The PowerPoint Advantage – Tips for presentation success

Building a presentation may seem straightforward, but sometimes presentations can turn very complicated when it comes to the delivery. One way to avoid the pitfalls is to remember to get the basics right:

1. Before starting to create your presentation, ensure you adjust the page setup to match aspect ratio of the display device, so as to get rid of those black bars around our slides.

2. When styling your presentation, remember that dark backgrounds should be used for darker rooms and light backgrounds for lighter function rooms.

3. When authoring your presentation, check that your text is well contrasted against the background colour, so your audience can easily understand your message.

4. Knowing that a picture is worth a thousand words, check to see if any of your text can be swapped for images instead, as this will avoid your audience suffering “death by PowerPoint”.

5. When saving your presentation, make sure that any files linked to the presentation are saved with the presentation, so as to avoid that stress just before you present.

6. When setting up your laptop make sure you connect the power supply and have disabled any screen savers and power management, eliminating any surprises mid presentation.

7. When loading your presentation, save it first to the laptop and run it from there, this will reduce any lags or delays in the presentation moving from slide to slide.

8. Once you have your slides on screen during rehearsal, walk to the back of the room and double check that the text size is adequate for viewing from the last row of chairs.

9. Don’t forget to take a depth breath and relax just before walking up on to stage!
While some of this sounds straight forward it is important to lay the foundation for the more complicated demands of an event by getting the simple things right the first time!

Check out this link for more information: http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/support/microsoft-powerpoint-curriculum-guide-FX102832612.aspx