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You have just given your
LAST boring presentation.
An ME@Nite Seminar
Presented by
Jonathan Maier
Department of Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering and Sciences
Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 USA
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
1
Topics to be Covered
Tonight’s seminar will be divided into five main areas:
• PowerPoint basics
• Advanced features
• Laying out a presentation
• Standard templates
• Custom slide formats
Throughout the seminar you will have the opportunity to practice
each of the skills presented on your own workstation.
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Powerpoint Basics
Powerpoint is easy to use, but like any Microsoft product,
it can be very frustrating at times! Let’s have a look....
• The five different views
• Inserting and manipulating text
• Inserting and editing graphics
• Managing slides
This is all you need to know to get started using PowerPoint. Next
let’s take a few minutes to recreate the following slide:
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Why I Love Clemson
“This blessed plot, this Earth, this Realm, this Clemson!”
-Shakespeare (sort of)
• Lots of nice sunsets
• Friendly people
• Beautiful campus
• Close to the mountains and lakes
• Parking a lot better than Georgia Tech!
And to top all that, Clemson is Time Magazine’s Public College of
the Year!
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Advanced Features
Now with the basics under our belt, we can explore some
more advanced features.
• The Master Slide
• Hyperlinking
• Word Art
• Animations
• Importing Figures from Excel
Now we know enough to put together pretty slick presentations, but
first we need to practice a little more. Let’s recreate the next slide...
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Why I Really Love Clemson
“This blessed plot, this Earth, this Realm, this Clemson!”
-Shakespeare (sort of)
• Lots of nice sunsets
• Friendly people
• Beautiful campus
• Close to the mountains
and lakes
• Parking a lot better than
Georgia Tech!
And as if that weren’t enough, Clemson won the concrete canoe
race AGAIN!!!
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Laying out a Presentation
There are seven basic steps to laying out a presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pick a format suitable to your audience
Layout the master slide
Layout the splash slide
Layout the basic content slide
Fill in the bulk of the presentation using
copies of the basic content slide
6. Layout the closing slide(s)
7. Proofread and Practice
This is basically just a design exercise. First understand the
problem, then generate ideas, select ideas, elaborate on them, and
iterate as necessary.
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Standard Templates
The quick and dirty way to layout a presentation is to use
one of PowerPoint’s stardard templates.
However most bad presentations use one of these standard
templates. The temptation is to think that a slick template makes a
slick presentation, but it doesn’t. You still need to put in the work.
Let’s practice...
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Practice with Standard Templates
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Custom Slide Formats
The most exciting and powerful way to use Powerpoint is
to design your own custom slide format and tailor it for
each presentation.
• Begin with a blank slide
• Layout the master
• Pick fonts and color scheme
• Layout the basic content
slide
Before we practice this, first let’s take a look at some of my favorite
slide formats.
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Custom Slide Format Examples
Each of the following slide formats have their own
advantages, and each is appropriate to different
situations.
• Black & White SRL format
• Color SRL format
• German/BMW color on white format
• Swiss/ETH color on black format
Let’s have a look and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
each. Notice their use of the master slide, colors, and contrast.
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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Custom Slide Format Practice
Now all the big secrets of creating effective presentations
using PowerPoint have been unraveled. Let’s practice in
the time remaining.
• Based on any of the previous
examples or your own whimsy,
create a brief custom presentation
on why you like or dislike race cars.
• Grab all the necessary graphics
• Remember to start with the master
slide
Meanwhile I will wander around the room answering questions and
offering advice.
PowerPoint for Effective Presentations
Jonathan Maier
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