Use a landscape (horizontal) rather than a portrait (vertical) layout when preparing visual aids. Portrait formatted slides when projected have a greater likelihood of either being obscured at the top or the bottom of the slide than do landscape-formatted slides. In addition, the comparatively larger width of the landscape formatted slide allows for better use and display of information.
When creating your presentation aids, use light text on a dark background as this is easy to read and is also easy on the eyes. Avoid using colorful backgrounds with words or complicated patterns or pictures on them. Plain single color backgrounds are the most effective.
Use an appropriate font size on your slides for the room in which you will present. Note that this means you will need to do some homework in advance. minimum type size you should use for any text on a slide is 18 pt.
A mixture of upper and lowercase text is easier to read than text printed in all upper case.
Make good use of graphics when preparing slides. Audience retention is about 20% when a speaker uses words alone but rises to 70% when text is supplemented with graphics. If you do use graphics, avoid the use of tired clip art such as that provided by Microsoft. Graphics should not distract the audience from your content. Use medium quality graphics whenever possible. If you must use animation, use it sparingly and only if it will help the audience understand and appreciate your work better.
When preparing and using graphs and/or tables for a presentation:
- Always label your axes and include the units
- Use standard graph and/or table formats. The purpose of graphical aids should be to uncover the data not to obscure it.
- Avoid the use of insets if at all possible.
- Tables should be constructed and used only when you are displaying fewer than 10 or fewer numbers.
Present your information in bite-size chunks. A good guideline for slide content is the "6x6" rule. Use no more than six words per line and six lines per slide.
How many slides should you prepare? On average plan to show a new slide every 30 to 45 s.
KISS. Keep it simple stupid! Plan to introduce a maximum of one new idea per slide. Provide only enough detail to convey your message.
Title your slides succinctly, specifically, and clearly with the slide's purpose. For example, a poor title might be "Results." A more effective title serving both you and your audience's need for information might be "Spectroscopic Evidence for a Change in Protein Conformation Upon Reduction." The title reminds you what it is that you want to say and it conveys to the audience the significance of the data shown on the slide.
Proof your visual aids. Typos, misspellings, etc. rob you as a speaker of your authority. After all, why shouldn't audience question your technical expertise if all of your slides say "Fiziks of Kwantum Dotz"?