Tue 21 Oct, 2008
Tips from Professor Sue McConnell of Stanford University:
Powerpoint design
- For small teaching classrooms, black text on white backgrounds work well
- For larger halls, light text on dark blue backgrounds work well
- don’t use red and green - large percentage of people are color blind!
- make sure the text is the appropriate size and sans serif - around 20-28 points large
- don’t clutter slides, 1 or 2 points per slide
- keep lists to maximum 3 points if possible
- build the slides when possible, make sure there is perfect harmony between your voice, visual aids, and text on the screen
General
- respect length of the talk
- don’t give false conclusions - like conclusion to just part 1, then you’re starting part 2! That’s bad!
- Keep in mind the “interest level” of the audience: higher in the beginning, dips down until the conclusion, where it goes back up
- start with general ideas, narrow it down to specific questions and data, and at the end broaden back to the bigger picture
- during the content of the talk, remember the “sawtooth” structure - go deep into data, then back up to a more shallow depth, then back down, and so on
