Joe's Blogs » Top 10 Tips for Making PowerPoint for Business Presentations and Lectures

Microsoft PowerPoint remains the unrivaled software for making business presentations. There are tons of more powerful software available, but PowerPoint’s ease of use clearly sets it apart as the choice for busy executives, managers and other honchos who don’t have the time to learn more flashy programs (oops, did I make a hint there, he he).

Example of a BAD PowerPoint presentation

Example of an elegant PowerPoint presentation

However, the problem with many users doesn’t root so much from lack of knowledge in using the program, but with how they create their presentations. So, without further ado, here are some useful hints when it comes to organizing your business presentation.

Create a theme. You can do this by using a “universal” background in all your slides, or a series of related backgrounds. Using entirely different backgrounds for every slide is so visually annoying it might trigger a seizure if someone with epilepsy looks at your presentation (kidding).
Use not more than two fonts. Actually one will do, like the common Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet, Times New Roman, Garamond, and the like. If you use too many fonts, your presentation will start looking amateurish, if not clownish.
Use minimal colors. If your presentation is about a carnival, it’s okay to pick as many colors as you like. Otherwise, stick to single family of colors or related colors. For example, explore different shades of a single color (blue, dark blue, light blue) if you’re not too familiar with color combinations.
Do not cram too much text into a single slide. Putting loads of paragraphs into a slide makes it crowded and unreadable. Remember that you can produce an unlimited number of slides. Why not, for example, have only a few lines in each slide? That way your presentation looks more elegant and clean.
Avoid detailed watermarks. Many users are tempted to use very elaborate backgrounds beneath their text. This makes the text less readable. It is often a better idea to designate an area for graphics and an area for text.
Use only ONE slide transition animation. Using too many transition animations will make your PowerPoint look like a children’s party gone sour. Fade is a good transition. Choose one and stick with it.
Use minimal text and graphics animation. Unless you want to give your client nausea from looking at your presentation, choose an animation effect and stick with it. Consistency in animation helps create the “theme” or impression you wish to impart. For business presentations, fade and other subtle animations are good; avoid motion-intensive effects like Fly-In, Spiral, and that stupid animation Swivel. Also, never animate body text per letter or per word, unless you wish to wait forever for your slide animation to finish.
NEVER put what you’re going to say in your slides. It crowds your slides and lengthens your presentation. Worse, no one’s going to listen to what you’re saying because they’ll just read ahead of you. Just put the OUTLINE of your presentation. Go with numbered or bulleted lists, short paragraphs, charts, graphs, maps, pics, etc., but never the exact words you’re going to say. It’s like a digital idiot board.
Use sound only when needed. Many users are tempted to incorporate sound effects to accompany almost every animation. Sound works good for standalone presentations, that is, for presentations that run by themselves without the presenter. For standard presentations, maybe you can use sound in your title slide. But for the body of your discussion, unless it is required, do away with sound; it will only get in your way.
Remember, PowerPoint is not the presentation – YOU are! Your visual presentation is only your instrument, only a means to present yourself effectively. A great PowerPoint is no replacement for your presentation skills.