Guidelines for Effective

PowerPoint Presentations

Written by Cynthia Thomas and

Dr. Frank B. Flanders

Georgia CTAE Resource Network

2010

Objective
Students will be able to explain 10 guidelines
for preparing effective PowerPoint
presentations.

Is this how you want the

audience to look?

Of course not!
Follow the guidelines (Rules of Thumb) to help prepare
informative and interesting presentations.

What is a Rule of Thumb?

A guide that is not
intended to be strictly
accurate or reliable for
every situation.

Note: Rule of Thumb originated

with carpenters who used their
thumb to estimate measurement.

Rule of Thumb #1
Organize!
Presentations should be well organized.

Rule of Thumb #1 Continued

Your presentation should generally consist of

Title Slide
Objectives: state what you want your
audience to learn
Body: the content of your message
Summary: a shortened version of the
message

Rule of Thumb #2
Use large legible fonts.
Generally 24+ for text & 32+ for Headers

FONT SIZE
Can you read this well? (11pt)

How about this? (16pt)

And now? (24pt)

And now? (36pt)

Rule of Thumb #2 Continued

Some audience members
may be sitting several yards
away from the screen.
Dont make them squint!
Arial, Tahoma, Times New Roman,
& Verdana are easy to read and

compatible with most

computers.

Rule of Thumb #4
Minimize text on slides.
Generally, only 7 lines with 7 words
per line for each slide

Dont just read to your audience!

Rule of Thumb #4 Continued

Keep your audience alert!!!
Do not put everything you plan to say in your
presentation or your audience may just hear

blah, blah, blah

Rule of Thumb #4 Continued

The slides should summarize main points.
If you need detailed notes for your presentation,
use the speaker notes section at the bottom of
each PowerPoint slide.

Rule of Thumb #5
Use appropriate designs and complementary colors.
Generally no more than three colors on one slide.
Be careful with photo backgrounds as often text can
become illegible as the colors change.

Rule of Thumb #6
Use animations and sounds sparingly and with care.

Animated pictures may seem cool but can distract

your audience and detract from the presentations
professionalism.

Rule of Thumb #6 Continued

Pretty Cool, Huh!
Not distracting at all!
Do you even know what the
presenter just said?

Rule of Thumb #7
Use images to add interest.
Make sure that images are appropriate, and
that they help convey the message.

Rule of Thumb #7 Continued

This slide is to show that
English Bulldogs can be
intimidating to strangers
and are great guard dogs.
Is this image representative
of the message?

Rule of Thumb #8
Check and then double check for
grammatical and spelling errors.

Rule of Thumb #8 Continued

You slide presentaion is finishd! The colors
look great, the slide design is profesional and
appropriat for your topic.. You have some
colorfull, pictures that add just the right
amount of pizaz!!!
Now it is time to go present it! It is gonna be
incredble!!!! The audeience is going to be
blone away!
Did you see the mistakes?
They are revealed on the next slide.

Rule of Thumb #8 Continued

Your slide presentaion is finishd! The colors
look great, the slide design is profesional and
appropriat for your topic.. You have some
colorfull, pictures that add just the right
amount of pizaz!!!
Now it is time to go present it! It is gonna be
incredble!!!! The audeience is going to be
blone away!

Rule of Thumb #9
Use charts and graphs as visuals for data.
Charts and graphs can be great tools to
organize data.
Make sure they are accurate and easy for
the audience to read.
Excel is a great tool for creating charts
and graphs!

Rule of Thumb #9 Continued

Charts & graphs should show information in an
easy to understand and representative manner.

Are these easy to understand?

Which is more useful for understanding the data?

Rule of Thumb #10

Keep it simple.
Your presentation should not be a display
of every feature of PowerPoint.

Summary
Remember, your
presentation is about your
topic, not the slide show!

Your audience should

remember the things you
said, not how cool your
slide show was!