Am I using PowerPoint effectively?

 Nov 02, 2016

PowerPoint is the go to application for creating presentations on a Windows PC. It has evolved over time to incorporate the ability to include sound, video, animation and other effects. Considering that, originally, PowerPoint was designed to create slideshows for display through an overhead transparency projector it can do many more things to enhance a presentation than it could in 1987. But despite all the new multimedia and Internet-based features, does PowerPoint really make your presentations better than they would have been thirty years ago? It all comes down to using its features effectively and appropriately. I think the best policy to follow when designing a PowerPoint deck is “less is more”. Animations and the like are all well and good, but do they just interfere with the message being conveyed and distract the audience? Using PowerPoint’s most impressive effects can make or break a presentation so each time one is used, the question “is that an appropriate use of that feature?” should be asked. Transition Effects Transition effects can provide a smooth, well, transition from slide to slide. The same transition should occur throughout the entire presentation unless a specific slide would benefit from having another one applied. Animation Effects Animation effects can be used to massively varying degrees to help illustrate a point or simply add a linear flow to the points. Animating bullet points or SmartArt graphics can be very effective. SmartArt Graphics The ability to quickly and easily create diagrams using SmartArt is a huge benefit of the later versions of PowerPoint. You can also convert conventional bulleted or numbered list into SmartArt Graphics and then animate them to really draw the audience’s attention. Images Just simply using pictures, either to emphasise or replace written words can be more effective than most people would think. Audio and Video These types of media are easy to insert into a presentation, but are the hardest to create, however pre-existing video that is available on YouTube can be linked to a presentation. New Horizons has courses in PowerPoint – Level 1 which teache the basics of using images, SmartArt and transition effects, and Level 2 which goes into the “fancy” stuff like including audio, video and sophisticated animation effects. There is also the Effective Presentations course that goes into all aspects of presenting outside of the use of PowerPoint.

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