English Linguistics Department
Prep Academic Study Skills
Basic Power Point Guidelines
Demet GÜL, PhD.
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Basic Rules for Presentations
Contrast is important.For paper…
– Dark text on a light background.
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Basic Rules for Presentations
• For projection…– Light text on a semi-dark
background.– The eye is attracted to the light
on the screen.
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Basic Rules for Presentations
• Stick with a single background.– The background is the stage for
your information.– Set the stage and leave it alone!
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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.
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Basic Rules for Presentations
Balance.
• Do not center bullet points.
• It makes the text ragged.
• And hard to read and follow with your eyes.
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Basic Rules for Presentations
Balance.
• Generally, left-justify bullets.
• This keeps things neat..
• and easy to follow.
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Basic Rules for Presentations
Balance.
Centered graphics leave little room for text.
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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.
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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.
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Use Restraint With Fonts
• Employ only a few..stick to familiar fonts
• Stay away from gimmicky fonts unless for a theme.
• Keep type sizes consistent.• Serif vs San Serif.• DON’T USE ALL CAPS.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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Basic Presentation Mistakes.•Too much information.
• Reader gets distracted
• Audiences are much more receptive to the spoken word.
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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.
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Basic Power Point Guidelines
• Use builds…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.
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Choosing a Color Scheme
• Stick with power point defaults.
• What may look good on your computer may be unreadable in the classroom.
• Remember to use strong, contrasting colors.
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Use Contrasting Colors
• Light colors on dark background.
• Dark colors on light background.
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Clip Art & Graphics
• A few excellent graphics are better than many poor ones.
• Photographs can be powerful.be powerful.
• Use sparingly!
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•Religious leader
•Civil rights activist
•Author/poet
•Labor activist
•Minister
•Antiwar activist
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Martin Luther King Jr.
•Religious leader
•Civil rights activist
•Author/poet
•Labor activist
•Minister
•Antiwar activist
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Do not forget to insert ...
Title Page number Date
on each slide.
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Title Page
Include your name (names for a pair/group study)
Title of presentation (Humor in Linguistics)
Title of the meeting/conference etc. (ICTL 2012)
Place of presentation (Mersin, Turkey)
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Colour - Bad
Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour is hard to read
Using colour for decoration is distracting and annoying.
Using a different colour for each point is unnecessary
– Using a different colour for secondary points is also unnecessary
Trying to be creative can also be bad
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Background - Good
Use backgrounds such as this one that are attractive but simple
Use backgrounds which are light
Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation
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Background – Bad
Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from
Always be consistent with the background that you use
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Graphs - Good
Use graphs rather than just charts and words– Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain
than is raw data– Trends are easier to visualize in graph form
Always title your graphs
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Graphs - Bad
January February March April0
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Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002
Blue BallsRed Balls
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Graphs - Good
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January February March April
Blue Balls
Red Balls
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Graphs - Bad
January February March April0
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Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002sub-title
Blue BallsRed Balls
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Graphs - Bad
Minor gridlines are unnecessaryFont is too smallColours are illogicalTitle is missingShading is distracting
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Spelling and Grammar
Proof your slides for:– speling mistakes– the use of of repeated words– grammatical errors you might have make
If English is not your first language, please have someone else check your presentation!
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Conclusion
Use an effective and strong closing Your audience is likely to remember your last
words
Use a conclusion slide to: Summarize the main points of your presentation Suggest future avenues of research
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Questions??
End your presentation with a simple question slide to: Invite your audience to ask questions Provide a visual aid during question period Avoid ending a presentation abruptly