Make slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them. Create slides that demonstrate, with emotional proof, that what you’re saying is true not just accurate.

Seth Godin

We’ve all seen bad PowerPoint slides…you know what I’m talking about…the ones that instantly make you want to either fall asleep or run screaming from the room! Sort of like this:

Please don’t use these…ever! Human brains are not very good at reading text AND listening to someone talking, we just can’t do both very efficiently. Your brain will automatically decide “I choose to read the slide and ignore the presenter” or “I choose to listen to the presenter and ignore the slide”. What your brain can do REALLY well is process images. In fact, your brain can process images 60,000 times faster than text! So your brain will automatically think “I am listening to the presenter and watching images that are reinforcing what the presenter is saying, wow are they ever a smart presenter!” Slides should animate and support what you are saying, because you are the star of the show, not your slides. So instead of creating a slide like this:

You could create a slide like this:

Tips to keep in mind:

1. Make your graphics prominent, and meaningful.

2. Use very little text (Seth Godin says no more than 6 words per slide).

3. Use new fonts – you aren’t limited to Ariel or Calibri (just make sure they are embedded in your file)

4. Don’t use bulleted text or any other PowerPoint template.

5. Something is happening on screen every 3-5 seconds, or go dark (loosely related to Chekhov’s Gun).

6. Use animation sparingly and smartly, it’s meant to highlight not dominate.

Examples of Awesome Slides

These video tutorials will help you get started with PowerPoint (requires login with Seneca username and password):

PowerPoint 2013

• Creating a presentation from scratch and saving

• Creating a presentation from a template or theme

• Adding pictures and clip art

See here for the full suite of training videos for PowerPoint 2013

PowerPoint 2010

• Starting from scratch

• Adding slides and content

• Adding photos and clip art

See here for the suite of training videos for Powerpoint 2010

Shortcuts! Know your keyboard shortcuts. Here are some useful ones for PowerPoint on a PC:

• F5 = Start Slideshow

• Esc. = End Slide Show

• B = Black Screen

• W = White Screen

• Up or Right Arrow = Next Slide

• Down or Right Arrow = Previous Slide.

Don’t forget to cite all of the research and material used in your presentation. The library has created guides demonstrating common citations: Seneca Libraries Citing in Digital Assignments

• The Motivated Sequence Template by Alan Monroe

• Sample Persuasive Speech Outline by Erin Soloman

• 5 ways to use Brain Science to Create Persuasive Presentations by Susan Weinschenk