**"Mastering PowerPoint: Engaging Your Audience Effectively"**

1. PowerPoint 101 McNair Scholars Program December 2004

2. Why PowerPoint? • Help the audience focus • Visual outline • Audience can focus on what is being said • Visual content • Graphics, charts, animation, video • Audience won’t focus solely on you • Allows for audience interaction • Discussion questions or problems

3. Basics • Be conservative and simple • Plan on 2-3 minutes per slide • Keep text simple and concise • Avoid full sentences (or paragraphs) • About 1 concept per slide

4. Not too fancy! • Limit the following: • Animated text or graphics • Inappropriate clip art • Sound effects • Screen transitions • Wild color schemes • Fancy/weird/hard-to-read fonts

5. Type • Larger is better (at least 24 point) • Stick to 1 or 2 fonts • Avoid using all uppercase • Keep bulleted lines smaller than the title

6. Presenting Techniques • Know your stuff • Use slides as an outline for yourself • Present the bullet and then elaborate • “Use” notes, but don’t read from them • Use a laser pointer, if needed • Clear slide after discussing it • Leave some lights on for note-taking

7. Extras • Handouts • Back-up plan • Test the equipment beforehand • Bring overheads just in case • Check sound if applicable