10 Tips for Presentations

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10 Tips for Creating Effective Presentations in PowerPoint 2002

Posted: September 16, 2002

	Related Links Find other expert columns about Office MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR Faster Smarter Microsoft Office XP Be more effective when using Office XP to do the things you do every day—create documents, crunch numbers, send e-mail, or make a presentation. by Katherine Murray

By Katherine Murray, author of more than 40 computer books

Some people are born presenters. They just love getting up in front of a crowd. They don't sweat if they drop their note cards at the last minute; they don't stress about not having the audio-visual equipment they need.

I'm not one of those people.

That's why I use Microsoft PowerPoint® version 2002. It helps you prepare presentations that are easy, smooth, and professional, whether you're a seasoned showperson or a novice quaking in your boots. This article gives you 10 fast and practical tips you can use as you create presentations in PowerPoint.

•		Start with the end in mind.

		What do you want to accomplish with your presentation? Are you giving the presentation to educate the sales staff about a new product, inform stockholders about fluctuations in pricing, or inspire people to volunteer for your cause? Do you need a short, simple presentation that leaves the viewer wanting to know more or an involved longer presentation that teaches audience members how to do a specific task? Think through the practical issues—where and how you'll be delivering the presentation. Know the room in which you'll be presenting, how big your audience might be, what kind of handouts you'll need, and so on. Thinking your presentation through before you begin will help you make the right choices as you pull everything together.

•		Use the AutoContent Wizard to help you figure out what to say.

		If you're not confident writing the text for the presentation (especially if you've never created one before), let PowerPoint give you a hand. The AutoContent Wizard offers different presentation types with ideas for content that you can replace with your own text. To start the AutoContent Wizard: On the File menu, click New. On the New Presentation task pane, click From AutoContent Wizard. Follow the steps to choose the type of presentation you want to create. (You can see some of the available choices in Figure 1.) Then replace the wizard text with ideas and content specific to your presentation. Figure 1: Screen shot of the AutoContent Wizard

•		Stick with what works. Use a template.

		If you're not sure of your design abilities, choose a look from the design templates in PowerPoint to base your presentation on a tried-and-true, professional design. In the New Presentation task pane, click From Design Templates. The variety of designs available in PowerPoint ranges from smooth professional to bright casual. Whether you're presenting to your sales staff or a national convention of herb gardeners, you're likely to find a look that fits.

•		Use the Outline view to write content quickly.

		Sometimes tackling both the look and the content at once is a bit overwhelming. Why not try getting your thoughts down in the Outline view quickly and then build from there? In the left panel of the PowerPoint window, click the Outline tab. Begin typing a thought and press ENTER; that's a new slide title. You can continue creating slides and entering slide titles by typing information and pressing ENTER. If you want to add content to a slide, press TAB (instead of ENTER) and PowerPoint records the text as a bullet point. To add a bullet within a bullet point, press TAB again. You can create several levels of bullets, but usually one or two levels do the trick.

•		Use images to liven things up.

		Not all presentations need loads of images. In fact, some of the most effective presentations use images and other special effects (music, video, and more) sparingly. But a picture is worth more than one thousand words when it really drives your message home. PowerPoint includes the Microsoft Clip Organizer (On the Insert menu, point to Picture and click Clip Art. On the Insert Clip Art task pane, click Clip Organizer.) to help you find the art you want to use. Additionally, you can download new images, scan and store the images you already have, and even collect your video and sound files all in one place. To add an image to your presentation: Display the slide in Slide view. On the Insert menu point to Picture and click the type of picture you want to insert. If you want to add clip art from the Clip Organizer, click Clip Art. The Insert Clip Art task pane appears so that you can tell PowerPoint what kind of art you're looking for. If you have your own file you want to use, click From File and then find and click the image file. Click Open.

•		Present your data in a chart.

		If you're a chart person—"Hey, Ralph, I could whip up a chart showing the effectiveness of those new brake pads in half a minute. Wanna see it?"—you'll really enjoy the wide range of easy-to-apply choices you have with PowerPoint charts. Not only can you apply literally dozens of different chart types (in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional views), but you can also create flowcharts and more using the diagramming features in PowerPoint. (Okay, a diagram isn't exactly a chart, but I wanted to work it in here somewhere.) To find the commands you need for both charts and diagrams, on the Insert menu, click either Diagram or Chart. (And check out the Tables feature while you're there. Very simple, professional, and cool.)

•		Create your own template for repeated presentations.

		If you're creating the same presentation over and over again—or at least updating one you use regularly—you can turn your presentation into a template that you or others can use quickly. A template saves all the settings you've selected—background images, color scheme, font selections, and so on—and ensures that the presentations you create based on that template all have the same elements in common. This is great if you have a companywide look that you want all your departments to adhere to. To turn a presentation into a template: On the File menu click Save As. In the Save as type list, click Design Template. Name the file and click Save. Another extra that can really help: Add instructions about special formats, font choices, or video clips in the Notes area (under each slide), if others will be using your template.

•		Color-coordinate your materials.

		Print handouts, cards, slides, and other collateral materials in the same font and colors on complementary paper or stock. Better yet, if your budget allows, put it all together in a folder that matches the basic colors of your presentation. When someone goes to reach for your materials later they will find what they need easily—and hopefully notice how together you are.

•		Make your presentation available on the Web.

		This is easier to do than it sounds. PowerPoint enables you to turn your presentation into a ready-made Web page. On the File menu, click Save As. In the Save as type list, click Web Page. Click Save. Or, if you simply want to run the presentation from your Web page that is already online, add a button to your page and have it link directly to your PowerPoint presentation file. Users can view the presentation online right from your Web page.

•		Practice, practice, practice. Use Rehearse Timings.

		Use Rehearse Timings to set the timing for your presentation. On the Slide Show menu, click Rehearse Timings. Go through it a dozen times until you're happy with the timing and have your words down to a science. Give the presentation to a group of coworkers, your spouse, or the dog (well, maybe not the dog—you feed him, you know) to see whether there are any points that are confusing or if you need to add a little time to individual slides so people have time to read everything. The more you practice, the better you'll feel about what you're saying and how you're saying it.

PowerPoint is a great help—and almost a cure—for those prepresentation jitters. By relying on the program's professional look, the content prompts, and the help it gives you along the way, you can create an impressive presentation even if it's your first time out. And who knows? Pretty soon you may love presenting so much you'll be looking for excuses to get up in front of a crowd. (Be smart, though—some things you can get arrested for.)

Katherine Murray has written more than 40 computer books (and a number of parenting books) on topics ranging from general computer use to more specialized books on presentation graphics, Internet use, and Web animation. For the last 14 years, Katherine has owned and operated reVisions Plus, Inc., a writing and publishing services company that relies on Word as the program of choice. Learn more about Katherine in her biography and her online journal, BlogofficeXP.