Way back in 1911, newspaper journalists were advised to "Use a picture.
It's worth a thousand words."
Later, Fred R. Barnard, in the advertising journal, Printer’s Ink, reportedly upped
a picture’s worth to “ten thousand words.”
While the number of words a picture is worth may be in doubt, what’s not in doubt is
the value of visual images to attract our attention or help us understand a concept
—especially in oral presentations where the use of computer-generated aids, like PowerPoint, are the norm.
For this video, I’m assuming you already know what presentation aids are and why you
might want to use them.
Now it’s time to adapt how you design your aids to three contexts or situations where
you might use computer-generated presentation aids: face-to-face using computer projection—
a traditional “speech” in front of a live audience—
and two Computer-Mediated Communication or CMC contexts:
live via computer—like a video conference presentation or a webinar
—and video via computer without a live audience—like this video.
Specifically, we’ll cover topics related to:
When to use your aids; slide design; colors; fonts and font size; animation issues; sound;
and then we’ll end with a brief discussion of copyright issues.
You’ll probably notice that, in this video, I’m using a lot of visual images and animations—much
more than I usually do—as you need to be able to see what I’m talking about.
And, then again, this is a video on presentation aids so I pretty much have to use them.
Okay, we have a lot to cover so… let’s go!
We’ll start with when you will use your aids as it differs by context.
In a live setting, you want your audience’s attention on you, the speaker, so you should
show—or use—your aids only when they are needed.
When you don’t have an aid, there would be nothing in your hand or displayed on the
screen behind you.
In fact, in a traditional face-to-face speech using computer-projection, I recommend including
a black slide for sections where you don’t need an aid; that way the audience isn’t
distracted by an unnecessary slide or one that no longer
applies to the speech content at the time.
And a black slide is better than a white slide—which draws attention to the fact that there is
nothing on the screen.
Watch a TED Talk and you’ll see this black slide technique in action.
When you do put something on the screen, it should be necessary to help the audience understand
the presentation and not to act as notes to you, the presenter.
Many novice speakers make the mistake of using their slides as a running outline,
putting everything on the screen—including their preview and summary statements.
In this case, the aid IS the presentation, not AIDING the presentation.
Don’t do this.
Further, the rule for face-to-face oral presentations is “less is more.”
That means fewer words, fewer slide changes, fewer animations.
In most cases, Title, Preview, Summary, and Thank You slides are unnecessary and adding
a bibliography slide at the end is so… high school.
Again, don’t do this!
This is definitely not the case in the other two CMC scenarios.
There must be something on the computer screen for your viewers—your audience—to see—
all the time.
You’ll notice that I used a “preview” slide earlier in this video—
or I might display an agenda if we were doing this as an online meeting.
In a face-to-face context, I wouldn’t use a slide – I’d just say it.
While you still want to limit the number of words on your screen,
a blank screen is the kiss of death.
But a completely inappropriate image, like this one of my daughter’s service dog meeting Pluto at Disneyland,
can be viewed as unprofessional at best or distracting at worst.
And, definitely,
avoid moving pictures on the screen, as many people find it hard to focus on what is being said
when they are distracted by movement.
So, find something that can contribute to the presentation or at least seems to fit:
perhaps a big question mark if you are asking
a series of questions.
When you are designing your slides, think about what would be the most helpful to your audience.
Again, limit the words you put on your slides—
especially in a live face-to-face presentation.
Instead, opt for pictures and well-designed graphs.
Although it should go without saying, I’ll say it anyway:
Use standard English (not “textspeak”)
and proofread.
When using the computer and the internet as your delivery system, you may need to include
a few more words on the slides but stick to phrases.
Don’t put every word you plan to say unless it’s absolutely necessary, such as when
you want the audience to see or pay attention to a particular part of the sentence like
televised news programs do when they display the actual words but then highlight just what
they want you to see.
Another design concept relates to the size of your slides.
For a face-to-face setting or a video conference, you probably want to stick to the standard
4:3 size.
You can use the Widescreen 16:9 size, but you may want to test it.
For YouTube presentations, the recommendation is 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels.
In PowerPoint, you change this by selecting the Custom Slide size.
Notice, though, that when you type in the pixel size (abbreviated px), it will automatically
change to inches.
In our case, it converts to 20 inches x 11.25 inches.
Another consideration relating to CMC presentations is where you put your content on the slides.
To meet ADA requirements, those who are hearing impaired
must be able to participate in the presentation.
While most important for recorded video presentations, it can also apply to video conferences or
webinars as well,
depending on who is in your audience.
That means you need to
An alternative is to provide a transcript file for the video,
but that won’t work if the presentation is happening live.
These requirements come into play in a number of situations,
most notably for us in the field of education,
because the Americans with Disabilities Act demands that all content provided by public colleges
and universities be accessible by those with visual or hearing impairments.
Yet another consideration: If you are planning to show your webcam image,
you need to allow room for it.
Most recording software like Camtasia, the one I use, displays your webcam image by default
in the lower right corner.
And, if your audience is going to see a webcam image of you and the rest of the meeting participants,
the major content of your slide should be on the left side as many video conferencing
software programs show the meeting participants on the right of the screen.
Both of these considerations, room for captioning and webcam images, should factor into your
choice of design templates.
There are a number of templates to choose from and, for most, a huge variety of color
schemes, another aspect of your slide design.
Consider background color first.
If you are presenting in a face-to-face environment but can’t dim the lights around the projection
screen, use a template with a white background and bold colors for the content.
A white background also has the benefit of requiring less ink or toner for printed handouts.
Alternatively, a black background with white font color and light images may work well.
Apple founder Steve Jobs tended to use this style when he presented, which allowed the
audience to focus on him as the speaker.
Avoid using color or bolding text as the only means of drawing attention to important information;
those who may be color blind or have low vision may not be able to see it.
You can test your color contrast by viewing the slide in Grayscale—or, printing them
out on a black-and-white printer.
Whatever colors you choose, make sure the color contrast is good or some in your audience
may have difficulty reading it.
The fonts you use for the text contribute to the overall feel of the presentation.
Limit your fonts to two or three different ones, with a different font for the headings
(if you are using them) than the body text.
As not all computers have the same fonts installed, stick to the standard fonts that come with
the software you will be presenting with so, if you change computers, you won’t need
to redo all your fonts.
And accessibility issues may came into play here, too.
Sans Serif fonts are easier to read quickly than Serif fonts.
What’s the difference?
Serif fonts have small extensions or flourishes called—what else—“serifs” on the ends
of their letters.
You’ll see these serifs on fonts like Times New Roman and Courier New.
Sans Serif fonts (“sans” comes from the Old French, meaning “without”) don’t
have those extensions, like Arial, Calibri, and Helvetica.
Use italics sparingly and only for emphasis.
Consider bolding your italicized text as well.
But, remember, like serif font, words that are italicized can often be difficult to read.
And size does matter.
Your text should be at least 24 points, but that can even be too small depending on the platform.
Usually bigger is better.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that ALL CAPITALS can make up for a small font size.
Not only are the words more difficult to read, but all caps is often perceived as SHOUTING.
Let’s turn to something that computer presentation programs like PowerPoint do well:
animations, or moving things on the screen.
There are two types of screen movements:
animations, which are applied to objects on the slide
such as text, images, and shapes;
and transitions, that are used when you move
from slide to slide.
Both types can be very effective—
unless you overuse them or use them poorly.
Then they only draw attention to themselves and often distract from the presentation.
In a face-to-face speaking situation, you usually want to limit your screen movement.
But a really good animation to include would be those “just-in-time” bullets;
only show one bullet at a time so you can manage the information flow.
Another suggestion is to use the “dim text” feature for bullet points,
which not only uses the “just-in-time” technique, but dims the previous bullet points so
that the one relating to the current topic is center stage.
Transitions, when used well, literally help your audience transition from one point to another,
but reconsider those “exciting” transitions between slides.
Stick with the basics and, if you want to mix them up, limit yourself to only two or
three different transition types.
Avoid using gifs—those animated videos or clip art that loop the action over and over again.
(Trivia for the day: it’s pronounced “jif,” with a “j” sound, not “gif” with a
hard “g” sound—look it up!).
These usually quick repetitive movements may be distracting in any context, but especially
so in a face-to-face presentation.
In live via computer presentations like video conference presentations or webinars using
Voice over PowerPoint, you also want to limit your screen movements—for both your benefit
and the audience’s benefit.
While you are presenting, you don’t want to divide your attention between when to click
to have an animation occur and what you are trying to say.
Whoops!
However, for a video-recorded presentation without a live audience, you need to keep
something of visual interest on the screen.
A stale screen—one that doesn’t change for a while—makes it easy for your audience
to assume that they can look away,
and then they might get distracted by something in their environment.
In this case, you may need to add some additional visual elements.
Almost done!
Just a few more words of advice:
If you are thinking about adding music to
the background of your presentation…
think long and hard about it.
People with hearing limitations may have difficulty differentiating
between the music and your voice.
If you are going to use background music, stick to the intro and the outro,
or perhapsas transitions between major points.
While not only applicable to music, it’s important to address copyright considerations
of anything you may include in your presentation.
If your images or music clips have met the “Fair Use” requirements or you or your
organization have purchased these “assets”--
that’s the technical term for them, “assets”—you
you should be okay.
Unfortunately, that’s usually not the case.
There are a number of criteria to be met if you haven’t created, purchased, or gotten
permission for the work, the primary being that the copy written material is being used
solely for educational purposes.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only criterion.
You also cannot realize any monetary profit from using the work, your use can’t result
in a loss of income for the copyright owner, you can only use one copy of the work, and
you are not allowed to hand the work out.
And all of these criteria are “and”—not “or”--criteria, meaning that you have
to meet ALL of them to be able to use the work in your presentation.
And, while not expressly one of the criteria, you shouldn’t imply
that you were the creator of the work.
Some copyright holders will allow you to use their work for free as long as you appropriately
acknowledge the source (as you may have noticed that I did earlier).
When in doubt, contact the copyright holder for permission, pay for the ability to use
the work, create your own work, or consult an attorney specializing in copyright law.
Wow, we’ve covered a lot of information with a lot of images to help “aid” in
your understanding of these concepts:
When to use your aids; slide design; colors;
fonts and font size; animations;
sound, and copyright issues.
And it only took me around 2,500 words to do it!
Hmm…
I wonder how many words it would have taken if I hadn’t included as many pictures.