Effective Communication with Power Point Presentations Steve Lanigan

1. Effective Communication with Power Point PresentationsSteve Lanigan

2. Effective Communication with Power Point Presentations Make slides easy to read. Using color and graphics. Respect your audience.

3. Minimum size ! Make TextBig • This is comic sans MS 8 • This is comic sans MS 12 • This is comic sans MS 20 • This is comic sans MS 28 • This is comic sans MS 32 • This is comic sans MS 44 • This is comic sans MS 54

4. Make it easy to read Serif Times Palatino Sans serif Comic Sans MS Arial Tahoma Franklin Gothic

5. Make it easy to read • ALL CAPITAL LETTERS ARE DIFFICULT TO READ. • Upper and lower case letters are easier to read.

6. Make it easy to read • Italics are difficult to read on screen. • Normal or bold fonts are clearer. • Underlines are difficult to read. • Use colors for emphasis.

7. Dark redormagentasymbolsandthin linesover black or dark blue backgrounds Using color • 1 in 12 males (8%) and 1 in 200 females (0.5%) is red-green color blind. • Difficult (or impossible) to distinguish between certain colors. • BLUE vs. VIOLET • REDvs.ORANGE • People will fail to see some objects.

8. Just say “no” to red!

9. Using color • Don’t rely solely on using color to differentiate between data on a graph. • Use patterns and tones to tell your story. • “Xerox test”

10. Watershed Monitoring Aquatic-Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Program Place logos on the first page.

11. Using graphics Use as a tool to get your audiences attention.

12. Use graphics to simplify complex data or concepts

13. Falling Leaves in Millions Too detailed !

14. Falling Leaves in Millions Much Simpler

15. Graphing the data shows patterns Too detailed !

16. Falling Leaves Better

17. Falling Leaves Wellington Dunedin Christchurch

18. PNAMP Side by Side Protocol TestFunded Participants Aquatic-Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Program California Fish and Game EPA Environ. Monitoring and Assessment Program Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife PacFish/Infish Biological Opinion Monitoring Program Washington Department of Ecology US Forest Service Region 6 Stream Survey Program Upper Columbia basin Monitoring Group US Rocky Mt Research Station (establish “truth”)

19. CA F&G AREMP Side-by-Side Protocol Test UCB $$ =

20. People pictures Photos should direct viewers eye to the text.

21. Critter photos should also direct attention to the text.

22. How we see ourselves How others see us ??? Before you start talking…. • Ask a colleague for a critique. • Video tape your presentation.

23. Before you start talking • Know how to start and stop • F5 key will start a presentation • 3 ways to advance/retreat slides • The “B” key

24. Before you start talking • Scope out your room & audience ahead of time. • Be prepared for poor lighting. light on dark dark on light

25. Presentation basics • Start with the lights on – “connect” with your audience. • Talk to your audience, not to the screen. • Use a microphone when it’s available.

26. Use your time wisely • Sometimes a slide, by necessity, will have a lot of text on it. • However, your audience can read text much faster than you can read it out loud to them. • By the time you read this bullet to them, they are done reading the entire slide. • Now you’re wasting their time. • Let your audience read the slides, while you paraphrase and expand on the written text.

27. ? All figures/text should be readable and understandable Never use slides you have to apologize for.

28. All figures/text should be readable and understandable Never use slides you have to apologize for!

29. Fisheries vol 30 no 5 Pg 34-38 • Presentation Critique • Were lights on at beginning? • Were all slides easy to read and understand? • Any slides/points that were confusing? • Was the use of graphics effective? If not, how could I improve them? • Could you hear me ok? • Are there any speech patterns, like you know, that I should be aware of?

30. Acknowledgements • Thanks to Bruce McCammon, Jeff Uebel, & Brett Roper for slides and feedback And thanks to you for thinking about how to improve your PowerPoint presentations!