1. Get Organized

a. Before you even start with PowerPoint, organize your presentation.

b. Make an outline of the major points and their supporting details.

c. Identify the most vital information. What can't they leave the room without knowing?

d. Plan to put the vital information on the slides, into print (hand out), and plan to say it at least once. [Information tends to stay with a person if they've heard it 3 or more times.]

e. Finally, work on your points until you get to the very essence of what you wish the audience to remember and then be as concise and clear as possible.

a. Organize clip art, charts, graphs, etc. that you'll need to present your ideas.

b. If needed, convert them into a digital form that can be imported into PowerPoint.

c. Gather supplemental materials which you want to refer to and hand out to the audience.

When applying a design or background:

a. Printed, use light background and dark text.
b. Shown, use dark background and light text.

Only use one background in a presentation. Don't distract from the message
.

a. Don't center bulleted lists or text. It is confusing to read. Left justify (align) unless you have a good reason not to.

b. Don't center graphics unless the graphic is a chart or graph which is the main subject of the slide. Clip art, etc. should be used to emphasize the points being made; not distract from them.

c. Don't use all caps. It is very hard to read. Exclamation points are made for emphasis.

d. Capitalizing the first letter of each word is good for the title of slides and suggests a more formal situation than having just the first letter of the first word capitalized. Decide what works for your purposes.

e. Font size depends on the size of the room. Usually the rule is no smaller than 14pt.