General Guidelines for Successful
PowerPoint Presentations

Formatting

Fonts:

• Use a font style that is simple (for example, Arial or Verdana) and large enough to be seen by those at the back of the room
• Use at least a 36-point font for headings
• Use at least a 24-point font for body text
• Ensure that the size of the fonts used (for headings, body text, etc.) is consistent throughout the presentation
• Don’t use ALL CAPS, italics or underline text – these types of formatting can be difficult to read and understand once projected on a screen
• To make text stand out and draw your audience’s attention to it, make it bold, or change its colour  

Colour and contrast:

• Use a dark font on a light background  (best for printing)
• Use a white or light font on a dark background (best for dark rooms)
• Remember that too many colours can overwhelm the eye

Backgrounds:

• Very simple backgrounds are best
• Stick with a single background for the entire presentation

Images and graphics:

• Place graphics on the left with text on the right
• With a heading, a graphic can be centred
• Select high-quality graphics and illustrations
• Ensure that every image being used serves a purpose
• Clip art is not desirable
• Animated graphics can be distracting to your audience unless they illustrate your point
• Use bar graphs and pie charts instead of tables of data, when possible. If you are using tables of data, make sure that the figures are large enough to be read by your audience.
• Ensure that you attribute each graphic on the same slide on which it appears  (The font can be a small font, but must be visible)
• Dazzle your audience with information, not with graphics

Video and audio:

• Dynamic content, such as a brief video or audio clip, that illustrates an important point is a great way to engage your audience
• More information about embedding multimedia content in your presentation can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/skills/presentations.aspx

Animations:

• If you animate your presentation so that your points appear gradually, ensure that you are using the same transition throughout
• Animations with noise or other audio should be used sparingly

Content

Text:

• Keep text to a minimum. Let images and graphics illustrate and dramatize your points
• Ensure a consistency of syntax on each slide. For example, use the same text throughout your presentation.
• Use more slides, list only the key points and add details verbally
• Avoid abbreviations, unless you are sure everyone in the audience knows what they mean
• Don’t forget to spell-check your content
• Remember that most people have about a 15-minute attention span.  If you have a long presentation, add in some interactive elements every 10 – 15 minutes, so you do not lose your audience. Public health staff are adult learners, so be as interactive as possible. 

Bullets:

• Keep the number of bullets per slide under five
• Keep the number of words to fewer than seven per bullet
• Don’t use punctuation at the end of bullets
• Capitalize only the first word in a bullet unless a word is a proper noun
• Communicate one thought per bullet
• Use no more than two levels of bullets per slide
• Left-justify all bullets

Components of the presentation

1. Title
2. Conflict of Interest statement  
3. Introduction
4. Overview
5. Body
6. Conclusion
7. References