (32 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

Use Simple Tables to Present Numbers 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. • Six words per line. • Six lines per page.

Choosing a Color Scheme • Beginners Should Stick with Power Point defaults. • What may look good on your computer may be unreadable when projected. • Remember to use strong, contrasting colors for Text.

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 The Color Wheel

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 canbe powerful. • Use sparingly!

Martin Luther King Jr. • Religious leader • Civil rights activist • Author • Poet • Minister

Good Chart  Clear & Concise

Bad Chart  Busy & Unclear

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 NOTES • This 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. The Auto Emissions Presentation • 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