Writing with PowerPoint: A Workshop Brought to You by the Purdue Writing Lab

1. Writing with PowerPoint:A Workshop Brought to You by the Purdue Writing Lab

2. Why write with PowerPoint? • To supplement an oral presentation • To incorporate visual and audio mediainto a presentation • To disseminate information to a larger group

3. Who uses PowerPoint? • Government agencies • Disseminate information among agencies • Researchers • Present research to peers at conferences • Executives • Propose projects and plans of action • Educators • Teach concepts through print and visual media

4. Before You Start • Audience • Who is your audience? What is your relationship with them? • Purpose • Are you informing? Arguing? • Occasion • Is this a professional presentation? Are you at a conference, at a meeting, in a classroom? • Ethos • How do you want the audience to perceive you? Are you representing a business or organization?

5. Your Canvas Save & PrintOptions DesignOptions ViewOptions Text & ContentOptions

6. View Options • Normal View • Add and develop text and content • Manipulate individual slides • Slide Sorter View • View and change organization • Move and hide slides • Slide Show View • View overall development • Give completed presentation

7. A Closer Look at Normal View • Create new slides • Add and edit text and content • Compose facilitator notes

8. Design Options DesignOptions

9. Design Options • Custom Design • User-designed combination of background and fonts • Very effective when done well • Design Templates • Pre-set combinations of background and fonts • Quick and easy

10. Custom Design Considerations • Simplicity • Moderate color palette • Clear, unadorned fonts • Consistency • Color and background graphics • Font style and sizes

11. Choosing a Design Template Avoid templates with themes that don’t fit your information If your content includes images, avoid templates with large background graphics Streamlined templates with minimal background graphics present a professional image

12. Text & Content Options Text & ContentOptions

13. Text & Content • Text • Facilitates presentation • Reinforces key terms and concepts • Images • Complement presentation • Illustrate or highlight main points • Tables and Graphs • Support presentation • Present information in a visually appealing way

14. Text Considerations • Keep text to a minimum • Use “white space” to set off blocks of text • Make phrase structure consistent within bulleted lists

15. Content Considerations • Keep content to a minimum • Use white space to set off visual content from text • Choose appropriate images

16. Text & Content Layouts • Text only • No images are needed • Images would be distracting • Text and content • Text refers to the content • Content reinforces point of text • Content only • Intriguing images intended for discussion • Complicated charts that need explanation

17. Animation • Allows presenter to control the appearance of text and content • Provides transitions between slides • Draws audience’s attention to the object being animated • Distracting when used to excess

18. Save & Print Options Save & PrintOptions

19. Save Options • Disable Fast Saves • Keeps file size manageable To get to this dialog box: Tools  Options  Save

20. Print Options • Slides • Prints each slide on a separate page • Handouts • Prints a specified number of slides on each page • Notes Pages • Prints facilitator notes along with slides • Outline View • Prints the text of each slide

21. Reminders • Consider your context • Audience • Purpose • Occasion • Ethos • Communicate Effectively • Simple designs • Concise text • Relevant content

22. For More Information • Come by the Writing Lab (HEAV 226) to talk to a consultant about writing with PowerPoint • Visit the DLC in the basement of HICKS for answers to technical questions • Go to the OWL for more information on writing concerns: http://owl.english.purdue.edu