PowerPoint Slide Design

Objectives:

  1. Students can explain what makes an effective PowerPoint slide.
  2. Students understand the purpose of PowerPoint presentations in relation to the spoken presentation.
  3. Students can create an effective slide within PowerPoint

Basic Lesson Material:

  1. Elements of an Effective PowerPoint:
    1. What is PowerPoint?
      1. PowerPoint is not a text editor; it is a visual editor.
      2. Slides should support the presenter, not be the presenter.
    2. If you are going to say it, then you probably don’t need to write it
      1. Slides are not notes or handouts. PowerPoint can help with those, but they are not presentation slides.
    3. What makes an effective slide?
      1. One concept per slide
      2. Clear points
      3. Graphics
  1. Design Elements:
    1. Keep it simple, consistent, and appropriate
    2. Don’t use a template
      1. Can be distracting
      2. Often overused
    3. Color:
      1. color.adobe.com
        1. Use a planned color scheme or a custom color scheme
        2. How to input Adobe colors into PowerPoint (hex codes, RGB vs. CMYK)
      2. Eyedropper to pull colors
      3. Understand contrast
      4. Keep in mind the environment you will present in:
        1. Is it light or dark in the room?
        2. Does the projector reproduce colors correctly?
    1. Graphics:
      1. Visually show your point clearly and simply
      2. Avoid unclear stock photography
      3. Remove background to look less tacky
    1. Simplicity:
      1. cut away extraneous material
      2. Anything unnecessary increases cognitive load and reduces learning and retention
      3. Don’t add notes or stock photos to “fill up” your slides. White space is good!
      4. Don’t use transitions or animations unless they have a useful purpose (i.e. are part of the point such as moving from one part of a process to the next).
  1. Master Slides:
    1. Go through what master slides do, how to find them, and how to edit them

Example Activities:

  • Remember:
    • Ask review questions.
    • List the elements of good slide design.
  • Understand:
    • Discuss with a neighbor how to create an effective slide.
    • Explain why creating your own color theme is better than using a template.
    • Locate the place to change the background color of a slide.
  • Apply:
    • Use color.adobe.com to create a color theme for your presentation.
    • Demonstrate how to remove the background of an image.
  • Analyze/Evaluate:
    • Compare and contrast the sample slides and discuss what makes them good or bad.
    • Examine the sample slides and discuss what you would change about them to make them better.
  • Create:
    • Design an effective slide based on the topics we’ve discussed.
    • Design a master slide to apply to your presentation.

Example Questions:

  • List the elements of good slide design.
  • State the purpose of PowerPoint presentations in conjunction with spoken presentations.
  • What is the purpose of using color themes instead of templates?
  • State in your own words how to create an effective slide in PowerPoint.
  • How would you create a slide that pops in a dark room? In a bright room?
  • Why is contrast important?
  • In what types of situations could you use master slides?

Other Ideas:

  • Practice: Make a slide in PowerPoint that conveys one idea using text that would support a presenter.
  • Practice: Make a planned custom color scheme in PowerPoint
  • Practice: Remove the background from an image. Make a version of the image using simple shapes.
  • Demo: Create a color scheme:
    • Make or find a theme at color.adobe.com
    • Take a screenshot and place in PowerPoint
    • Design tab> color group > colors > customize colors
    • Grab colors using eyedropper
    • Name and save
  • Demo: Download a white background image from the internet and remove its background
Resources: